Aussie Finch Forum

On Wednesday I was on my way home when I came across a small bird who I thought was dead at first. After brushing of the ants dribbling some water from my finger into her she slowly started coming around a bit more. I didn't think she would survive but we brought a small cage and some food and placed her in there and now she's perfect, I think she was just drop dead exhausted. She's a small gray zebra finch and happens to missing the tip of her beak so I've called her Chip.

I have a lot of questions regarding her care and housing.

I've been reading the forum and plan on updating her cage to a flight cage. The local shops have one that's 59x41x42cm, is that still to small?

I thought I would also give her one of those woven nests, is dog hair an safe nesting material? (I work at a groomers and have a constant supply of clean dog hair)

I want to get her a little friend it seems male would be the way to go, but could she be housed with a female? (it's no bother either way)

What are peoples experiences with have silk plants in smaller cages? Are aquarium silk plants okay (I have an abundance of them)

I know people feed greens but how much do I give her, just a heap and remove before it spoils? Because she's missing some of her beak would she have trouble eating things requiring her to peck at it (I'm going to the markets on Wednesday to buy some endive etc)

Does anyone know any zebra finch breeders in Adelaide?

Thank you for taking the time for reading this.

Hi Chips, and welcome to the forum.

To answer your questions in turn:
(i) That is a pretty standard flight cage, a pair of zebs would live happily and breed in that.
(ii) I can see no problem with dog hair as nesting material, there was recently discussion about using goat hair and if you use the search function in the top right corner you can read that. My finches get fine grasses and feathers to nest with.
(iii) She could be housed with a female, if you don't want any young. If you put a cock with her, it is likely you will have young, which would then need to be disposed of or have an aviary built for them. Some people prefer to avoid the hassle of breeding and having to catch up and move on young all the time; for other people producing young is the point of having birds.
(iv) I have no experience with silk plants.
(v) Small amounts of green seed or salad greens, ideally removing the old stuff when you put the new stuff in. One bird will not eat more than a handfull of seeding grass heads or a couple of leaves of endive. With time, you will figure out what your bird likes and how much of it she will take. It is unlilkely that she will have trouble from her chipped beak, unless it is very badly chipped.
(vi) I don't know any zebbie breeders in Adelaide, but no doubt you will soon.

Enjoy,
Matt.

Hi Chips.
Welcome to the forum. It won't be long & you will have more birds than you thought. It is catching.
Cheers,
Loz.

Hi Chips & Welcome to the Forum

Thank you both Loz and Finches247.

I've just started spouting a small lot of seed for her in a tea strainer which should be ready by tomorrow. I'll see if I can find her a little finch friend and will hopefully have her new cage by next week sometime. I'm thinking another female because I don't know what I would do with the offspring and my cousin might kill me if we had a sudden influx of birds (she's petrified of them) even if the idea of babies make me squee with excitement. I'll try the dog hair according to the other post it should be fine.

Thank you for all the help so far, I never expected to own a finch and certainly not own one without any previous research but things don't always go to plan I suppose and she's such a little character.

Hi

I love the name you gave her. Lol and most likely you'll get hooked and get more. Think it happens to everyone. Well did for me

Welcome to the forum, I think most of us started with Zebs. Maybe if you and your cousin share then get another hen. And once your cousin gets used to them and hooked, you can consider a cock.
LML

Welcome to the Forum Chips.
Jack

Hi and welcome to the forum.
Unfortunately the Zebra Club of SA closed down last year. I dont know anyone locally that has zebras, but there is a bird sale coming up in March at Sandy Creek (just north of Gawler) run by the Gawler Bird Club and Im sure there will be some people with zebras. See this link for the sale details.
posting.php?mode=edit&f=33&p=141038

Thank you everybody.

Sorry Mattymeischke I forgot to thank you for answering all my questions. It wasn't deliberate I really appreciated it.

I'm sad to hear the Zebra Club shut down, I've only had this little girl for under a week but these little birds are awesome.