BellaOnline Forums Home and Garden Birds Zebra Finch question

Hi,

We bought a pair of Zebra Finches about three months ago. They`re great birds and real fun to keep, we enjoy them very much.
Now I don`t know a great deal about, just what I`ve learned off the net.
The pair are male and female.
My question is, the male in the last few weeks spends a lot of time pecking the female, like it`s going through the females feathers.
The female just sits there and doesn`t do much, sometimes though the female will peck back.
This is probably nothing to be concerned about, but I`m curious though.
The male is certainly the more lively one, when he`s not chasing the female about he`s on the swing chirping away!!
Is this anything to do with breeding? We have no idea about breeding etc.
Many thanks.

Actually, if you've had your Zebra Finches for 3 months, I'm surprised that they haven't already blessed you with some babies. Unless feathers are being pulled out with this pecking, I'd say that he is just helping her to preen her feathers. If he is pulling her feathers, he might be thinking of a soft lining for the nest that he is planning on building. Have they built any kind of nest at all yet? Do they have access to any nest or nesting materials?

Hi,

Thanks for replying. No they haven`t got any nesting material as such.
I would imagine they have a rather boring cage?
It`s a round type cage with a budgie type sand sheet on the bottom.
They have a swing which the male bird enjoys. A bell is fitted which again the male enjoys rattling. I`ve also put four different sized perches in so as to exercise their feet more.
I do but a bath of water in first thing in the morning, they always have a splash in that.
Food is general foreign finch seed, millet spray and occasionally a honey bar.
I change the soiled sand sheet once every three days.
What can I do to make life better for them, they do seem happy but I`ve only ever kept budgies!!
What about material for nesting?
My next purchase is to actually get a larger cage.
Look forward to your reply. Thanks.

I'm sure your birds would really appreciate a new larger cage. Finches need cages that are longer than they are tall so they can fly from one end to the other.

Also, instead of buying sandpaper sheets for the bottom of the cage, you could just cut newspaper to the proper size and use that. There isn't any reason for the sandpaper sheets any more than the sandpaper perch covers.

For food, you can start giving them tiny pieces of cut up fruits and vegetables as well as hard boiled egg, potatoes, or almost whatever you might be eating. They can eat much like budgies, except that the pieces should be smaller.

Once you have a cage with enough room for a nest, you can purchase one and put it up. For nesting material, they will use shredded paper, hay, dried grasses, etc. Of course once they have babies, you'll have to start thinking about what to do with the babies.