Zebra Finch advice welcome

[finchbreeder]

Zebs are very basic finches and generally like a very basic diet.
Normal finch seed and a little seeding grass and of course cuttle fish, and a little clean sand.
Appart from that just provide a couple of nests, they like to have a choice and handfulls of dry grass and even a torn up white tissue for nesting material and away they will go when they are ready.

[Huw.D]

I have heard of people putting seed on the cucumber to try and entice them.
Do you put it in just cut in two? If so you might try and grate it.
My zebs go nuts for cucumber they don't like apple or carrot though.

[cranberry]

All zebs need is a good quality seed, clean water, some grit and cuttle bone. That's it. They are the easiest finch to keep and breed. Mine are going nuts at the moment. Every box has eggs/babies and I spend probably 10 minutes a week on maintaining their aviary.

[finchbreeder]

Anti Mutation people should now stop reading.
Not a lot happening with my Zebs at the moment, but this is because I like to breed colour mutaions. So all my Zebs are in their own aviary with NO NESTS, and I select a pair for each of the other aviarys and one or two smaller cages that I use as breeding cages. So right now I only have 3 pair selected off and they seem to want either the mate of the bird in the adjoining aviary or out of this small cage . BUT I do have a young Zeb that I have just rung, cause one pair in the Zeb aviary decided that I may not think they should breed but I could just go chase myself. So they built a nest under the tile that shades the water bowl, laid 7 eggs and hatched 1 chick, now fully feathered and hopping round the bottom of the aviary.
Yes I could have stopped them but they earnt it.
So the main point to Zeb breeding is do they want to? If yes it will happen despite everything we do.
LML

[Cybermage]

All zebs need is a good quality seed, clean water, some grit and cuttle bone. That's it. They are the easiest finch to keep and breed. Mine are going nuts at the moment. Every box has eggs/babies and I spend probably 10 minutes a week on maintaining their aviary.

Yep, clean water. Decent feed (am trying the seed on cucumber idea, but i think they're picking around the cucumber, ). The cuttle bone i have in the cage they seem to like nibbling on, perhaps for the salt content. Am yet to hear the swish swish of their beaks on it, which they do on the various perches thru-out the cage. They're definitely enjoying the freedom of movement - the cage is even larger than the one at the pet store, tho easily moveable by 2 hands. heh.

Even if they dont breed, i'm happy that they're happy. Tho my housemate is unhappy now b/c i have finches and he doesnt. So he's asked if he can get one and put it in my large cage. (he knocked his cage over outside and his little Bibi went flying high, probably the same magpies or butcher birds that got my little Yepyep).

[Huw.D]

I put my zebs together in a budgie style cage that sits in our share house living room and they are just about to fledge their second nest after about 3-4months. I would say zebs being zebs yours will definitely breed once the pair has bonded.
What colours do your have?

[Cybermage]

I put my zebs together in a budgie style cage that sits in our share house living room and they are just about to fledge their second nest after about 3-4months. I would say zebs being zebs yours will definitely breed once the pair has bonded.
What colours do your have?

The male appears to be a 'typical' brown cheeked type (if there is a standard), and the female is brownish grey with the black tear-drop extending from the eyes.

They both share the same nest (a fake wicker-cane type i bought cheap), they havent constructed a nest of their own, but do sleep in the one provided.

I do believe they're slowly bonding to each other (probably a bad idea to buy a new m/f pair, so i'm glad it's pouring in sydney - so my housemate doesnt go n get one, regardless of how social they may be)....

I guess i am a little disappointed that i lost my first male (and traded in my broken-legged female), ... that they definitely bonded from day 1. He looked after her after she arrived, and she "mewed" like a forelorn cat after he died.

But the pair are bonding i believe. They're not grooming each other like the first pair, but have started "kissing" or pecking at each others beaks. heh. They definitely dont like apple or cucumber, so i'll try some pear and orange over the next week or so....

In hindsight, i probably shouldve kept the first female, hoping that a new male might look after her like 'Yepyep' (first male) did, tho i'm sure she's no longer in the land of the living. quote: "i'd never give my customer a bird like that" (shopkeeper when i returned first female).

The cage i built is 65cm wide, 41cm deep and 60cm high. She loves flying from side to side from the perches i've secured in the middle of the cage on either side. He prefers jumping around on the several perches in the cage, or onto the high bar/perch i have at the top of the cage. Definite improvement on the 37cm W, 34cm D, 44cm H cage i had them in originally. Esp that the fake nest i provided took alot of flying room in the small cage.

[Cybermage]

Next post: ok, ok, i did something naughty ..... i went and got a 2nd female .....

2nd male(King) did seem to want to get it on with 2nd female(Cleo), but i dont think they did...

Then i went with friend (who used to have a finch), to get a 2nd male......

It's 23:02, n the first pair have shacked up in the fake wicker nest i bought. but the 2nd pair are sitting opposite side of the cage keeping each other warm.....

... I'm so impatient. but my cage is large enough to support 2 pairs, .... tho i suspect not 2 mating pairs(?).

[Mickp]

it's not the mating that would be your problem. if either pair do breed your cage will be to small to house 4 adult birds and any young they may have

[Cybermage]

it's not the mating that would be your problem. if either pair do breed your cage will be to small to house 4 adult birds and any young they may have

I'd moved the 2nd pair to a remodelled tall cage .... but it seems i have the worst luck with finches. ... The 2nd female got out of the cage while i was adjusting some of the perches, and somehow ran into a wall or off the back of my bed ... and broke her neck.

I have been considering not getting a 3rd female to replace the 2nd, but the 2nd male (Czar) is singing his head off today, and making a machine gun type whining noise, like he knows she's MIA.

On the up-side, the first male is remodelling the fake nest i bought with twigs and feathers ... so i assume the female is going to lay an egg? or he's trying to make it look good so he can do the do?

(all this "first male" "2nd female" is even driving me nuts. lol)