FINCHforum

hi there. i have moved my zebs out in the shed and i need to know what is the min temp that they can handle. want to make sure they dont get too cold THANKS!

Here you go http://lmgtfy.com/?q=the+minimum+temper ... can+handle

Check this thread

http://www.finchforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=7956

Mine survived a couple of nights without heating when it hit -9 degrees and their chicks survived too, but I had covered up the open mesh with polythene sheeting.

Since that I have used heating.

I'd advise an oil radiator if the temps are regularly below freezing, its easy to put one in on the end of an extension cable, just to take the chill off the air.

An 800W radiator won't cost the earth to run.



I have one in the inside flight where the birds can roost and it keeps the water from freezing in the outside flight too as the warmer air gets through the hatches.

There's pix on the link ac12 recomends above.

Total Finch wrote:Here you go http://lmgtfy.com/?q=the+minimum+temper ... can+handle

Are you sure you're only 11???? very nice

Mine bred at significantly less than the recommended 15 degrees!!!!!!! Closer to minus 15.

Thanks for all the help!

Hi, Im thinking of getting a few zebra finches.
The only place i have to put them is in my garage and its fairly close to the outside temp of -5 degrees celcius.
Would they be alright at this temp without a heater?
Thanks Pat

I'd say yes, they'd be fine. If you are worried an oil radiator like the one above is very cheap to buy and inexpensive to run. Breeding temp should be at least 10 degrees but mine have coped at considerably colder than that! Main thing I found is that shelter is very important as draughts can be very dangerous indeed.

OK thanks Mervin. Would you leave youre own birds at this temp without a heater?

I have a cage that is 18X12X12 [all in inches]. Would this be big enough for a pair?

In a word, yes. My birds in the aviary have survived -3 before I put heating and screens up over the mesh. And they had chicks too, but looked very miserable and heating and screens followed soon after. I'm sure they will be fine at 5 degrees. My radiator only cost £10 and can be set on a very low thermostat temp if you are at all worried - maybe get one and set it on bare minimum although I doubt frost wil be a problem in a garage. As long as they have a little nest to shelter in the cage then they'll be fine. Little bamboo nests are cheap and the birds love them.

The birds will more or less tell you if its too cold cos they will be fluffed out and may drop their wings too.

Your cage will be ample big enough, although if you have a M/F pair I'm sure they will try to nest and raise a family!!! My first pair did, in a cage smaller than that. If you get worried the cage is prob a size that you can move it inside the house if its not built into anything.

Pat wrote:OK thanks Mervin. Would you leave youre own birds at this temp without a heater?

I have a cage that is 18X12X12 [all in inches]. Would this be big enough for a pair?

I think that cage is a bit small for a pair even if not breeding them. See the Finch Information Center
Cage Size Calculator:

http://www.finchinfo.com/housing/cage_s ... ulator.php

Keep in mind that if you are breeding them in that small a cage, how over crowded
it will be when the babies fledge!

Alright thanks for both of your replies!

The concern is that once the chicks become independent the parents will chase them away from the nest as they will more than likely want to start a new brood.

Problems arise because there's nowhere for the young birds to go, and so you need a new cage....this is what happened to me, and eventually I ended up with so many cages that an outside aviary was the only solution.

Be prepared zebra finches can breed at a ferocious rate and will nest in seed containers or anywhere they can balance even the feeblest of nesting materials!!

Two zebra finches can become a dozen in a matter of months!! I've seen it happen first hand.....

Marvin wrote:.

Be prepared zebra finches can breed at a ferocious rate and will nest in seed containers or anywhere they can balance even the feeblest of nesting materials!!

Two zebra finches can become a dozen in a matter of months!! I've seen it happen first hand.....

Thats exactly what I want, I have no bother buying more cages and selling birds.
I take it that they are easy to breed?