Where do I go to buy a Zebra finch? The most popular place is of course the pet store. Zebra finches are relatively inexpensive, ranging from $12 to $30 each. Pet stores usually carry only the common colored Zebras. Normal gray, silver, white, and sometimes Chestnut Flanked Whites. For the rare colors you will need to find a breeder. Not all breeders carry all colors. There are about 17-20 recognized color mutations plus the combinations of these 20 colors creating many, many more colors.
When picking out your birds you will want to be sure that you are getting healthy birds. Watch then for a few minutes. Don’t pick a bird that sits in the corner, looks all puffy, or looks injured. You want the bird that is visually healthy, active, and alert.
In a pet store the birds will often have missing feathers. Many times the cage will have too many birds in it, making the birds argue about who is the chief. A few missing feathers is nothing to worry about. They will grow back unless the bird has been picked on so much that the skin is permanently damaged.
It is recommended that you not keep a bird as a single pet. Zebras are colony birds. They like the company of other Zebras. The most common is to have one male and one female. In a pet store it is usually not know if the birds are related. If you are going to have your birds simply as pets, then it is not too important to have unrelated birds. If you want to breed your birds then they should be unrelated if possible. If the pet store does not know, you could buy a male from one store and a female from another store. This would virtually guarantee that they are unrelated.
Whether or not you want to breed your birds, the hen will lay eggs. If there is no nest, she will lay them on the floor or the feed dish. Simply remove the eggs. This is natural and it does her no harm.
Next page: Housing