FINCHforum

Hi,
I joined the forum for some advice from more experienced finch keepers.

I have 4 male african silverbill finches who I've had almost four years, who share a large indoor cage (montana mini san remo) with a fife canary cock.
They're fed bucktons foreign finch mix, have constant access to cuttlefish, grit, moist egg food, bath water, clean drinking water, a bottle with bogena multivits in it,
they're regularly given millet sprays for a bit of entertainment.

Anyway, all the finches were adults when I bought them and I've noticed they've slown down a lot - they have a casual flitter about in the morning but spend most of the afternoon sitting on their perches or in their nest cups cuddling in together.
Is this normal for older finches or is it a sign there's something wrong?

They're in good feather condition, clean vents, good feet etc.

Any ideas appreciated!

When we buy birds that are adults, unless they are closed banded we have no idea how old they are at that time. Since you've had them four years, it is possible they are getting up there in age. If they aren't puffing up, and their poops look normal, then I wouldn't worry about it, but I would just keep an eye on them. I've had a few birds that I knew for a fact were old, and they did slow down, spending a lot of time cuddling on the perch. The one thing I would add to their diet is some fresh veggies--chopped up broccoli, kale, romaine lettuce, kale, carrots, etc. I'm not familiar with the bottle of vitamins, is that there for free choice?

And welcome to the forum! There's lots of good reading at the Finch Information Center, linked at left, and the members are always ready to help. If you put your location in your profile, it helps to answer locale-specific questions later on.

Sally wrote: When we buy birds that are adults, unless they are closed banded we have no idea how old they are at that time. Since you've had them four years, it is possible they are getting up there in age. If they aren't puffing up, and their poops look normal, then I wouldn't worry about it, but I would just keep an eye on them. I've had a few birds that I knew for a fact were old, and they did slow down, spending a lot of time cuddling on the perch. The one thing I would add to their diet is some fresh veggies--chopped up broccoli, kale, romaine lettuce, kale, carrots, etc. I'm not familiar with the bottle of vitamins, is that there for free choice?

And welcome to the forum! There's lots of good reading at the Finch Information Center, linked at left, and the members are always ready to help. If you put your location in your profile, it helps to answer locale-specific questions later on.

Hi Sally, thanks so much. I've finally joined but actually this site helped me before I made the initial decision to get some finches

I do give fresh veggies too, they get bits of my salad. Yes they have a main water bowl which they normally drink from which is plain fresh water, and a separate hook on bath, but sometimes I do see them use the water bottle. The multivitamins are these ones - http://www.seapets.co.uk/products/bird- ... tAod0nEA4w

They are split rung and from two separate sources, one was a proven breeder when I acquired him so he could be five or six by now and the other three were aviary bred and generically sold as 'young birds' from the past year but really they could have been any age as he had several generations of silverbills breeding.

I thought I would double check as it's become a lot more noticeable since I lost the canary hen recently but it might just be that things are more peaceful, I know silverbills are meant to be a lazy finch anyway but mine have been very active for years!

I agree, unless they're limping, or in pain, they're getting older. My canary is 11 - at least as far as I can judge. He may be 12 or 13 - I really don't know based on a lack of a band on his feet (I got him from a local breeder). He has had athritis in the past, and I take him to a good local bird vet if there's any issues. Good luck with yours

I've noticed that my seemingly unstoppable OCW's have slowed down a bit in the past year. They are five and change. Bob