Zebra Finch advice welcome

19 Oct 2009, 06:39

Was gonna post about broken legged female, whether she'd still breed and/or be a decent mother. ... but magpies attacked the cage while i was out yesterday and chomped my spunky male bird in half.

I'm fairly certain that the female got her broken leg by the woman at the petshop putting her in the box. (probably why she offered to exchange it on saturday when i spoke to her).....

But traumatised twice in 3 days: broken leg (but flighty), then her mate chomped by magpies.

I've listened to some audio files online and pretty sure he was courting her, even with her broken leg.

x2!

I believe all life is important, and understand the maggies were only after an easy meal (no, doesnt help with the pain of losing him tho).

So i guess my question is: should i keep the female, albeit traumatised and get another male. Or probably take her back, and get another male. ...

Edit: Or, if i keep her and get another pair to breed ... will there be conflict between the existing female and a new one? (or being social animals, she'll let the other 2 'get horizontal'

)

19 Oct 2009, 08:50

Hi Cybermage. I was at a pet shop I brought a zeb hen with a missing foot. I seen here there all by herself and i thought i'd give her a better life. Instead of her being all alone in the cage. Because no 1 wanted her. I call her peggy

and she does just fine with all the other birds. Not a problem. Just as long as your bird isn't in pain with it and can still live a good life. Why not keep her. I guess it's all up to you. Any how good luck in what you do.

19 Oct 2009, 08:54

Sorry about your unfortunate incidences. The magpies are more likely to be butcher birds and if you have your birds in a barred budgie-type cage that is like putting a bag of lollies on an ant heap and not expecting them to eat them. Barred caged are really only for indoors. If you want to breed then I'd get a new pair, the broken legged female is best swapped if the shop is still willing. The leg if not too bad may heal if you splint the leg and keep the bird confined for a couple of weeks so that it doesn't get too flighty. It takes a lot to stop zebras from breeding so she would brobably still breed even with one leg but you'll have more sucess with sound birds. If you want to keep her she probably wont cause that much of a problem as long as you're new pair are well bonded before she joins them.

19 Oct 2009, 10:15

Agree probably Butcher Birds . . Love the Magpies around here and encourage them by feeding . . They nest in our trees and dont dive bomb us or the grandkids . . they must be familiar with us and accept us as part of their territory . . AND . . they are great hawk repellants, particularly to that scourge of all aviary inhabitants the Goshawk, and they will discourage Butcher Birds though not with the same intensity . . Blue Faced Honeyeaters do likewise and are similarly welcomed . . Have never seen a Maggy or BFH on my aviaries

Regarding the Zeb . . I would hold onto it as because of its value to the petshop (zilch) it would probably be euthanased . . birds with one leg can lead a relatively normal life in the aviary situation

19 Oct 2009, 10:53

First things first.
Do something to make your cage/aviary "nasty preditory bird" proof.
Then make the decission you are comfortable with in regard to the Zeb hen with the damaged leg. (As already said you could try splinting the leg as if she is not in pain she should survive OK but may not be able to mate very successfully)
Then if you decide to keep her get another pair, all 3 will live comfortable together without conflict. Zebs are very social.
Best of luck with whatever you decide.
LML

19 Oct 2009, 11:55

Update: took the white female (Tutu) back and exchanged it for a hyper-active brown colored finch.

Got a male to replace the one that got chomped, tho he's rather sedentary.... or just content to watch her bounce around the cage.

Also picked up some moulting/mating/travel/illness & nesting food (avilac stress health blend), but only she's been eating, voraciously i might add. I think she's adjusting well to her new environment, but other than when i move around my room, he's just perched in one spot ... just like my former female with the broken leg was a few days ago. ;)

I'm hoping he's just adjusting from the move, and will eat some time... and then in a week or 2, maybe some eggs. heh

21 Oct 2009, 06:26

Hey, after some more advice.... heh, the torment continues ....

So the 2 new birds are happy and reasonably chirpy, tho i think they may be related b/c he doesnt seem interested in 'wooing' her.

... but this question pertains to something i've noticed in this pair:

They're fluttering their wings standing still and biting at what seem to be itches on their bellies and on top/underneath their wings. .... i didnt ask if the petshop owner had wormed them. ... could this be a sign of worms? or an itch from some backyard grass i've put in the cage for them to put in their nest?

If it's worms: do i need some special feed? or (i suspect), need to directly feed them some kind of birdie anti-biotic?

If it's the grass: what should i avoid putting in the cage? they seem to love the grass seed heads that i put in, but not much else. heh.

-- I know i shouldnt expect these 2 to be going for it straight away

... just that the first pair i had were really keen on each other from the get go. --

21 Oct 2009, 11:45

You may have had a lucky fluke first time round with a pair that had started to bond in the pet shop.

So wait patiently, particularly if one is rushing arround madly, as this would indicate to me that that bird is perhaps a little unsettled with her new environment still.
Beeing related will definately not make a difference to his interest

, regretfully Zebs fequently prefer their sibs. Incestuous little things.
Having just put 3 pairs of Zebs in seperate locations to the rest to breed I am noticing that they are rushing round more than usuall.
And those in a smaller cage are more unsettled than those in aviarys, cause my birds are used to the freedom of an aviary.
The scratching could be feather lice

catch them carefully and inspect the feathers, particularly the wings and back of the neck.
"Swipe" is good for dealing with this, you buy it from dealers like with Amway and stuff like that.
Or others may have their own brews that they use.
LML

21 Oct 2009, 16:44

finchbreeder wrote: The scratching could be feather lice catch them carefully and inspect the feathers, particularly the wings and back of the neck.
"Swipe" is good for dealing with this, you buy it from dealers like with Amway and stuff like that.
Or others may have their own brews that they use.
LML

With the first pair, i did buy "Avi-Care Bird mite and Lice spray", and i have sprayed them [the 2 new ones] (the petshop owner said i should spray them once a week in case they get lice // and as a preventative measure). Have noticed that they're only 'scatching/pecking' in the morning....

Other than that, i'm building my own bird cage from various materials, high ceiling, decent width. investigating a plant or to i may place in the bottom for them to munch on, or decimate

.

Current cage is far too small. tho the former cage was wider, but much lower. New construction in progress has length and height. should be pretty good i think. heh. Lots of love going into it, so they better damn well like it HAHAHAH

24 Oct 2009, 19:27

OK, moved the new pair to the new cage. Bigger n better, with lots of room to fly from side to side and they are loving the freedom to fly around more than the stuffy cage i had them in (tho apparently a "normal" cage for a pair (!!!)).

I know it's only been 5 days, and i have moved them from cage to cage but i did start looking online for "finch aphrodisiacs", tho much to my horror the majority of pages i found involved using finch brains AS an aphrodisiac !!! (truly disgusting)

I have read that lebanese cucumbers may be an aphrodisiac for finches, so i raced up the road and bought some .... but they dont seem to like eating anything but bird seed. (have put apple in the cage before which didnt get eaten either).

A housemate, who has owned a finch in the past, told me that if i 'deprive' them of seed, they'll eat stuff i give them anyway. But if they're not into 'treats' like apple, pear, cucumber, or anything but bird seed .... Any suggestions?