Zebra finch problems...please help me...I'm a new bird owner

[micachew]

Hi there, I have recently bought some zebra finches from a local pet store. I have never owned any birds before, but have always been interested so I took the plunge.

I decided I wanted to enjoy the birds without having to worry about babies, so I bought two males. The lady at the store said this would be no problem...but now two weeks later I seem to be having problems.

One of the males has always seemed to be dominant, but it seemed fine until a few days ago...the non-dominant one got all puffy and lethargic, just sitting on the pirch, avoiding the other. He seems to be missing feathers from around his beak and above his eye.

Do you think that I have a 'bully' problem, or is it something else?

Should I sepereate them? Who should I take out? I have a smaller cage that I was going to use as a 'hospital cage' (advise I got from the internet)

Was I wrong to get two males, or is this usually ok?

Thank you so much for any help that you can give. I love my little birds, even though I have only had them for two weeks, and I want to do everything I can to make them happy.

[charmedagain]

Hi and congratulations on the new additions i have zebra finches.

Usually putting 2 males or 2 females together in a cage does not create problems, But if you have a young and and older male then chances are they will fight to show who is boss, But again this usually only happens when there is a female in the cage.

Your bird could be going through a molt since he is losing feathers around the eyes this is normal and is not due to fighting.
When i have birds that are fighting i leave them together to sort out there differences unless they draw blood then i seperate.

If you think that this is going to turn out bad then best thing is to move one into another cage but place the cages either side by side or close enough so that they can see and hear each other.

Mike

[micachew]

Thanx for the advise, it's a releif to know that everything may be ok.

My only concern now is the fact that he gets puffy and basically just doesn't act like himself. Since the day I brought him home he has been very active, and quite the singer...then he just seemed to stop.

Is this normal for the molting process?

[charmedagain]

Birds usually go quiet during molting, But if he is always puffing up his feathers this is a sign of something being wrong and needs to be seen by an avian vet..

mike