A Penny for your thoughts?

[jebediah]

So, I called a local bird rescue to see if they had any zebbies that needed a home. We were talking and I explained how I wanted only males to avoid breeding. She promptly told me that you can't house only males together, that they'd "kill each other". I told her I had 2 housed together currently and they did fine except for the occasional squabble. She seemed okay with me having only males after that.

Is this a common belief out there, or is this a random thing? Everything and everyone on here seems to tell me that all males is fine so long as there is enough space and greenery. I was surprised when she told me that they couldn't be housed together. I was just wondering what everyone else thought about this opinion, especially for a bird specialty rescue.

[lovezebs]

jebediah

It depends on one person's personal experience, or what they've heared from somone else.

As I think I've already mentioned somewhere here, a lot depends on which lines your Zebbies come from. I have two brothers, Teddy and Timmy, who tend to get aggressive (although they have mellowed somewhat). Others that I have, are more laid back.

Zebras, are generally pushy and nosy. This can at times escalate to aggression, but that can be true of any species. I find, that if they have enough space, and things to keep them busy, it's not a really big problem.

I don't know if you're a dog person, but Zebbies, are the Terriers of the bird world. They can get growly and cantankerous, and do a lot of yelling and screaming and chasing. On the whole though, unless there is major feather pulling, or bloodshed, I usually let them figure things out on their own.

Did this rescue have any Zebras for adoption?

~Elana~

[jebediah]

lovezebs,

Putting it in terms of terriers makes quite a bit of sense.

She does have quite a few and keeps the males/females housed together. I'm assuming she must throw out the eggs if they're laying since she said they're anti-breeding. I head over there either tomorrow or sunday to take a look-see at their birds. I've met them before and they usually have larger birds so I was surprised to hear they had zebras available.

[lovezebs]

jebediah

Zebras, become available to rescue orginization, when there is a hoarding situation, or a person moves away and can't take birds with them.

I got Max and Micky, from our Humane Society. That had been a hoarding case, where breeding got out of control, and the owner could no longer care for them properly. They were supposed to be two boys, but Micky (a pure white zebra) turned out to be a girl. I had 'four' male Zebras, in a flight, then someone started laying eggs....

Good luck tomorrow (or Sunday). Make very sure that these birds are healthy looking, and ask them if they've had a vet look them over. At times animals from rescues, are not necessarily healthy, so be very cautious. Check their eyes, and their vents. Make sure there Is no discharge from either end of the bird. Don't be shy about asking questions, and examine the birds very carefully. Look at the skin on their feet to determine age. Young birds, should have smooth pinky red feet, without any cracks or scabs. Also, pay attention to their breathing, shouldn't be breathing too hard. Pay attention, that they are not appearing too Itchy, or scratching all the time.

When and if you bring any of them home, keep them in quarantine for several weeks, away from your birds. This is always a good idea, but especially in this situation.

All the best of luck and have fun getting your new feathered friends.

~Elana~

[MiaCarter]

lovezebs - Very apt comparison. Zebras are DEFINITELY the terriers of the finch world!

jebediah - Elana covered everything nicely.
It's just a matter of individual dynamics.
Zebras are more gregarious and bold than many other species, so conflicts tend to be more common amongst zebras.

But to say that you can't house two male zebras together, lest they kill each other is just plain incorrect.
I'm saddened to hear that someone involved in rescue would disseminate this sort of incorrect information. As an avid rescuer myself, one of my primary goals is to inform people and combat those incorrect stereotypes and myths, as so many animals suffer as a result of misinformation.

In fact, housing only males together generally results in an arrangement that's quite harmonious. There's no female to trigger the instincts and hormones that result in aggression, competition, etc.

I'm glad you realized that this generalization was incorrect. I would definitely inform her that harmony among males is the general norm. Those fight-to-the-death relationships are actually quite rare, even within the zebra finch world.
FWIW, I've owned hundreds of zebra finches over the years and I've never had two zebra males fight to the death (in fact, I've never had a serious injury due to zebra fighting) and I've always housed males together.

I'd take Elana's zebras = terriers comparison one step further to say that zebras are the pit bulls (American staffordshire terriers) of the finch world. They get a bad rep thanks to the aggressive actions of a small number of individuals.
And like pit bulls, zebras are super commonplace and as such a common bird, they're more apt to be kept by un-informed bird owners who place them in a less-than-ideal situation (e.g. small, crowded cage in a stressful environment) which then elicits aggressive behaviors.
This, combined with the fact that zebras are kept by more people than perhaps any other finch species (exception: societies), leads to more frequent reports of fighting. But this is simply because there is such a large population. You don't hear of shafttail aggression (and they are quite aggressive in my experience) on a regular basis because relatively few people own shafttails. Zebra fighting is reported more often than shafttail fighting because the zebra population is so much larger. But when all is said and done, I'd wager that the incidence of aggression amongst zebra finches isn't much higher than any other given species.

[Madcat]

Just from my experience , I used to have 2. One plucked and beat up the other male so bad. He died. My zebra experience makes me boil. Bless your hearts for those that have good luck with them.