Owner of Zebra Finches - Looking for advice!

[Pixel]

I own six males and four females.

I`m always looking for advice and new tricks and tips on making them feel comfortable and at home.

I do have a question, I have recent bought pine pellets from pet smart since their employee suggested to me as a alternate. I am afraid of using it just in case, is it safe? I don't have a grate that covers over top of their tray, but they seem to be big and i'm not sure if they'll try to eat it.

What is a good diet for Zebra Finches and can help with beak strengthening?

[lovezebs]

Pixel

Regarding the 'pine pellets', I have never seen them, so I can't offer any advice.

Personally, I use newspaper at the bottom of my flights. It's easy to come by, absorbant, and easy to change as often as needed.
I also place some timothy hay on top of the paper, which makes an awful mess, but all of the kids seem to enjoy it.

Regarding diet:

I offer a good quality Finch mix, combined with Canary mix, which all my birds eat.

Fresh greens and veggies such as...
Kale, spinach, romaine lettuce, red swiss chard, corn on the cob, grated carrot, broccoli, cucumber slices, chick weed, beet greens, and rapini, among others.
Some birds enjoy a bit of apple, some blueberries, melons, pears, and orange slices, some don't.

Hard boiled eggs are an important source of protein.
I boil them, peal them (save the shells) put them through a garlic press (or can mash with a fork) add spray millet crumbles, and some store bought bird egg food mix, so as to make it fairly dry and crumbly. I also add some pulverised freeze dried mealworms, but that's mainly due to the other species which I feed.

Once the shells are dry, I crush them and add them to my grit mix. They ,to their drinking water twice a week.

[Sally]

You've gotten some good advice already, but I wanted to welcome you to the forum! There's lots of good reading at www.finchinfo.com, where you will find many articles on finch care.

I haven't used pine pellets from Petsmart, but I have tried the pine pellets that are made for horse stalls. I found that they turned to sawdust pretty quickly, I really wasn't too thrilled with them. You have to watch out for pine pellets that have a strong smell, that is not good for the bird's respiratory system.

I use butcher paper, which is easy for me, since I have lots of cages. I also use hay, especially for breeding birds, but as Elana said, it is messy.

[Celeris]

Pixel

I second Sally's opinion on the pine pellets: they explode when wet and make a huuuge mess. My birds never tried to consume them, just as they've never tried to eat the paper pellets (cat litter) I now use. They do pick them up in their beaks and attempt to build nests with them on the perches and in the bath, but they seem to know the difference between what they view as nesting material and food.

[Denise]

Hello! I am a fan of Aspen shavings is my mixed aviary and like corn cob in my cage. I know some people advise against the corn cob, but have had no trouble. I found the pellets got wet and turned to dust and made a big mess. Not a fan.

[lnlovesorange]

As far as lining and diet you've gotten some great advice, I can't really add to that, I do give my sprouted seed though, and sometimes for a "candy treat" i put melted coconut oil over the sprouted seeds, I call it their "seet treat" as far as making them "comfortable" or in my case, I Felt they needed something to do... I always offer them foraging boxes (if in a cage) or in my case they have thier own room so i put it in the pot of the fake trees or right on the ground. I mix in timothy hay, sisal fiber, burlap, small pieces of string *** MAKE SURE ANY THING STRING LIKE THE SISAL FIBER ESPECIALLY is no LONGER than 2 INCHES.... I recently lost a bird to him getting tied up in the sisal fiber that was not cut and it's VERY strong so it does not break. PLEASE Be careful with this, if you use it at all.... hay and grasses then throw in some seed, egg shells, millet, small pieces of TP or tissue ripped up (not the tissue with lotion in it) and this gives them (males especially) something to do, they start picking it up and building a nest. However, this does incite them to breed, so if breeding is not something you want them to do, you either don't want to do this, or make sure you check everyday and remove any eggs in any nests they make. But i will say it's REALLY fun to watch them pick up the piece of grass or string, turn it in their mouth, go to the hen and show her to get the "OK" for it to go in the nest, but if they drop it forget about it, another one is coming to steal it! It's funny, and I could watch them for HOURS!!

[FinchGrinch]

I use Aspen pellets in the Finch Flat (my indoor Aviary/flight) and I love them. So much easier than messing with news paper IMO. you just scoop out where they poop ( easily identifiable) then replace with a couple of scoops of fresh. I was going to try the pine but went for the Aspen. its a little more expensive but absorbs much better.