# introducing a new finch...



## Tigerneko

One of my two Zebra Finches very sadly flew over rainbow bridge today, so I am left with one rather lonely finch who is missing his friend 

So, because I know they are social birds, I was wondering if it would be possible to introduce him to a new bunch of finches? We have animals at college (i do an animal management course) and we have a very large cage with about 3 or 4 Zebra Finches (possibly more, i've never really counted) and I was wondering if my remaining finch would be accepted by them?

The cage at college is much better than the cage I have at home and obviously as they are social I really don't want to keep him on his own, but for now he is making do with a mirror to chatter to!

I am not taking the decision to rehome him lightly, I love him to bits and I will be extremely sad to see him go (even though i'll see him at college) as he is such an entertaining little bird, but I think it would be better for him in terms of quality of life if he was to move to a larger, more natural looking environment with more finches. His friend has only been gone for a matter of hours and already I can see how lonely he is 

So, will it be possible to introduce him to these finches or is there no chance of it happening? I am going to ask at college tomorrow anyway but I just thought i'd get a bit of advice on here before I asked there, then I know what to expect from them 

and if the group of finches will not accept him, will he accept a single new male finch into the cage? If college will not take him, I will gladly keep him but I would want to get another friend for him


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## birdcrazy

hi, i would think he would be readily excepted by the other finches ,are they also zebras? but if you really want to keep him and live anywhere near to oxford , i have got alot of zebra finches and would gladly give you one or two free of charge.


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## Tigerneko

Thanks again for your reply :laugh:

I've decided to keep him now and find him some finchy friends  after giving it a good long thought, I just can't face giving him away so he will be staying with me! Thankyou for the offer but i'm in Lancashire so it's a little too far to travel unfortunately  very kind of you though 

I went to the local pet shop today to look for a couple of new zebras (I dont know of any breeders in my area so i'm having to resort to pet shop bought birds unfortunately) but quite a few of them seemed very hunched up and one spent most of its time huddled up on the floor of the cage, so I decided against any of them as I don't want to bring an unhealthy bird into the house 

gonna try a few more places tomorrow so hopefully I will have a bit more luck


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## sullivan

Hi finches are socail as you say and im sure he would be gratefull for some new feathered friends. Just be a bit careful if out door as my mates all got wiped out last year with the cold first year ever shes lost any.


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## Tigerneko

sullivan said:


> Hi finches are socail as you say and im sure he would be gratefull for some new feathered friends. Just be a bit careful if out door as my mates all got wiped out last year with the cold first year ever shes lost any.


aww thats such a shame  mine will be kept in a large cage indoors so hopefully i won't have that problem 

I'm thinking on getting two new males today so that if one was to die in the future, they wouldn't be left on their own again, do you think they'll be okay as a group of 3? I wouldn't want one to be left out  (my other one is a male too, as i don't want any females lol)


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## birdcrazy

Verbatim said:


> aww thats such a shame  mine will be kept in a large cage indoors so hopefully i won't have that problem
> 
> I'm thinking on getting two new males today so that if one was to die in the future, they wouldn't be left on their own again, do you think they'll be okay as a group of 3? I wouldn't want one to be left out  (my other one is a male too, as i don't want any females lol)


as with most birds they shouldn't fight unless there is a female involved, which you say you dont want so they should be fine ,as for the owls being wild caught ,dont worry they wont be,it reallt wouldn't be worth it as they are not rare or anything like that.he is properly just waiting on his birds to breed again.


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## Tigerneko

birdcrazy said:


> as with most birds they shouldn't fight unless there is a female involved, which you say you dont want so they should be fine ,as for the owls being wild caught ,dont worry they wont be,it reallt wouldn't be worth it as they are not rare or anything like that.he is properly just waiting on his birds to breed again.


Yeah I think i'm just getting paranoid! We've been doing about animal smuggling and stuff at college recently so it just made me wonder :laugh:

I got a new finch today  he's a male Zebra, but he has black cheeks and black markings, he's gorgeous! And he's a very healthy looking bird, i'm quite proud of him  I released him into a brand new cage with my other finch and so far it seems okay! they're a little wary of each other and I think the new finch has growled once or twice at him (it's like a very high speed clicking noise) and they tend to be keeping their distance a little bit but hopefully they'll warm to each other soon  obviously they've only just met each other for the first time so hopefully they're just taking time to suss each other out, there's no fighting or anything going on so i'm not too worried about them at all! I just hope they bond like my old two did, they spent a lot of time snuggled up together, it was so sweet to see them!


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## birdcrazy

thats great black cheeks are lovely we have some as well. it might be best to rethink getting the owl finches now as the zebs will become quite pocessive of the cage . they will sometimes pick on the less dominant owls unless they are put in at the same time ,even then you sometimes will see it . it can work depending on the cage size etc but i am trying save you any heartache if it did happen. any way whatever you decide good luck :001_smile:


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## davlin

Hello

Thanks for sharing this. I have got lot of information from this post. Nice post.

Thanks
Have a nice time a head


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