Pondering over Javas and Whydahs

[flrancho]

A few years ago I got a pair of Pin-tailed Whydahs. I was bad and didn't research them, so I didn't know how aggressive they are. For quite a while they weren't any problem, but after reaching around two years of age the male became very aggressive.

I removed him and the female to a different cage but found he would tend to intimidate her and cause the female to keep her distance from him. When he lost his long tail I placed him and the female in a new, larger 6 ft flight cage. I figured out of breeding, he may not be as aggressive. Wrong!

He became even worse. I saw him grab my Orange Cheek by the top of the head and dangle him off a perch. I saw him do likewise to a male Zebra, except dangling him by his wing. A second male Zebra, which is very old and can't see or fly well was a constant target of his. It got so bad that I was fearful the Whydah was going to kill this Zebra. He would pluck him nearly bald and even scratch at him with his feet/talons. He struck me as a fighting rooster with how he wad being.

I moved him back to the other cage after all this, without the female. He doesn't seem to care that he's alone that much. I feel bad though because he is in such a small cage, can't do his display flight, and the male still sits there and calls to her and fans his tail out as he can still see all the other birds.

Since then I've gotten a pair of Java Sparrows. They seem to get along well with the female Whydah and i've read they can be goid companions for more aggressive finches. I've often wondered if I could move my smaller birds to another cage, or wait until the time in which my smaller birds pass, and try adding the male Whydah back in with the female and Javas.

What do you think, would they get along, of would the Whydah attack the Javas?

[tinysparrow]

hey,
i have a pair of javas and i find that they can totally handle themselves against other aggressive birds. i have a red throated parrot finch who is a menace to everyone (he plucks and intimidates like your whydah does!) and i put him with my javas for a bit and they totally were the bosses of the cage. i found that they really didn't care for his antics and would show him with their beaks and feet that they wanted him to keep his distance. they would point their beaks at him and tell him to back off with their feet as well so he didn't crowd them on the perches. those feet are really big! eventually put the parrot finch on his own but for the time that he was with them the javas were totally in charge!

interestingly enough, i have one male and one female java, and the female actually is the most assertive of the two. how do you find yours to be?

hope this helps a bit