Zebra Finch Roosting Box

[NeroFly]

Hi all,

First post here, total newbie.

We're getting a 9'x9' aviary to house our Quail which we keep as pets and for their yummy eggs. As the aviary gives me a lot of height (which I'm not used to, for the past few years the quail have been living in a low run, but I'm tired of crawling round on my hands and knees cleaning up after them), I'm interested in keeping some Zebra Finches in with them.

I'm reading as much as I can about them, but I can't find much information on building a night box for them. Everything I read seems to say something along the lines of 'the best thing to have is an attached bird room that your birds can move between, or failing that, a night box', before going on to say all the amazing things you can do with a bird room. I'm afraid I don't have the space for a bird room, so I'm going to have to persevere with plan b. Does anyone have any basic principles for building something like this?

My plan was essentially for an insulated plywood box, about 1'x2'x1', with perhaps 4 perches running from front to back, with a couple of small holes for them to fly in through. If I understand correctly, they're not particularly good in the dark, so I wondered about lighting the inside with some of those cheap garden solar lights? So the panels would be on the roof, with the light down inside. The light would flick on when the sun went down, and then gradually fade through the night.

I'd also put a shelf in the bottom so I could slide in a few heat pads on cold nights and keep them nice and warm. (I'm in the south of the UK, It doesn't get very cold here, but still drops below freezing from time to time)

Does this sound reasonable, or are they likely to ignore it and find perches elsewhere?

Many thanks!

Marc

[MariusStegmann]

Marc, birds are notional and have their own ideas. If my aviaries roofs were not totally covered, they would roost in the open, even when when it is cold and raining. Especially my gouldians. So I denied them that option and covered the whole roof. In your case, you don't have to worry. Zebrafinches would build nests and sleep in the nests.

[NeroFly]

Thanks for the reply. Do I not have to worry about them getting too cold in winter?

I don't quite understand what you mean about the roof. I was going for a transparent corrugated plastic roof, but I'm happy to pull a tarpaulin over it in the winter if that helps...

[ac12]

May I suggest societies, instead of zebras.

Birds do NOT need a nest to sleep in.
A Nest will trigger mating behavior, which can be disruptive, and lead to unplanned population growth.

Where are you located?
What is the winter climate? If COLD, you may need a place for the birds to retreat into, where it is warmer.

[lovezebs]

NeroFly

If you offer your Zebras some sort of an insulated box with hay in it, they will make a nest for themselves and go in there at night to sleep (not only in cold weather either).

I think that they would be okay in the South end of England, seeing as the Winters are generally mild.

However, I would recommend getting your birds from someone who has an outdoor aviary, whose birds are used to being outside.

If these birds are coming from a breeder who keeps them indoors, or from a Pet Shop, I would begin acclimating them right now while the weather is warm. If you take indoor birds and place them outdoors in cool weather, they are likely to become ill and die.

Regarding the top of your aviary...
I would definitely recommend something not transparent, as birds need shade as well as sun. Could maybe do half transparent, half something else, seeing as we don't want to overheat them or broil their poor brains .

Send us pictures, and good luck.

[NeroFly]

lovezebs

Thanks for your input, it's really helpful. We've built our aviary now and they've been in there about a month, with babies on the way!

We went for a clear roof in the end, but we've put three big leafy plants in there, as well as nest boxes to give them some cover if they want it, but they spend most of their time out in the sun quite happily.

6 of the birds were from an outdoor aviary, and we got two others from a pet shop, so I'm not entirely sure where they came from. We've just had a windy and rainy couple of days, but I've been keeping a close eye on them and they've all fared well through it.

Many thanks!

[lovezebs]

NeroFly

Glad to hear that all is going well.

I absolutely love the picture of the Zebras, they look happy and healthy and so beautiful against the greenery.

[Fraza]

I live in England and agree with above comment to get society's instead of zebras the k ky problem is is that u can't tell female to male apart until you get them home this which if u have qual it would be good for u to have all one gender so the hatchlings don't get killed by the qual