I recently purchased a male and female zebra finch. I only wanted them for sweet entertainment. The young people at the pet store encourage me to buy nesting material and a round wicker nest. Unknowingly, I provided wonderful nesting material LOL I now have four adorable fledglings. Please help me because I need to prevent the mail from building another nest. I actually removed the round wicker Nest today. The fledglings are almost 2 weeks old.
Hi,
The good thing about pet birds is there can be no accidental chicks. If you do not want any, then don’t give them a nest, and throw away any eggs the hen might lay anyway. It’s hard to keep finches from breeding and laying eggs, but you don’t have to let them sit on the eggs. Eggs have no development when laid – they must be incubated for any development to begin. Without a nest, sometimes they use a food cup, so if you see either parent sitting in a food cup, take it out and buy smaller cups that they can’t sit in.
Pet shops are well meaning when they sell a nest with finches, but finches do not need a nest except if you are breeding them. In the wild, a nest is only used during breeding season, and when it ends, the finches move on until the next year. They do not need a nest for a bed – they sleep in trees, and in captivity, you can make sure they have a high perch and this is usually the one they choose for sleeping.
So you are correct to take the nest away. As for the chicks, if they are weaned, then it’s time to move them out of the parent’s cage. Otherwise the parents will start to pick on them, trying to get them to leave. This is instinctive behavior and nature’s way of preventing inbreeding. In captivity, they do not know better, and if the parents do tolerate the offspring, in a few months they will try to mate with them. The chicks will also get their adult colors and you can get in a situation where you have no idea which are the parents or the offspring. So separate them now or as soon as the chicks are eating entirely on their own. If you keep the chicks, never give them a nest or let them sit on any eggs they may lay, because related birds should never be allowed to reproduce. You can also separate them into same sex cages once you can tell their gender. If you give them away, do not give any males & females to the same home.
Thank you for asking Lafeber,
Brenda
