jittery spices

ryanf · Post by **ryanf** » Wed Feb 25, 2009 5:32 pm

my spices seem jittery. when ever any movement happens in the room they flutter all around their cage. the societies i gave my mother never did this....should i get a pair of soc or another pair of spices?

franny · Post by **franny** » Wed Feb 25, 2009 5:37 pm

Could be that they were wild caught, or maybe just used to an aviary, not a cage. How long have you had them? My GBs were pretty jittery but have settled down a lot. Give them a month or so... and carry on as normal. I don't see the point in trying to avoid movement or noise around them. Sooner or later they will get used to it, might as well be sooner. After all, you have to clean the cage, etc. and if you avoid moving around them, it will just stress them more when you clean, IMO.

Though Societies are probably the most calm birds, used to life in a cage, and not usually easily flustered... so you would be happy with them, I'm sure. Some of them are even very similar in color to the spice finch. You will have no trouble finding them either, and usually for a better price than spice finches.

ryanf · Post by **ryanf** » Wed Feb 25, 2009 7:06 pm

you think laid back socs will calm down the spices?

i ask because this works on fish and im hoping it does on birds too

Finch Fry · Post by **Finch Fry** » Wed Feb 25, 2009 11:14 pm

Not sure if this is relevant. But my 2 juvs are so jittery its NUTS. They go bonkers in the cage and they know nothing but cage life. The parents, petshop bought, are calm. Maybe the spices are young and will chill out with a bit of maturity.

Just a thought.

franny · Post by **franny** » Wed Feb 25, 2009 11:36 pm

Finch Fry, I found that my juvie GBs were more flighty than their parents, too. But they calmed down as they got older, so the new owner tells me.

Ryan, I think you are right. Societies are great "teacher" birds. They will try any new food you put in the cage, and they usually love their bathes. I've heard others say that the other birds learned to bath by watching the societies. I think that they probably would calm down, with the societies to show them that there is nothing to fear.