Help Needed for Naughty Male Finches

lovedemfinchies · Post by **lovedemfinchies** » Mon Nov 03, 2008 8:25 pm

Hello Finchforum!

I discovered this forum a couple months ago and it has been a great resource!

I decided to stop lurking and introduce myself, as I am having a problem in my outdoor aviary and need some advice from those of you who are seasoned finch keepers.

I have a lovely outdoor aviary which my husband had built for me in June. I am not new to owning finches, but am new to having such a large enclosure and the ability to own more than a couple pair. I have already had my share of trial and error which has been costly not only $$-wise but also emotionally as I lost several of my new babies in the process *sigh*.

Anyway, things have calmed down over the last 2 months and I think we are past the health problems I was having in the beginning.

Here is my question:

I have a pair of Zebras who are on their second clutch (no one is surprised at that!) I am not a breeder, and while I would like to allow my birds to breed if they want to, I am not in it for any measureable profit.

I kept a lovely male baby from the first clutch because his coloring was so beautiful. As he has gotten older (about 3 mos now) he has begun to get very aggressive with dad. I understand how territorial and bossy Zebras can be. I hoped that perhaps providing junior with his own mate would stop the bickering. I gave him a girlfriend and they have paired up....it has been a couple days, and the males still chase each other around constantly. I haven't seen any injury being done (I can see the aviary all day from my office window), but they are very persistent toward each other and I'm worried that things will escalate.

The aviary is 10 ft long by 4 ft wide by 10 feet tall. I have about 16 birds total. Everyone else gets along peacefully, except these two. I have made sure that I have loads of nests for them to choose from and there are lots of branches for perching.

Is it likely things will settle down, or should I be worried that I will find a dead finch one day? Anybody have any experience to share?

Could the babies that the parents are currently fledging be part of the problem? Will removing them help reduce the territorialism? They have been out of the nest flying for almost two weeks, and I'm not clear as to how soon I could put them in their own cage. The parents do still feed them, although I have seen a couple of them testing the seed feeder.

Lastly, I know some would say to rearrange the perches, etc. but that is simply not practical for the way the aviary is currently set up.

Thanks in advance for all your advice!!

mickp · Post by **mickp** » Tue Nov 04, 2008 4:27 am

if you could post a picture of your aviary it would help. the reason I say that is that we would then be able to see what cover the birds have available to them eg. to be able to hide away from others for a bit of time out.
then again it is zebras who are misbehaving.
whiles zebras are cute little birds they do tend toward being aggressive/pushy in a mixed aviary. given time it wont be just father & son. I'll stop there and suggest a search of previous links regarding zebras.
I am sure though that there are others on here who will be able to help you more than me.

Christopher Smith · Post by **Christopher Smith** » Tue Nov 04, 2008 3:46 pm

I think you may see a decrease in aggression if you add another pair of zebs. Two pairs in the same cage usually have more aggression problems than three or more pair.

If you can only keep two pair you may try removing both pair from the aviary. Then rearrange the food, perching areas and nesting spots. You can then return both pair, at the same time, in a week or two to the aviary. This often stops the aggression.

Mat657 · Post by **Mat657** » Wed Nov 05, 2008 2:52 am

i used to have the same problem with my zebras in the avairy. I do not have a mixed avairy, but the zebra males used to really have a go at each other for a good part of every day. This was while the nest boxes were in (btw there were plenty of nest boxes for them).

I removed the nest boxes, not because of the agressive behaviour but because i wanted them to stop breeding, and wouldn't you know it they settled down and all became freinds.

so if worst comes to worst and no other suggestion works then i would recomend (for what its worth) removing the nest boxes.

lovedemfinchies · Post by **lovedemfinchies** » Wed Nov 05, 2008 7:29 pm

if you could post a picture of your aviary it would help

I am working on this....should have some for you by tomorrow.

Many thanks!!

lovedemfinchies · Post by **lovedemfinchies** » Wed Nov 05, 2008 7:33 pm

Mat657 wrote:I removed the nest boxes, not because of the agressive behaviour but because i wanted them to stop breeding, and wouldn't you know it they settled down and all became freinds.

That is a great idea!! Why didn't I think of that??

Thanks Mat657 and Christopher and Willie for all your help in answering my question.

I am still planning to post pics of my aviary by tomorrow. Would LOVE to get your feedback on design and set-up!! I don't have anyone in my immediate area who has an outdoor planted aviary, so nobody to bounce ideas off of.

Again, THANKS to all for your help!!