Advice for my juvenile Gouldian

[Louys]

I got a week ago a juvenile Gouldian. It has blue ring on the leg...... very young. It is grey and is actively molting (little grey feathers everywhere ) I have got him/her as company for my lonely male Gouldian. Now they are in separate cages. Is it safe to put them together? They have been in side by side cages for a week now.

I recently bought a flight cage that I haven't assembled yet. I was thinking of putting both in the new cage this coming weekend. I am afraid of putting the juvi into the adult male's cage, just in case he becomes aggressive.

I appreciate all your help, thanks

[Sally]

Personally, I would keep him quarantined from the other birds for a bit longer, a minimum of another week and preferably more than that. Also, since he is newly acquired and molting, he is going through a ton of stress right now. Adding him to another cage with other birds could be more stress than he can handle, and he could get sick.

[Louys]

Sally
Thanks Sally. So what should I do, wait till he is finished molting? This will take long tine though right?
Meanwhile my male Gouldian is alone. Is there a problem with that?

[bmohan28]

Yes i would prefer to keep them sepeated until molting is complete. Also since the male is alone for sometime once introduced it might trigger mating behaviour and since she is still young you dont want her get stresed very early.

[Louys]

bmohan28

How long will it take do you know? She is losing some feathers but very few. She is an active happy bird; tweets a lot , eats well, but very skittish. So much not like my male Gouldian.

[bmohan28]

Gouldians and star finches take some time to fully moult. Not sure on the current stage she is in but average 3 to 4 weeks.

[Louys]

bmohan28

Thanks for the fast reply.

I will have to wait then. I am just eager to put her in the flight cage.... She is trying to fly and keeps on bumping on the walls

[debbie276]

Usually once you see pin feathers on the head they are almost done. In my experience it takes much more then 3 to 4 weeks. A short molt would be about 4 weeks and a complete molt taking 3 months.

[Louys]

debbie276

So what do you think, should I keep her in separate/smaller cage for 3-4 months? Or maybe I should put her with the alone male and watch his behaviour and if I see any roughness/mating attempts separate them.

[debbie276]

Are you sure she is a she? It's hard to tell sex before they color out.
New birds should always be quarantined so they have a chance to adjust to your water and food. I always treat new arrivals for mites and worms. Then for several weeks I watch for other signs of possible problems. Quarantine protects your flock from being exposed to illness and/or parasites.
As far as aggressiveness, gouldians are very good at being able to be put together without fighting. You shouldn't have any problem keeping them together after quarantine.
During the molt you need to be sure to up the protein in their diet for good feather. A very easy and nutritional way is to add hard boiled eggs, shell and all to the diet. The egg is packed with a ton of nutrition that they need.
good luck

[Louys]

debbie276
No I am not. It is just easier to assign a sex fgor writing
I wouldn't know how to treat her for things. Does it make a difference if she is coming from a breeder?
It is 2 weeks now she is here...would 3 seeks be enough for quranteening?
Also, what if it is actually a she, would the male try to mate with her.. I am not ready for this.... Should I just keep male birds??????

[debbie276]

At minimum you should have Scatt or one of the other air sac mite products and a wormer such as worm-out-gel for new birds coming in. You would treat them during the quarantine time. The directions are on the bottles. It really doesn't matter where they come from, all should go through a quarantine for the safety of your existing birds.
Germs amd parasites don't care who you are, they go even in the best of places. It is by no means saying the previous owner is any less of a good breeder then another.
If it does turn out to be a hen, when she is old enough to be interested in raising a clutch and you don't want chick's just remove any eggs.