FINCHforum

Hello everyone. I am new to keeping finch. Hindsight tells me we should have researched more before acquiring our birds. Lesson learned, but now I need some experienced advice.
A couple of weeks ago hubby and I got two female zebra finch. We named them Thelma & Louise. They are in a small flight cage 30"w x 20"d x 33"h
Thinking there was room for another bird, we put a male in with them for a couple of days. We are not interested in breeding. Little did we realize the trouble that would be caused by placing a male in the cage with the two females. He immediately paired with one of them and the couple immediately began harassing the remaining female.
After two days of this, we decided to remove the male from the cage to avoid injuries and he was returned to the place of purchase. Things immediately settled down once the male was removed and the cage is peaceful with the two females.
Having seen many adorable pictures of finch sitting in nests together, we put a small open palm-leaf type nest in the cage. Thelma & Louise immediately began carrying nesting material (cotton type) to the nest and they have been using it every night (& day) and they seem to like it.
A few questions:
1. Is it possible that the females eggs were fertilized in such a short time? (neither of them have laid any eggs yet)
2. If the answer to #1 is yes.... would both females hatch and take care of the young?
3. Assuming there are no fertilized eggs, should we leave the nest in the cage for them to sleep in? Or will this promote egg laying? What are the pros & cons of having the nest in the cage with the two females?
Thank you all for your responses. Any advice and experiences are welcome and appreciated.
I am so happy to have found this forum and enjoying learning and reading.

Welcome to the forum, Sadie! There's lots of good reading at www.finchinfo.com, where you will find many good articles on housing, diet, breeding and especially the Zebra finch.

It is good you took out that male Zebra, trios rarely work well. To answer your questions, yes it is possible for the eggs to be fertilized in a short period of time. When finches mate, the hen stores the sperm in her body, and it remains viable there for a little over two weeks. If there should be any fertile eggs, it is quite possible that both hens will share brooding/feeding duties, but you would have to watch them to make sure one hen didn't decide she needed to be the one and only.

Two females with a nest will use it for sleeping, but it also may trigger egg laying. There are several options. You can toss any eggs that are laid, but if the hens continue to lay eggs, they could eventually deplete their bodies of calcium. You could let them lay eggs and brood them, since no babies will result. (This would be after waiting about three weeks to make sure there aren't any fertile eggs. Or, you can just remove any nests, they can sleep just fine on a perch.

Sadie, Welcome! You've definitely landed in the right place! There is tons to learn, and there is a great group of folks here to help you out. Looking forward to getting to know Thelma and Louise

Welcome Sadie!


I'm glad you found this website, which you will enjoy reading and learning more stuff here. I think it's possible the eggs will be fertilized since they already paired up before you turned him back to where purchase. At least one of the females will take care of the babies when hatched, but please make sure both of them is not fighting over sitting on the eggs or be the only one feeding the young.

Depends on the finches, some of them will get along but some is more aggressive than others especially when comes with caring for the young. If any possible they are fighting or make hissing sounds to each other, please separate the one that cannot control to care for the baby, or if both take same duties and responsible to care for the young. You can separate any one you want from these two female zebras. Hope these info helps you some, good luck and ask questions if you need more help!

David

You have two options. Either allow your male to pair up with one female, and perhaps get another male; or keep your two females together and get another female for the male. Either way, trios don't work well (Apart from society finches, I've heard) and Zebbies generally do better in pairs. I have a Zebbie on his own, and my other two birds are also in their own cages. They are all together in the same room, and they all seem fine.

Good luck for them all.

Zebrafincher
Proud owner of:
*Kevin aka “The Old Man” – very cranky canary – 13 years old and rules the Roost!
*Beaky aka “Beaky Beak” the Zebrafinch – 1 year old – and a real, real cutie!!!
*Merlin aka “Merl” the Starfinch – 3 ½ years old – and “bossy as anything for such a small fry!”

Thank you all so much for taking time to respond. I appreciate it so very much. As I said, I only have the two females in the cage. I have decided to remove the nest (which I did yesterday) as I don't think I am ready to deal with the youngsters. I'm not sure what I would be able to do with them other than get more cages.... I'm not ready for that. I don't think I'd be able to part with the babies, I'm such a softie.
These birds are so cute! Thelma & Louise are keeping occupied hopping and flying from perch to swing to perch. They enjoy a hearty finch mix and lots of greens. For added nutrition, I am putting a couple of drops of Ecotrition Vita Sol in their drinking cup. They have a little bird bath (I don't put the Vita Sol in that water), and they drink from that too, so I'm not sure how much of the vitamin they are getting if any. They enjoy bathing every day and are so fun to watch. I will post a couple of pics when I figure it out

Thelma & Louise

Hi Sadie,

It's a good idea that you removed the nest too. I think this way less chances for these 2 female to fighting over taking care of the youngsters in the future. By the way they are soooo cute!!! I got the similar breed as your white one, but mine is the male.

In case if the female laying egg, who paired with the male before, she will laid all possible areas around the cage, sometime on floor, or even feeding cups lol. I just hope they both get along with each other, like you said not ready for that happen yet. Just two of them healthy and peaceful would be good enough, since you don't wanna separate them by getting another cage good luck with your little cutie furry friends!

David

Thank you David. I appreciate your suggestions and good wishes.

Oooh, they're lovely! Especially the girl on the left! She's a pretty one!

Sorry to hear you encountered troubles! Indeed, trios can be a nightmare for the precise reason that you discovered. But I'm happy to hear you got it all sorted.

Enjoy them!

Thank you MiaCarter

You are so welcome Sadie! Sorry reply you late since i was busy these dwys. I really like your zebra fiches so cute !


David

Thank you David