Care

Zebra finches are fun and easy to have in your home.  They are a pleasure to own 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 Finches 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 2-6 eggs and both parents participate in raising the young. 

Zebra finches live to be 4-10 years of age

Male: The normal male bird has a grey 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.

 

Location

Where in the 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 but a place where its not too noisy like near a television or stereo.  You want to enjoy the birds, so put them where you can see and hear them. 

A kitchen is not the best place to have birds as TEFLON in Non Stick Pans is highly toxic to birds.Select a place that get a lot of light.  Not in direct sunlight. 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 or winter months its adviced to place a regular heat supply into the room where your birds are kept if breeding this would be your bird room and would have a heating system to stop your birds getting a chill.. 

 

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.  Some  birds need grit (sand)Zebra finches being one of these,  They use this to help digest  their food, for they do not have teeth. Buy a commercial gravel/grit mixture.  Also mineral blocks should be placed inside the cage. Vitamin additives can be purchased to be added to the food or waterThis is not recommended as this can make the water go funny and may stop your birds from drinking a regular diet is sufficent enough. Fresh foods like fruit and vegtables will be appreciated by your birds as these also give extra vitamins and Foods they like are Boiled eggs mashed up with the shells this gives extra calcium, Lettuce,Wholewheat bread,Carrots,Apple,Pears. Cuttlefish bone should be available to the birds especially the Hen at all times as this helps keep her calcium levels up for when she is laying eggs.

 

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. The larger the cage the better and the happier your birds will be. There should be at least two perches but not so many that there is no room to fly.  Tree Branches scrubbed clean make the perfect perches and also gives enjoyment to the birds when they chew and knawed at the bark.

Most any style/shape of cage is ok but the longer and higher the cage the more room to fly the finches have. 

Zebras like to spend the night in a nest.  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 boxes for finches from any good petstore. The most common for Zebras is the enclosed wicker nest with a front opening hole.

Newspaper works well for a floor covering but make sure it is not the glossy type papers or magazines as the ink can be toxic to birds. It is cheap, collects the droppings, and is easily disposed of.  The birds also like to play with it.  Other animal bedding materials can be used.  Plain wood shavings is a good base nesting material .  Never use any bedding that is scented as this can be toxic to the birds or even damage there noses.  It is recommended that only one pair be kept in the same cage.  Zebras have a hierarchy society. When you put two pair together they may fight to the death  for the top position. The only time more than one pair of finches is kept together is when you have a colony of finches in an aviary  Be sure to have at two nest boxes for each pair Also have 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.

 

Breeding 

Zebra finches are a joy to watch as they prepare their nest and raise their young.  The mating dance and song of the male is fun to watch and is a good indication that they are happy and ready to breed.  The male ‘sings’ and bounces on the perch to attract the hen.  He will attempt to kick the hen only once she stands still and lowers her back will he attempt to mate the hen, If she is willing, they will mate.  This only takes a few seconds.  They usually do this repeatedly.

There are many considerations when attempting to breed Zebra finches.  Zebra finches breed freely in captivity, sometimes even under strange conditions, but we should try to provide them a healthy and happy environment.

Zebras mature quickly and can start to mate at 11-12 weeks.  For healthier strong birds it is recommended that they be 6-12 months before allowing them to mate.

The placement of the cage or cages should be in an area that does not have a lot of people/pet traffic.  The cages should not be moved once the nesting process has started as this will put the pair on edge and will not want to mate or raise a clutch due to fear of preditors taking there young.

The cage should be large enough to make the birds feel comfortable.  Remember, larger is usually better.  When deciding on where to put the nest box or nesting basket its always best if possible to hang this on the outside of the cage with the opening facing into the cage this helps keep as much space as possible inside the cage. Place only one pair of birds in one cage  as fights usually break out when more that one pair is in a cage.  If you use a ‘flight cage’ then multiple pairs can be housed together.  A breeding flight with many birds needs to be large.  At least 3 feet wide, 4 feet high, and 6 feet long.  The bigger it is the more birds it can support. Again provide two nest boxes for each pair this way there will be no fighting over nests also placing them all at the same height will also reduce the risk of fighting if in colony breeding. Zebras prefer a nest that is enclosed with only a hole for an opening.  Wicker baskets can be purchased at any reputable pet stores.  These work fine but are hard to clean between clutches. .

Place the nest high in the cage.  Birds feel safer when higher.  Sometimes the birds will not like the nest that you have given them.  After they have had the nest for 2-3 months and still do not like it, replace it with a different kind.  Sometimes this will be to their liking.  Sometimes just moving the nest will help.

Nesting material should be clean and safe.  A variety of materials can be used singly or together.  Hay works well even kitchen or toilet tissue makes great beeding for finches.Shredded plain paper also works well as nesting material.. Diet is very important for your breeding birds.  They need to be in good shape to do all the work of raising youngsters.  The same good seed diet that you normally feed should continue.  The hen has to develop the eggs so she must not be calcium deficient.  Cuttle bone, Boiled eggs with the shell mashed together gives extra calium and mineralized grit all will help.  Both mom and dad help feed the chicks.  They eat and then regurgitate into the chicks mouths. You can also buy a special egg food which is designed for handfeeding and weaning chicks this can also be used along with the birds normal seed place it in a separate dish and the finches will use this to feed there chicks you can buy this from any great petstore.

Light is a very import part of keeping birds.  They need sun light!  If there is not a window in your bird room you need to provide ‘full spectrum’ lighting, lots of it.  In the breeding season they need light 14-16 hours a day.

When all is to their liking, they will start.  The male will build the nest.  He will pick up a pieces of tissue,paper or hay and hold it in his beak and show it to the hen.  It looks like he is playing.  He will weave the material in the nest box into a concave comfortable nest.  He may also pick up feathers flying in the cage to line the nest to make it soft.  If there is not enough soft nesting material finches have been known to pluck there own feathers and those of its mate to line the nest.

The hen will lay about one egg a day, for 2 to 6 eggs.  They will start sitting on the eggs when she has laid 2-3 of her eggs.  Both mom and dad help with the incubation but mom does most of it.  The eggs should start hatching about 14 days after they start sitting.  If after 20 days nothing hatches, remove the eggs for they apparently are not fertile.  She will start laying again soon.  You do not need to empty the nesting material, just the eggs.

When you remove the chicks the parents will start on their next clutch.  In fact they may start even before you remove the chicks.  If they continue this immediate succession, you will need to separate them to give them a break to build up their strength.  I usually recommend only 2 clutches in a row.  It depends on how many chicks in each clutch and how short of time they leave in between clutches.

Never remove eggs that have not hatched until 20days after the lastone was laid removing them too early will make her produce more eggs to replace the ones she has lost. Chicks do not hatch with the orange beaks and legs.  Most have black beaks and legs.  Some of the lighter color varieties have beaks 'horn' colored or a color similar to our fingernails.  These colors change to adult colors at about 6-12 weeks of age.

Chick Development Schedule
   incubation is 14 days
   7 days old put on closed band
   21 days old they fledge (leave the nest)
   4 weeks old they start to eat on their own
   6-12 weeks old the adult colors will start to develop, along with the beak color changing to orange.
   5-6 weeks old move the chicks to their own cage.  They will disrupt the next clutch process and the parents may start to pluck their feathers.Zebra finches live to be 4-10 years of age.