Advice regarding 5 y/o male Strawberry

[Finch_Gawker]

I've had a male Strawberry since Oct 2005 and sadly he lost his mate in Jan 2009, and I hadn't been able to find another female Strawberry. Over the past year I've tried fixing him up with a cage-mate 3 times - 1st a male Orange-breasted Waxbill, 2nd a male Spice Finch, 3rd a male Society Finch. But all 3 times failed - he was aggressive towards the OB Waxbill, the Spice Finch was aggressive towards him, and the Society Finch kept trying to mate with him!

Recently I finally saw some Strawberries for sale, but I'm unsure whether to get a female to be his mate or another male to be his buddy. My concern is that he may be to old to breed anyway if I were to get a female, I believe he is over 5 y/o. Will he be better off with another male as a buddy? He still sings his pretty flute-like song frequently, but I notice that he isn't as energetic as before, he no longer flits about in the cage and spends a lot more time just resting on the perch.

Any advice will be much appreciated.

[Nipper06]

5 years old isn't that old. I'd get him a female and see if he can still breed. He might be really ready to breed. Strawberries are so rare in captivity that we need to try to breed all them to keep as big a gene pool as possible.

If he still doesn't breed, get another unrelated male for the new female and maybe put the grown babies in with your older male for company.

[L in Ontario]

Hard to say which way to go. I separated my males (2) and female (1) when I brought the wild caught male (1) and females (2) out of quarantine. They are now in 2 cages males & females. The 3 males get along GREAT. They quite often will sit/lay on the cage floor cuddled up next to each other and even preen each other - when they are not flitting around and singing. The females also get along with each other though I've never seen them preening each other.

I'm sorry you lost the female - but best wishes with the male.

[Sally]

If you have found Strawberries for sale, I'd go ahead and try to get a female for him--females are in short supply. Is this a breeder selling them, or a pet store, or a broker? Do you have any idea how old the male was when you got him? I have a male that has an 05 band on him, and he produced 9 babies last year, so he may not be too old for breeding. The hen's age seems to be much more important (just like humans!).

My males get along for the most part, though sometimes they have squabbles when they are in breeding plumage. When in eclipse plumage, they get along great. Just like Liz's males, they will lie on the floor of the cage in a clump--so funny! One bird that gets along great with my males is a male Cordon Bleu--he clumps and preens right along with the Strawberries, and they love him.

If you fill in your location in your profile, it sometimes makes it easier to direct the right answer to you. (Plus I'd be interested to find out who is selling Strawberries, and where.)

[Finch_Gawker]

5 years old isn't that old. I'd get him a female and see if he can still breed. He might be really ready to breed. Strawberries are so rare in captivity that we need to try to breed all them to keep as big a gene pool as possible.

If he still doesn't breed, get another unrelated male for the new female and maybe put the grown babies in with your older male for company.

Thanks for the advice.

I'm from Singapore and Strawberry Finches are actually indigenous to this region, or perhaps introduced. Occasionally these wild-caught Strawberries will be available for sale in bird-shops in the hundreds.

[Finch_Gawker]

Hard to say which way to go. I separated my males (2) and female (1) when I brought the wild caught male (1) and females (2) out of quarantine. They are now in 2 cages males & females. The 3 males get along GREAT. They quite often will sit/lay on the cage floor cuddled up next to each other and even preen each other - when they are not flitting around and singing. The females also get along with each other though I've never seen them preening each other.

I'm sorry you lost the female - but best wishes with the male.

Thanks for the advice.

Great to know that male Strawberries will get along just fine. I was so disappointed when my Strawberry did not get along with the Orange-breasted Waxbill, since both birds were closely related species. He plucked the OB Waxbill so aggressively that the OB Waxbill lost the lovely 'zebra' pattern.

[Finch_Gawker]

If you have found Strawberries for sale, I'd go ahead and try to get a female for him--females are in short supply. Is this a breeder selling them, or a pet store, or a broker? Do you have any idea how old the male was when you got him? I have a male that has an 05 band on him, and he produced 9 babies last year, so he may not be too old for breeding. The hen's age seems to be much more important (just like humans!).

My males get along for the most part, though sometimes they have squabbles when they are in breeding plumage. When in eclipse plumage, they get along great. Just like Liz's males, they will lie on the floor of the cage in a clump--so funny! One bird that gets along great with my males is a male Cordon Bleu--he clumps and preens right along with the Strawberries, and they love him.

If you fill in your location in your profile, it sometimes makes it easier to direct the right answer to you. (Plus I'd be interested to find out who is selling Strawberries, and where.)

Thanks for the advice.

I'm from Singapore and the (wild-caught) Strawberries are sold in a bird-shop, and here the situation is reversed, the females greatly outnumber the males. I think this is because very few bird hobbyists here are interested in breeding finches, so most of them just get the males birds for their pretty color and song.

My Strawberry was also wild-caught and is most probably over 5 y/o. I believe he may be a different subspecies from the Strawberries I saw in the bird-shop. His plumage is an orangey hue while the other Strawberries are crimson red. He also appears to be of a slight larger size. I've attached 2 pics taken before the female passed.

At this point I'm more inclined towards getting another male to be his buddy. I have the feeling that he is too old to breed, and there is also the question of different subspecies hybridizing.

[Domenic]

You could also try getting another society finch. Is there a large price difference between strawberries and societies in Singapore?

[Sally]

The smaller, more crimson red Strawberries are usually referred to as Chinese, while the larger, more rust-red Strawberries are referred to as Indian. You are so lucky to have ready access to Strawberries. Due to Asian bird flu, they are no longer being imported from Asia to the U.S., so it limits what is available here. Unfortunately, not enough people worked with them when they were readily available, so we now face a shortage of them in the U.S. From what I read, in Australia, enough breeders worked with them that they have a very good population now.

[Finch_Gawker]

You could also try getting another society finch. Is there a large price difference between strawberries and societies in Singapore?

I think it would be best for my Strawberry to be in the company of his own species. This will probably sound a little crazy to finch hobbyists in the U.S., but over here Societes actually cost more than Strawberries, around $10 - $15 more.

[Finch_Gawker]

The smaller, more crimson red Strawberries are usually referred to as Chinese, while the larger, more rust-red Strawberries are referred to as Indian. You are so lucky to have ready access to Strawberries. Due to Asian bird flu, they are no longer being imported from Asia to the U.S., so it limits what is available here. Unfortunately, not enough people worked with them when they were readily available, so we now face a shortage of them in the U.S. From what I read, in Australia, enough breeders worked with them that they have a very good population now.

Thanks for the info, I never knew my Strawberry was Indian!

Strawberries though indigenous to this region are not often sold in bird-shops. I've only come across them a couple of times in the past 4 - 5 years.