Help! Aggressive Zebra!

[jenni0482]

I originally had 3 Zebra finches (1 male and 2 females). About 2 months ago I added 2 more Zebras which I believe are female, but have non-traditional colouring so I am unsure about this. The resident male was aggressive with them at first, but eventually calmed down and all 5 were living harmoniously. I bought them a bigger cage this past weekend, and since introducing them to the new cage, he has become aggressive again and it is more intense than before (pecking, feather plucking, and chasing). I knew that the 3 resident Zebras were nesting, so I removed the nest to see if that would solve the aggression, but it made him even more aggressive! Last night I decided to remove him from the community environment and he is in a cage by himself (and not very happy about it). I don't want to leave him by himself because they are such happy birds, but I'm concerned he will eventually kill one of the other birds from stress!! She is already developing an overgrown beak... Any suggestions on how I can bring the community back to a happy environment???

[birdlady49]

There are two options, neither of which may work:

1. Leave the zebra in his own cage for a few weeks, then try returning him to the colony. By then, the others will have established territory and won't be as intimidated. At the same time, the newly returned zebra will have to rediscover the territory and hopefully won't be as aggressive while doing so.

2. Buy another zebra (assured female) and just keep the two together.

[jenni0482]

Thanks for the ideas! I hope something works. I currently have 2 other concerns too that I don't know if you can help me with.

One of the females that he was being particularly aggressive with now has a jagged beak.. I'm assuming its due to her neglecting because of her having to be on guard from being chased. Yesterday, she had her beak caught on the skin of her shoulder. We had a heck of a time trying to catch her, but we did and were able to unhook her and she is back to herself, eating and drinking normally. I've read that its possible to file it down with a normal nail file. I used to be a veterinary assistant, but never dealt with birds although I'm confident that I could do it as long as its no more difficult than trimming nails. The avian vet here wants 75 dollars to do it (that includes an exam) but I would like to leave that as a last resort. My question is.. now that the male (main stressor) is out of the environment will she fix it herself? Should I attempt to fix it? Or should I just break down and have the vet do it?

Secondly, I also have 3 society finches who have recently had 4 eggs successfully hatch. The young are probably only one week old and all four are lively and vocal (although unable to maneuver themselves much) This past Friday there were the four young plus one egg... yesterday there were 4 young plus 3 eggs... I don't want any more young but cannot get into the nest to remove the eggs... any suggestions??

[birdlady49]

The female with the jagged beak can slowly grind it down but she may get in trouble again before that happens. So you have to intervene. You can use an emery board and very gently sand it down while holding her securely but not tightly. You don't have to do a "beauty parlor" job; just do enough so she won't get in trouble. Then she'll take care of the rest.

Re the societies: if you can reach the nestbox to remove the new eggs, there's nothing else you can do. You'll just have more babies. But after that, please remove the nest.

[jenni0482]

Ok, that sounds good! I'll try to catch her tonight to work on her beak. As for the Societies I'm actually quite shocked that the eggs actually hatched, I've had these societies for close to 2 years and they've ALWAYS laid eggs, but they've never hatched.. so I never really thought they would. I definitly don't need anymore babies, but I've read that removing the nest won't necessarily solve the problem cause they will nest anywhere they can...

[birdlady49]

True. Societies are like feathered rabbits and will lay eggs wherever there's a flat piece of land. But there are other things you can try to stop the egglaying.

Gradually decrease the daylight to 10 hours (yes, 14 hours of complete darkness). Separate males from females. Don't use any substrate that might even remotely resemble nesting material.

Other feathered rabbit owners will have other ideas I'm sure.

[jenni0482]

Haha, I'd love to be able to reduce the daylight hours, however blankets NEVER stay on the cage because of my terrible curious cats. Separating males from females might work depending on if I get males in this clutch, cause I just have one male and would hate for him to be by himself, but once these babies are mature I will take away there nest and HOPE :) Thanks so much for all your help! It's always a learning curve :D

[birdlady49]

Alright, now I must slap your wrist. You can put something heavy on top of the blankets so your cats can't remove them. Yes?

I sure hope you keep your cats away from your birds. Finches especially are appealing to cats because of their quick movements.

[jenni0482]

Ya, I suppose I could... but I didnt think it mattered that much... They seem to be fine without the blanket...

My cats love to watch the birds, but behave themselves. The finches never come out of their cage and if I need to restrain one, I bring them into the bathroom.

I've read alot about finches, but have never owned birds before I got these (June 06), so I have much to learn. The only problem I've ever run into before was a society who died overnight from egg-binding.