New Zebra Finches

[chevy cloddog]

Hi all,I had just bought two pairs of zebra finches and they laid one egg in the nest box without building any kind of nest in the bamboo nesting box,I had supplied some hay in the cage for them to use but they dont? Also from what i read they are supposed to lay an egg a day but they only laid one and that was two days ago and it seems that the male only goes in the nest box for a little bit?any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

[Sally]

chevy cloddog

If the finches are young, they sometimes don't do a great job when first starting to lay. It is a learning curve for them, and they should get better with time. Do you have both pairs in the same cage? Sometimes when there is more than one pair, they won't settle down and nest/breed/incubate properly. Young birds also may skip a day or two between eggs.

Welcome to the forum! There's lots of good reading at www.finchinfo.com, with many articles on breeding and the Zebra finch. If you put your general location in your profile, it makes it easier for members to direct you to where to get supplies or find help.

I'm going to move your post and my answer to your own thread, so that others will see it more easily and be able to help you. I'll leave it in this same forum, and I'll title it "New Zebra Finches".

[lem2bert]

chevy cloddog

Hi, welcome from Massachusetts. Good luck with your new finches !!

[chevy cloddog]

Thank you!

[Shannylee]

Welcome!! Zebras are such cool little birds. I have 2 males but plan on getting them some hens in the Spring. One of my guys is bonded to a society hen that is almost twice as big as him. LOL! I'm sure your zebs will figure out the parenting thing and before you know it, you will have a population explosion.

[lovezebs]

chevy cloddog

With young brand new birds, it's hard to say what they're up to.
Your girl may have just laid an egg because it seemed like a good idea at the time.

Have you noticed them mating at all?

[chevy cloddog]

Thank you all for the info,this is such a great site to learn from!
So yesterday i went to another pet shop and seen some society finches in the nest box and ask the guy if he would sell me the two birds with the nest box and eggs that are in it,he said yes but not only is there a female and male but there are two females that belong to the the nest with the male. So i bought them all? So during the day and all night the three birds sit on the eggs. Go figure. Lol

[lovezebs]

chevy cloddog

Societies, really do believe that 'it takes a whole village to raise a chick'.

If you have one male and three females..... you'd better be prepaired for a 'WHOLE VILLAGE ' of Socies, lol.

Societies and Zebras, are the avian equation to the bunny rabbit of or the mouse of the mammal nation. They are the gift that definitely keeps on giving.

How big did you say is your flight cage ???

[chevy cloddog]

The cage is three foot long x eighteen wide eighteen tall.
Thats what i am hoping for is lots of babies! Lol

[Sally]

chevy cloddog

You'd better start shopping for more cages!

[chevy cloddog]

Lol!

[chevy cloddog]

My young zebras just starting to build there nest in the nesting box! Looks like a good sign to me right? Thay have been busy all day!

[chevy cloddog]

Sorry for the dumb question but my zebras which i have two pairs that are building there own nest in there own nest box and my question is do the males build the nest? Thanks

[Sally]

There is no such thing as a dumb question. A former moderator once said that the only dumb question was the one not asked, which is so true. Remember, every single member of this forum was a newbie once upon a time!

It's been so long since I've had Zebras I had to look it up, but I did find this in the Species section on Zebras at www.finchinfo.com:

"Both cock and hen will build the nest and incubate the clutch, even sleeping in the nest together at night."

Do be careful with two pairs of breeding Zebras in one cage, as they often become aggressive to each other.

[chevy cloddog]

Ok thanks,the both pair are building at the same time but i do not see any aggresion yet.it just seemsnlike the two males are building there own nest without the females help.