April 5, 2022
New Zebra finches
How soon should I put a nest into their cahge. They have been mating on the first day I brought them home yesyerday. I don’t want put a nest to soon for them. So when should I give one ?
Question:
Answer:
Hi Lori,
Ideally the birds should be about a year old before you try to breed them. They also need to be on a nutritionally balanced diet like pellets or granules, and not a loose seed mix. Zebra finches can turn into breeding machines, so make sure this is something you want to deal with. You can’t leave any offspring with the adults after they are weaned. And you can’t keep male and female chicks together or they will try to start breeding as young as 4-6 months old in captivity. You have to remove the nest as soon as the chicks have left it, or the parents will start another clutch and often leave the older chicks to die without weaning them. Once the chicks are weaned and moved out of the cage, you still have to wait at least 4 months before returning the nest. And you should limit them to no more than 3 clutches per year. Sometimes you have to discard eggs when you take out the nest, so if this bothers you, breeding is not a good idea. In the wild, the seasons would change and trigger the pairs to stop breeding, but in captivity, they do not get the environmental signals so we have to intervene and keep them from breeding too often.
Thank you for asking Lafeber,
Brenda
