Strawberry Finch Situation

[Bunny Whisperer]

Hi Everyone : )

I wanted to share with you that I'm planning on getting a pair of Strawberry Finches and possibly breed them. I was wondering what the current situation of Strawberries in the USA is? Are they still rare or maybe becoming a little more common? So far I have only bred Zebra finches and found good homes for all of my babies and decided to try something different. Strawberries have been my dream. I love their song. I was also considering a pair of Lavender Waxbills. Tough choice. Any suggestions? xD Do you know any good Strawberry and Lavender finch breeders? I have only found one that has Strawberries, but he only has females and is going to get back to be after DNA sexing some juveniles. If the ideal conditions are provided are the Strawberries relatively easy to breed? Or in other words will they breed more often than not? Thanks a lot!

[lovezebs]

Bunny Whisperer

My pair of Berries, breed very readily (as long as tbey are provided with privacy and lots of live food.

What you might want to be looking for, are at least two or three pairs from different lines (if you want to breed). Most people want to purchase a male or a pair (females are not in high demand by themselves), so you want to be able to provide unrelated pairs.

[Bunny Whisperer]

Hi Lovezebs,

The breeder I will probably get my pair from assured me that the birds are unrelated. I intend to start with one pair just to get familiar with the species and probably get more later on : )

[slwatson]

Bunny Whisperer

I've seen very few if any strawberries in the bird marts in my area. I found a great breeder and bought a male from her, and then got a female from an awesome finch forum member in my area, but I haven't had luck getting them to breed yet. They haven't really attempted to set up a nest...

[Sally]

Strawberries can be both easy and frustrating! They definitely do best in an aviary situation, but not everyone can supply that. I cage breed, and as lovezebs has said, they need privacy. Mine never liked live food much until they had babies--strange. However, all my Strawberries like homemade egg food. Most of mine also like the freeze-dried bloodworms mixed into their egg food, but I have a few that can't stand them and won't touch their egg food if f/d bloodworms are added--go figure.

Most of mine prefer to build their own nests out of coco fiber, and they absolutely must have some white feathers to line their nests. Beyond that, unless your hen is in breeding condition, it is almost hopeless until she is ready, she simply won't accept the male.

Strawberries were extremely rare in the U.S., but last year some shipments came in, and suddenly there seemed to be lots of Strawberries available. Now, they are getting hard to find again, especially hens.

[lovezebs]

Sally

Funny how we have different experiences with our Berries.
My kids, bonded very quickly, build a nest Inside of a cardboard granola box, tossed all the white feathers out of the cage and used kleenex, and ate copious amounts of mealworms, along with eggs mixed with pulverized freeze dried mealworms.

[Bunny Whisperer]

I have a big cage for them - 25x15x36. But like with all of my birds I was going to let them fly free around the house, so it would work like an aviary. My only worry is that in a setting like that they won't really try to breed, because there'll be too much disruption - exploring the house, other finches flying around, people walking and if they choose to stay out of the cage most of the time, where there are no appropriate conditions to build a nest, they won't breed either. Maybe it would be better to let them out of the cage during the resting period only?

My Zebras bred with the cage open at all times, but the truth is that the mother doesn't come out of the cage at all, even though she knows how, and the male would only come out to sit on top of it and then co back in. Their kids, on the other hand fly everywhere and are extremely active : D

[Colt]

Oh Strawberry finches...lol

I have two pairs currently and at one time had three. They certainly aren't the easiest to breed, but they aren't the hardest either. All my pairs have built nests, but I've only had one successful clutch. And that was a total surprise. They raised the chicks on seed until about seven days in when I discovered they had chicks. Since then they tend to double clutch or break the eggs so I haven't gotten any other chicks.

In my experience wild-caught birds breed easier than captive-bred ones for some reason. And I'm not the only one who's noticed that. My first pairs of Strawberries were over $200 a pair, but the last pair I purchased was $180. There's definitely a demand for them, but unless someone is looking for them it can be hard to sell them at Bird Marts and Expos, especially if the males aren't in their nuptial plumage.