New addition - GB waxbills

atarasi · Post by **atarasi** » Sun Sep 21, 2008 1:34 pm

This weekend was a bird mart about an hour away. One vendor is known for over medicating his birds and keeps them in very warm temperatures. They haven't built up much resistance to fighting off anything on their own so when you get them home, an average household of 65-70 degrees is too cold for them.

Anyway, there were Green and Dybowski Twinspots, Lavenders, Strawberries, Stars, Owls, Gouldians, Cordon Bleus, Diamond Firetails, etc.

I decided between the Black and White Mannikans, or the Gold Breasted Waxbills. The vendor caught a pair of the mannikans, but then I changed my mind to the GB waxbills. I can't believe how tiny they are. The FIC doesn't say anything about them. All I know is that they are fairly easy to breed, are quite hardy and pet stores generally don't carry them because the cage bars are too wide.

FinchezRule · Post by **FinchezRule** » Sun Sep 21, 2008 2:28 pm

GB's are very cool. I recently bought a pair, they tend to be very cheerful with a constant rolling chirp. They're tiny and don't stay still for very long. My pair seems very bonded constantly grooming one another and sticking close to the mate.

How much did you buy yours for? How much were they selling the Green twinspots?

I think you'll really enjoy your GB's!

atarasi · Post by **atarasi** » Sun Sep 21, 2008 4:52 pm

The GB waxbills were $60 a pair. The green twinspots were $150 a pair. I'm generally partial to Australian finches, so we'll see if these will open my mind to Africian species.

B CAMP · Post by **B CAMP** » Sun Sep 21, 2008 6:32 pm

Thats what i paid for my GB I saw them at petsmart last night for 75.00 each don't think they will sell many at that price. They are really a great pair for me, just wish they had a family in mind but no intrest at all yet I have two nest in there cage

Post by **Sally** » Sun Sep 21, 2008 8:51 pm

atarasi, do you happen to know how much they were asking for the Strawberries? At the Ft. Worth Bird Mart, one vendor had one pair--initially he had them priced at $400/pair! Then he lowered to only $300/pair! I doubt anyone would have purchased them at those prices. They are up in price due to the fact that they are hard to find, yet here were some at my bird mart, and more at your bird mart, so they are not impossible to locate.

You will love your GBs. They are very active and so colorful. BCAMP, they may take a little time to settle in, mine did, and because they are nervous little things, they are quick to come off a nest, so peeking is out.

atarasi · Post by **atarasi** » Sun Sep 21, 2008 11:46 pm

Sally, the vendor said they weren't for sale. He had 2 hens and one cock. I jokingly told him I would purchase a pair for $200 and he almost jumped at the chance, so I can't imagine they were more than $150 for the pair.

I do have a question on the GBs. The vendor told me that if you keep them in good lighting, they will brighten up more. Meaning that they will moult into brighter colors. I plan on mounting their cage as high up as possible in one of those Euro box cages with plastic bamboo plants on the front of it for a lot of privacy. I can hardly imagine how tiny their eggs are! So I know they enjoy live food, anything else I should offer them?

mickp · Post by **mickp** » Mon Sep 22, 2008 5:49 am

I'm certain you will love the african finches. beautiful colors and very pleasant sounds.
gold breasts are a passive bird, get along great with other finches.
they usually lay 3 to 4 eggs which take approximately 11 to 13 days to hatch. seem to prefer a closed in nest, have never seen mine try to build from scratch.

Post by **Sally** » Mon Sep 22, 2008 10:16 am

My one pair of GBs raised 5 chicks with no live food at all, another pair raised 2 chicks with no live food. These two pairs were made up of one domesticated and one wild each pair. My pair of two wild caught did nothing, so maybe they needed live food to stimulate them. I did offer fresh eggfood, plus a variety of dried insect mixes, dry eggfood, nestling food.

Mine also did not build their own freestanding nests, but they used coco fiber to line the inside of a hooded wicker nest, a plastic nestbox with small hole in the front, and a plastic hang-on bathtub! I offer all my breeders some white feathers to line their nests. Yours should love your setup, lots of privacy.

As far as lighting, Robert Black wrote an excellent article on lighting for birds, and I believe it is far more important than we often realize. I keep really good lighting on all my birds, and not only does it show up their colors better (which makes me happy), but it is good for their overall health.

You can find info on the GBs at the NFSS site. They have come down in price a lot--I paid $129 for my first pair just about a year ago (this was a domesticated pair), now so many were imported, and I think people are having relatively good success with breeding. So far, they have been the easiest of my African waxbills.

williep · Post by **williep** » Mon Sep 22, 2008 10:31 am

Congrats on the new birds atarasi, they are wonderful busy birds and I'm sure you'll fall in love with them. They are my favourite species or very close to at least. They enjoy live food and a well planted aviary, or at least lots of privacy when nesting. Mine would come off the nest whenever I entered until they moved to a more private nesting area and raised a healthy clutch.

Good luck with them and keep us posted.

dfcauley · Post by **dfcauley** » Mon Sep 22, 2008 1:56 pm

What I have noticed about mine is that they are very bonded. They are constantly together and preening.

They built a nest in the top of a tree. I put a canary under it for support and they raised three little chicks. And believe you me they were the smallest little things.

Enjoy!!

atarasi · Post by **atarasi** » Mon Sep 22, 2008 8:19 pm

It will be weird to have finches that like to touch each other! Gouldians are odd in that sense, they never groom each other.

I bought some silk greenery and I'll fancy up the cage to make it all private for them. Even with them again the wall for now, they freak out every time I enter the room. I just hope the floruescent light doesn't burn out in the middle of them potentially incubating since it's mounted on the inside.