The most popular and direct place in which to buy a zebra finch is at the
local pet shop. Zebra finches are relatively inexpensive - around £5 each -
but shops generally only carry only the common coloured ones: normal grey, silver,
white and
occasionally Chestnut Flanked
Whites. For the more rarer colours you'll need to find a breeder, but not
all breeders carry all colours. There are 15 or more recognised colour
mutations with around 30 permutations (see gallery).
When selecting your birds you need to be sure that you are buying healthy birds. Watch them for a few minutes and don’t choose a bird which sits in the corner, looks all puffed up, overly-tired or injured. You're after a bird that is visually healthy, active and alert. One that flies around from perch to perch and one that is relating well to the others in the flock. Buy a book on finches, or look on the Internet for information and photos on finches. It's best to have a mental picture in your mind of how a healthy finch looks.
In a pet shop cages accommodate too many birds or birds often have missing feathers. The lack of space often causes birds to squabble among themselves in order to establish a 'pecking order'. A few odd missing feathers is nothing to worry about as they will grow back fairly quickly unless the bird has been picked on by others so much that its skin is permanently damaged.
It is highly recommended that you do
not keep zebra finches as single pets. They are very much colony
birds in that
they like, and need, the company of other birds of the same species. When starting off
a zebra finch collection it's
usual to have at least one male and one female - preferably more. However,
when choosing birds in a pet shop it's often
impossible to know what sex the birds are - especially if they are young and
are not yet displaying their adult plumage, and if the birds are related. If you are going to have your birds
simply as pets, then it's not too important to have unrelated birds. However,
if
you want to eventually breed your birds then they should be unrelated wherever possible.
Related birds can lead to 'in-breeding' where hereditary diseases and traits
are passed on and enhanced by each successive generation. It's often a wise
move too to buy your birds from different sources - that way, you can
generally guarantee
that no family genetic disorders are inherited generation after generation.
In keeping zebra finches you naturally want your birds to be as healthy as possible at all times.
