Diet for Greenback twinspots

[ConnieS]

Hello:
I have penquin and normal zebras, society finches, red cheek cordenbleu, orangebrested waxbill which eat seeds, greens , egg and cheese. I just got 2 greenback twinspots. I found out they like insects,crickets and worms. That they need a higher protein diet. Do they have to be alive or can I purchase the canned or freeze dried versions?
Thank you,

[Hilary]

I don't have twinspots (lucky you!) but have other waxbills who like high protein. I tried the canned once (bought from the reptile department at the pet store) and found it to be pretty disgusting. As I remember the birds weren't interested either. I regularly add freeze-dried mealworms (you can buy in bulk from Amazon) to their cages and they do like to toss them around, but I'm not sure how much they are actually eating. Abba makes an insect blend (dried) that's worth a try. Live mealworms have always been a big hit, though, and are pretty easy to raise. Your egg also provides a pretty good source of protein, and if they are eating it and you're not breeding you may not need to add any other protein source.

[lovezebs]

ConnieS

Hi Connie and welcome to the Forum.

My guess would be, that they would do better with live mealworms, and flightless fruitflies.

However, I do believe that some people do feed insectavore food.

Although I don't have Twinspots, I do have other Waxbills.
I feed a combination of live food, and insectavore food, which I mix into my home made boiled egg food recipe. I also add crushed freeze dried mealworms (walmart $ 7.00). And some people, also add freeze dried blood worms to their eggfood as well.

What kind of cheese are you feeding? And how do these guys tolerate it?

I would love to see pictures of your feathered kids, especially the Twinspots (as I have never seen them before).

[w.l.]

I've had 2 pairs of Green twinspots for over a year now, and provide them with livefood daily. That means live buffalo worms and ant puppae.
I once bought dried insect food and ended up throwing it away as none of my birds wanted it. Also, typical grown mealworms are too big for most waxbills, I think, and of my birds, only the bigger species like Javas and Golden Sparrows eat it.

Green twinspots are among the more delicate finches and require more care than zebras, societies and the like.
Read the following topic for others' experiences with them:

http://www.finchforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=12938

[lovezebs]

w.l.

I use the mini mealworms for all of my live food eating birds.

Some eat only the heads, (I can never figure out which end is which, but the birds seem to know ) others, run them through their beaks, leaving only an empty husk behind.

I've actually had my Societies and Gouldians trying them too, which was surprising, but nice to see.

The only way any of my birds eat the dried insectavore food, is when it's mixed with eggs. The same with the freeze dried mealworms, which I crush and mix into my egg food.

The Waxbills, do seem to enjoy the flightless fruitflies (which reminds me I need to pick up some more on my next Pet Shop trip). Where do you buy ant puppae? I have never seen it anywhere.

[w.l.]

Luckily, live ant puppae is sold here regularly on the bird markets, and is in fact the #1 live food of choice of my waxbills, especially when feeding young.
I know it is not sold live in Western countries, though apparently might be available frozen or dried,and if the latter is softened up by soaking, birds might take it.
Or try and collect your own - ants are everywhere, aren't they?

Here fruit flies are not available.
Maybe I should bring breeding stock from Europe?

Live crickets are sold, but in sizes far too big for finches.
Again, I could breed them myself to get minis, but I already have enough animals to care for without a cricket colony, too!