FINCHforum

If a pet shop keeps nests in the finch cages so that the finches keep laying in them and then pull eggs a couple of times a week, so that nothing hatches, does that just keep the hens continually laying more eggs or not? It seems like this would wear a hen out. If someone does not want their birds to breed or lay eggs would't it be best to keep nests out of cages? Or does it depend upon how a variety of finch likes to roost?

never seen nests in cages at pet shops.Even though alot have roosting nests naturally.I would have thought it would be harder for them to catch up.and not as good for viewing them.
They would lay more eggs over a period of time than they should.draining calcium stored in there bodies.causing more stress than necessary.I would be asking them why they have the nests in there.Im sure if it was for timed birds to hide that perhaps a better method could be used.

They have nests in the shop I got my birds from. I always ask if anyone has babies and usually not with all the people coming in and out. I know when they are really interested in breeding a pair they have a back room they keep the birds. They have a cage of societys right in the window of the shop, along with some parakeets and lovebirds. The societies are always in the nest boxes all crammed in but she said no babies so far. I asked about that and she said alot of kids go up to the cage and the traffic so they are not comfortable ;( They have one European black/brown society in with them and from what I've read they are pretty rare and expensive and she offered him to me for $18! I saw them for $50 and up on one website. Too bad they are said to not be good parents.

Renee

I work at a chain store and the corp office requires us to keep the nests in the cage with all the finch species, per our "knowledgable" corporate veterinary staff. If you cant get the sarcasm out of that, then I'll tell you that was full of it. We are required to pull any eggs that are laid every single morning. I think it is horrible that we have to chuck the eggs of these birds, I have tried explaining to my manager that they will just keep laying and that it is not healthy for them. She says that her hands are tied, if the district manager comes in and sees no nests we get written up. I tried to explain that they dont have to have nests to sleep in, or that we could put fake eggs in the nests to make them stop laying them and just sit on the fake ones. most of them dont use the nests, but a pair or two of the society and zebra finches do lay eggs and I always see the same females in the nests sitting on the eggs so I know they are trying to be good parents. The other species dont seem to care at all about having nests and I have never seen them lay (green singers, orange cheeked waxbills, silver bills, waydahs, etc). Then you have the cockatiels that dont even have a nest and she keeps dropping eggs on the floor and trying to sit on them, once again, we have to take the eggs away. It sucks and I always feel guilty doing it.

Isn't if funny how those "higher ups" always know best? We deal with that in education. Decisions are made by those who don't have a clue what goes on in a classroom. It is sad.

So true (and yes sad) Donna. Our local petstores also have nests in with the finches. It just is so unnecessary and wrong.

I always assumed they put nests in because the customers complained that the birds had nowhere to sleep. It's surprising how many people think they need to have a nest for sleeping. All those cat and dog people coming into the pet stores may have complained.

But if that was the case, then the shops should "educate", not pander to complaints. At least if they really know what's best for the birds they should! They could even put a little sign on the cages, telling people who might not know, that most birds ONLY use nests to sleep in when breeding, so that's why there are no nests in the store cages. That would put a stop to complaints, and teach some birds owners something new.

I would have thought that birds needed those nests, too, until I did some further research online. I still think the corporate "line" about the vet recommending the nests is just a way to avoid admitting that they are trying to pander to customers who don't know any better.

Nest boxes in pet shop cages....Now I've heard everything...good grief.

Yes, it seems that all the pet shops here in BC do it, and in Ontario. Maybe just these particular two chain stores?

I dont know if they are catering to costumers or not, but either way its wrong. As for the "the vets say its the right thing to do" line from corporate, they really do mean that. Some of the crud that they have in their "vet approved" material that we give to clients is nuts. I know way more about reptiles than I know about birds and half the time if I see someone walking around with the pamphlet, I will start up a conversation just to get the pamphlet out of their hands and get them a solid and reliable book to take home, half the time the info in the pamphlet is not similar at all to the books, which a lot more research goes into (I know peopel can print anything but most are highly recommended by fellow reptile owners, even the big wigs of the industry keep them on their shelves. I went to one of the biggest ball python breeders in the countries breeding facility and his collection of reference books included several of the books at our store!) **sigh** I hate the vets sometimes, they should stick to dogs and cats in a most cases.

bonnies_gouldians wrote:... **sigh** I hate the vets sometimes, they should stick to dogs and cats in a most cases.

Yes, just because they are vets, doesn't mean they are all that knowledgeable about ALL species of animals. Even human doctors specialize. My local vet likes to think of himself as a GP, and he is able to admit that he lacks experience with most animals other than large animals. A good vet is one who knows when to refer you to an avian vet, or can at least admit that he has only limited classroom training and little actual clinical experience.

Amen Franny! I appreciate it more when someone is honest and is able to admit that they don't know enough about the species to be able to assist. I can't imagine one person knowing everything there is to know about all animal species. Thankfully over the last decade or so, even vets are specializing now a days!

My store also requires nests in finch cages per policy. You get yelled at by corporate if they come in and see no nests. Eggs are dumped daily if found, no breeding is allowed...

When selling finches we do explain that they don't need nests unless you intend to breed. The only thing you can do is educate everyone who works with the birds and every customer interested in them.

The only finches I really think enjoy and benefit from the nest are societies... they will cram themselves in there no matter what.

We have other policies that I suspect are more for the uneducated customers' sake -- for instance, mali uromastyx lizards don't actually drink water in the "wild", and most reptile enthusiasts know that. Some believe that having a water dish in the cage raises humidity too much for the very much desert reptile -- but to avoid people calling and b!tching about our animals having no water to drink, we're required to have a small water dish in there.

Working in the business so long has taught me that it's all lose-lose; either you upset the specialist experts, or you upset all the uneducated rabble. I think they just desperately try to hit a happy medium as much as possible.

I am convinced however that they honestly try to do their best by the animals, despite what people think. I didn't think that way before I worked there; I personally was a fish snob who almost never bought anything from a large chain store. I was convinced they didn't care for their animals and didn't know anything about them -- I was very pleasantly surprised after I went through the initial training.

Not that I'll ever convince anyone else of that... but fwiw, that's the short version of my experience . If you really want to hear me rant, ask me about my customers.... LOL

kittani79 wrote:...Some believe that having a water dish in the cage raises humidity too much for the very much desert reptile -- but to avoid people calling and b!tching about our animals having no water to drink, we're required to have a small water dish in there.

Just as I suspected. I think you are right in that you (and the big bad chain stores) can't please everyone all the time. I'm sure that they have good intentions. They really can't make money selling sick animals (or at least not for long...their reputation will eventually suffer). I wouldn't want to shop even just for pet supplies at a shop where I felt they neglected their animals.

The PetSmart that I got to always has nests in the finch cages.....and even though there are mixed species in the cages I notice that the Zebra's are the ones who have command of the nest....not surprising. But it just seems plain wrong to allow them to breed like that in the stores.

Speaking of Vets (good or bad) when my Daughter went to Veterinarian school she had to decide which path to take in her studies.....concentrate on small animal(dogs and cats) or large animal(cows and horses)....and Avian Vet school was a whole different course of study......she chose large animal because that is what she was most interested in growing up with us raising beef cattle....but when it came time to graduate and find a job....there was nobody hiring for large animals in her area so she got hired by a small animal vet who was ok with her expertise being in large animals but still knowledgeable in small animals. The Vet just had her take some extra courses to brush up on small animal vetting.

There definitely are a lot of bad Vets out there....and the Vets associated with the Pet stores (Banfield) have done some really questionable things. Even the Vets in private practice look down on the Pet Store industry Vets because they are not specialized enough to handle the aviary end of things.