Hi all,
I purchased a red canary around christmas last year and this summer he moulted. I have been feeding him Haith's ready mixed red canary food since I got him and would you believe it he is now orange! Since I was mixing the red food with seed (as he refused to eat it without) I think what he has been doing is just picking the seeds out and ignoring the red food.
Any ideas or suggestions of other foods to make him red next moult?
How to keep a red canary red?
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ac12
- Molting
- Posts: 6421
- Joined: Mon Feb 23, 2009 9:39 pm
- Location: California, SF Bay Area
Re: How to keep a red canary red?
welcome to the "red-factor" club
I have not seen a RED red factor canary, they are all various shades of orange. If you have a RED one, I think it had been feed a LOT of chemical colorant.
IF you use color supplements, you need to be careful not to use too much or you could damage the kidney or liver of the bird. The instructions say the poop should be uncolored. If you see the poop orange/red colored, it is getting too much, back off on the amount of color supplement you are feeding.
I have trouble keeping mine orange.
As much as I can figure out, you need to start feeding the color supplements well before they start molting. So if they start molting in June, start feeding the color supplements in April. Once you see feathers on the floor, it is too late, the uncolored feathers are coming out. At that point you will only catch the feathers that have not molted yet.
You need to train it to accept and eat the red food.
For veggies, I give mine chopped up carrots and yams which the breeder told me will help with the color. He refuses to eat red bell peppers which would be better. However I sprinkle paprika over the carrots and he eats that. Paprika as far as I can figure out is ground red bell pepper.
Mine also gets Orlux red egg food. Cede and Quicko have similar red egg food.
Some of the color supplements can also be added to the water. But do this very gradually, so he gets used to the change in water color. If the water goes from clear to dark red over night, he may not drink the water.
I have not seen a RED red factor canary, they are all various shades of orange. If you have a RED one, I think it had been feed a LOT of chemical colorant.
IF you use color supplements, you need to be careful not to use too much or you could damage the kidney or liver of the bird. The instructions say the poop should be uncolored. If you see the poop orange/red colored, it is getting too much, back off on the amount of color supplement you are feeding.
I have trouble keeping mine orange.
As much as I can figure out, you need to start feeding the color supplements well before they start molting. So if they start molting in June, start feeding the color supplements in April. Once you see feathers on the floor, it is too late, the uncolored feathers are coming out. At that point you will only catch the feathers that have not molted yet.
You need to train it to accept and eat the red food.
For veggies, I give mine chopped up carrots and yams which the breeder told me will help with the color. He refuses to eat red bell peppers which would be better. However I sprinkle paprika over the carrots and he eats that. Paprika as far as I can figure out is ground red bell pepper.
Mine also gets Orlux red egg food. Cede and Quicko have similar red egg food.
Some of the color supplements can also be added to the water. But do this very gradually, so he gets used to the change in water color. If the water goes from clear to dark red over night, he may not drink the water.
Gary
gouldians (GB,YB,BB), blackbelly firefinches (trying to breed), societies (foster parents).
red factor canary
gouldians (GB,YB,BB), blackbelly firefinches (trying to breed), societies (foster parents).
red factor canary
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dhirmadi
- Pip
- Posts: 2
- Joined: Sun Aug 28, 2011 6:30 am
Re: How to keep a red canary red?
Thanks for the reply.
Yes, he was indeed very much red and during the moult of course he was part red and part orange!
Here's a picture of him:
He's now a sort of medium carrot orange!
Yes, he was indeed very much red and during the moult of course he was part red and part orange!
Here's a picture of him:
He's now a sort of medium carrot orange!