help with st helena's please

binna · Post by **binna** » Mon Jan 12, 2009 11:50 pm

i have got a pair of cinnamon st helena's i have had them for about 6 months now, they dont seem to be interested in breeding, what should i do ? should i invest in another pair or just add more fresh dry scrub? can anyone help me out ? they are in a aviary with a large flight area they get plenty of sunshine, they feed on a variety of seeds and fresh picked seeds, and live feed, i have lots of swamp grass areas for them, i relly dont know what else to do can anyone please make some suggestions i would be greatfull for any more information
cheers
belinda

Matt · Post by **Matt** » Tue Jan 13, 2009 7:24 am

Hi Belinda and welcome to the forum.

I have a couple of pairs of fawn saints too. Sounds like you're doing the right things. What size aviary have you got, how many other birds and what species are mixed in with them, is the aviary free from vermin, what location are you in. Do the pair preen each other or roost together.

Sometimes just backing off on their greens and live food, along with removing nesting material for a few weeks and then re-introducing them is enough to get them to nest. Also they like to decorate the cock nest on top of their real nest with all sorts of things like charcoal and cuttlefish pieces etc. Make sure these are available.

poohbear · Post by **poohbear** » Tue Jan 13, 2009 11:41 am

Fill out your profile Binna ...so we know where ya from???

Rayray · Post by **Rayray** » Sun Feb 08, 2009 5:57 am

well ffirst off all is how sure are you that you have a female and male Sint Helena ? , cos there's so many sub species around in the pet stores , forget the black tail is a male and brown is female , this goes up when you are sure you got 2 birds from the same sub species , in my aviary i have 9 Sint Helena's with young ones and i wrote down what i thought from the 9 what it was , after pulling 2 tail feathers and sending them to check the DNA .... i was so wrong !! i had only 2 males and 7 females , my list i made was 5-4 .

so find out first if you have a real cpl , what age .... and than start thinking about breeding

Ray

williep · Post by **williep** » Mon Feb 09, 2009 3:00 pm

Breeding waxbills can be tricky, but you also need some patience. It took my pair of stars 18 months to raise their first chick and now I can't stop them. Live food can also help to stimulate them to breed. And of course you must be sure you have a pair, if you aren't sure sexing is a good option but sometimes just adding more birds of the same species helps, there is more choice and it sometimes stimulates the settled pair to get down to business.