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Image 1 — How can I get my Gouldian finches to eat a wider variety of fruits and vegetables?
Image 2 — How can I get my Gouldian finches to eat a wider variety of fruits and vegetables?
Image 3 — How can I get my Gouldian finches to eat a wider variety of fruits and vegetables?
Image 4 — How can I get my Gouldian finches to eat a wider variety of fruits and vegetables?
▲ 6 r/Finches

How can I get my Gouldian finches to eat a wider variety of fruits and vegetables?

I'm worried about nutritional deficiencies, so I've been trying to introduce different types of veggies.

However, aside from napa cabbage, kale, and pear, they either take a tiny bite and stop, or completely ignore them.

Today, I offered them finely grated carrots and blueberries, but they didn't touch them at all.

Fortunately, they do nibble on their pellets a little bit, but I am still concerned.

Sometimes they eat broccoli and bok choy well, but other times they only take a few bites and ignore them.

Today, I bought carrots, bell peppers, and sweet potatoes.

They didn't eat the carrots, but I really hope they will try the sweet potatoes and bell peppers.

My canaries love vegetables so much that it's almost a problem, but on the other hand, I'm worried because my Gouldian finches hardly eat them.

u/HuckleberryAshamed15 — 21 hours ago
▲ 12 r/Finches

I just sold my 6 week old Australian zebras to the guy I get my mice from. I said £6 for 1 cock and 5 hens, walked out with £40! Talk about a good day 🤣

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 😇

u/hellothereskibidi — 2 days ago
▲ 16 r/Finches

The feathers on my Gouldian Finches' faces are gradually turning white.

The second one is a female Gouldian finch. She lost her facial feathers in the past when she was attacked by a male Gouldian finch, and at the same time, she lost a lot of feathers due to molting, but they grew back white like that.

Could this be a vitamin deficiency?

Or is it a natural process?

u/HuckleberryAshamed15 — 2 days ago
▲ 190 r/Finches

My new Owls

I've been waiting patiently for a couple of owl finches and they finally arrived! They are so cute! But so tiny!

u/wheresthetreats — 3 days ago
▲ 30 r/Finches

Male or Female?

Are the white finches male or female? I assumed Female but their beaks are the same colour as the grey male.

Any advice would be much appreciated :) Thanks

u/Anxious-Week5927 — 3 days ago
▲ 1 r/Finches

Has anyone had success breeding Gouldian finches in wicker nests?

I'm currently getting one of my Gouldian pairs ready to try breeding this month, and they definitely seem eager and like they're getting into good condition. Pearly beak on the male, charcoal beak on the female, lots of displaying to each other and playing with pieces of grass and making buzzy "nesting noises" while poking around the upper cage corners.

I bought a wooden nesting box earlier this year, and I decided to put it in the cage this week to see how my Gouldian pair would react. They were wary of it at first but then got used to its presence and started to seem curious about it, especially the male. He keeps perching near it and craning his neck looking like he wants to hop in...but then he changes his mind and leaves. He has even gathered bits of grass in his beak and brought them up to where the nest is, peeking into the hole but then giving up yet again.

It seems like there is something about the nest box that my finches don't like, and I am not entirely sure what it is. This is my first time attempting to breed Gouldians, and my first time attempting to breed finches in nest boxes at all. Before this I have raised and bred shaft-tail finches for quite a few years, and they always used covered wicker nests, so that's what I am used to. But I keep reading that Gouldians prefer wooden or plastic nest boxes, and have much better breeding results when using them.

Out of curiosity, I tried putting one of my old wicker nests in the cage, and my finch couple took to it almost right away. They both made the buzzy sounds and seemed really excited about it, and both birds took turns hopping inside and rearranging the nest material I put in it.

I took the wicker nest back out for now as I am still figuring out what the best route is to take. Should I just let them give it a go in a wicker nest and see what happens? Is there something else I could try to encourage them to enter my wooden nest box? Or should I try buying a smaller nest box, perhaps one of the plastic ones with a wider entrance? (The box I currently have is a rather large one with the entry hole offset to one side.) I appreciate any input that more experienced Gouldian breeders can provide.

Update: Thanks for the input so far, everyone! I have decided that I am going to try the wooden nest box one more time in a different way. There is a panel on the short side of it that slides out, leaving a decent-sized square hole that the birds could more easily get in/out of. I am thinking that maybe they are intimidated by the small size of the current entry hole. I will seal up the smaller hole with cardboard and see how they like the bigger entrance.

If that doesn't work, I will try the wicker nest since they seemed happy to use that. And then if that doesn't give good results, I will experiment with some other types of nest boxes, like cardboard and plastic, to see what they prefer. I will keep you updated!

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u/Vanadium_Gryphon — 3 days ago
▲ 2.0k r/Finches+6 crossposts

The columbine and woodland phlox is blooming, the frog is purple, and the canaries are singing in the sun. Spring is here.

u/LobeliaTheCardinalis — 6 days ago
▲ 8 r/Finches

Is something wrong with our zebra finch

He seems to be puffy since this morning. Otherwise I can't tell if anything else is wrong

u/ThirdOne38 — 4 days ago
▲ 81 r/Finches

Have an egg bound hen? Put them in a tank of shallow water.

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.

🐦‍⬛🪶🐦‍⬛🪶🐦‍⬛

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.

u/hellothereskibidi — 6 days ago
▲ 198 r/Finches

Two of my senior finches, an English zebra and a society. The zebra finch lost her mate of many years recently, and this society finch (one of five) is trying to make her feel like she is still part of the flock.

u/LobeliaTheCardinalis — 6 days ago