FINCHforum

Hi everyone! - I purchased two Gouldian males (Jake and Reggie) today at a bird fair. I have them in a small-ish flight cage (25L x 13W x 20H) - I plan to get a bigger flight cage, but have yet to choose the right one. They have a water dish, normal finch mixed seed, egg food (all in dishes on cage floor), millet and cuttlebone available. There is a dowel perch the length of the cage and I have two other natural wood perches in there.

There is also a larger flight cage next to them which has four society finches in it - those guys are all super active and the two males sing constantly.

I have had the Gouldians home for close to four hours and they have moved very little. They look normal, and appear alert and are looking around, but they haven't eaten anything or consumed any water at all - they just sit in their separate places on two perches. And they have barely moved at all. Is this normal acclimatizing behavior for Gouldians? I'm really worried about them getting dehydrated - the water dish is plainly visible.

Any thoughts/reassurances would be helpful - thanks very much!

rcharrod

It takes birds a bit of time to get comfortable in a new setting. However, the fact that they haven't had a drink is concerning.

It is possible that they are used to a different type of water dispenser, and therefore don't realize that there is water in the cage. Do you have a different type of water dish that you could offer. Maybe even a seed cup that you could hook to the side of the cage with water. Maybe try that with the seeds as well.

~Elana~

I would try putting seed cups and water dish up higher in the flight. I find that my birds are a lot more comfortable eating higher up in the cage than on the floor. I would also offer spray millet, their favorite! They will feel welcome in no time. Best of luck!

Well, within about 5 minutes after my first post, they both started to be much more active. Playing Gouldian videos on youtube actually seemed to spark them to move. They started eating millet, then went to the seed. So that was good, but still no drinking. Elana, I took your advice but the only thing I had was a hanging seed cup. I filled it with water and put up near one of their perches. Reggie figured it out in like 2 minutes and has been drinking. Jake is still unsure.

That was a great tip - thanks very much. I have no idea how they were raised vis-a-vis getting water- they were in a tiny cage (3 males) at a bird show, with no food or water in the cage

It's always a good idea to keep a close eye on new birds, unless you are familiar with how they were offered seed and water. I once lost an expensive bird because I didn't monitor him closely enough. I always offer water in both my water tubes and a shallow dish, and they will usually figure out one or the other. That was a good tip about using a hanging cup for the water.

Welcome to the forum! There's lots of good reading at www.finchinfo.com, where you will find many articles on housing, diet and nutrition and the general care of finches. If you put your general location in your profile, it makes it easier to answer locale-specific questions later on.

rcharrod

Glad to hear that things are going in the right direction. If one figures out where the water is, the other one will soon pick up on it too.

I remember someone telling me once, that when they get new birds, when they transfer them into their new cage, they get a hold of them and poke their beaks into the water dish. That way apparently they get to know where the water is. Thankfully, I have never had to resort to that method yet . I'd be terrified of drowning them.

Best of luck with your new birdlings.
Wouldn't mind seeing some pictures.

~Elana~

Thanks, Elana. They seem to be a little better acclimated today, both eating and drinking. The next hurdle is enticing them to take a bath! I ordered a large flight last night (40Lx20Wx36H) - can't wait for it to get here and give them the space they need. Goulds like their space, right?

One question. They don't really sing (at least not yet). They just make a little quiet, almost squealing sound. Might the singing come with being more comfortable as well?

rcharrod

Gouldian songs, are a lispy whispering kind of sound. They do not belt out songs like Canaries. They don't meep and honk like Zebras. They don't roar and burble like Budgies. Their song is a very soft and understated sound, that one has to learn to aappreciate. It's only when you get a bunch of them all singing at sunset, that you can really hear them.

Regarding that flight , that's wonderful, and yes Gouldians, like their space. Now all you will need are two pretty ladies for your two gents, and everybody will be happy .

~Elana~

Ha. Don't think I'm quite ready for that. I expect that my Societies will likely be my little finch makers - that's enough for me. I'll see how the Gouldians do in the flight - I may decide to add one more pair (Owls potentially), but I know 4 birds is stretching it a little, even in a flight that big.

I'll try to post pics of Jake and Reggie this week. Still can't get them to take a bath...

rcharrod

I'm pretty sure, that you can have more than two birds in that size of a flight, without any problems what so ever.

If you want them to take a bath, put a couple of Societies in with them, add a Tupperware container with an inch or so of tepid water, and watch what happens .

~Elana~

Congrats on your new birds!

Stillness is a common reaction to a new environment where they're nervous and frightened.
Finches are a bird that freezes when they're scared. They have no real defenses from predators. Their only options are to fly away or to freeze and hope the predator doesn't notice them.

Quick story: one time, I had a Vision cage on a stand and one day, the cage randomly fell over and it broke into pieces (turns out it was a defective stand design on those older Vision cages.) The fall killed one bird, but the other 3 survived and escaped into the room.
I came home and saw the carnage and I was perplexed because I had 1 dead bird, but I couldn't find the other 3. The door to the room had been closed. I just couldn't figure it out. I spent half an hour scouring the room; even looked in the air vents!
I sat down to contemplate the situation - how 3 birds could just disappear. Then I saw them: two were in a floral arrangement. The other was sitting on a pen inside a mug on the shelf above my desk.
They'd been there the whole time and I never saw them. I looked right at them several times. They were so incredibly still, frozen in fear.

So indeed, finches can be incredibly still when frightened!

Glad to hear your lot is adjusting! I'm sure they'll feel at home in no time!

Gouldians make a really lovely sound. It's so soft and pretty. Not a chirp exactly; more sort of a gentle trill. (The sound has the same sort of vibration quality that a trill has.) The youngsters sound like heat bugs. (Cicadas?)