FINCHforum

I've seen everything from 3-8 weeks on the internet. The FIC says between 6-8 weeks. I am getting one new bird from the same place I got the two I have now, and I am thinking of getting 2 more from another place. I am doing this to split up my two male zebras who are bickering non-stop, so I don't want to have all my finches in separate cages all alone for too long.

i think 2-3 weeks is adequate you only need to separate them just incase of any contagious diseases and i think they will have show themselves by that time ,such as the birds fluffing up and breathing symptoms that dont sound normal

ken

I keep mine seperated for about one month.

hi emily
i think its whatever you feel safe with,i think that other people would wait longer ot less depends on the individual i suppose



ken

As ken said, it depends on the individual, and what you feel comfortable with. I have purchased birds from people I know to have healthy birds, I will still quarantine them for about 2 weeks. If I have any doubts, I quarantine longer. But if I am adding some birds to my breeding room, where a contagious disease would be disastrous, both emotionally and economically, I usually quarantine about a month.

I appreciate all the responses so far. I have one female (all alone ) in her own cage in one room and I have the two males I had before in the other room. I am leaning towards less time in quarantine, not more. I also got the hen from the same place I got my boys a couple months ago. I just hate to see any of them alone. It seems so sad when they don't have another bird to interact with.

I quarantine birds for 4-8 weeks - depending on where I got them from.

I recently had a friend who purchased a bird - from someone she knew and trusted - and the bird ended up being sick and she lost a number of birds form her aviary. It was heartbreaking to hear her talk about how many she had lost.

To skip or have a very short quarantine period is a risk - especially when buying a bird from an unknown source.

I've been quarantining for a month now and still going with my gouldians, the mites and secondary infections is what's making it last that long though.

I think with Zebras, which aren't as prone to mites, I'd quarentine for 3 weeks unless I see signs of illnesses.

Well I am thinking I will leave her a bit longer than I had hoped to. She had some diarrhea and was rather listless. She was just hanging out on her swing all puffed up for a good part of yesterday. I got antibiotics and am giving her those (Ornacyn-Plus with vitamins and amino acids--it said specifically that it treats diarrhea). So I will probably wait a month. She does seem better today, but it could just all be in my head. All of them are calling back and forth to each other from their own rooms, a LOT. I've never been woken up by them until this morning when they started to talk.

Great info folks, thanks!

I have another quarantine related question, though. I just brought home a pair of Gouldians today. I have them in a separate cage from my other two finches--a male Gouldian and a female Nun finch. Is this separation alone enough of a quarantine, or should they also be kept in separate rooms? Right now I have the cages next to each other, just due to limited space. I would appreciate any advice.

Thanks!

Separate rooms absolutely. Some even say different floors of a house.
Mites can transfer from one cage to another easily if they are right beside each other, as can air borne illnesses.

Thanks, Lynn. I'm moving them right now!