very much a newby

[Sue55]

Hi, My name is Sue,
I joined this forum yesterday to try to obtain information about zebra finches. I had aquired one from my son as he didn't want him anymore, then I bought a female from a pet store (I couldn't find a breeder).
First thing the male did was jump on her back. Horny little so and so, thought he was rude. Then I bought my friend a finch because she only had one girl, and I read they are to be in pairs. First thing the new male did was jump on her back. So I assumed that is what they do.

My two are trying to build a nest. They have two to choose from, which they use both, but today they insist of making a nest of the food dish. I guess I will have to buy one of the longer tubular kinds. The female likes to take a bath daily in the water dish. I put a bathing tub in their but she won't go to the bottom of the cage. I've never seen the male take a bath, Horny and Dirty bird.

Now, my female, who I thought had turned sickly, was looking fluffed up and dishevelled. She seemed to be sleeping alot too, in a nest. But yesterday she looked better. She has always ate, drank and was active when not sleeping. She eats all the time. Lil Piggy. For the last two days she seems normal except sometimes her feathers look ruffled and puffed.
Any ideas or suggestions will be great. Also, "Vitamins"? I read another post that said they need their vitamins.
Sue

[Icearstorm]

Sue55
If you don't have room for more birds or someone to take them from you, don't give them a nest or nesting materials. They will be just fine, should not breed, and the female should not lay eggs often, keeping her healthier. Replacing the food dish with a hopper feeder will keep them from nesting there; just make sure they know how to eat from it before taking away their original dish. Check the level of seed in a regular dish frequently; seed hulls can pile up, making it look like there is food left when nothing is actually edible.
As for the non-bathing male, mist him a little bit with a spray bottle every few days and he should look fine. His feathers may not look any different after several weeks of this; in that case, it might not be worth the effort to bother. Neither of my gouldians bathe either, yet they seem to keep their feathers in nice condition as is and give me dirty looks when I do mist them, so I just leave them be.
A regular parakeet or finch seed mix will do as the base diet. Provide eggfood or cooked egg with eggshell about twice a week for non-breeding birds; this provides protein and calcium. Supplying greens every day is good, though you may need to reduce the amount if your birds experience diarrhea.
As for the female being fluffy, get a heating pad or heat lamp for her. This will help her conserve body heat and enable her to spend more time getting better. Make sure they can get away from the heat source; if either bird starts panting, move the heat source, as it is too close. Separating the female may help reduce the chance of illness spreading (if it is commutable) and give her more time to rest.
Make sure you have a ground oyster shell mix, cuttlebone, or some calcium supplement your birds eat, or else the female could become egg bound. Other vitamin supplements may not be needed if you are feeding them a variety of dark leafy greens and egg; too many fat-soluble vitamins (A, D, E, and K) can even kill a bird. Powdered vitamins are often put on their moist food (it does not stick to seed and will get removed when the bird shells the seed), while liquid vitamins (Iodine drops, for example) are added to water. Birds may reject food or water with vitamins if they don't like the taste, so watch out for that. I occasionally use Rept-cal Calcium with D3 and Herptivite for the birds with no ill effects. Note that bird and human (and probably reptile and fish) vitamin supplements often do not contain what they say they do, leading to possible overdoses and death.

[Sue55]

Oh, so no nest means no breeding? I didn't know that. Okay, so how long are eggs layed from the time of breeding? How do you tell if she's... with eggs?

Thank you for all the tips. There is lots I don't know. I have given them eggshell but not eggs.

The girl looked okay, then I cleaned the cage and she did the feather thing again. Perhaps is just nerves.

Susan

[Icearstorm]

Sue55
I have heard it may be anywhere from one to sixteen days after mating, so I am not completely sure. My birds seem to lay after five to seven days. An animal carrying eggs is called gravid. There is often no way to be sure until she has layed, though she may be a little lethargic or go and devour a bunch of cuttlebone and eggshell prior to laying. Birds generally lay eggs in the morning or evening.
If she is staying puffed up for more than a minute at a time, keep an eye on her; she is most likely ill. A bird may naturally have "loose" feathers, rather than ones that are held smooth against the body, but you will only know after learning what is normal for your birds. A few of my society finches always look a bit poofy, but act lively and behave as the others do, so I know it is normal for them.
If she fluffs up for a few seconds and them shakes out her feathers, this is normal and is a sign of either a content or annoyed/nervous bird. (Why must birds have the same reactions for opposite feelings?) I don't know the technical name for the behavior, but falconers call it "rousing" when a hawk does it. A content bird will only do this every once in a while, most often while preening or after a bath, while an annoyed one will do this almost constantly to get whatever is bothering it off (bug may be crawling on it or a feather may be going the wrong way).

[Sue55]

Well, I guess I will have to wait to take the nests out to see if they lay an egg. If she is with egg, then I don't want to stress her out more.
She looks even better today. I think she's on the mend.

Sue

[Icearstorm]

Sue55
She probably won't have a huge problem if you remove the nests right away. Removing nesting areas may stop her from laying more eggs; she might just lay one on the floor and then stop. If you do keep the nests in (or seed dish they think is a nest), putting a few fake eggs in should discourage her from laying a full clutch. I don't know how they control it, but my birds stop laying as soon as there are eight eggs in the nestbox (I have several society finches who share the same nest).
That's good. It may take her a week or so to get well, but so long as she is improving it doesn't sound like there is much cause for concern.

[Sue55]

and where does one get fake eggs.
and on another note, I thought my cage was plenty big, apparently it isn't. I told my husband we need a bigger cage. His reply, "for what, they are tiny tiny birds" LOL
My cage is 25 height, 25.5 wide and 16.5 in depth. It's huge as far as I'm concerned but I've read it isn't big enough.

Susan

[w.l.]

Sue55

Your cage is certainly not huge, but is actually the acceptable minimum size for a pair of zebras.
You could keep them.in that, though of course the bigger the better.

[Icearstorm]

Sue55

Fake eggs can be bought online. Or you could make them out of plain clay, which can be bought at pretty much any art store.
I agree with w.l.; zebra finches are nearly domesticated and should do fine in a small cage, though bigger cages are better.

Just a tip for this site: members may not receive notifications unless you respond using the button at the bottom left of a member's reply that says "@u." The reply box will then show "@(person's username)" or something similar to "url=http://www.finchforum.com/memberlist.ph ... rofile&un=(person's username)][b(person's username)[/b[/url." Once you post, the member you mentioned will get a notification that they have been mentioned so they can be directed to the thread and reply. This may help you get responses faster.

[Sue55]

w.l.

Thank you for that tip. I am just getting used to the site.

Susan

[Sue55]

Icearstorm
I replied to the wrong person. I am just getting used to the site and thank you for the tip.

Susan

[Icearstorm]

Sue55
No problem! It's a nice community and you will be glad you joined