breeding strawberries and melanism

[Derk]

Hi...I don't get to this forum often. Not that I do not want to. Too may birds and their care get in my way. I also have a bunch of parrots and one in particular is requiring A LOT of attention.

Anyway - I have had a pair of strawberries for about a year. Definitely a male and female. They are supposed to be from Europe and cage bred. They are closed banded. I had read about the melanism but I was surprised how quickly the male appeared to be affected. He has a lot of dark feathers on his breast and not nearly as much red on his head as previous but I also think he is about to moult. That said I am not sure if he ever has returned to eclipse plummage - he has always been easily identified from the female. I do not think the female has changed colour at all. Their feather quality appears fine.

Do the people breeding their strawberries just ignore the melanism? Has anyone tried vit d3? If so, what concentration and where do you get it? What lights are people using and where are you placing them in relation to their cage/aviary? What is the best temperature to house them at? To anyone who has an outdoor aviary, I would be interested in the process you use to acclimate them from indoors to outdoors, as well as, what temperatures you wait for.

Currently they eat a finch seed mix and Lefeber's finch granules. Other than egg food and meal/blood worms what other foods should I feed to get them in breeding condition?

Can anyone tell me how long they live in captivity? And at what age you should wait to breed and when are they getting 'old' to breed?

These are the first pair I purchased. I had them six months and they appeared to be in great health and doing well so I bought two more pair from the same place. Unfortunately, the second and third pair seemed to consistently remain light. In the fall my furnace cut out on what of course was probably the coldest day of the year. I was not home at the time. When I did get home they were on the bottom of the cage and fluffed. I used a heat lamp etc but it was too late and they died. This has really unsettled me. Of course it has been a financial loss and like most of us I do not have money laying around to spent on birds. This was just a special treat for myself after going through some tough times.

I do have the opportunity to buy another 1 or 2 pairs from the same person. I am hesitant because the 2 & 3 pairs were light and I could not get them heavier. At the same time, I could not say that the birds were ill when they were sold to me. I am wondering about the housing/temperature etc about where I got them as all 6 were obtained by my supplier at the same time. ie) did he sell me the best pair the first time around? or were they all in the same condition but with poor care started to suffer health wise? Are strawberries just more 'sensitive?'

My other finches are zebras and societies. I have had finches about 3.5 years. I still have my fist finch - a fawn pied male - and he seems happy and healthy so I think I am doing ok with care. I have not bred any of these because they are so many around here. If I breed, I wanted to breed something that would benefit the bird gene pool and give back to the birds I guess you can say. I have read most of the strawberry info in this forum throughout the last year.

I think my biggest problem is being so rattled by having the four birds die like they did. Like may here, I really care for the little guys regardless their financial price. It was so devastating. That said, I do not want to invest in 4 more birds that may be ill and unfortunately there are no birds around here that I can go look at and inspect before purchase. I have to trust the person who ships them to me. Sorry, I realize I am just rambling away. Obviously a lot of you have the same dilemma.

Oops - I just realized I forgot to ask what other people have on hand in the unfortunate event the power/heat/furnace goes out when it is cold outside?

Thanks in advance for any help/suggestions.

[Sally]

Melanism is very common in captive Strawberries, unless they are kept in an outside aviary with access to sun. Robert Black wrote an article on Strawberries, and he said that he started putting them outside every summer, and by the third summer, their color was spectacular. You just can't beat natural sunlight.

My birds suffer from melanism, and I think it is because I am using the wrong lighting. I just got some bulbs that are 5000K and 98 cri, and with the addition of a black light in the bird room, I'm hoping that I will now have close to ideal lighting for indoor birds. I'm also hoping this will help with breeding, as the proper lighting is very important to birds to be able to see colors properly, and color is how the male attracts the female.

I can't help you with acclimating to outside aviaries, as I don't have any, but that is my dream--planted aviaries and plenty of sunshine would be wonderful for Strawberries. A friend keeps her birds in a large sun porch in coastal Oregon, so yours would face similar weather conditions. She encloses the porch in plastic in winter, opens it up in summer, and she has numerous potted plants throughout. Plants in the aviary are a must for breeding many species IMO.

It could have gotten too cold for your birds, as Strawberries are tropical birds and come from warm parts of the world. That is one of my biggest fears, as I have an all-electric house with no way to supply heat in the event of a power failure. I really need to buy a generator instead of more birds!

As far as diet, are you supplying them with any veggies? Mine love chopped kale, broccoli, cucumber especially, and many veggies have lots of vitamins. Diet can supply D3, although I do supplement with a general multi-vitamin type supplement added to my egg food.

I once was given a pair of old Strawberries. The woman had them for 8 years, and then I had them for another year to year and a half, and they were adults when the woman got them, so that pair lived at least 10 years--that is a bit unusual for Berries. Male Berries seem to lose their fertility at age 6, females may be able to go a bit longer, though clutches will get smaller and smaller till they stop completely.

Before buying more birds, I personally would contact the seller and explain that the birds seemed light, see if he has any suggestions or information for you. They are definitely an investment, and like you, I can't afford to get birds and then lose them far too soon.

[yegbirdlover]

Derk@Sally
Hi Derk,
I can tell you from experience, that the type of lightbulb you use will directly affect the colouring of strawberries while kept indoors. I decided to do an experiment this winter. I have 2 pairs of strawberry finches, and their offspring. The offspring had a Zoo Med AvianSun 5.0 UVB Compact Fluorescent bulb and the adult birds had just regular daylight florescent bulbs. The colour difference in the birds is drastic. The young are moulting into a healthy bright red colour. The adults are moulting into a sort of drab brown/orange-red hue with some dark almost black spots. I have since bought another one of these bulbs and put it above the adults cage, to get some more colour from them as well.
UVB waves actually enable birds to synthesize Vit D3 in their diet, in order to produce the colour in their feathers. If they aren't able to use the Vit D3, they won't be able to produce the same vibrant colour.

[Derk]

Sally - yes, I am supplying vegs. Sorry I did not state that. To be clear, I have not provided a nest or any materials. I wanted to settle the birds in (they had travelled from Europe), give them a rest/recoup period and then improve their diet. I had planned to wait about six months, but as I said I could not get the weights up on the other two pairs and then the furnace thing. I do believe these two pair perished but the first pair survived the cold because of the difference of their condition. I did contact the supplier, first about the weights and then the loss. He had no explanation, but said he was willing to provide a couple more pairs at a reduced price. I think this is fair under the circumstances provided of course the replacements are healthy. The supplier had no other suggestion.

You may remember me Sally. I had purchased some Fire Finches. They looked wonderful, but died in 24 hrs. Concern for my other finches (but especially my parrots) caused me to send them to a lab for necropsy. The vet and pathologist agreed they looked in beautiful shape but obviously dead. It turned out they had what amounted to bleeding ulcers throughout their digestive track without signs of any parasites. Unless there were bloody droppings in the previous owners cage (there was not & bleeding is often intermittent) there was no way for me to know. Note: the birds had a good weight - no thinness at all. I would have assumed they would be anemic and losing weight this close to collapse. The vet assumed it was one stress too many but it was confirmed by the pathologist that these birds were going to die regardless. These FF had been housed in a partially heated garage and I had bought them during the winter. Hence, my interest in temperatures. Although I have repeatedly been told they can be acclimated to low but above freezing temperatures I obviously have some concerns. The Strawberries came from a different source but I do remember being told they were not housed in a house. I have wondered if too low a night temperature was involved. I am currently waiting a call back from the supplier. Last I spoke to him, he was still selling from the same batch of strawberries. People have not wanted to pay the going rate which is one of the reasons I believe he is wiling to drop the price. Thus these birds will be two to three years old and my concerns about breeding ages and lifespan..and of course if they have been subjected to low temperatures.

Sally - I believe you mentioned in a post that one of your females was too old to lay. How old is she? Finally, do you mind stating the actual lights you are trying now?

yegbirdlover - I was hoping you would respond - I believe you are located in Edmonton - I was born there and still have relatives living there. I believe you also mentioned you have an outdoor aviary for the summer, I would be interested in hearing more about that.

re: the lights - good to know - this exact light http://www.petmountain.com/product/bird ... -bulb.html ? Did you attach it to the top of the cage with a basic clamp type lamp? Any chance you would post a picture? Just one light per cage? What size is the cage? Would you mind posting a picture of the babies and adults?

Was just doing a bit of research on this bulb and the K appears to possibly be 7500 this is quite a bit higher than the 5000-5500 generally recommended. The CRI is 88 when again 93 or above is the recommended. Yet you have fantastic results. Have to wonder if the requirements for different bird species varies and if the bulbs measure as accurately as they claim?

Anyone using Avitech lights?

[swethakyadav]

sally and derk did you make any progress in figuring out the root cause of the melanism and lack of bright red plumage in indoor residing strawberries