Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi
my name is Janet, and I am new to finches. I bought 2 female zebra finches and was told that they will be ok in the same cage, well i liked them so much that i went out and got 2 more females, all of the finches came out of the same cage. The were ok for about 2 days and then they started to fight! much to my distress, I went on the net and learned that maybe putting them in a bigger cage would help. I then built an avery for them. But they are still fighting. I don`t know what to do! I like them very much, any info would be great.
thanx
Jan.

Do they have nests in their cage? If so take them out. They can become very territorial about nesting sites or certain spaces they claim as their own. Is there anyway to put a divider across the middle of your aviary to separate two birds on either side making it so they can see each other but not actually fight? Then if they seem to settle down and get along this way you could then remove the divider and try it again. I hesitate to ask but were your new fiches quarantined? I realize they were from the same cage but since you did not get them at the same time it is possible that some developed and illness before you purchased the next ones, this would not cause fighting but is something to think about. Make sure each bird or set of non fighting birds has their own food and water bowl at an equal area. make sure there are plenty of perches so that they can be at the same height but away from each other.