should I upgrade?

[Sojourner]

Males are prettier and they sing.
But a pair would be best - if you don't want them to breed, just don't provide a nestbox.

yeah I don't want babies so no nest for sure. I don't use a nest with my society finches either.

Personally I would go with 2 males. I'm here to tell you, if you have a bonded pair, they WILL breed and they WILL lay eggs. Even if you have all females, one or more of them may still start laying eggs.

I lost one of my first pair of Bengalese to egg-binding even though both birds in the cage were female. I then took on a little fawn Bengalese so the surviving hen wouldn't be so miserable - and she turned out to be a he. Right now I am struggling to get my hen to stop laying. With Bengalese you can't tell males from females without a genetic test until "too late".

Seriously consider sticking with 2 males. It is the ONLY way to be sure you don't end up with eggs.

[Tish]

I have no idea if I will get 2 males or female and male. Egg binding does scare me. I have a society finch that seems to pop out a few eggs every 30 to 45 days, she scares me everytime.

[Tish]

Nerine I found it on toronto kijiji, but you can also find it on glitter-pet.com

[Sojourner]

I have no idea if I will get 2 males or female and male. Egg binding does scare me. I have a society finch that seems to pop out a few eggs every 30 to 45 days, she scares me everytime.

I'm right there with you. I'm pretty sure I haven't got the nerves to handle being a breeder, LOL!

[lovezebs]

Sojourner & Tish

Oh yes you can tell Societies apart (male from female).

Only the males do the song and dance routine, while the females chirp like crickets.

When you go to the Pet Shop, take your cell phone with you.
Google "male Society song", and play it to the Societies in the cage.
The females, will just cock their heads and listen, the males will immediately go into their song and dance routine (puffing up like tiny pears and singing up a storm).

Of course the people in the store, will think you're nuts, but who cares.
I've actually sexed Society Finches for people in Pet Shops using this method.



https://youtu.be/qC0lioJk4aY

[Sojourner]

Sojourner & Tish

Oh yes you can tell Societies apart (male from female).

Only the males do the song and dance routine, while the females chirp like crickets.

When you go to the Pet Shop, take your cell phone with you.
Google "male Society song", and play it to the Societies in the cage.
The females, will just cock their heads and listen, the males will immediately go into their song and dance routine (puffing up like tiny pears and singing up a storm).

Of course the people in the store, will think you're nuts, but who cares.
I've actually sexed Society Finches for people in Pet Shops using this method.



https://youtu.be/qC0lioJk4aY

THAT'S IT! Bambi goes all pear shaped when he's a-courtin'.

However both Petsmart and Petco here keep all their birds behind glass. So playing a song for them won't work as they can no more hear me than I can hear them.

I had wondered if just WATCHING would be good enough - do the females ever go pear shaped?

[Sheather]

Never.

If the birds in the cage are lively, you can sex them by putting your ear to the glass and seeing what sounds they're making, even if there's no singers. Males have a single note call, females chirrup. I've bought most of my societies, that I didn't breed, from PetSmart, and sexed them all by voice before picking them out.