FINCHforum

My grandfather had an old aquarium with a few fish in it which he didn't need any more , so he decided to trade it for a new canary which he would give to me , here is the picture of the little birdy :


I need some beginners tips for canaries , what type of food , enclosure ..etc , thanks!

Congratulations!

StodOne

Pretty bird.
Is it a boy or a girl?

Similar diet to finches, but needs extra Canary seed added to good quality finch mix. Lot's of greens, some hard boiled egg, some apple and orange slices. Loves daily baths, swings and a mirror.

Can be housed with most finches.

A large enough cage, where it can fly a bit would be appreciated and a healthy means of exercise. Access to a sunny window for part of the day would be nice.

lovezebs He is a boy , I am building a big cage now 60x60x100 cm
I was wondering if I can have canaries together with gouldians?
I am sure that they can be housed with society finches but not sure about gouldians .



And what types of greens?
Lettuce ? Broccoli?
Will they eat apple slices?

debbie276 Thank you

StodOne

Yes, I house Canaries and Gouldians together, and have never had any problems, not even when the Canaries were nesting and raising babies.

That looks like quite the cage that your building (although I would have aimed for closer to 76, or 78 cm across if I were you , but they will have the height to use as well). I envy you for being so talented with building stuff .

Regarding greens, veggies, and fruit :
Spinach
Romaine lettuce
Kale (very nutritious )
Broccoli
Red Swiss Chard
Parsley
Cucumber
Beet greens,
Mustard greens
Bok choy
Endive
Arugula
Red lettuce
Grated carrot
Corn
Apple slices
Orange slices (cut across)
Melons
Sliced grapes
Blueberries (sliced)
Cooked carrots and peas

That should give you some choices to pick from.

Is your boy singing yet?

Beautiful canary. Congratulations!

lovezebs Ahh thanks a lot , I will use that list wisely
He is just chirping a bit , he is still new in the house , I believe that he will start singing once he gets used to the new surroundings .
I believe that my canary is related to my friends canary since we got them from a same breeder , the breeder has around 30/40 canaries he told me that he would bring me a girl but they were mostly related so he didn't bring me a girl , when time comes I will find a girl for my boy so he gets to pair up as well ^_^

Sam007 Thanks a lot

StodOne

Your boy, should be singing in no time, now that Spring is in the air.

Regarding the list of fruits and vegetables, you don't have to feed all of this stuff all the time obviously . I just wrote down different options, as I'm not sure what you have available in your area.

These two common growing weeds, are also very healthy and much appreciated by Canaries and Finches alike.

lovezebs Yes I did understand you , maybe I explained myself wrong I will chose the greens from your list wisely
Yes yes ( maslachak in my language) dandelion is present here and a lot , and friend told me that canaries eat it , and the other chickweed plant I believe to be present here , I just can't remember their name anyways , thanks a lot I will forage for food for the canary and hopefully give him

Oh yeah and his nails were a bit too big , so I decided to trim them , he wasn't really too hyper and I've caught him quickly in the cage .
When I was trimming his nails I accidentally opened my hand and he flew around the house , beautiful flight haha , I managed to catch him as he doesn't seem to be scared and finished trimming his nails , he was back in the cage and was just a little scared , nothing bad ^_^

StodOne

Canaries, are usually a lot more calm than the small finches.

If you work with him, he will become quite tame, and come and eat from your hand. However, it takes time and patience .

I just Googled chickweed in Serbian (Holy Crow, I didn't realize that you use the Cyrillic Alphabet ). Anyway, the translation sounds like: Mišjakina .

lovezebs Yes you are right , it is that I just have not heard of the name , but I think I have seen such plants.
Yes we do use Cyrillic letters , but that is not why I can't find names , it is simply because we have a different name for everything and it is so hard .
Try to imagine this , I've learned so many things here on this forum even mutation names and what not , but everything that I learn in English I feel is in vein because there is a different name for it here , imagine talking to someone you know speaks your language and you try to explain to him something in foreign language xD.
It took me like a few months to discover how gouldian finches are called here ..
We actually don't have a name for a finch, for example :
Zebra finch is called "zebica" "zeba"
Society finch is called "galebic"
gouldian finch is called "guld amadina" , you really need to go to a breeder and look around to find what your looking for since you cant find the name of the bird lol

StodOne

Yes, it is difficult functioning in a different language (I do know).

You do communicate extremely well in English. Does the Forum translate from Serbian to English, or have you studied English in school?