Wife swapping zebs?

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Astico
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Wife swapping zebs?

Post by Astico » Sat Mar 09, 2019 11:49 am

Hi,

I need some advise on four of a group of six I've been trying to integrate. My Original pair Scarlet and Vision, a lone male, Paragot, who I got to keep Vision and Scarlet's offspring with, but he passed away, and three new, Iolanthie, Loki and Emisha.

Initially it looked like everyone was going to mix ok, but over the next few days, fights started to break out.

I decided to take a step back and split them into pairs, Loki and Iolanthie who seemed to bond from day one, Scarlet and Vision and Paragot and Emisha.

The third pair don't seem to be bonding at all. When they were all getting on Scarlet and Paragot seemed to spend a lot of time together and looked like they were scoping out nesting sites. Emisha and Vision also seemed quite interested in each other, but Scarlet always chased Emisha away and Paragot chased Vision away.

Scarlet has now started to pluck Vision, who is looking very stressed and has started to hold his foot up, although I can't see anything wrong with it and he is eating and drinking fine. I'm hoping he's just knocked it in all the drama!

I've isolated him, with Emisha as he did look like he was being bullied by his original female, but now they're all calling frantically and fluttering at the bars.

I don't know what to do for the best. Is it right to swap their partners? Should I put the original male and new female in another room so they can bond? I've just caught him singing to her, is that a good sign?

I'm at my wits end with them. I'm newish to finches and although I've read pages and pages of info from the internet and I can't seem to find an answer to this problem.

My nearest avian vet is an hour away each way (I didn't know this when I got them), even if I take him I'm afraid of what the journey will do to him.

All three pairs were supposed to sleep in my flight cage at night and have access to the spare room that their cages are in all day. If I let one pair out at a time to stretch their wings the two pairs spend their whole time fluttering around the cage of the other pair.

I was happy to keep them separately in their pairs indefinitely, but everyone is so stressed (including me!) I feel so out of my depth as everything I try just seems to stress them out, but leaving them to it means Vision gets bullied.

I'm only in this position because I allowed them to breed and then couldn't imagine giving up the baby, but then he passed away and here I am! I'd read four was a terrible number to try and keep together, and I did loads of research, so I thought I was doing the right thing.

Any advice?

Icearstorm
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Re: Wife swapping zebs?

Post by Icearstorm » Sat Mar 09, 2019 4:08 pm

Astico

Are the cages right next to each other? If not, putting the cages of the old pairs very close to each other may cut down the screaming, although it may also make bonding with a new partner take longer. You could always try putting one pair in a separate room; keep a lookout for fighting, and see if anything improves. You very well could end up back at square one, but there's also the chance that everything will work out.

Birds may take a few months to get used to free flight, so some nervousness is to be expected. Fighting is less common in larger spaces, so unless you have related birds and intend to breed, then letting all pairs out to fly in the room at the same time will most likely work. If anyone starts getting bullied, they can just fly away; this may not have worked in a single cage, but the extra space of the room should make things less tense. The birds may also separate into stable pairs on their own if they are all out together, and some birds eventually learn which cage is theirs to sleep in, although it may take a while.

Astico
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Re: Wife swapping zebs?

Post by Astico » Sat Mar 09, 2019 8:29 pm

Ah!

Thanks so much for that. The first few days they were all in the big cage together & mostly fine, it's just over the last couple of days.

I tried isolating Vision, my first male, with Emisha as they'd flown in of their own accord, but when I went back to check on them he was pressed again the bars & Scarlet & Paragot were on top. So I just let them all out & turned the light off.

What constitutes fighting bad enough to step in? They properly barge each other off the perches but no blood she'd (so far, please gods!)

Icearstorm
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Re: Wife swapping zebs?

Post by Icearstorm » Sun Mar 10, 2019 12:26 am

Astico

Beak-fencing and occasional chasing is okay, but continuous chasing, birds flying full-speed into the sides of the enclosures when trying to get away, and aggressive pecking anywhere except for the beak are all problems. Plucking isn't good, and birds that are getting plucked may need to be separated, but plucking is not immediately concerning like bloodshed or prolonged chasing (a few hours of continuous chasing can stress and exhaust a bird, especially if it is the one being chased).

Do you have any plants (nontoxic real or fake) or other objects you could put in to help break up the space? Stress perches may be able to help a bit. The birds should still have room to fly horizontally, but adding a few items to the back can give birds a place to hide from aggressors. Birds are also less likely to chase each other if they can each rest outside each other's line of sight. Putting in duplicate food and water sources may also cut down on aggression.

Astico
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Re: Wife swapping zebs?

Post by Astico » Sun Mar 10, 2019 12:13 pm

Hey,

Just wanted to say, I checked in this morning with a certain amount of trepidation, and all four were sitting nicely together. So I opened the cage and let the other two out, and that doesn't seem to have upset things.

Vision and Scarlet appear to be back together (was short separation the way to go to make them realise what they had? :lol: ) and Emisha and Paragot seem to be together a lot.

Phew!

They all hate me though :lol: United against a common enemy!

Thanks so much for your help, it was just a huge relief to know that I'm on the right track with them. I'll keep an eye on Vision and the plucking, but I haven't seen her do it so far today, so hopefully that was just stress, or maybe wanting to nest as she's a horror for that! I have dummy eggs on standby!

I do have fake plants, but I'm going to add some more, and move all the perches around. There's no reason I can't leave the spare cages out just to give everyone a bit more space.

I'll upload some pics once I've figured out how! :lol:

Icearstorm
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Re: Wife swapping zebs?

Post by Icearstorm » Sun Mar 10, 2019 6:35 pm

Astico

Glad everything worked out!

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