One of the orange cheeked waxbills we had in our aviary
started plucking the feathers from its partner and the two society males. We tried
separating both the plucker from the community as well as
from the plucked waxbill. Upon reuniting
them, the plucking orange cheek just continued on plucking.
We struggled with our options, but in the
end, chose to take both orange cheeks back to the pet store. Luckily, we
were able to exchange them for another pair, the rosy rumped waxbills.
On one hand, I regret taking the pair back to the pet store
because pet stores are depressing places for animals of any kind. On the other hand,
however, we did have the inhabitants of our flourishing community as a whole to consider.
In the long run, we did what was best for the whole. Based on our satisfaction with our
finch community today, I believe we made the right choice.
