Care

HOUSING:

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.

FEEDING:

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.

CARING:

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.

CATCHING:

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!

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 soon try to jump on top of the hen. If she is willing, they will mate. This only takes a few seconds. He will try 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 6-9 months before allowing the 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.

The cage should be large enough to make the birds feel comfortable. Remember, larger is usually better. A cage about 16x16x20 would be fine. When the chicks fledge, there could be up to ten birds in the cage! If you use a nest box/basket that is inside or outside the cage makes a difference on the size of the cage. A nest inside the cage takes up room that could otherwise be occupied by a bird.

Place only one pair of birds in one cage. They will fight 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. Provide more nest boxes than there are pairs so they can have a choice.

Zebras prefer a nest that is enclosed with only a hole for an opening. Wicker baskets can be purchased at most pet stores. These work fine but are hard to clean between clutches. I use nest boxes which hang on the outside of the cages. The type you use will also depend on your budget and how many birds you have set up for breeding.

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. Dried grass works well. Be sure that the grass has not be treated or fertilized. Pet stores sell little boxes of cotton that the birds like. Be careful of strings. 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 clean burlap works great for nesting material. I cut the burlap into two inch squares and shred it.

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, crushed oyster shell, and mineralized grit all will help. Both mom and dad help feed the chicks. They eat and then regurgitate into the chicks mouths.

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 piece of string or grass 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.

The hen will lay about one egg a day, for 3 to 8 eggs. They will start sitting on the eggs when she is done laying 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 3-4 clutches in a row. It depends on how many chicks in each clutch and how short of time they leave in between clutches.

If you have a nest of eggs that do not hatch, leave them in the nest for about 20 days after the last egg is laid. At this time you can safely assume that they are not going to hatch. Remove the eggs. If you wait too long she may lay many eggs in the nest. Sometimes she will continue until no more eggs fit.

If you have many pairs of birds you will need to band the chicks so that you can tell who is who. You can keep track of pairing unrelated birds when you have identification leg bands on the birds. You can use closed bands or split bands. Closed bands need to be put on the chicks at about 8 days of age. They are permanently on the bird. Split bands are plastic bands that are not a solid ring but have a split so they can be spread apart and put on any age of bird. Bands come in different colors and some have numbers.

Chicks do not hatch with the trademark 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 5-6 weeks of age.

Chick Development Schedule
incubation is 14 days
8 days old put on closed band
21 days old they fledge (leave the nest)
4 weeks old they start to eat on their own
5-6 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 4-8 years of age. I have heard of birds living to 10 and 12 years old, but I think this is rare.