Jen@lovezebs@isobea
Jen, thank you!! I love photographing them. Gives me time to enjoy 2 hobbies at once
Elana/Iso,
The problem is that everyone eats them, including the gouldians, canaries and even my 2 society hens. Include all the young gouldian fledglings atm and they go through an insane amount of mealworms. Remember that most waxbills (except perhaps the golden-breast and fire finch) require lots of live food when rearing young. The first week after hatching, the parents only feed insects to the chicks. If they don't feel that there is enough food around, they will either not bother going to nest or will toss chicks. So you need to have a constant supply going. I have 2 breeding aviary's and they get worms twice a day, ideally making sure there is no inconsistency when it comes to availability and bugs are there at all times. Their consumption has increased dramatically over the last couple of weeks (our breeding season has just begun). Add to the fact that they are wild caught and I need to double my efforts to get them breeding. I can understand why people are hesitant to get into waxbills and push for them to move onto soft-foods.
In terms of waxbills, I now have the following birds:
Golden-breast - 15 from 3 pairs. I'm enjoying getting a flock going
BB Cordon Bleu - 2 pairs
BC Cordon Bleu - 1 pair plus extra boy
Orange-cheek - 2 pairs plus extra boy
Red-eared - 2 pairs
Fire finch - 1 pair
Black-cheek - 1 pair
Violet-eared - 1 pair
Peter's Twinspot - 1 pair
)
Thankfully the feeder insect business has grown here in SA, so at least I can get a regular supply going of mealies and maggots. Add to that all the green seed I am trying to grow for them and collecting out in the veld, I better be rewarded for all my efforts!
