u/hellothereskibidi

He's converted his old enclosures he had for meerkats, skunks, and coati mundis into two large aviaries that he is going to join into one. How lovely it was to have a tour around! I also got lots of licks from a cheeky Gambian pouched rat. I struggle with making friends, so I value the connections I make through aviculture and rodentry 😇

Kinglsey had access to grit, egg shell, and high calcium vegetables but unfortunately still got egg bound. Here's what to do if yours is egg bound 👍

Their cloaca must be submerged!!! I emptied this bug cage and filled it about 1cm above Kingsley's cloaca then put her in it.

The bird will thrash and protest, this is normal and okay. Place a towel over the cage to help calm them.

It took about 10 minutes for Kingsley to lay the egg. A lot of panting, stretching out, etc. This looks scary but is all normal.

Once she laid the egg, I isolated her into a heated enclosure that had a UVA/B lamp. I put a few things into her water bowl to help her heal. Day 1 - quikgel and calcium/d3 supplement. Day 2 - calcium/d3 supplement.

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If your bird is particularly weakened by being egg bound, I suggest keeping a close eye in case they become so weak that they lower their head into the water. It may even be best to supplement calcium and some type of quikgel to see if they perk up, before placing them in the water. The water method relies on them being strong enough to push.

After the egg bound hen recovers, please remember that daily supplementation of calcium is harmful. A good rule of thumb is to give a calcium supplement when they've laid the first egg of a clutch (even if you're discarding the eggs).

Feeding egg shells (chicken, duck, quail, whatever) is often readily accepted by most commonly kept seed-eaters as a preventative. This can be done weekly.

Egg binding can be genetic so don't beat yourself up, you probably supplemented enough calcium but they are just prone to it. I would not recommend breeding from a hen that gets egg bound more than once but that's my personal limit. You may be okay with that.

Do not attempt to massage the egg out. You'll end up doing more harm than good most likely. Cracking it is bad. If the stuck egg is cracked, keep an eye for signs of infection and contact a vet if you're worried.

Sunlight is important to prevent egg binding. Putting the cage near a window is not good enough, something something UV gets mostly blocked. As long as the enclosure has VERY small bar spacing, you can put them outside. Or you can offer a UV light attached to the cage (UVA + UVB) for a few hours a day. The bulb will need replacing yearly even if it is still as bright as when you bought it.

The most I could spend on a laptop for him was £80 but luckily the crapier the tech the better in his eyes. It has 8GB RAM. I've recently had to dip into my savings a lot more than I'd have liked to due to both various veterinary bills and expenses from my own independant at-home veterinary care. Everything sort of went wrong at once but seems to be back on track.

I hate birthdays. Cheap cards from Sainsbury's should be enough.

6 little babies have got a local home lined up with a giant aviary! They'll be going next Saturday to the guy I buy my mice off of. Funnily enough, my aviary (Little Mouse Aviary) is named after a mouse I bought from him 🤣

Original post: https://www.reddit.com/r/Finches/s/8ureQQnsek

They have been dealt with. No more fighting and no injuries other than a minor scratch I disinfected. 👍

Sorry for the low light, I like to keep my room dark for me and them.

Frosty here has a giant tumor on her thigh and a smaller one on her neck. She is still full of life and does not seem to be in pain.

Frosty's mother Pinecone was euthanised last week for a tumor of the same size in the exact same places. She was probably around 2 years old but she was clearly full of life and energetic. No greying or slowing down at all. But it felt wrong to force her to drag around that mass, hence my choice. The vet I saw that day seemed to totally agree with me. Once Pinecone had been euthanised, I could feel how incredibly dense and heavy the tumor was!

Today I took Frosty to the vets and to be honest I fully intended to have her euthanised. She may be full of life but she's literally dragging around two huge growths. The vet seemed shocked(?) kind of at the size. But then said there was no reason to euthanise her. Felt like mixed signals.

Frosty is just under 1 year old, so... I can't really just leave it to get bigger and bigger until she dies of old age. It got to this size in 4 weeks, it's going to be huge by next month. I got charged £60, I can't be charged £60 every time I send her to the vets thinking euthanasia is the best option only to be corrected and sent on my way. I don't want to wait until it's huge, that feels disgustingly immoral.

I was offered to have it operated on for around £200, of course with the risk of her dying in surgery. I asked the vet if she recommended leaving it or operating and she said it was entirely personal, she couldn't say either way.

It seemed as if she was hinting at "don't operate" though, she was speaking quite negatively of it as if it was more likely to fail than go well, without saying exactly that.

First of all this is making me feel terrible about Pinecone!! Could she have stayed around longer?? Could she have been operated on??? Second of all I feel like a bit of a tart for suggesting to euthanise Frosty if it seems to be such a dramatic choice.

What would you chose? I can afford the operation just fine so with money out of the way, what would you do? Operate or no?

I have recently had a lot of vet bills, plus a possible £200 surgery for one of my mice. Please do not need antibiotics, Dandelion! My wallet can't take it! 🤣

This was recorded about 3 days ago, no fighting (or sign of infected wound) since! Nest rage...

I plan to add hypothetical loci for things like increased chance of seal, increased chance of ghost tan, increased chance of extreme coat length, increased chance of highly expressive e^a and so on. And the hunger gene that makes Labradors so hungry!

I also plan to add all known genetic disease loci, muzzle length loci, tail length loci, ear type loci, extra muscle loci, etc.

And also polygenetic breed traits like human agression, dog agression, gameness, fencing instinct, tolling instinct, and so on.

Of my 3 pairs that currently each have 3 week old babies, 2 are starting another clutch and incubating them. One of the pairs has already had two clutches this year (Feb and June).

They have constant access to grit, egg shell every other day, and they get a potent calcium supplement through the water every 7 days for 14 days whenever they lay a clutch. They also get vegetables. Plus the occasional vitamin supplement if they look a little run down.

I haven't noticed any issues but I know over breeding is a big no no!!! The eggs are young enough to freeze/destroy if this is best, no visible life yet.

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Not looking for rediculous ramblings from outdoor cat havers. UK based.

I have a small shed in my family's garden houses finches. It is fully enclosed other than the meshed area pictured.

I have lost a bird to cats in a different set up that was less enforced that this one. He was mangled and his organs were wrapped around the bars of the cage. He was falling apart as I took his body from the cage. It was obvious his death was a very long struggle of being degutted in the dark by a disgusting well-fed and owned cat.

How do I keep them away? 3 OWNED and FED cats have made a habit of clawing at the mesh. My dad is going to double mesh it and install plastic spikes around the aviary but it will not be enough!!

Spraying the cats with water doesn't keep them away at all, those beepy things don't keep them away, scents of any kind don't work. I would trap them and dump them with some form of shelter/animal control, but since they are well fed and unfriendly they are impossible to catch.

ETA: This is excessive for daily or even regular feeding but my flock could use a boost. Be particularly careful with stronger supplements like Flourish, Potent Brew, etc.

Would you believe I cleaned the aviary yesterday??? Would you also believe I spilled seed in the aviary yesterday after I cleaned?

Around 2023 I got my first trio of Bengalese finches. They were in a large aviary with 30-ish Australian zebra finches. All cocks. I had only bought them for variety but when a zebra hen laid two eggs on the floor, I wanted to see if they'd hatch it.

One of the Bengalese finches, Beelzebub, was the sweetest baby ever. So gentle and kind. Burgerpants was a bit more of a loon but that was his only offense. Still a lovely bird. And lastly, Belphegor.

The hatred I have for Belphegor is immeasureable. I feel the same way towards that yellow bird as I imagine parents of murderous psychos feel towards their children that they had treated with nothing but love and respect.

Belphegor was always odd to me. He'd sneak away in high places and watch everything from above. What I first assumed was overwhelm or perhaps overcrowding was later proven wrong, but I'll adress that when we get there.

He would only sit on the nest with the eggs at night when the trio roosted together in the nest. He clearly didn't want to be a parent but given the aviary's size he had no obligation to sit on the eggs or *that* specific nest.

I thought Beelzebub and Burgerpants who were eagerly sharing shifts on the nest would raise the chick and Belphegor would stay out of the way. Nope. First babe hatches and how sweet! I came back a few hours later and there's a dead hatchling in the water bowl. Drowning is such a horrid way to go. It genuinely made me feel ill. It wasn't even an "accident", the bowl was too far from the nest.

I excused it as maybe the chick got stuck to one of the birds' feathers and was therefore accidentally thrown out the nest. But then a few days later baby 2 hatched. I even saw Beelzebub feed it. The next day, in the morning, I saw disfigured baby bird parts all over the aviary and blood on Belphegor's beak. I was so mad. Some time soon, Beelzebub had died. I think from the stress of it all as physically he was fine and he was up to date on preventatives.

I then decided that Bengalese finches aren't for me. I hate myself for this but I sold them to a breeder. I told him honestly "the dilute fawn one has killed chicks" and he didn't seem bothered in the slightest. I wish I had gotten behavioural euthanasia for Belphegor. Because now he's either mated a hen and brutally maimed more chicks, or he's successfully bred and passed those psycho genes on. I pray to Asmodeus that Belphegor is infertile.

The reason I know it wasn't overcrowding stress is that, during advertizing, I had seperated Burgerpants and Belphegor into a flight cage. Same behaviours. Same weird isolation behaviours and watching from a distance.

This year in March I decided to try again. I bought a trio that happened to be a crested chestnut pied hen (Kingsley), a dilute chestnut pied cock (Cole), and a chocolate pied cock (Peregrine). These birds immediately seemed more lively, happy, and generally well in the head. They are so sweet and interactive.

They had decided that the only nest they'd take to was open top, so I provided it. But even after the eggs were laid and all 3 birds took shifts incubating, the cocks would continuously construct and deconstruct the hay, straw, and shavings inside the nest. The nest was hardly lined most of the time.

Their eggs hatched 2 weeks late. Red flag number 2. I consider the nest fuckery to be the first red flag for their mental wellness...

The first to hatch, Lark, I never got to meet. Lark was dead and half in the egg, tossed far from the nest when I first saw them. They were not deformed, drowned in fluid, etc... But it definately hatched itself before dying. It had a severely chewed up and bleeding wing. Chewed. Not deformed. At the time I assumed it died naturally and that the birds tossed it to keep the nest clean.

The next day I checked the nest again. 1 egg. There should be 2 left. I looked all over the cage. Just as I was closing the enclosure door, I found a fully hatched hatchling in the grit bowl attached to the door. It's foot was lightly chewed and bleeding. I thought it was dead as it was very pale, but once I collected it the chick began to move slowly.

I immediately got it in a critter cage on heat according to an orphaned finch heat guide I had. I waited until it begged to give the first feeding of pedialyte, and the next feedings of pedialyte/formula. I froze the last egg. I didn't want it to hatch.

The little chick that was alive was called Clémente. They were getting stronger and bigger but only lived from 6/6/2026 to 8/6/2026 before being found dead - yet warm and with food in their tummy (not crop) - at the 5am feeding of that day. Clémente had been growing, their wound was healing and disinfected, they had been pooping regularly, emptying the crop correctly... I just hope they didn't suffer like Lark did.

This little stunt immediately put the whole trio on my soft cull list. They are wonderful PET birds, so they will remain as such in my care. But any eggs will be froze ASAP. No chicks or fledglings will be allowed near them.

I know the amazing reputation these birds have as fosters. And I cannot deny that the majority are amazing at that job. Being mad at all Bengalese finches because of a few poorly bred examples is like hating all Chihuahuas because I got mine from a guy behind Tesco instead of an ethical breeder and it turned out to be a horrid unwell git.

But I find it hard to see these birds the same as I did before. It's taken the fun out of it for me. Don't get me wrong, I'll happily take care of them. The hen was egg bound a few days ago and I immediately fixed that. The egg was passed. I bought calcium + vitamin d concentrate, and kept her UVA/B lamp on longer each day in a seperate cage. I made sure to give her quickgel to bring her back and increase the eggfood/shell in her diet.

But like... I've only once had this happen with Australian zebra finches. I've had a single pair, a homebred cock to an oursourced hen (which was the direct sister to another hen I bought that is a great foster parent and bio parent).

And the issue was clear - I was too distracting, they didn't really want to hatch the babies, they wanted to play. Sadly their first chicks Vi and Powder died because of this failure on my part. They didn't maim them, they didn't chew them up, they lost interest that wasn't really there to begin with. It was my fault. A fixable issue.

Since returning them to a flock setting and stepping back, being a lesser/nonexistant role in their enrichment, they've successfully raised 2 clutches this year - Cherub, Chester, & Edith, and Roe & Muntjac. The Bengalese would likely maim their babies if they had them again.

I also had my first ever zebra finch runt. Little Poe. Poe wasn't a runt until 3 weeks of age. He was still being warmed by his parents, fed, and cared for when he died in the nest. But he was extremely underweight and short in the back. His wings were clearly not going to ever work. There was nothing I could do to fix his bad health but it hurt losing such a friendly baby who loved cuddles. It was for the best though.

To Lark, Clémente, and Poe I am incredibly sorry and hope you've found the peace below in the dirt with Prince Belphegor (the spirit, not the baby killer 😤).

Every breeding season comes with a lot of needless worrying in my part but this year was definately the most stressful.

All my chicks for mid 2026 have fledged, including Poe's two siblings Edgar and Allan. They both look more older than Poe.

Poe is still being fed by their parents but is very light weight compared to the others and hasn't fledged yet. I will not force a fledge, they will do so when they are ready, but I am hoping Poe isn't a runt.

Poe hatched about the same day or day after their siblings. Hatch date roughly 24/05/2026. Roughly 19 days old as of 12/06/2026.

Poe is supposedly out of a grey split black cheek split pied cock to a grey split black breast hen. Supposedly. However, one of Poe's siblings is double factor black breast... impossible from this pairing. An aviary setting means I am not sure of the pedigree.

Visually, Poe is a grey pied. Poe has a creamy cheek patch that is more orange-y in real life. His undersides are also a richer orange rather than buff, a trait his supposed dam somewhat expresses especially when she was a fledgling. Is this a sign of a known/documented mutation or split?

Will be available in August, £1, can't wait to see them grow up 🤎

First is a fawn black breast pied, second is an isabel.

I didn't plan to name them, hence colour + number ID. I am falling in LOVE with the fawn black breast pied. Scared of nothing, visually stunning, and a lovely small plump bird.

They've both got to be sold, but oh my God!!! 😭🥰 Ughhh I wish I could keep them 💔