My First Canary

[Heletia]

Hey everyone.

I have a lovely new male Canary. I did consider naming him Sparky as he flits and darts around his cage like a spark but I'm not completely happy with that one yet. He's so delicate & tiny that most male names are too 'heavy' sounding. I also have two male budgies named Alfie & Chiko, plus two cockatiels named Jasper and Merlin. I would have called the Canary Casper (as in ghost) but sounds too similar to Jasper. Anyway, I will keep thinking. Something will hit me one day soon I'm sure.

TOYS
I searched the net and read so many conflicting posts about Canaries some said they don't even need toys, so I decided to placed a few different types and wait and see what he reacted to. I placed them mainly loose on the bottom, nothing too large and to my surprise he inspected them all straight away.

His favorites:

-Vine Balls.
He picks them up, carries them around, kicks them and climbs on them.

-Bamboo Finger Traps With Crinkle Paper.
He happily chews on them daily.

-Leather Strips
Chews on them daily

-Sea Grass Matting
I cut a small square from a matt and he picks at it, carries it around, and stands all oer it.

-Cuttlefish
I broke one into small pieces and placed on the bottom. He regularly chews on it, and movies it around.

-Swing
It has plastic chains and wooden perch. He often sings when hes on it swinging.

On the first day he was chirping and sang later that afternoon. I was overjoyed. He's happy little boy and bring much joy into my life.

Will post some photos later. I look forward to seeing everyone else's little bundles of joy.

Helen xo

[Sally]

Heletia

Welcome to the forum! There's lots of good reading at www.finchinfo.com. Most of the articles apply to finches, but some will work for canaries as well. Look forward to photos of your new baby!

[Heletia]

Thanks Sally,

Here's one pic of him. They're usually all blurry as he won't keep still.



I know it's hard to see him with the pale wall behind him and my old camera isn't the best either.

[Jamm972]

Heletia Hi there and welcome. You picked a good forum to start out with. I too was a newbie this year and started breeding for the first time. using this forum has been very helpful and as I learned and progressed I also now teach and share my knowledge from personal experiences. If you ever have any questions or need help feel free to make a new topic on the Canary section and I or someone else who has canaries will be glad to help and assist.

Again welcome

that is a beautiful Canary. Is he a dominant White? I have 2 dominant White canaries. Dominant white canaries have a small steak of yellow under one of there wings usually right side but sometimes it can be left as well. If it is you and your considering breeding him make sure you don't pair him up with another dominant white female because the babies could get a lethal dose of the Dominent white gene and die inside the shell or not be fully formed when born and die right after birth. However you can breed him with a variegated white canary. These canaries have a sign of the white gene but also have other aspects besides the white in them.

Take care look forward to hearing more from you

[Nerine]

Very beautiful bird!

[lem2bert]

Hi Heletia, that is one beautiful little canary. You are right he looks small and delicate !!

[Stuart whiting]

Hi Heletia,

Loverly canary you've got there, looks like a clear white Fife canary

Being truthful with you there's absolutely nothing wrong in providing toys for canaries but they really don't need them,

The majority of UK and European canary breeders and exhibitors don't ever use toys,

What is in there best interest is a daily quality seed diet with a little green food / veg IE grated carrot and broccoli and also they will benefit from a decent propiorty egg food given daily when the birds are moulting as this will be supplying the extra protein that the canaries wiil benefit from until they've completed the moult,
Some fine oyster shell grit and cuttlefish bone should also be supplied to your canary as this will aid in helping to gain a certain level of calcium that helps to strengthen bone structure etc

[Dave]

And...control the length of the day. Canaries need to have seasonal light, natural or artificial, that comes close to matching the natural day length. Short days in winter, and long days in summer. Without that change in day length, they don't molt properly and live a shorter life.

Here is a chart with the day lengths in the Canary islands, where these birds originated: http://dateandtime.info/citysunrisesuns ... id=2515270

[Stuart whiting]

And...control the length of the day. Canaries need to have seasonal light, natural or artificial, that comes close to matching the natural day length. Short days in winter, and long days in summer. Without that change in day length, they don't molt properly and live a shorter life.

Here is a chart with the day lengths in the Canary islands, where these birds originated: http://dateandtime.info/citysunrisesuns ... id=2515270

Absolutely, totally agree

[Nipper06]

Hi Heletia,

I just wanted to comment on the "toys for canaries" question. I am a new Canary owner myself. I got my Canary, named Tweety, last October. I also have a male Budgie and 2 Bourke Parakeets, in their own cages, in the same room (and to give you some background, my Budgie was a rescue and he came with all sorts of toys and hanging things in his cage).



I like free-flying birds, so I decided to let Tweety out for (supervised) free flight time, with my other birds. Tweety was immediately attracted to all the "stuff" in my Budgie's cage - to the point where he actually flies into the Budgie's cage to investigate, every time he comes out!



He seems fascinated by all the colors and interesting shapes. My Bourkes have none of that stuff and Tweety is a lot less interested in going in their cages. So I bought a few colorful items for Tweety's cage and he seems to like them.

Tweety has also proved to be quite "social" with my parakeets. They don't "bother" him or vice-versa, but they seem to all like hanging out and flying around together, outside their cages. He also likes to share a plate of chopped veggies with them, especially the Budgie.



I don't know what this crouching means but Tweety did this once, after he flew into the kitchen while I was having dinner! Was he trying "not to been seen"?

[Stuart whiting]

Hi Heletia,

I just wanted to comment on the "toys for canaries" question. I am a new Canary owner myself. I got my Canary, named Tweety, last October. I also have a male Budgie and 2 Bourke Parakeets, in their own cages, in the same room (and to give you some background, my Budgie was a rescue and he came with all sorts of toys and hanging things in his cage).

[ [url=http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b353/mesangeai/Animal%20Photos/P1220113_zpsv76t5hfl.jpg] ][/url]

I like free-flying birds, so I decided to let Tweety out for (supervised) free flight time, with my other birds. Tweety was immediately attracted to all the "stuff" in my Budgie's cage - to the point where he actually flies into the Budgie's cage to investigate, every time he comes out!

[ [url=http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b353/mesangeai/Animal%20Photos/P1220121_zpst42rtzzw.jpg] ][/url]

He seems fascinated by all the colors and interesting shapes. My Bourkes have none of that stuff and Tweety is a lot less interested in going in their cages. So I bought a few colorful items for Tweety's cage and he seems to like them.

Tweety has also proved to be quite "social" with my parakeets. They don't "bother" him or vice-versa, but they seem to all like hanging out and flying around together, outside their cages. He also likes to share a plate of chopped veggies with them, especially the Budgie.

[ [url=http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b353/mesangeai/Animal%20Photos/P1220110_zpskzencmtx.jpg] ][/url]

I don't know what this crouching means but Tweety did this once, after he flew into the kitchen while I was having dinner! Was he trying "not to been seen"?

[ [url=http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b353/mesangeai/Animal%20Photos/P1220466_zpsnt87glog.jpg] ][/url]

Interesting that yer canary plays with toys because in reality this isn't classed as the norm, certainly would never see toys in a serious breeder and exhibitors birdroom

Incidentally I noticed that it looks like yer rosa bourkes parakeets are in exhibition cages, do you show these birds at exhibitions

The canary crouching is normally a nervous reaction, I've seen this a few times before where the birds are unsure of their surroundings or they feel threatened

[Nipper06]

Stuart,

Thanks for the feedback on the crouching behavior. In case of that photo, he flew into the kitchen on his own so maybe he suddenly flet out of place?

As for the toys, I wouldn't say my Canary plays with them. Rather, he is interested in them - perhaps the visual stimulation? I put plastic plants in my finch cages and sometimes the extra cover makes them more likely to breed. Domesticated Canaries may not need fake plants or other visual stimulation but maybe they still appreciate it?



As for my Bourke Parakeets, they are not show birds - just pets - those cages are not show cages but maybe look like it from the photo.

[Stuart whiting]

Absolutely my friend, I can go along with that,

Yes I'd say it's probably more out of curiosity about the toys and yer canary and he'll most likely like the idea of the fake plants,

Yea mate I can see the bourkes cages now and can obviously see that there normal cages and not exhibition cages, nice condition bourke aswell,

I like yer idea of the fake plants with yer Gouldians aswell gives them just that little extra privacy, something we regularly do every year in a lot of the British finch flights here in England

[Nipper06]

Here is the type of cage my Keets and Canary live in. They each have their own cage, in what should be my Dining Room. I opted for smaller cages because I wanted the Keets to be tame pets. The big cage doors on these cages facilitate the birds going in and out. My Canary is not finger-tame but he is comfortable going in and out of his cage so he gets "free flight time" too (he will take a piece of hard-boiled egg from my hands - but that is as far as we got!).


On the other side of my kitchen, I have this big "sunroom". I keep my finches and doves in there, all in flight cages.


My 3 Keets (the Budgie and 2 Bourkes) know how to fly through my kitchen to get to the sunroom - so they regularly fly out there.


My Canary flew out there once and he klunked himself on the glass window so I am not encouraging that. However, I do have a Java Sparrow out there that is allowed free-flight all the time and learned not to fly into the windows, so it can be done.

[Stuart whiting]

Here is the type of cage my Keets and Canary live in. They each have their own cage, in what should be my Dining Room. I opted for smaller cages because I wanted the Keets to be tame pets. The big cage doors on these cages facilitate the birds going in and out. My Canary is not finger-tame but he is comfortable going in and out of his cage so he gets "free flight time" too (he will take a piece of hard-boiled egg from my hands - but that is as far as we got!).
[ [url=http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b353/mesangeai/Animal%20Photos/P1060523_zpsesd6ifcj.jpg] ][/url]

On the other side of my kitchen, I have this big "sunroom". I keep my finches and doves in there, all in flight cages.
[ [url=http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b353/mesangeai/Animal%20Photos/P1160134_zpsc85bd48a.jpg] ][/url]

My 3 Keets (the Budgie and 2 Bourkes) know how to fly through my kitchen to get to the sunroom - so they regularly fly out there.
[ [url=http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b353/mesangeai/Animal%20Photos/P1160561_zps27e22587.jpg] ][/url]

My Canary flew out there once and he klunked himself on the glass window so I am not encouraging that. However, I do have a Java Sparrow out there that is allowed free-flight all the time and learned not to fly into the windows, so it can be done.
[ [url=http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b353/mesangeai/Animal%20Photos/P1060568.jpg] ][/url]

Lovely big spacious cages that you've got there, makes all the difference to the birds,

Nice set up Ron