How do you get my Zebra finches to breed?

Answer 1

The following information was found on ZebraFinch.info. It helped me with my pair of little Zebra Finches.

1. You will first need a couple of finches old enough to breed - that's after 3 months old, but you must wait until they are nine months old first.

2. They can't breed if you don't give them greens. They will eat chickweed and dandelion leaves.

3. They will also need a nesting site and nesting material to build the nest with. Pick a suitable nest box and purchase it from the internet or a pet store. The nesting sites come in all shapes and sizes. There's the Swallow nest (called that because swallows make nests looking like this) which is like a bowl, and a Nest Box, which is often placed in gardens for wild birds. They provide warmth and shelter to the eggs, but the finches need to squeeze through to get inside the box. These are actually more often used for budgies. Then you have a Wicker Nest, a nest made from hay-like materials that has a roof crafted over the top. If you want you can replace a dirty Wicker Nest as long as there is no eggs in it so you can remove any droppings from it. They provide shelter and warmth and well as comfort and easy access, but they can get dirty and don't give much room for chicks, but most clutches should never have too many birds so that they won't fit it the Wicker Nest. Once you have a nesting site for use you need material so the male of the pair can craft a nest. Give him wool and material sold for this purpose in pet stores. Also give him the softer pieces of material you can buy from pet shops that will keep the birds inside the nesting site, including mother, chicks and eggs, nice and warm - wool you use for wild birds is good for this. Let him use whatever he thinks is best from the variety you offer, often he will use alot of everything. Give rolled or cut up newspaper, clean hay (must be CLEAN), and the odd few handfulls of wool. Then stuff them in something the birds can pull the material out of and watch them begin.

4. Now, the eggs arrive. When the nest is done, the birds are in good condition and the greens are not rare in your bird's diet, the female will enter the nest. She will lay eggs in the nest. Then watch your birds keep the eggs warm by sitting on them. They will hatch if they are kept warm.

5. The next event in the timeline is that the eggs begin to crack open and from within them you will hear "Chireep! Churreep! Fweecheep, meecheep, eep, cheepeep..." and notice the baby finches.

6. The little finches will soon grow their feathers. Their first feathers will not tell you their gender as it takes time for them to get their markings, as the males and females feather patterns and markings are different. When they hatch they are creamy white-ish with a little black mark underneath each eye - unless they have the mutation Pure White from a parent. This is a cute and normal happening in finch breeding and so are other mutations, but this one will overrun all other mutations. To see mutations and what they look like see the Finch Design page on Zebrafinch.info that allows you to click on a mutation and the finches on the left will change to suit the appearance you have clicked.

7. Eventually the young finches will leave their nest. They can now explore around their home and get to know the other finches in their environment.

8. Eventually the little finches will also begin feeding themselves and other finches. They can now drink their water and eat anything nutritious for them as they become older and explore the area and investigate other finches. They are now young zebra finches just beneath adult age capible of getting what they need on their own and interacting with the other finches in the manor they do.

9. Take the nest away now unless you want another clutch of little finches. Don't breed the same pair more than 2-3 times a year, as it is bad for their health to breed to much. I'd wait until next year before breeding them again. If you really want more finches, try a different pair. Remove the breeding stuff until the next time your finches will breed.