Adding a new Cordon Bleu Finch to cage?

[johnschenkel]

We currently have two Cordon-Bleu finch (male and female) of the Angolan Corndon-bleu variety in a large flight cage. I was at a local pet store and noticed that they had a single female blue headed Cordon-bleu finch(a bit bigger than our variety). I know that Cordon-bleus don't like to be alone, so I bought it and brought it home. Not knowing the correct proceedure for adding birds, I put her in the cage with our two finch. Well, the females didn't get along and starting fighting in mid-air, so I took the new finch out and put her in a small cage next two the big cage. It has been about three days and they seem to be getting along and hanging out as close as they can be together. Is it now ok to add her to the cage, or do I need to find a male to add along with her? Sorry for the long story, but I could use some advice.
Thanks,
John

[finchmix22]

I would find male or another hen. The hens fight over the male, but if they're alone in a cage without a male, they'll get along fine. So, two hens together, cock/hen together or two cocks together, but only one pair together. Good Luck.

[Sally]

Hi John, and welcome to the forum. I have Cordon Bleus, and one thing you don't want to do is add a third to a pair, CBs don't like trios (actually, most species of finch don't do well in trios).

Also, the three CB species that are available to us in North America are all separate species, not subspecies nor mutations, and so they need to be kept distinct and separate. It sounds like you have a pair of Blue-breasted CBs plus a hen Blue-capped CB. The third species is Red-cheeked CB. I would get another cage and get a male Blue-capped CB for your new hen. See how one finch leads to another? And yet another cage?

Are you sure you have a Blue-capped hen? The hens of each species look very similar, with small differences, so it is easy to confuse them. If you could post a photo, it would make it easier to identify her. Also, if you could put your location in your profile, it makes it easier to answer questions sometimes.

I wouldn't put two cocks together in a cage, especially if they can see and/or hear any hens, they will fight. Sometimes two cocks will sort of get along if no hens are present.

[johnschenkel]

Thank you very much for the quick replies. I attached a photo of the new finch. We can't have two cages, so I guess I have to take her back. I feel so bad that she is alone, but I now understand that we cannot have even 4 Cordon Bleu finches together. I wish these pet chain stores knew what they were talking about. They said it would be fine. Two questions then...when I take her back can I keep her in the cage and cover it with a towel to get her to the car? It is 20 degrees out. I really don't want to put her back in the little box. She lost 4 feathers on the way home. What do you recommend? We want to add to our cage. Our two CBs like to mate, but one the birds hatch, they move on and let the babies die. I tried to hand feed them but, it didn't work. Since then we took out the nest and now they don't mate. If we wanted to put a nest back in and add birds, what type should be add if you can? Society finch so they help take care of the birds or what?

Thanks again for the great answers,
John

[Cath1068]

Awwwww cute bird. Too bad you dont live near me as I would buy her from you. I have a lone blue cap male and I cant seem to find anyone that has them.......

[cindy]

Also, when buying a new bird it is best to quarantine the new bird for about 3 to 4 weeks to make sure there are no signs of illness that can be passed onto your birds. Having her in a separate cage is best a bit of a distance from the others or better in another room until after quarantine.

Article on quarantine and what to do when you get a new bird

http://ladygouldian.com/node/239

[Sally]

That is not a hen, no wonder the birds were fighting, that is a Blue-capped CB male, and two males with one hen is a disaster in the making. Good thing you are taking him back, even though you feel bad about it. The hard part of looking at birds in a petstore is that you want to rescue them, but that isn't always possible.

And it's not just petstores that will give you the wrong information. After I had my first pair of BCCBs, I went to the Ft. Worth Bird Mart, and a vendor had a pair of BCCBs. I asked if they could share a cage with my pair, and the vendor assured me it was OK! He just wanted to make a sale and took advantage of my ignorance. So if you go to a bird mart, be prepared with your research!

[johnschenkel]

I really appreciate all of the great info! That's interesting that it is a male. So he and our current female would fight?

When we do get new birds what type of finch should we get?

Thanks again,
John