Hearing scary stories about Zebras

Geordie · Post by **Geordie** » Fri Jul 25, 2008 12:02 am

I tamed a couple of Zebras recently and they are canny if not rather boring birds (the 2 I tamed anyway), but basically no trouble at all. But I am hearing lots of horror stories about them being very aggressive and problematic to keep, is this true? I was considering getting a couple along with some Owl finches but I am not so sure now after reading some posts here.

Maybe I should just stick with the Java species (IMO the best

)

atarasi · Post by **atarasi** » Fri Jul 25, 2008 2:37 am

Zebras are just a pain to keep if kept in a mixed flight or if you're breeding them. For me, I don't like them much mainly because they're too commonplace and their constant "peep peep".

ruth · Post by **ruth** » Fri Jul 25, 2008 3:31 am

I keep them because I am a novice at keeping birds and I dont have a heated avery. (I was given my first lot of zebras by an elderly man who had to dismantle his avery and move house). I thought that they would be easy to keep as every body has them and read that they would be hardy for the winter. I have them in an avery with bengalese and a pair of diamond doves.

I have never found them to be overly aggresive, they will occaionaly peck each other on the head but it seems to be more in an affectionate sort of way, and I have a female that will pop her head out of the nesting box and hiss at the others if she has babies but thats about it. They dont hurt each other. They spend most of their time preening each other which is quite amusing to watch as some times they are quite rough!

I think that they are ok as long as you have plenty of room so that they can get out of each others way if they need to and I always put plenty of nesting boxes in when I want babies and Ive never had any squabling over nests.

I know that they are common place but I thought they would be easy and didnt want to get out of my depth. I would love to have Gouldians or owls, perhaps one day I could have a heated avery. I do enjoy keeping them, I think they are funny little things, they have different personalities. I think the key is to have as much room for them as you can.

mickp · Post by **mickp** » Fri Jul 25, 2008 5:24 am

Zebras are an aggressive little finch when kept in a mixed aviary with other more passive species of finch, for example gouldians or owls.
there is a very good list of passive/aggressive finches in the finch info centre.
will never keep them again myself, I consider them to be feathered rodents. they breed quicker than rabbits or mice.

dfcauley · Post by **dfcauley** » Fri Jul 25, 2008 6:46 am

Well.... there is your answer.

But on the up side.... I think if kept with their own in a flight cage they are fine if you don't have more than one male.
I had a pair for my first finches and loved them. They are busy little birds and devoted to their mate. But... when you mix them with other birds it just doesn't work. They will soon or later get agressive. Just ask Featherharp. She just found that out .

I don't have any now because they were causing too much trouble in my aviary. In fact I had to remove a shaftail yesterday for the same reason.

But I wouldn't call them common.... I think they are great birds for some people who just want a couple of birds.

FeatherHarp · Post by **FeatherHarp** » Fri Jul 25, 2008 7:08 am

I loved having my two Zebra guys and they were very sweet for a long time but something changed and they started bullying my Gouldians around...and the Gouldians held their own with the Zebras but my two little Owls always had to run away from the fight. So I decided to rehome them. I sure do miss their cute beeping sounds though!

They were just like alarm clocks....right about 6am they would beep-beep.....beep-beep.....beep-beep until I came and turned on the cage light.

ruth · Post by **ruth** » Fri Jul 25, 2008 9:06 am

Well I still like them, I suppose because they are mainly all I've ever had and its what I'm used to. I had more problems with my canaries than my zebras.
I must admit they do breed like mad but I've never had any problem stopping them.

poohbear · Post by **poohbear** » Fri Jul 25, 2008 1:08 pm

Zebras are a cracking little birds...not bothered what others say.But when you go into more exotic species they tend to take second place.Sometimes I wish I just had my early Zebras...No hassle or problems (Well nothing serious) I loved 'em to death...Little Characters.
Paul.

ruth · Post by **ruth** » Fri Jul 25, 2008 2:09 pm

Here here!

Who could resist this little face?

dfcauley · Post by **dfcauley** » Fri Jul 25, 2008 6:43 pm

So cute!

FeatherHarp · Post by **FeatherHarp** » Fri Jul 25, 2008 7:34 pm

Darling...I love the expression on his face!!

The caption for the picture should be: "Ahhhhh Warm Sunshine....It Doesn't Get Any Better Than This!"

OR maybe: "I'm Too Sexy For My Feathers"

hilljack13 · Post by **hilljack13** » Fri Jul 25, 2008 10:25 pm

ruth wrote:Here here!

Who could resist this little face?

RUTH!!!!! PLEASE TELL ME YOU HAVE ONE TO SELL!!!!

ruth · Post by **ruth** » Sat Jul 26, 2008 5:39 am

Hes the only male black cheek I have. Hes my little fatty. His name is Pepe'.

ruth · Post by **ruth** » Sat Jul 26, 2008 5:42 am

Featherharp- Ha! I just saw the "I'm too sexy for my feathers " bit. Ha. Thats the face that he pulls when I talk to him, he goes all silly.

williep · Post by **williep** » Thu Jul 31, 2008 10:05 am

Well here's my 2c on the topic for what it's worth.

I have a wonderful pair of black cheeks and a split pair (BC female and normal male), but I keep them in separate breeding cages. They are wonderful rewarding birds as they breed so easy, very hardy and not fussy eaters, but should never be kept with passive species and in your case owls. They are aggressive when nesting and will chase and luck the owls if given the opportunity.

That being said, I've successfully kept and bred Zebras/Shaftails/Javas in the same aviary with no problems. I love Javas too, they won't get pushed around by any finch species and the Zebs learn this quickly. Shaftails are just disguised Zebs IMO, more or less same personalities. I've never had problems using the above setup, so give that a try but mixing them with any passive finch is looking for trouble.