Gouldian moulting

[Aspen]

New to gouldians. Bought an older pair this spring - she's 2012 and he's 2010. No nesting activity though he loves to sleep in the nest. She's rarely goes in there. No singing or hoppy dance from him either.

Now she is obviously moulting, but he isn't. Do they commonly moult at the same time or not?

I understand the moult is harder on gouldians that a lot of other species. They will not take egg - I've given it daily for months - and not much for other veggies, though they take some. I give them good seed, chitted seed, lettuce (which they eat) and the option of other veggies, egg and egg food. Anything else I should be doing for them?

[debbie276]

Mine never sleep in the nest, they are perch sleepers though I have heard that fostered gouldians do take to the nests more. Does he seem unwell or just like the nest because that would be a red flag to me.
Mine all molt at the same time but they also are outside and respond to the seasons. If kept inside they may molt at all different times because there wouldn't be as much as a temperature and lighting trigger. I honestly don't notice it being harder on the gouldians then any other finch.
Getting them to eat egg is the best high protein and nutritional food source. How are you offering it? I got many to try egg by running the hard boiled egg through a garlic press. The egg looks similar to little worms and then I spread the egg out thinly on a dish and sprinkle lightly with their favorite seed. On the "Nutrients & Their Sources" page you may get more ideas what you should offer http://www.finchinfo.com/diet/nutrients_and_sources.php also helpful is the "Safe, Toxic, & Unsafe Foods" page http://www.finchinfo.com/diet/safe_toxi ... _foods.php

good luck

[lnlovesorange]

I'm fairly new to Gouldian's too, I have three that are brothers, two of them are from the same clutch and the third is from a clutch a month later. The two clutch brothers molted at the same time, within a week, week and a half, apart from each other (meaning one was finished molting, when the other's head had all pin feathers, and look AWFUL!) but the third one didn't molt with them, and that I can see, still hasn't started his moult... He is my "special" Gouldy, cuz he lost a foot when he was a few months old (bad accident, the breeder woke up to him and his foot dangling.....so she cut it off as there was no saving it) BUT horrendous as that sounds he made a full recovery and he's the best little bird, and gets around and perches just fine. But I don't know if the trauma has anything to do with his moulting schedule, the breeder did tell me that he was GORGEOUS, his colors were much more vibrant before the accident. She said he was beautiful, then once he fully recovered from the foot, his colors seemed to dull down... I think he is BEAUTIFUL... so I don't know what she's talking about!!! ;) I digress... as usual.... but the point is, I'm not sure if the trauma caused a moult, or a change in his body's reaction to things.... or what, but long story short (i know it's not really short at all) No they don't always molt together.... LOL
One last thing, on the food. Mine wouldn't eat certain things when i got them, and I just kept trying...and trying. It took a good 3 months for them to try Kale (which is REALLY good for them, so i really wanted them to try it) but they just wouldn't. Finally one day a few weeks ago, I looked in the cage and all three of them had green beaks from chomping on all the kale i left FINALLY!! So my point is sometimes with them, especially if they're set in their ways, it takes a LONG time for them to try something they are unfamiliar with, but keep trying. Especially with the egg food. I noticed one thing that REALLY worked for me, was I took spray millet away for 2-3 days, then would put the food i wanted them to try in the cage (in your case egg) and sprinkle millet on the top of it , quite a bit and mix it in w/ the egg, but sprinkle it on the top to attract them to it, and if they get the egg in their mouth trying to get the millet they usually find out that they LOVE IT!!! Good luck, sorry, I can be long winded sometimes, and I go off on tangents .....

[Aspen]

Thanks for the answers so far. I'll try some of your suggestions.

Any others?

[spn1979]

I've built my Gouldian collection to include 4 pairs in the past few months. All around 1 year or better so all breedable ages from different sources. I seem to have a few different molting cycles. It's been a constant stream of feathers the past 6 months lol. I also try smashing some of their favorite seed trying to get them to eat it. I might try and remove the nest until she is done with her molt. Both birds sleeping on the perch together is an indication that they might be bonding, then readd the nest. I had a male that never seem to court the hen I had with him. Never did the hoppy dance and when he sang it was always directed outside the cage. I traded males and the sparks flew immediately and I'm expecting eggs any day now. If your male doesn't pay much attention to your hen or vice versa you might have to switch things up.

[Aspen]

Just found this now, spn1979. Thanks for your answer. I only have the two at the moment and not really planning on getting more, but we'll see. I'll keep trying with the egg, mixing it with other foods too. I've done it with chitted seed and other veggies, but so far no go. Millet next? Thanks for the suggestions.

[Gouldian lover]

I got my first Gouldies about one year ago and they had a couple pin feathers on their heads at that time. For the last few weeks I have vacuumed up a lot of feathers, but I'm not seeing any new ones come in. Normally how long before their new feathers appear?

[debbie276]

Most times you don't even notice the molt (other then the feathers on the floor) till the pin feathers appear on the head. Could be as much as 3 months from the start, give or take.

[GouldieFledge]

Hey lnlovesorange--

I'm bumping up an old thread here, but I'd love to see a picture of your special gouldian "Footy" LOL

[lnlovesorange]

GouldieFledge OH of COURSE!!! I Love him. His name is Ren. (as in Kevin Bacon's name in Footloose..... see? See what I did there.... he couldn't get his Foot Loose....) Anyway, dont know if I have a pic of him that you can see his foot is missing, but this is my beautiful Ren... (btw he was the first to come out of the cage when I got the house with a bird room, they wouldnt' come out of their cage, and he was the first one to do it!! My mom called me at work!! LOL) He signs his little heart out, I want to get him a girlfriend, but I don't know that she would take to him because I'm not sure that he can do the Hoppity dance to impress her... So i don't really know what to do, I do want to get him a friend.... maybe the Silver will take to him... Hope so... Anyway ENJOY My little Ren!

[debbie276]

Very pretty Lilac Breast he is!

[Animalzoo]

lnlovesorange

He's great. I had a one leg Zebra who fathered several clutches. I know Zebs don't hop up and down but point is he was able to straddle and mate with the female so this isn't going to be a problem. I recon Ren has learnt to balance well enough on a perch he'll be able to hop and sing. I'd try it

Lovely pretty birdies x

[lnlovesorange]

Animalzoo I wasn't so worried about the actually getting his Grove on with the ladies, I was more worried that because he can't do the dance the ladies would go for the other 2, more readily. I've seen them do the Hoppity dance, but never Ren, he gets scared and flies away! But he sings BEAUTIFULLY.... I'm going to try to get a female, and we'll see how it goes. In the mean time I more or less just want him to have a friend, I kind of feel like cuz he's a little "different" his brothers team up together and kind of leave him out ....

[lnlovesorange]

lovezebs .... he reminds me of Pim... a little. Isn't he your YH guy that you saved from being bald? He's lilac breasted too isn't he?

[lovezebs]

lnlovesorange

Here are Sebell, Jaxom, and Pim, my three Yellow (Orange ) headed boys.