WHY WONT THEY LAST!!!

[Weavers.com]

Im about ready to give up! My favorite finch in the world is the gouldian, but i can never get them to stay alive for more than a couple of months. WHAT AM I DOING WRONG!

Here is what i do

-get them home
-acllimate them in a separate cage
-give them fresh food and water daily
-give them fresh fruits and veggies daily
-preventive treatment with S76
-mist them with warm water daily(recommended by a pet store bird department manager)


AM I DOING ANYTHING WRONG!

the pet store i always get them from gets them from a private breeder and they always look good at the store, but when i take them home they wither away. Its so heartbreaking to see.

And just about 15 minutes ago i got a call from the store to see if i wanted to purchase the goulds they just got in stock. (They know me as the finch guy because i always get my finches from them and they all do great and breed except for the gouldians, my favorite finch

I REALLY NEED HELP!

IM SO TORN AS TO WHAT IM GOING TO DO!

Any care instructions you think i should know


eg.

-temperature and how to supply heat for the upcomong New England winter
-diet
-housing
-lighting
-supplements

ANY IMPORTANT INFORMATION IS WHAT I NEED TO KNOW!

[Sally]

Gouldians are not really harder to keep than other species. It may not be you. If all of these birds came from the same breeder, there is the possibility that they may be carrying something when you purchase them. Is there another source for Gouldians in your area?

I would go to the Finch Information Center linked at left and read all the Gouldian information under Species. As far as misting them daily, I would rather put a bath dish in their cage and let them have a bath if they want. Many Gouldians do not bathe very much--they will go thru the motions at the edge of the dish, but never actually get wet. I don't like to force anything on the birds.

Make sure that your seed mix is a good quality finch seed mix. Gouldians also need more iodine than other species, so most people give free choice powdered kelp, or a once-a-week addition of liquid iodine to their water.

What size cage are they in? Are they in with other species, once they have left quarantine? Could there be anything environmental in your house? Do you use scented candles, air fresheners, strong chemical cleaners?

I hope you can figure out what is going wrong, if they are your favorite species, then you need to be able to keep them.

[Finch Fry]

Dont spray them. Completely unnecessary. Put in a shallow dish of water, if they want to bath, they will. If not, no problem.

How often do you treat with S76? It should only be a 2-3 times a year thing.

Can you tell us more about "food". Egg food, seeds, what?

If you are comfortable at a Temp, they are comfortable. In NE it gets darn cold in winter. If you try to be conservative and run a little cooler, lets say 66-67... should be ok but would consider 66 as a min. If you run it toasty, I wouldnt say much over 74-75. Thats personal preference, you will get TONS of opinions here.

Make sure you have a water vitamin supplement that offers D3 or offer carrots and make certain they eat them (natural D3 source)

Offer powdered kelp OR alternatively, put iodine in their water once a week.

Dont put a nest in with the pair right out of the gate. More than likely you are buying goulds that JUST finished their juvey molt and need some time to build up nutrients before they try to breed. Give them some time to just chill out and enjoy life... 3 months is my recommendation. That way you know your birds are near 9 months of age before stimulating breeding.

How big is the cage? Minimum size in the standard flights are those 30x18x18 cages. They will run you about 15-50 a piece depending on where and how you get them.

Real quick, here is what I do.
Always a low oil content seed mix. Always 1-3 sprays of millet. 2-3 times a week egg food with crushed shell. Always f-vite powder, charcoal and cuttle bone. daily corn/broccoli/carrot mix. Every Thursday they get a few drips of iodine in their water. Run daylight lamps for 14 hour days. New water every day. s76 every 4 months (roughly). Once a month spray cage with mite/lice/worm spray.

GL!

[cindy]

The birds that you purchased are they guaranteed unrelated? If they are by chance related then what may be happening is beyond anything you could have done for them.

My advice is: you seem to have a good relationship with the store owner I would tell him what keeps happening with your gouldians. I would try to find someone else in the area that comes recommended as having healthy, unrelated birds.

[B CAMP]

I agree you don't need to spray water on them ,they need a small shallow dish on the floor to bath but most of my gouldians don't use often. How old are these goulds your getting are they done moulting into there adult colors Are you using the s76 as its marked on container,you need to be careful when mixing.

[poohbear]

Where do you keep them? Do you have other pets? Is the cage open all round or do they have privacy if they want it?
Stress is a major factor with gouldians...If they are a centerpiece in the room with no opportunity to hide if they want to, they can get stressed out.
Imagine yourself living on the stage of a theatre with a constant audience.

[Weavers.com]

Thanks for all the quick replies! i would only keep two at a tiime and they would be in a regular flight cage from the getgo. i kept them in my room but seperate from the other birds in my room. i always gave them supplements in their water and they wouldnt even touch lettuce or fruit let alone carrots. i gave them a mixture of small zupeme, finch seed, canary seed, pigeon and dove seed (their favorite), and eggfood with insect eggs because they woudnt touch mealworms.

[B CAMP]

What kind of supplements and how often

[Finch Fry]

i kept them in my room but seperate from the other birds in my room.

Hearing this would make me assess what is different between the room you keep them in and the room that the other birds are in.

Also, diet is pretty important, do some reading in the forums and you will get tons of ideas. Each gould is different and you will have to find what they prefer to eat and keep supplimenting until you have all their vitamins covered. I would suggest making sure you add a vitamin supplement to their drinking water. Just because they wont eat carrots doesn't mean they don't need their d3... for instance.

You are on the right path by starting to ask questions. Fire away and we will help as much as we can.

[Domenic]

I agree, this to me is obviously something wrong with the breeder. If you are successfully housing zebras and weavers and cordon bleus, a gouldian should be no problem for you. It is probably some sort of genetic disorder that his birds have (possibly from excessive inbreeding) or some sort of sickness that each bird is getting. But you are taking very good care of them so don't beat yourself up about it. What I would do is sterilize the cage they all died in very very well, and then go on the hunt for a gouldian from a completely seperate breeder.

I definitely could be wrong though, as their are many other factors that could kill a gouldian that you might not have thought to be important, like maybe you have a cat that you think isn't interested but is actually attacking them when you aren't there. That could easily stress a gouldian to death.

[Hilary]

+1 on all of this advice!

1. Try a different breeder
2. S76 no more than once every 3-4 months
3. Make sure you're not using air freshner/scented candles in your room

[cindy]

Since you kept them in your room but away from the other finches...do you get dressed in there? By this I mean use a product for your hair, spray scented products...use a telfon coated hair implement. Do you use things like plug ins that scent the room?

If they are passing away on you, what are their symptoms prior to passing? I don't mean to ask to upset you, but knowing this may help us figure it out. Your other birds seem to be doing well in the same room.

If you have been buying gouldians from the store that uses this breeder, has the store owner ever gotten any other complaints about gouldians passing away that any other customers have purchased?

[B CAMP]

He said there in the same room but just away from the other birds.

[cindy]

It may still be a wise idea to speak with the owner of the store to see if anyone else has had any problems with gouldians from this breeder.

[B CAMP]

I agree with you,he needs to check with store