Zebra Finch Hand Taming!

[Flautista]

Hi, everyone! I'm new to the forum. I have two zebras named Bohuslav and Eggberta, or Bo and Berta for short. I've had them about five months now, and recently I've started trying to hand tame them.

...Which has been very surprising! It was kind of a silly idea, since I've heard how notoriously hard it's supposed to be to do this. They are certainly far from tame, but I've had some interesting results so far. At the beginning of this week, I started putting my arm in the cage for about fifteen minute periods. Toward the end of the first day, Bo started to peck curiously at my arm. It turns out he really likes my arm hairs, and today he actually perched on my arm to get some! What's interesting is that he seems to like my arm but is still afraid of my hand.

Berta's definitely less tame, but she's been sitting on a clutch of eggs, so I've had more time with Bo. But when I hold millet in my hand, she has no problem chowing down, something that Bo is still wary of.

So has anyone had any success with taming zebras? I was really surprised since these guys came from a pet store instead of a breeder. I'm no finch expert by any means, but I'm guessing they're comfortable around me because we've shared a room ever since I got them? Any input would be great!

[EyesofFreedom]

First off welcome to the forum...

The last clutch mine had I was able to hand tame...

Every day from the day they hatched I handled them for about 15 minutes... by the time they fledged they were used to it... When I gave them away they would readily perch on your finger and let you lightly stroke their backs and breasts...

[Flautista]

Thanks for the reply! Sorry it took so long to answer you! I've been having computer troubles this week.

Did it not disturb the parents when you held the babies? Isn't there a chance of hurting them when they're that young? That's a really cute picture, by the way!

[EyesofFreedom]

Thanks...

It can disturb the parents but I keep the time to a minimal... just 15 mins a day...

You handle them very gently... they are fragile yet robust... like all young...

[Zebrafincher]

I was interested in this, and tried offering my finger to my star finch, Merl. He often stays quietly on his perch. He responded by nipping the end of my finger, and flying off! LOL! Guess I'm not going to be successful with that one!

[Flautista]

Do it every day! I got Bo to perch on my hand for about five minutes, but it took weeks to get him to that point.

[EyesofFreedom]

Consistency is the key... Start by getting him used to your hand being in the cage... then try moving your hand closer and closer to him... once you reach the point where you can put your hand on a perch beside him without him flying off then try and see if they will perch on your finger...

[TheWhiteFinchAviary]

I really like this post! I'm glad to hear your socialization with your Finch pair is working so well. Congratulations on your progress to you and everyone else who has hand-tame Finches! It is extraordinary and not as common as you'd think.

I have also been able to hand-tame both adults and babies by just spending time with them consistently as others have said. Living in the same room as them greatly speeds up this process in my experience as well. When I socialize with parent-raised babies I leave them inside of the cage so the parents are not stressed by it. This is made easier by spending time with your hands inside of the parents' cage first. In my experience babies and parents both panic if separated from each other.

[Flautista]

I unfortunately won't be able to tame the babies. They passed away yesterday, the third clutch to do so. I took out the nest, so hopefully I can tame these two and then in a few months we'll try again with tamed babies!

[finchmix22]

When babies dies young, there is usually some culprit, such as; infection, coccidosis, chlamydia, etc. I'd treat the pair before the next breeding cycle for Worms, Parasites, mites, etc. I use Worm Away, Baycox/Baytril, Ivermectin and Ronex12% for my quarantine and then yearly I do Worm Away, Ivermectin only.

[Nyenna]

Aww Flautista, sorry for your losses

I am also brand new to the forum, and quite new to finches. When I read your post though, my first thought was maybe the finches you have are clutchmates and maybe that's why their babies are dying? If they both came from the same place, I think there's a good chance they could be. I ran into that problem with my first 2 societies

I now have 4 societies from different places and 2 brand new fledglings

[Flautista]

I'm actually not sure what could be causing the baby issue because there could be so many things.

Since I bought them from a pet store, it's very possible they're siblings. I also have no idea how old they are because of this, but I'm assuming it's not even a year yet.

I've been keeping an eye out for symptoms of disease, and I spray them and the cage with an anti-mite formula. The droppings seem normal, besides being large due to breeding time.

Another reason might be that my roommate was caring for them over the weekend and I came back to no food and very little water in the cage--she hadn't changed them! The babies were alive and chirping loudly that night, and I quickly refilled everything, but they had died the next morning.

I'm just confused about the mortality. I'm willing to write the first two off as inexperienced parenting, but how long does this usually take to be overcome?

[Martie]

If they are otherwise healthy, it could be they are too young - or related. This last one I would definitely blame on the lack of food. Very often, if the parents feel there isn't enough food to support their babies, they give up.

Hopefully the next clutch will go well for you.

[Flautista]

Update! We had an adventure today!

Both Bo and Berta will perch on my arm now! I have a video, but uploading's going to have to wait a bit. So today I was putting my arm right outside the cage opening, and Bo would perch on it and go back in. At least, that was the idea....

Construction noises next door spooked them and they flew around my room. Bo went back in just fine, but I had to pick up poor Berta, who was terrified and couldn't move from my curtains. She sat in the cage, not moving, her eyes squeezed shut. I was freaking out and preparing a Macgyver heat lamp to treat her for shock when she takes a big poop and starts hopping around like normal. She even chowed down on some millet from my hand!

So that situation could've ended a LOT worse. But I probably reversed a lot of the taming progress I've made. Oh well, haha.

[TheWhiteFinchAviary]

Since I bought them from a pet store, it's very possible they're siblings. I also have no idea how old they are because of this, but I'm assuming it's not even a year yet.

So sorry for your losses, and that no one alerted you to their genetics. That is very cruel to do to someone.

Most of the pet store breeders I've met have told me they do not ask for genetics, they don't ask for leg bands, they don't ask mutations or ages, etc. They pay as little as $5 per bird and often times will have sick or injured birds in overcrowded cages. It is pretty evident when you ask the pet store employees these questions and their response to each one is "I don't know." There are exceptions of course and a few wonderful stores have beautiful setups for their birds but they are far and few between in my experience.

Inbred babies will often die before they can fully mature, especially in a brother-sister pairing. Often times they will look 100% healthy but seemingly die for "no reason" while the unseen reason is actually inbreeding. If they show any other signs of some other illness or disease then it would be noticeable and you would be able to treat it, but it does not sound as if there were any other symptoms.
"Inbreeding Causes Early Death in Zebra Finches"

Another reason might be that my roommate was caring for them over the weekend and I came back to no food and very little water in the cage--she hadn't changed them! The babies were alive and chirping loudly that night, and I quickly refilled everything, but they had died the next morning.

If they were left without food or water then they did not have anything to feed their babies. Adults will show signs of severe or fatal dehydration after hours without water while hatchlings will show signs in minutes. I would assume that is the cause of death in this case due to when you said they passed.