Button Quail

mickp · Post by **mickp** » Sat Sep 05, 2009 6:42 am

have never had a problem selling the young that I have bred in the aviary. pet shops here cant get enough of the little blighters.

cindy · Post by **cindy** » Mon Sep 07, 2009 12:51 pm

How do you think a pair would do in the bottom of my flight cage 38w x 22d x 36 high. I will have 3 pairs of little Gold breast in it. Around the bottom on the outside of the bars I ran plexiglass panels tha are 6" high to help keep the mess down, it may also help keep little quail from getting through.

Ursula · Post by **Ursula** » Mon Sep 07, 2009 1:10 pm

cindy wrote:How do you think a pair would do in the bottom of my flight cage 38w x 22d x 36 high. I will have 3 pairs of little Gold breast in it. Around the bottom on the outside of the bars I ran plexiglass panels tha are 6" high to help keep the mess down, it may also help keep little quail from getting through.

One pair should be fine. I'm not sure about breeding, you might have to remove the male temporarily... And it's definitely too small for more than one pair.

What do you use as bedding on the floor?

cindy · Post by **cindy** » Mon Sep 07, 2009 4:23 pm

Thanks Ursula, I thought it would be nice to add just one pair, they are adorable. For bedding I use Carefresh, natural. I am trying different bedding to see what works best. Kaytee makes a bedding almost like Carefresh but it is smaller and fine. It is ok under a grate but without a grate I was afraid they would eat it.

Ursula · Post by **Ursula** » Tue Sep 08, 2009 3:22 pm

I had to look up what that is. Sounds like some sort of material made from natural fibers? I guess that will be ok for the buttons if it's ok for small rodents and other critters.

They will also like a fake ferns and maybe a shoe box for hiding. And a dish with gravel/grit/sand for dust-baths....

atarasi · Post by **atarasi** » Tue Sep 08, 2009 3:30 pm

Ursula,
Do you keep your quail with finches in cages or an aviary?
I had heard button quail are protective of the bottom of the cage and any tossed chicks or freshly fledged young finches are attacked if they land on the bottom.

Ursula · Post by **Ursula** » Tue Sep 08, 2009 3:37 pm

I keep them in my indoor aviary. It's a former sunroom, about 11 by 11 feet size.

Mine get along fine with the finches and budgies. The budgies are hardly ever on the floor though, but the finches are frequently to take baths in the water dishes and sometimes eat the button's veggies and egg. I never saw my quails attack or chase any other bird except another quail... They pretty much ignore the finches, and also did ignore the young ones that hatched last summer. I even had a sick budgie for some time who practically lived on the floor the last few weeks of his life, and they never attacked him either.

I agree that it might be a problem in a cage if the cage isn't big and high enough. Then they might feel crowded by the other birds being too close.

Also: My stupid black-rumped waxbills recently built a nest on the floor! I wanted to move it higher because I am worried that the buttons might harm them or their babies (if they actually have some), but they abandoned the nest that I put on a plant stand about 1 foot higher, dismantled it and built another nest on the floor next to it!

So far so good, I have not seen the buttons take any interest in that nest... We'll see what happens....

atarasi · Post by **atarasi** » Tue Sep 08, 2009 4:33 pm

Good info, thanks Ursula. I would imagine the size of the aviary is important. I mean how large of a territory can you protect if you're only 4-5 inches long?!! Hope your black-rumped waxbills have a successful clutch for you!

Ursula · Post by **Ursula** » Tue Sep 08, 2009 6:06 pm

Thanks, Jordan! I hope so.

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