New England Breeders? Waxbills and Owl Finches?

[w.l.]

Most birds available here are wild-caught.
Exceptions are AU zebras, societies, Gouldians and mutation Javas, all of which I have pretty much zero interest in.

I think even in the US most African birds offered are wild-caught.
Domesticated species, including all AU species, will be captive-bred.

Captive-bred status won't eliminate the aggressive nature of species like your mannikins or cut-throats, not within a few generations anyway. It can only make those species easier to breed as captive-bred individuals don't need to go through the stress of capture, shipping, changing to different diet, climate, being confined to small space and proximity of humans. But even this is not guaranteed, as often captive-bred birds are raised by societies on a diet fit for societies but not for say waxbills (societies can raise their young on seeds, waxbills raise them on insects), and the result can be weak birds unfit for breeding.

[Shannylee]

w.l., interesting! I'm still learning about each bird species and which prefer seeds and/or insects. Most of the birds I have (including the whydahs) are not interested in the insects except for the Javas. The Javas go nuts over mealworms. Not sure where to buy maggots. LOL!

Sorry to hijack your thread, Nikki

[w.l.]

Perhaps some of them would be interested in livefood but find mealworkms too big and hard. They might eat mini mealworms, buffalo worms or especially ant puppae (try and find in your yard if not sold).

[Stuart whiting]

Shannylee hi Sharon,

I hope you manage to get some waxbills,

I've mentioned more about this to you on the Florida bird show thread

[Stuart whiting]

Most birds available here are wild-caught.
Exceptions are AU zebras, societies, Gouldians and mutation Javas, all of which I have pretty much zero interest in.

I think even in the US most African birds offered are wild-caught.
Domesticated species, including all AU species, will be captive-bred.

Captive-bred status won't eliminate the aggressive nature of species like your mannikins or cut-throats, not within a few generations anyway. It can only make those species easier to breed as captive-bred individuals don't need to go through the stress of capture, shipping, changing to different diet, climate, being confined to small space and proximity of humans. But even this is not guaranteed, as often captive-bred birds are raised by societies on a diet fit for societies but not for say waxbills (societies can raise their young on seeds, waxbills raise them on insects), and the result can be weak birds unfit for breeding.

Very well said w.l. Absolutely agree

[Stuart whiting]

Shannylee

During the non breeding season a lot of waxbills won't even touch any live food,

However when the birds come into breeding condition and have youngsters in the nest it will now be a complete new ball game,

They will need ample amount of live food,

Normal meal worms are no good as these are far to big, at best you need to use mini meal worms and preferably the white skinned worms,

Also pinkies are very good eaither frozen or live although I much prefer live, here in England we use an abundance of maggots which can be easily purchased from the numerous maggot farms that we have here for the match fishing scene.

When I use the pinkie maggots I always dust em in a multi vitamin and calcium powder every day when I feed.

Any form of fruit fly culture and small aphids will be beneficial aswell,

Out in Australia most serious waxbill breeders would use termites but unfortunately we don't have termite cultures here in England and have to resort to the use of other live food,

As mentioned the best I've used so far are the small pinkie maggot ( green bottle fly )

Maggots are known for getting botulism because of the decaying meat that they eat,

I clean all of my maggots by placing them in Maise meal for about 3 days and are generally now safe to use, I normally by a few gallons at any one time as I use numerous amounts for me match fishing aswell,

The best way to keep the maggots are in large plastic tubs with a very fine micro mesh placed on top of the box and kept in a specific bird fridge which I have in me birdroom.

Hope this helps a little

[neojinnx]

Shannylee -

No worries, it's good reading material even if it doesn't directly apply to me!

Stuart whiting -

Thanks for all the info, as always, Stuart! I think I'll be referring to that post often.


w.l. -

Just to clarify- as I specified earlier, I never planned on breeding. The owls seem intent on it and I haven't seen any aggressive behavior from them or the lavenders, nor have I read anything regarding breeding owls in general that makes me feel as though I should put a stop to it.

From what I've gathered on the lavenders, however, is that they will not breed without a steady supply of live food. I did see your original post regarding lavenders hijacking a nest but knowing that I have a very good chance of limiting their chance to breed by withholding live food, I decided to give it a shot and purchase them anyway (remember, I wasn't expecting the owls to breed immediately when I purchased). They were already in a mixed aviary and the store clerk said that this pair in particular have been very passive. The female does not have white spots on her side which, if I understand correctly, means that she is still a juvenile. This makes it even more important to me that they do not breed and, so far, they've shown no inclination to do so.

Of course, this all comes down to 'might's' and 'maybe's' and 'what if's' and if I stopped trying new or different things because there is a *chance* that something might not go according to plan or there might be a negative outcome, I'd never leave the house! All we can do is educate ourselves (which I'm trying really hard to do) and take precautions to try to mitigate any unwanted scenarios.

Right now, things seem to be going well. If that changes and any of the birds show signs of aggression towards the others or to the nest, then of course I will separate them! I'm not just going to sit idly by and watch them harm each other and I sincerely apologize if you got the impression that I was taking dangerous chances with the birds' well-being. I do appreciate all of the feedback and I hope that I can continue to learn from the forum's collective experience to make sure that I keep my birds healthy and happy.

Barbara -

They still had a lot of gouldians, owls, and societies (the poor things had their tails plucked by a canary before it was removed from the flight) but other than that, yeah, they were getting low on finches. I was really surprised by the selection of supplies they had and the prices were very reasonable. The millet was fantastic! I did buy a bag of that.

[Stuart whiting]

neojinnx

Always here to help and for others

[Shannylee]

Stuart whiting, I have a compost full of Black Soldier Fly maggots. There is no meat or dairy products in my compost pile. Do you think they will be ok for my birds if I clean them off? The big ones are kind of leathery looking but the smaller ones might be ok. Yuck! I can't believe that I'm willing to go dig in maggots to feed to my kids.

[Stuart whiting]

Shannylee

You can try it by all means but what you need to bare in mind is that if the birds do breed you'll need to have a constant supply,

On average for each pair of birds that are rearing youngsters I'd supply about 1/4 pint of maggots per day minimum,

They may not necessarily use all of this amount per day, depends on the species but I'd much rather have more than not enough,

Problem with some waxbills etc is that if there's not enough live food chicks can get to about a week old and then the parents are known for tossing em out of the nest , this is well known for blue capped waxbills hence why I have ample live food,

If you decide to use the maggots from yer compost I'd put them in some serial Maise meal powder, the maggots will eat some of this powder and will clean through after about 3 days,

Incidentally you'll notice a black spot in the maggot, many think that this is its heart but it is not, this black spot is actually the decaying meat within the maggot,

This is known as botulism and if yer birds eat the maggots and haven't been cleaned first yer birds will also run the risk of getting the botulism which we obviously don't want.

Once you get used to cleaning them in the Maise meal for a few days it's a very easy way of feeding a reliable source of live food

[Shannylee]

Stuart whiting, I have mini mealworms in the people fridge right now. I'm not sure that my husband knows that. I offer them to the javas and whydahs each day. The javas have decided that they are delicious and he shoves his wife out of the way so he can eat them all. The whydahs have not been interested as of yet.

I have access to live food. We have several local pet stores and bait stores that carry live food. I will also give the compost maggots a try after I pick up some cereal and clean them for a few days. I'll be sure to check for that black spot. I have noticed that the little wild wrens are regulars in the compost bin. One little momma calls her babies in and then feeds them inside the bin.

[Stuart whiting]

Shannylee seems like those little wrens are certainly after the maggots and whatever grubs that they can find,

The whydahs aren't probably interested in the live food because there not in breeding mode,

Being onest Sharon, I'd get just a few maggots from yer compost and clean em for a few days and then feed em to yer birds and wait for their reaction,

If they take em which I can't see any reason why not especially yer Javas I'd then go to yer local fishing / bait shop and buy some and keep em in a proper fishing bait box, the bigger size box would be better because the maggots won't sweat

One vital tip : under no circumstances allow the maggots to heat up by placing them in a small container,

Once they sweat and become wet they are very good escape artists and will crawl up the sides of plastic like you wouldn't believe

[Shannylee]

Stuart whiting ewwww! I can deal with mealworms in the people fridge. I'm sure that hubs will boot the birds, the maggots, and me out if we have a sweaty maggot escape in the house. (((shudder)))

[Stuart whiting]

Shannylee

It's far easier to pick up a small second hand fridge and keep in a shed , birdroom or garage

[Barbara]

Nikki I saw those societies with no tails ,you have to really check there cages out sometimes I think (my opinion only) they are too involved with the bigger birds and the little guys get ignored.when I first saw the socities they had about 8 and a canary in one double breeder cage,very small ,I saw the tails at first they told me they were babies and born like that,I said no they were not then they told me it was the older male in there ,I was going there a couple times a week was trying to decide on another english budgie and noticed the canary with the societies couldn't stand on one foot and had to tell them about that,when I went back the third time the canary was gone ???? But all the finches were in a longer cage I think they opened another breeder cage to make it long enough.Don'the get me wrong almost all my birds come from there and never had any problems with any but I do feel they need to watch them a little better for aggression.also If you don't take to avian vet within a certain time warranty is void.you are right there supplies are very reasonable priced and have a lot to choice from that I cannot find at pet store chains. I wish there were more shows and breeders in are area to buy from.My little owls are always tugging at the fake greenery but no breeding for them either