Zebra finches

Zebra finches Basic Care

Zebra finches are fun and easy to have in your home.  They are a pleasure to view and their soft chirping is soothing.  Whether you want only one pair to keep you company or you want to be a breeder with many birds, Zebras are a joy.

Zebra Finches originate from Australia. Zebras live in open grasslands with some bushes and trees.  They live in dry areas over most of Australia.  They live in groups and eat mostly grass seeds.  They build their nests in bushes out of grass, straw, feathers and anything else they can find.  They lay 3-6 eggs and both parents participate in raising the young.  The currently accepted taxonomic nomenclature for the Zebra is "Taeniopygia guttata castanotis".

Zebra finches live to be 4-8 years of age.  I have heard of birds living to 10 and 12 years old, but I think this is rare.

Males: The normal male bird has a gray upper body and wings.  The belly is white.  The beak and legs are a red-orange color.  On each side of the head is a cheek patch.  There is a 'tear drop' mark under the eye.  This is a brown/tan/fawn color commonly called orange.  The flanks/sides of the bird just below the wings, is a chestnut (orange) colored area with white dots.  The chest is black and white stripped like a zebra, hence the name zebra finch.  A truly beautiful bird!

Females: The female also has a gray upper body and wings with a white belly.  The beak and legs are the same red-orange color but not as deep color, lighter.  She has a black 'tear drop' mark under the eye.  The most noticable differences between males and females are the cheek patches and the chest striping.

Basic Selection

Where do I go to buy a Zebra finch?  The most popular place is of course the pet store.  Zebra finches are relatively inexpensive, ranging from $12 to $30 a pair.  Pet stores usually carry only the common colored Zebras.  Normal gray, silver, white, and sometimes Chestnut Flanked Whites.  For the rare colors you will need to find a breeder.  Not all breeders carry all colors.  There are about 17-20 recognized color mutations plus the combinations of these 20 colors creating many, many more colors.

When picking out your birds you will want to be sure that you are getting healthy birds. Watch then for a few minutes.  Don’t pick a bird that sits in the corner, looks all puffy, or looks injured.  You want the bird that is visually healthy, active, and alert.

In a pet store the birds will often have missing feathers.  Many times the cage will have too many birds in it, making the birds argue about who is the chief.  A few missing feathers is nothing to worry about.  They will grow back unless the bird has been picked on so much that the skin is permanently damaged.

It is recommended that you not keep a bird as a single pet.  Zebras are colony birds.  They like the company of other Zebras.  The most common is to have one male and one female.  In a pet store it is usually not know if the birds are related.  If you are going to have your birds simply as pets, then it is not too important to have unrelated birds.  If you want to breed your birds then they should be unrelated if possible. If the pet store does not know, you could buy a male from one store and a female from another store.  This would virtually guarantee that they are unrelated.

Whether or not you want to breed your birds, the hen will lay eggs.  If there is no nest, she will lay them on the floor or the feed dish. Simply remove the eggs.  This is natural and it does her no harm.

Basic Location

Where in house do I put my birds?  There are many considerations when providing a place for your birds to live.  Recommendations will vary a little depending on whether these are pet birds or you want to setup multiple pairs for breeding.  For pet birds, choose a place where the family spends time.  You want to enjoy the birds, so put them where you can see and hear 

them.  They can be a little messy so don’t put them above your kitchen counter.  Seeds and seed husks will be falling onto the counter.

Select a place that get a lot of light.  Direct sunlight is ok, but you must be careful.  They need to be able to get out of the direct sunlight which could get very hot.  Zebras basically need the same temperature as we people do.

If you have small children, the cage needs to be out of reach.  The same goes for other pets that cannot control the temptation.  Most other pets can be trained to leave the birds alone.  You will need to simply be watchful of the situation and deal with it.

Do not place the cage where it will get a draft.  In cold climates a draft can be cold and very uncomfortable.  Remember, the birds are stuck in that cage.  They can not go to a different room to find comfort.  Air conditioning can also create an uncomfortable draft.

Zebras are very hardy birds.  Just remember that if you would not like to be where you put their cage, then they probably do not like it either. 

Basic Diet

The basic food of a Zebra finch is seeds.  Various varieties of millet is their staple.  Buy a commercially prepared mix.  This will be a balanced mix and this will do very well for your birds.  It needs to be fresh, so don’t buy a fifty pound bag for two birds.  Buy an amount that will be used up in about a month.  Their seed cup should always have seed in it.  They will regulate how much they need to eat.

Keep their water fresh and clean daily.  How would you like to drink water that has been sitting out for a week and probably has some seeds in it?

All birds need grit (sand).  They use this to grind their food, for they do not have teeth. Buy a commercial gravel/grit mixture.  Buy one that also has minerals added, like oyster shell and charcoal.  A vitamin additive can be purchased to be added to the food or water.  This is not a requirement if the rest of the diet in balanced.

Fresh foods from your kitchen are an optional source for a balanced diet.  Different individual birds will have different likes and dislikes.  You will have to experiment with a variety of food items.  Frozen mixed vegetables (thawed), sprouts (alfalfa, etc), hard boiled egg (mashed), lettuce, spinach, bread crumbs, and corn bread.  Most natural foods can be fed to your birds.  Just don’t feed extremes like peppers, cabbage, etc.  Be sure to feed only the amount of fresh food that will be consumed before it spoils.  Remove any that they do not eat.

Egg shells are a good source of calcium.  When you have eggs for breakfast, rinse the shells and microwave them for four minutes to kill salmonella, etc.  Put them in your bird cage and the birds will go wild for them.

You should also supply cuttlebone for your birds.  This can be purchased at the pet store. It is a white and about 2x5 inches.  Hang it on the side of the cage and the birds will peck at it.

Basic Care

Generally there is little that needs to be done in the way of health maintenance.  A balance diet is by far the most important.  A few of things to watch for are signs of illness, nails, leg bands, and strings.

If your bird sits in the corner, looks puffy, or generally doesn't look good, he may be ill.  Be sure there is food and water in shallow dishes on the floor of the cage.  This will make it easier for him to access them.  Try to warm him a little by moving the cage to a warmer location or placing a lamp beside the cage.  Unfortunately, because of their tiny size, an illness can run its course and kill your bird before you even notice the symptoms.

Nails will usually be maintained naturally.  If they get too long, you will need to catch the bird and trim the nails.  A nail clipper works good.  Be sure not to clip too much.  If you clip to the ‘quick’ it will bleed.  If you look very closely at the tip of the nail, you will see that the tip looks more clear in color.  This can be safely cut off. 

Watch your birds that have leg bands.  I have had birds that grow up to have thick legs that become too big for the band.  This restricts blood circulation and the foot will swell and eventually could cause the bird to die.  Remove the band.  To do this you may have to cut it off. This will maybe be a two person job.  Be careful, that is a tiny fragile leg.

Strings are dangerous.  Birds love to play with them.  There is a possibility that the string could get tangled around a birds leg or neck and get caught on the cage, thus injuring the bird.  Simply be sure the strings are two inches of shorter.  Shredded burlap works great for nesting material.  I cut the burlap into two inch squares and shred it.

Basic Housing

What cage should I buy?  Buy a cage with bars no larger that one half inch apart.  These are little birds.  For a pair of birds the cage should be no smaller than approximately 16x12x16 inches.  How would you like to live in a closet?  The larger the cage is, the more room they will have for exercise.

There should be at least two perches but not so many that there is no room to fly.  Don’t use a perch with sand paper on it.  This is too hard on their feet.

Most any style/shape of cage is ok.  Consider how easy it is to clean, how well it contain the mess of seeds flying, and how easy it is to catch a bird. 

Zebras like to spend the night in a nest.  This is not a requirement.  One thing to keep in mind, if there is a nest, they will breed and lay eggs.  If you do not want babies, do not buy a nest.  You can buy a nest from the pet store.  The most common for Zebras is the enclosed wicker nest with a front opening hole.

Newspaper works well for a floor covering.  It is cheap, collects the droppings, and is easily removable.  The birds also like to play with it.  Other animal bedding materials can be used.  Crushed corn cob and pine shaving are a couple.  I would not recommend aromatic cedar shaving.  Some of these may make a big mess depending on your cage style.

Again, no strings!  Toys are a welcome treat.  Your birds are living in a one room house. Give them something to do.  Finches don’t play with toys as much as parakeets and parrots, but still are curious and like to put their beak into things.  A sturdy string of beads hanging the from the top, a plastic ball on the floor, etc.  Try different things.  They may ignore, may enjoy it.

It is recommended that only one pair be kept in the same cage.  Zebras have a hierarchical society, as do many animal groups.  When you put two pair together they may fight for the top position and feather pick each other.  This situation does not promote breeding and of course is not healthy.  If you want more birds you will need multiple cages or a larger cage. With a large enough cage you can certainly have multiple pairs together. I have had three pair in a cage 20x20x60 inches. This is the minimum for three pair. They even pick on each other a little in this cage. Be sure to have at least as many nest boxes as you have pairs. Also have many perches at different heights.

A trick to help diminish the fighting is to use pinch clothes pins on the perches about six inches apart. This way the bully can only push the others just so far or the others can be on the opposite side of the clothes pin.

Catch a Bird

There are several tricks to catching birds.  First, be sure that you remember that your hand is immensely strong compared to this tiny bird.  If you keep trying for a very long time without success, the birds will become overly exhausted.  Try to avoid this.

Nets can be purchased for catching birds.  This works better in a large cage or flight.  Removing some of the perches sometimes helps.  When a bird is on the perch, move your hand toward him from the rear.  Totally encompass the bird with your hand, not squeezing too hard but just hard enough that he can not escape.  If you make sure that his head is covered with your fingers, he will be more calm.

The best trick I have found for catching birds is to do it in total darkness.  They virtually will not move when it is dark.  You sometimes can push them off the perch before they will move.  Of course you need to be aware that, while its is dark, they may get scared and fly into the wall of the cage.  I have not had any bird get injured with this method, but you do need to be careful.  So, how do you see?  I usually leave on a night light to give me some light.  I stand by the cage until they are calm, notice where the desired bird is, turn off the light, grab the bird, and turn on the light.  IT WORKS GREAT!