Fire Finches

EddieNorCal · Post by **EddieNorCal** » Thu Mar 27, 2008 6:25 pm

I saw some fire finches for sale at a local pet store. Has any one had any experience with this finch? Thanks!

atarasi · Post by **atarasi** » Thu Mar 27, 2008 8:36 pm

These are pleasant little birds that have nice song, but aren't overly noisy. They require a larger cage despite their small size. They are small enough to slip through the bars of say a parakeet cage.

Instead of purchasing from a pet store, I would see if there are any upcoming bird marts coming up in your area. That way you can get the skinny on many of the varieties and know exactly what you're getting by talking to the breeders.
A pet store isn't going to know the age of their birds especially like a Petsmart or Petco.

Post by **Sally** » Thu Mar 27, 2008 11:48 pm

I have some Fire finches, and I love them. They spend a little more time on the ground than most finches. I have removed the floor grates or grills from most of my cages, so that works for them. I have one pair and an odd hen. The pair ignored my wicker hooded nests, and built their own nest on top of a wicker canary nest. They have been laying eggs, sitting on and off but not consistent, so I finally took out the nest. They had sixteen eggs in the nest--all clear! This hen has an injured foot (actually most of it is missing). She didn't have this problem when I got her, so I think she must have caught it in the galvanized mesh of the cage. I'm thinking that she may not be able to balance long enough for the male to breed her, so I moved her to the community flight and put the other hen in with the male. I'll have to wait and see if anything happens.

Hilary was able to breed her Fire finches--said they needed lots of mealies. I think you would enjoy them, but I agree with atarasi, a bird mart might be a better place to get them. Most of the ones available right now are imports.

mickp · Post by **mickp** » Fri Mar 28, 2008 1:36 am

fire finches are very attractive birds, can be timid initially depending on where they have come from.
while mine love mealworm up to about 1/2" long they seem to prefer maggots (gents) even more. I believe it is due to the maggots being a softer texture

Post by **Hilary** » Fri Mar 28, 2008 2:03 am

I currently have two pairs, a lone male, three young hens that I haven't paired up and two fledglings. As Sally mentioned they do spend more time on the ground, so I put newspaper over the grate in my cage. They also make a huge mess with their seed, so their seed cups are now in the center of their cages so they can toss it around to their hearts' content. I also keep shallow dishes of insectivorous eggfood, dried ant parts, dried mysis and dried blood worms in their cages (especially when they're breeding). One pair tossed all of their chicks the first time they nested, but as Sally mentioned the second time I provided an endless supply of live mealworms (bodies were all over the cage as well as the floor around the cage - they love the heads). They tossed the first two chicks (since I didn't even realize they were nesting and didn't have the goods available), but then raised the other two to fledging. Chicks were silent - I never heard them in the nest. My second pair is just now laying eggs, so I'll have to see how they do. Both pairs are in 30x18x18 cages with pairs of goldbreasts (one pair of each per cage). They have a funny little song, though I rarely seem to hear them. I have read that they will "select" the sex of the chicks depending on whether they feel food is abundant - I'll have to find that article again.