Pin-Tailed Whydah Pair

Sorria · Post by **Sorria** » Mon Feb 04, 2008 9:35 am

In December I bought a pair of Pin-Tailed Whydahs. I didn't know what gender they were as they were both in the black-gold color but one was quite bigger than the other so we were hopeing we'd get a male and female. About a month later, one of the finches died. She was pretty plucked over so we think she was sick or that for whatever reason the other birds killed her. So now we have one Whydah. Over the past few weeks I've noticed that his tail is starting to get very long and that he is losing the gold on his feathers and turning completely black...so, we're pretty sure its a male. The past few days he's been singing his little heart out in his cage. He is very pleasant to listen to and he seems to really like it when I put music on. Anyway I have seven finches in my cage. My cage is probably too small for them and I was hoping to cut back to four finches on suggestion of people here...though we are considering building an indoor aviary.

Anyway, I feel kind of sad for the Whydah, though he sings and hops all over he doesn't really have a "buddy" that he hangs out with. Should I buy another Whydah to replace the one I lost? Or would it be better since the cage is a little small for eight finches, to not do anything?

lyderbug · Post by **lyderbug** » Mon Feb 04, 2008 6:51 pm

I think if you feel bad for a single bird, then you should feel bad for overcrowded birds.

I see that you very much care about your birds and I think it would be good to do one of two things: A)get a bigger cage- enough for a partner as well as the birds you already have and then some(having a pair could mean babies) B) find someone to adopt 3 birds.

I had to give up some birds for a short time because we thought my fiance was allergic to them. We found out it wasn't the birds so we took them back.....I missed them so much.....so I understand how difficult it can be to find another home for them.

If you're able-get a bigger cage, if not, I'm sure you'll be able to find a good home to adopt them.

Good luck!!

Sorria · Post by **Sorria** » Mon Feb 04, 2008 7:38 pm

Thanks for the reply. I have several smaller cages I can put my finches in for now, but we're leaning towards making a homemade indoor aviary for them. I saw a website somewhere that had design plans for some indoor ones, I'll just have to find it again. In the meantime I probably will not do anything, or I'll separate the birds unti the aviary can be built. If we use all the space available in the area where it will be going the avairy should reach about four or five feet long, which hopefully will be plenty big for eight finches.

lyderbug · Post by **lyderbug** » Mon Feb 04, 2008 7:56 pm

That is so exciting! I wish I had the space to have an aviary. Have fun with it!! I'm glad you can give them more room. I'm looking forward to expanding my fam when we move to a big living space.

Let us know when you find a cage...and I would love to see pics of your finchies

beccafigs · Post by **beccafigs** » Fri Feb 08, 2008 2:37 am

Did you see the plans in the Finch Info Center about building an aviary with panels? That might be the way to go. I'm dying to build one like that but I don't think the apartment manager would appreciate it.

hilljack13 · Post by **hilljack13** » Fri Feb 08, 2008 11:25 am

You should plan to get a larger cage pretty quick. I know sometimes they can get expensive but there are several that you can buy that are medium sized. Even if it's only temporary until you can get your aviary built. Just don' be like me and say your going to do it and 3 years later still saying it..