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can I house my canary with my gouldians

Posted: Tue Nov 24, 2009 12:50 pm
by star
Hi everyone!

I was wondering if I could put my male red factor canary in with my gouldians. There is plenty of space. I would just like to eliminate his cage and the space it takes up. I want to enlarge the gouldian cage no matter what. The gouldian cage is going to end up being 90 inches long , 36 inches wide and 36 inches tall. I am just wondering if he would pose any type of health threat to them. I did try my canary with my socities and he was very gentle , not bothering any of them but had to take him out because the societies were deathly afraid of him. Every time he would try to fly a little they thought he was out to get them. He would look so beautiful in with the goulds , all those colors!! I wonder if they would be frightened. They are bigger. I even think one of them is bigger than the canary. I am not breeding in that cage , no nests.Would any of you house them together? Would he maybe make it easier for them to get air sac mites? I am sure he does not have them but I read they are very susceptible to them. As it stands now his cage is about 3 feet from the goulds.

Re: can I house my canary with my gouldians

Posted: Tue Nov 24, 2009 2:53 pm
by adiekaty
My canary is with my goulds and they all do fine together. He doesn't sing as much... thats the only down side I have.

Godd luck!

Re: can I house my canary with my gouldians

Posted: Tue Nov 24, 2009 2:58 pm
by ac12
I talked to a canary breeder on Sun, and she said canaries and gouldians are fine together. Both of them have a mild temperment. In fact I have one of each in the same cage going thru quarantine together.

Zebras on the other hand she was absolutely against putting them with canaries, as they can be VERY aggressive. Not a good mix, mild and aggressive.

Re: can I house my canary with my gouldians

Posted: Thu Dec 10, 2009 2:57 am
by zhavener
I have a male RF canary (soon to have a hen as well) in my large aviary with a pair of gouldians and a pair of zebras and they all get along great! I think the outgoing personality of the canary helps keep the finches up close to the front of the aviary when people are around

Re: can I house my canary with my gouldians

Posted: Thu Dec 10, 2009 6:46 am
by jessyh
It really depends on the canary. You definitely shouldn't have a big problem with the gouldians picking on the canary. But canaries tend to have more complex personalities than other finches do, in my opinion. Yes, canaries are finches, too!

My male yellow singer is not good with any other birds, no matter how much space in the cage. I had him in an 8 foot aviary with a few other finches. He didn't outright attack any of them, he was a sneaky feather plucker. He'd wiggle up close, start preening the finch and getting all lovey dovey and then pluck a huge mouthful of feathers and hop around the cage with them. Then repeat the process on other birds. He's now my breeder and gets along just fine with his girlfriend. But you have to watch canaries very carefully for a few days. Pay attention to plucking, males and females both have a tendency to do it. My red factor female (his girlfriend) is great with all birds in all cages though. So just keep a close eye!

I also have another red factor female in a 5 foot cage with shaft tails, orange cheeks, stars, cut throats, gouldians, a society and maybe a few others I can't think of at the moment. She also gets along with them great. She doesn't bother anybody. So, I guess I would say that in my experience...females do better in mixed species cages. But obviously, others will have different experiences!

Re: can I house my canary with my gouldians

Posted: Thu Dec 10, 2009 7:37 pm
by bluebutterfly213
I have one male canary two canary hens and four youngsters in a large flight with gouldians, 2 orange breasts, 3 ruddies and 1 emblema. The only ones causing any ruckus are two of the babies, I think they are both male and trying to establish their dominance, but they are just squabbling between themselves.

When the older male canary started his singing this year the gouldians were fascinated, they would fly to him and do the "stare and listen" pose!

Re: can I house my canary with my gouldians

Posted: Thu Dec 10, 2009 11:20 pm
by Domenic
Just be aware of air sac mites, both birds are the lead carriers and sufferers of it.