Canary Cagemates?

[MiaCarter]

Hi everyone!
I'm dying for another canary. Love them.
But I've never had one live with a finch (same room, but never same cage).

All of my current finches are all generally quite accepting (with the exception of them picking on Jackson with his "pacing" -- that's the first problem we've ever had with this bunch).
They've all lived in a communal setting their entire lives.
And once Squeepers is grown up, we'll be removing the nests for a while so there will be a reduction in any breeding-related attitudes!

I've read that the finches can be a bit wary of the canaries at first due to their size, but that they generally accept them quite well.
Of course, each bird is an individual, but individual dynamics aside, from what I've read, it seems that the process is more or less the same for integrating a canary. (After quarantine, side by side cages or cage with a divider, then once they're comfy, integrate with lots of supervision.)
From what I've read, it seems that if your finches are apt to accept another finch then they're usually equally willing to accept a canary.

What are your experiences with putting canaries in with finches?

Would you recommend it? Or steer clear and opt for a canary-only cage? (Of course, I'm always ready to separate, if necessary. No cage arrangement is worth anyone getting hurt over!)

[dan78]

Hello mia as a breeder of both canaries and finches I can safely say that yes canaries can be placed with finches and yes that finches at the start a wary but over time will get used to them. Now the same as canaries but they tend to not like a lot of fluttering and can become a bit defensive. Now it will come mainly down to room as a major factor with canaries as well as cage mate types as we know canaries are very vocal and makes become problematic during breeding time with the chance of aggression as well as territory so the key is the bigger the space the less chance problems will occur. As for cagemates well I have kept canaries with a fare few kinds and had little to no problems with the exception of singer, siskins and gold and green finches. What the problem was 1- they are all aggressive and territorial at breeding time 2 they all build similar nests and around the same height 3breeding season for them were all at the same time. As you have stated yes all birds have different personalities so some may work while others don't, I have had canaries bashed and harrased by Gouldians so even canaries can be picked on. What you have in favour is that you have cage space if it dosent work so now it's up to you to work out if the choice is good for you.

[lovezebs]

MiaCarter
Hi Mia.
I have had Luciano (canary male) with Zebras and Societies. The Zebras chased Luci around until he got really angry and grabbed one of my Zebbie males and pinned him to the ground. It was a close call.
Luciano is now in a flight with Societies (4 males 2 females) They co-exist peacefully together, but Luci is not singing.
Ssooo.... It's hard to say what would work for you. I think it depends on the individual bird. Also, you really have to keep an eye on things during canary breeding season. I never knew how hostile male canaries could get, so it is something to consider carefully.

[sandri_90]

I have both zebras and canaries or as I like to call them: the devils and the angels
Well, no, it's not that bad...
I also plan on housing them all together in the near future and see how that works out.

I have separate cages. I got the canaries first, then the zebras and at the beginning they all got along great. They were always visiting the canaries and eating their food Or when the male zebra was sitting on the eggs the female would go have a little "lady" chat with the canary female.

Then the zebras started to breed and things changed a little bit. My male zebra became a bully, he chased away the canaries when they got too close to their cage. There was no fighting though, only the chase.

Then, he became even more territorial. He started to guard the canaries' cage as well, as if he owned both Talk about possessiveness! So I decided I would let them out separately.

But now, as the zebra chicks are growing up, their parents cooled off and everything is back to normal.

I have to say, my male canary has never shown any aggressiveness towards anyone, just the female likes to nag him from time to time, but, you know... they're just a normal couple
But they never bullied the zebras.

So I just say, give it a try and see if it works out or not. They are gregarious birds after all, they should like it. If not, at least you know that you have tried.

[Finchtastic]

I currently have a Hen border canary in a cage with a Male Society and Male Star finch. No probs what so ever. But as tge others have said in breeding season cock canaries can becone teritorial. So just make sure ifnits a cock you have hr has plenty of room.

[MiaCarter]

Thank you guys so much for sharing your experiences! This has given me a lot to think about!

You've all mentioned breeding-related behaviors as a root of the more major issues.
We would remove all nests and any future breeding would take place in another cage.

But are canaries a species that goes into breeding mode due to the season? Rather than situational like most finches, where they don't really go into breeding mode unless there's a nest present?

I've owned canaries before, but they all turned out to be females and there were never any nests/nesting materials present.
If they went into breeding mode as a function of the season, it was very subtle as I never noticed any obvious changes in this regard.
Obviously, male breeding behaviors are more pronounced.

@lovezebs -- Did that incident with Luciano occur after they'd been living together for a long time or was it something that occurred while they were still relatively new to each other?

I will admit I'm a bit freaked out by the size differential and the potential for more serious injury that results from this.
I just lost my pit bull in February and for the first time ever, we have all small dogs and as much as I hate to admit it, it's really nice not having to worry about disproportionate injury related to size (e.g. a big dog nips a big dog, it's no big deal; a big dog nips a chihuahua, that could be a big problem!)
I'm not in the mood to introduce another size differential if it could cause a lot more worry! So that's something I'll need to consider (though, of course, it's much easier to separate birds vs. dogs!)
I'll admit one of the other members' story of a canary lopping off a zebra's leg freaks me out in this way.

[sandri_90]

Speaking from my experience with my own birds, I would say yes. My canaries get into breeding mode only when the spring comes, or even in the early autumn if the weather is really warm. But when the cold weather arrives, they stop. Also, after a clutch, they won't breed again very soon, unlike zebras.

[lovezebs]

MiaCarter
Hi Mia.
My Luciano had been with the Zebbies (Teddy and Timmy ) for a while, in fact he sort of raised these two little brothers from pre-first-molt days when I first got those two.
Everything was fine while Teddy and Timmy were infants. Howevr once the two Zebbie (double trouble) hit maturity, things changed. Teddy became aggresive first and began causing problems. Then Timmy got in on it as well. Then all hell broke loose.

[lovezebs]

MiaCarter
Hi Mia.
My Luciano had been with the Zebbies (Teddy and Timmy ) for a while, in fact he sort of raised these two little brothers from pre-first-molt days when I first got those two.
Everything was fine while Teddy and Timmy were infants. Howevr once the two Zebbie (double trouble) hit maturity, things changed. Teddy became aggresive first and began causing problems. Then Timmy got in on it as well. Then all hell broke loose.

[lovezebs]

MiaCarter
If you look up my post: Teddy the terrorist gets a lesson... It will give you an idea of how bad things can get.

[Rox]

Hi Mia,

I have canaries outside in an aviary with my finches and waxbills. They all get on fine and the finches even stand up to the canaries if they need to. Nothing funnier than watching a canary litterally scream at a gouldian over the food dish and the gouldian just sings a song back in responce BUT they are in a large aviary - 3mx2mx2m. Lots of space to get out of each others way.

If you have a large enough cage, I would say give it a go but keep an eye on them just in case.

Good luck!