Reptile & Amphibian Forums

2 days ago, on saterday, i purchased 2 society finches. I believed these two to be male and female. Today, when i got home from school i found the female dead. I believe she died from the stress of the move and i also think she was carring eggs so that might have stressed her as well. I want to get a nother society finch so that the male isnt lonely but there is no more females and i am very hesitant to place two males in one cage. I was thinking about maybe getting a male zebra finch but i also thought that that might be a bad thing as well. What do you think is best?? Will the Society and Zebra males get along?? or will two male society's be a better choice?? I dont mind either way because i enjoy both types of finches but i want what is best for the birds. What should i do?? thank you for all your help.

Hmmm, how do you know you had a male and a female? I don't know of anyone that can tell the sex of societies by looking at them. Do you have any idea what happened? You need to try to determine what happened before getting another bird. Plus, you should have a quarantine period any time you introduce a new bird. Your other bird may be sick also. Was there plenty of food and water? Was it the kind they were used to? What instructions were you given when you got them? Did you get them from a store or a breeder? Can you tell us a little more about their background? how you got them?
good luck with your wee one, let us know how she/he's doing ...oh, and societies get along well with others. I'd get another society, doesn't matter if it's male of female.
Please let us know more.

PHXue gave you good advice. Best to try and find out why your bird dropped dead first, especially since society finches, being utterly domesticated, are actually about the most stress-tolerant of all finches.

On the other hand, I'll understand you wanting another bird right away if your situation is that a pet store is honouring a guarantee and has offered to replace your dead bird. In that case, go right ahead and get another society, of either sex. They love company and I feel that they're happiest when kept in small groups. Zebras love company too and are good mixers with societies, but I've found it best over the long run to keep them separated unless they're in a spacious group situation. Not that zebras are nasty or anything, but they are just a tad feistier than the average society and can sometimes get into the habit of tweaking feathers and otherwise bedeviling more docile cagemates when in a breeding mood. I've never seen societies do anything physical to one another and even their occasional squabbles are very low-key.