Tips for a new owner?

[LunesEMartes]

I’m new to this, I’ve had my two male zebra finches for a few weeks. I’m working on diet and don’t need any more help with that.

Ok so I’ve researched this a lot but just wanna make sure before losing hope of this idea. The cage I have says it can house a third finch, a lot of what I’ve read advised against having three but some said it’s ok. Would it be ok to have a third zebra, or even a different type of finch? Or maybe a canary?

The second question is for tips for taming them? So far all I know is to go slow and try to get as close to them as you can without scaring them. Also to use their favorite food besides seed as a treat.

Oh and btw the cage setup so far is a nest, ladder, three toys, three of the natural perches, food dish, & 2 water dishes.

[LunesEMartes]

Oh and any recommendations for live plants for inside the cage?

[Fraza]

LunesEMartes

Firstly with zebras I would not add a third I’ve had plenty of zebras and it’s rare that you end up having three get along, the previous pair will usually bully the new one as they find it a threat.

For taming it is really hard I would suggest getting a rub and putting there favourite food in ther but only give it them once a day and then start pacing the tub on ur hand and let it jump onto the tub eventually try the food on ur hand

[ruthwallis]

Hey LunesEmartes,

Regarding live plants from my own experience I found it slightly disastrous. I'm not sure of your aviary/cage set up but I did put live plants into my large indoor cage and it looked stunning, until the birds ripped the plants apart, pooped all over them, plants had to be removed for watering daily and began to rot, dirty soil on the cage ground and worse insects and flies quickly started to appear. Plus there are so many plants that are/aren't toxic to finches it was hard to find what plant was/wasn't safe. So I scrapped live plants and opted for pet safe artificial plants (plastic not silk as they can rip this apart and could be ingested). They are reasonably priced, super easy to remove and clean and my birds love them. Its give there cage nice coverage, themselves more security, they love to play with them and it looks fab. I always string the artificial plants through the back of the cage so no risk of a bird getting tangled or injured. Of course artificial plants aren't for everyone but I think they work lovely

[LarksNest]

I guess a good question to you would be "how large is the cage"? Can you share dimensions? Remember, finches need more horizontal space than vertical, and you need to take into account any accessories you add. The more stuff in the cage, the less room they have to fly (and stay healthy), so the fewer birds should be in the cage.

Something to think about - if you want to add a third, a nest may complicate matters. Many species (Zebs included) will often bond with the same sex if there are no birds of the opposite sex around. If they bond and there's a nest in the cage, they may fight with any newcomers in an effort to protect their nest. If there's no nest, you will see some initial bickering, but once the pecking order is established, that SHOULD cease. Of course you'll still have to watch. Some birds are just jerks and won't accept newcomers.

Next, it has been my experience that you CAN have 3 birds in a cage as long as they are all the same sex. The rule of thumb - odd numbers - 3, 5, 7 etc. The odd man out is a distraction. It's not always successful, but here it has been mostly successful.

The cage size will be important. Here, I've found a cage 30" x 18" x 18" can hold up to 5 cock birds without issue, but if you add a hen, you'll have problems, and if you add more than 5 to a cage that size, they won't have enough room to fly or escape from any bully in the cage.

I've found they WILL initially fight until they've established their pecking order. This is normal, and as long as you don't see a bully pin another bird down, those disputes should resolve themselves. Once that pecking order is well established, you shouldn't see many problems.

Of course it will be different in every aviary, so you'll need to take all information folks share here into account before deciding to add birds.

[LunesEMartes]

I’m getting a new cage that’s going to be 31(side to side) x 21.5(front to back)x 53(tall). Is this enough to get two female zebras for my two males and a pair of another? Or since I have the two males that sleep in the nest together would getting two females be ok? If they can be more aggressive would the problem be resolved if I take the best out or is that bad too?

[LarksNest]

Hey LunesEMartes,

That's a good sized cage, and you could probably put up to 7-8 birds in it (depending on whether they are the big "English" show type or the smaller "regular" species), but Zebs can be territorial and seriously aggressive. If you have hens in there and an odd man out (cock or hen), you might see serious fighting. They also tend to be really nosey and disturb other species during breeding. Of course that's just my experience.

Are you looking to breed them? Or are you like me and feel they should all have a mate? LOL (I always feel guilty if they don't have a mate of their own and have to keep pairs).

I've never been successful breeding more than one pair of Zebs in a cage, regardless of size, and have always had to separate them out into individual cages. If you're looking to breed them, you might consider placing pairs in individual cages instead of all in that big cage!

I hope I've understood your question and have answered well for you. But remember, this is just MY humble opinion and experience! Others may have different recommendations!

Whatever you choose to do, I wish you much luck!

k-