Do zebra finches need to be in pairs?

[zeebeez]

Hi,

I read that zebra finches need to be in pairs.. I was wondering if that was true.
I am trying to decide whether I should keep 5 zebra finches or keep 4.
I am also wondering if 4 is a good number to have in a cage.

Any suggestions?

[Sheather]

Zebras are best kept in a single pair or in a flock of six or more. Four is a bad number to have in a cage and five is worse.
Two pairs will fight in most situations unless the cage is enormous, and by that, I mean a walk in aviary or a flight room. If they both have nests, it's guaranteed they will go at it, and the result will oftentimes be the less aggressive pair being plucked bald and harried to the point they may not be able to eat or drink.

Adding a fifth bird is just another spoke in the wheel. Both pairs will attack it, and it will be the brunt of all of their bullying with nobody to stand up for it.

Keeping six or more birds in a large cage with no nesting baskets, boxes, or large food cups which may be viewed as nest sites works out with most zebra finches, but it must be a very large cage, like this.



A small cage where they can't find space away from each other will still result in fighting and chasing.

Each bird will have a partner, and there will be enough birds that no single finch usually gets picked on excessively. But even so, if you add nests to the cage, more likely than not, there will be aggression and chasing again. The degree to which this occurs depends on the birds, but is still less likely to be severe than if there are fewer than six birds in the cage.

Other finches are easier to house in groups, particularity the society finch, which is just as easily bred - more so, perhaps - and much less aggressive.

[Celeris]

zeebeez

I have had nothing but success with my all male colony (mixed zebs and socs), despite the odd number of birds (5). I do have a large cage like Dylan posted above, however, which works quite well for them. I've also "decorated" the cage with plenty of fake foliage around their perches to provide little barriers for the birds to hide behind when things get heated. I can't speak for keeping actual breeding pairs together, but an all-boy cage of multiple birds has been successful in my case. Your experience might be radically different; birds in general are persnickety, but zebras especially so.

I can say that were it not for the uniqueness of my situation (long story), I would not elect to have an odd number of finches. They do seem to prefer to bond with one other, which inevitably leaves an odd man out.

[zeebeez]

We also have a large cage for them such as Dylan posted. We had so. We've had six for a long time but oddly enough only one actually paired up. That couple was always together and looking out for one another. The others were all pretty much independent... There was just one other couple that slept beside each other every night but that's about as close as they were .. I'm not sure if that makes them a "pair"? The other two were not a pair at all and just made friends with everyone.

The one strong couple try to dominate sometimes but cannot due to the number. The others are not strong enough pairs to try to dominate together so that's why I was unsure to keep 4 or 5. I've read about keeping finches as 6 or more and in pairs but I was wondering if maybe it doesn't always apply. They have known each other for more than a year so I figure maybe that makes a difference?

I'm really not sure what qualifies as a "pair" and I really can't see many that have paired up. We have mostly women in the cage so maybe that's why?

[lovezebs]

zeebeez

Well a 'true pair' usually means a bonded , breeding male and female.

That said, you can very definitely have two very closely bonded males, or two females who are very close, who make up a pair.

When you mention five or six, do you mean pairs or individual birds?
I would not recomment an odd number of individual birds, which always leaves an odd man out. This bird, will always get chased away by everyone, which makes for a very unhappy bird.

[sparrowsong98]

zeebeez You could put in a society pair and a zebra pair, but the cage needs to be at least 48X20x20. They wont fight, but NO NESTS. None at all. that will make them fight like crazy

[zeebeez]

Hi Elena,

I mean individual birds.
I know that same sex pairs will bond but it didn't happen with my finches. Most are just friendly with all and sleep alone. It might be because they didn't connect due to age difference and they were kind of left out? I don't know

[zeebeez]

sparrowsong98, that is good to know, thank you. We also don't have nests and I can't remember the exact size of the cage but it was pretty big; it housed six without problems.

[Celeris]

zeebeez

I've read about keeping finches as 6 or more and in pairs but I was wondering if maybe it doesn't always apply.

I believe there is an exception to every rule. Just because a rule of thumb works for most people does not make it necessary in your case.

So the impression I'm getting is that you're asking about an established cage? You currently have five birds in there and have for a year?

If that is the situation, I'd say leave things be, but always be on the lookout in case an issue arises. Zebras are known for personality changes that can throw a peaceful colony into sudden chaos. However, if all is well with your finches, I don't think I'd worry over much about removing the odd bird.

[zeebeez]

We have six ; two males and four females. They have all lived together for over a year.
One of the males is going to a new home now, however.
Therefore, we will be left with 5 and I'm that's why I am not sure if we should keep them that way or reduce our number to four. We don't want to get more birds.
One couple (male and female) are super close and one of the females is their baby. We have another two females and a male (the one who is moving). The male sort of paired up with one of the girls, but not that much. The two other females haven't paired up at all. The little baby gets along with everyone but she's young and I think the other girl is an old bird (she's always been kind of inactive since we first got her and she hasn't gotten sick or anything).
It's the original couple that had the baby that I'm afraid of becoming dominating. The others, not so much. And since none of the females are actually paired up, I thought maybe it would be better to have 3 against 2. The old one won't defend the little one; she does nothing most of the time, and I haven't seen too much interaction between the other two.

[zeebeez]

Also to clarify, the one couple that had the baby are monogamous.
The other male has tried to breed with all the other 3 girls but we have no nests in the cage now so they haven't been able to reproduce. At times, they have just laid an egg on the bottom of the cage and left it there.

[zeebeez]

I am wondering, if it is actually best that we keep 4, would it better to keep the two more active girls together ? Since the older one mostly sleep on the swing and keeps to herself... nobody bothers her currently, but if their personality changes radically, I guess they could ?

[zeebeez]

zeebeez

I have had nothing but success with my all male colony (mixed zebs and socs), despite the odd number of birds (5). I do have a large cage like Dylan posted above, however, which works quite well for them. I've also "decorated" the cage with plenty of fake foliage around their perches to provide little barriers for the birds to hide behind when things get heated. I can't speak for keeping actual breeding pairs together, but an all-boy cage of multiple birds has been successful in my case. Your experience might be radically different; birds in general are persnickety, but zebras especially so.

I can say that were it not for the uniqueness of my situation (long story), I would not elect to have an odd number of finches. They do seem to prefer to bond with one other, which inevitably leaves an odd man out.

Is this also the case for finches that already know each other and who have not paired up after a long time living together ?

[zeebeez]

zeebeez

Well a 'true pair' usually means a bonded , breeding male and female.

That said, you can very definitely have two very closely bonded males, or two females who are very close, who make up a pair.

When you mention five or six, do you mean pairs or individual birds?
I would not recomment an odd number of individual birds, which always leaves an odd man out. This bird, will always get chased away by everyone, which makes for a very unhappy bird.

Is this also the case for birds that have not paired up after living together for a long time ?

[Sojourner]

zeebeez

"Bonding" has more to it than just whether or not they seem to sleep "together". Pairs will preen each other, and generally look for each other all the time, even if they don't cuddle up much or at all.

Earlier this morning I had to temporarily separate my society pair who live alone in a 36x20x20 (roughly) cage. This consisted of simply sliding the divider in with one bird in each half of the cage.

They were noticeably distressed. Both were obviously relieved when I removed the divider after about an hour.

The current pair are male and female, and they have mated and have laid and attempted to sit eggs. However my hen, Pyewacket, was previously one half of a bonded pair - and her bondmate was the obvious female as SHE was the one laying eggs.

When her bondmate died, I got Bambi. After a little while, she bonded to Bambi. It is obviously a different bond. Molly Brown was Pye's protector in the jail at the pet store. Bambi is just who got stuck in the cage with her after Molly died. But they're fully bonded now.

Finches just seem to need a buddy. A SPECIAL buddy. This doesn't HAVE to be an actual mate, particularly not in caged bird populations. In the wild, same sex birds can and do have a sexual bond too - so same sex birds are still sometimes "true pairs" both in captivity and in the wild.

Honestly I don't think it matters much. Pair bonds may be weak or strong without regard to gender or mating behavior. However studies have shown that birds who are allowed to form their own pair bonds make better parents than birds that are stuck together for specific genetic purposes. So - personal choice seems to matter, even for birds. Maybe that's what makes the difference between a "true" bond and whatever the opposite of that would be - free choice.

As for your situation - I would get another zebra and keep it at 6 total. You can keep all 6 in the same cage then. If you try to keep 5, there will be an odd bird out and chances are high that she'll get bullied. Zebras are pretty prone to bullying anyway.

If you get rid of another bird (and I would give the offspring of your M/F pair away to keep only unrelated birds in case of accidental breeding) and are left with only 2 pairs, they may start fighting more. Individual birds like to be in pairs, but a 2-way pair dynamic is much less stable than 3 or more pairs. If you have 4 birds and they start squabbling a lot, and stress perches don't stop it, you'll need to keep each pair in their own cage. Again - 2 birds (even number) but not 3 per cage.