FINCHforum

Alright, so I've got a big cage with 4 gouldians in it (2 males, 2 females) but they don't seem to be getting along! The females are younger I think, and one is still coloring out. I had to take my two zebras out because they were causing a lot of problems too. I want to get this big $400 cage, but I don't want to waste the money if they're going to keep fighting! Is there any way I can stop the fighting? The cage they are in now is pretty big.

How big is big? What size are they in now? My Gouldians have always been peaceful, but my Zebras have always been quarrelsome with other finches. Are your Gouldians really fighting, or just doing a little squabbling?

I have to say my Gouldians squabble very rarely. The spat usually only last seconds and then they are all fine again. This was when I had three males and one hen. The hen has recently passed on, so they boys all get along great now.

Do you have them set up for breeding? Could be mine don't fight cause I havn't provided them with nest boxes.

Ohh I would say about 30 inches long, 33 inches high, and 18 inches wide, maybe? And they are not set up for breeding, because I want to wait till they are all colored out before I do that, and maybe even buy more goulds.

That sounds about like my cages--30lx36hx18d. Four Gouldians shouldn't be a problem in that size cage for now, even with 2 males and 2 females. Once you decide to start breeding, I just have one pair of finches in each cage this size. A breeder told me I could have more breeding pairs of Gouldians in this size cage, but I find it much better to limit it to one pair when breeding. Actually, for breeding, a cage 30lx18hx18d would work just as well as these taller ones, so you could have two cages in the same wall space as one taller one.

Cage size also depends on the species, with finches. A species that likes to fly a lot needs more space than ones that tend to sit on their perches a lot, and the more peaceful the finch, the more you can push their space a bit, if needed. I find Societies and Gouldians to be very tolerant of multiple birds in the cage, whereas my Cordon Bleus, Strawberries, Zebras have to be either one pair to a cage, or matched up very carefully with other birds. Star finches are not supposed to be good cagemates for many others, and not their own kind except a single pair, yet I now have 1 adult male, 2 adult females, and 5 juvies in one of these cages, and so far, all are getting along (the juvies had been in their own cage for several months, yet were accepted by the adults again).

I just find that, though there are guidelines for finch compatibility, a lot depends on the individual birds, so you just have to watch them carefully, and sometimes do a lot of shifting around till you get 'peace and quiet'!

For $400, a cage that size had really better be something to look at. The standard cage 30x18x36 (on a stand) should really only be around $120 or so brand new. For $250, I recently bought a beautiful cage twice that size (64x21x35). For $400, it had better be a nice piece of furniture.