Wow! A surprise!

[Mannikin_luver]

Well I was doing my daily things in the bird room, and I checked on the eggs my female zebra had been laying and she has 4. However! The big surprise, was when I was changing and doing stuff in the BW cage, I thought I saw white, and I was right! 3 eggs!!! Who would have known that my random selection of picking 2 BW's at petsmart would be a male and a female! I am so excited!!!! I don't know how may she will lay, and I don't know if they had started sitting yet but I am excited!!!

[Domenic]

Does one of the mannikins sing? If it does then you definitely have a m/f pair.

[Mannikin_luver]

If he does sing, then he wont do it while I am in the room and if and when he does it is drowned out by the cut throat male and the zebra finch male. I had noticed that they spent a lot of time in the nest together, and had been working on there nest for about a week. In order to peek though I had to literally act like I was touch the nest because the m or f? wouldn't come off. They are pretty tame, I can stick my hand in there cage to change food, water, and give the fresh egg food and they don't normally budge! So no more peeking for now, this will be there first clutch and I want them to be successful! Also there eggs are so tiny compared to zebras!

[JezeKat]

I miss mine!
got him from pet smart but the poor dear was scared to death of my java.
so i had to take him back

[L in Ontario]

Best wishes for successful hatchlings, Mannikin luver!!

[Mannikin_luver]

Haha! Call me Brant!

Thanks for the well wishes!

[L in Ontario]

Haha! Call me Brant!

Thanks for the well wishes!

Will do, Brant!

[FinchDegg]

Call it a british way of thinking but did you candle to see if their fertilised ? Wouldnt be the first species heard off that allfemle groups get in the mood when nests are available... only to lay infertile eggs ...

On a lighter note best wishes lol

[Mannikin_luver]

To my knowledge they haven't started sitting yet even though one or both is always in the nest. I did my research and they lay between 4-7 eggs, and either start sitting on the 3rd or 4th. So the hen started to lay saturday, and this morning was her third egg. I just wish I knew which one it was! So I guess if i get more than seven eggs then I know I will have two females, so far it seems like a male and female pair. Fingers and feathers crossed!

[cindy]

Congratultions on all those eggs...hope your BW are a true pair. I saw some at our PetSmart, they are tiny little things!

Fingers crossed and best wishes.

[lovemyfinch]

Congrats and best wishes Brant

[Mannikin_luver]

Thanks everyone!

[HoangQuan]

Congrats on the eggs, Brant , most of the male mannikins I used to kept had a song, but really low and hard to listen if there're societies/zebra/strawberry around. I will say good luck with them, but as Finchegg said, the one way to know for sure is candling the eggs , since you said the birds were really tame, I didnt think that would bother them.

[cindy]

Brant, I was just at PetSmart looking for dog toys and noticed they have little Bronze wings for $16.99 each. They are so small and agile. They also have Green singers. I watched both for a bit, one of the BWs was trying to build a nest and was hanging usdide down on the hanging ball of nesting material trying so hard for about a minute to get this one piece out. Cute little birds.

[Mannikin_luver]

Yep, I got mine at petsmart. They are very cute and agile, and I love there sounds they make to one another as well as they are very attentive to one another. Today there are 4 eggs, and at least one or both are in the nest unless taking a break. I would definitely recommend them to anyone!