Hey guys I'm a first time bird owner so I'm not entirely sure what's going on with my female finch. We had two finches for about 3 weeks (both female) but unfortunately one got loose and cookie was alone so we got a male zebra finch asap and we've had him for about a week (ninja). Two nights ago I noticed the top of cookies head was red and she had lost some feathers.
im not home 24/7 so I can't always monitor their behavior but when I am home the two never seem to fight or pick at each other. She's active, chirps, eats her food, drinks water, their poop looks normal and plays with ninja. I have never seen him pick at her either or try to attack her in any way.
from two days ago till now her behavior seems normal so I'm not really sure if I should be worried. Please help!
The first two photos are from today and the next two are from two nights ago
Female zebra fench losing feathers (first time owner)
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Alicia
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Female zebra fench losing feathers (first time owner)
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lovezebs
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Re: Female zebra fench losing feathers (first time owner)
Alicia
Hello Alicia, and welcome to the Forum.
This is a gret place for the first time finch owner. You will find that a lot of our members either have Zebra finches, or started out with Zebras, before getting into other species.
Zebra finches, are great beginner birds.
Now to your problem:
Your Ninja boy, is being a Ninja rat, and plucking the feathers from Cookie's head.
This is not necessarily an aggressive behavior, so you would not really see them fighting .
Birds, especially Zebra and Society Finches, love to cuddle together and preen (groom) each other. Some birds, get a little overly enthusiastic about the preening, and start plucking the other bird. At times they will do it, to get feathers to line their nest with, at times out of boredom, and some pluck, because it has simply become a bad habit.
The problem with these 'pluckers' is, that they can literally pluck another bird bald. Also, if the plucking continues indefinitely, eventually the feathers will not grow back.
The good thing is, that if you seperate these two for a while, Cookie's feathers will grow back in no time, with a good diet of hard boiled eggs, greens and good quality finch seed mix.
The bad thing is, that your boy might just start to pluck her all over again when you put them back together.
But first thing's first.
Do you have another cage, so that you could seperate these two little lovers for a few weeks, so that Cookie can grow her hair back? If not, I would recommend getting one. You can park the two cages side by side, so that they can see each other and chit-chat back and forth, keeping each other company.
Once her feathers grow back, we'll figure out how to deal with your Ninja boy.
Posting a couple of pictures of one of my little guys who was plucked, and another picture of him a few weeks later.
Good luck
Elana
Hello Alicia, and welcome to the Forum.
This is a gret place for the first time finch owner. You will find that a lot of our members either have Zebra finches, or started out with Zebras, before getting into other species.
Zebra finches, are great beginner birds.
Now to your problem:
Your Ninja boy, is being a Ninja rat, and plucking the feathers from Cookie's head.
This is not necessarily an aggressive behavior, so you would not really see them fighting .
Birds, especially Zebra and Society Finches, love to cuddle together and preen (groom) each other. Some birds, get a little overly enthusiastic about the preening, and start plucking the other bird. At times they will do it, to get feathers to line their nest with, at times out of boredom, and some pluck, because it has simply become a bad habit.
The problem with these 'pluckers' is, that they can literally pluck another bird bald. Also, if the plucking continues indefinitely, eventually the feathers will not grow back.
The good thing is, that if you seperate these two for a while, Cookie's feathers will grow back in no time, with a good diet of hard boiled eggs, greens and good quality finch seed mix.
The bad thing is, that your boy might just start to pluck her all over again when you put them back together.
But first thing's first.
Do you have another cage, so that you could seperate these two little lovers for a few weeks, so that Cookie can grow her hair back? If not, I would recommend getting one. You can park the two cages side by side, so that they can see each other and chit-chat back and forth, keeping each other company.
Once her feathers grow back, we'll figure out how to deal with your Ninja boy.
Posting a couple of pictures of one of my little guys who was plucked, and another picture of him a few weeks later.
Good luck
Elana
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Sally
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Re: Female zebra fench losing feathers (first time owner)
You've gotten great advice already, I just wanted to welcome you to the forum! There's lots of good reading at www.finchinfo.com, where there are many articles on finch care and behavior, even plucking. If you put your general location in your profile, it makes it easier to answer locale-specific questions later on.
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Alicia
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Re: Female zebra fench losing feathers (first time owner)
Hi Elana thank you for the tips. when I am home with them I'm always watching them so it's weird that I never noticed the plucking behavior. Unfortunately the behavior looks like it is continuing since her bald spot is moving further down.
I've incorporated hard boiled egg into her diet to help her get back on track. As for having another cage I unfortunately do not since these are my first pie of birds but it looks like I will have to invest in one asap.
I've incorporated hard boiled egg into her diet to help her get back on track. As for having another cage I unfortunately do not since these are my first pie of birds but it looks like I will have to invest in one asap.
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lovezebs
- Mod Extraordinaire
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Re: Female zebra fench losing feathers (first time owner)
~Elana~
Linnies~ Canaries ~ Zebras ~ Societies ~ Gouldians ~ Orange Cheeks ~ Shaft Tails ~ Strawberries ~ Red Cheek Cordon Bleu ~ Goldbreasts ~ Red Brows ~ Owls ~ Budgies ~ Diamond Firetails ~ Javas ~ Forbes Parrot Finches ~
Linnies~ Canaries ~ Zebras ~ Societies ~ Gouldians ~ Orange Cheeks ~ Shaft Tails ~ Strawberries ~ Red Cheek Cordon Bleu ~ Goldbreasts ~ Red Brows ~ Owls ~ Budgies ~ Diamond Firetails ~ Javas ~ Forbes Parrot Finches ~