Newbie With Lots Of Questions

[Art3mie]

Hi Everyone,

My first post on here, so here is quick introduction. I'm 25 year old and I live in Montreal, Quebec. I always enjoyed watching birds and wanted to get a couple of finches for a while now for pleasure adn not breeding . I did lots of reading online and asked around local pet shops in regards to the matter and got different answers...

With the following questions I want to determine if I'm ready to properly take care of the finches and which species I should get.

1. How much maintenance would 2 finches need?
a) How often do I need to clean the cage?
b) How much time do I need to devote to the finches daily/weekly?
c) How many days can the finches be left alone for?
d) Do birds have to be taken to vets regularly or at all?
e) What else do I need to be aware of in regards to maintenance of the birds?

2. Society finches are recommended to start with but what if I get?
a) Cut throat finches
b) European goldfinches

I should be able to make my choice on whether I'm ready or not to get my first finches after getting answers to the above questions. If I decide that I can handle the birds and provide a good home for them I'll have more question on cage requirements and species.

Thanks to all who take the time to help me out!

[Sally]

Welcome to the forum! There's lots of good reading at www.finchinfo.com, where you will find many articles on housing, diet, and general care of finches. If you put your general location in your profile, it makes it easier to answer locale-specific questions later on.

Everyone has their own opinion, but I will give my answers to your questions, where I can:

1) Two finches don't require a lot of maintenance, though it depends somewhat on the species. The ideal beginner finch, a Society, is a bit messier than other finches.
a) Cleaning out the papers in the bottom of the cage would not need to be done more often than once per week.
b) This varies greatly. For those who work, a few minutes in the morning to check food and water, offer veggies, etc. is sufficient, with most chores being left for days off.
c) I routinely leave mine alone for a weekend. More than three days, and I would probably get a pet sitter (or have a friend/relative do it for you if they are responsible).
d) I don't take my birds to the vet, except for rare cases. I can't afford many vet visits/tests.
e) Finches don't need human company, as long as they have another finch as a buddy, unlike so many of the hookbills that develop behavior problems if they are not socialized regularly. I have provided a link already that gives you lots of guidance on general care. For finches, a large enough cage (horizontal flight room), a varied diet which in addition to seeds includes veggies, minerals, treats such as egg food or spray millet, clean water, and daily baths would be the basics.

As far as your two choices of species, I've never had either one, so I can't help you there. However, there are others on this forum with experience with them, so hopefully they will chime in with their advice.

2)

[Art3mie]

Sally
Thanks for the info.
I'm glad to hear that the cage cleaning doesn't have to be done daily.

I guess my next step would be to buy a cage.
Any recommendations on where to buy a good cage locally or online?
Any specifics to look for in a cage?
What should the minimum length be for a cage with 2 finches, 30''?

[MiaCarter]

Welcome!

Sally covered everything very nicely.

As for the species....
-Cutthroats are lovely and fairly easy to keep, but they can be fairly aggressive which can pose problems if you opt to expand in the future. If you attempt to keep more than one pair or want to try to mix with other species, you would likely need a larger cage.

-Goldfinches are also very lovely birds. They tend to be more flighty in my experience and generally don't love having humans in close proximity. They can do well in a moderately sized cage.

- Societies are super friendly and jolly little birds. They're very easy to keep and get along with virtually anyone. They can be happy in a smaller space, though of course, larger is always better.

[Art3mie]

MiaCarter
Thanks for the info, I'll be skipping on the cut throats as I might want to get more finches in the future.

Which species would you guys recommend for the following criteria?
-Not too loud
-Has a pleasant song
-Doesn't mind occasional human interaction

[Art3mie]

MiaCarter
Its a nice website you have and I think its a great what your doing with the animal rescue, keep it up!

I don't see a post edit button, is it because I'm a new member?

[Sally]

As a moderator, I see everything, so it is difficult for me to know always what other members see. You should be able to see the 'edit' button in the bottom right-hand corner of your post. However, you are only allowed to edit within 30 minutes of posting, so perhaps that 'edit' button disappears after 30 minutes. If you need to edit a post after the initial 30 minutes, you can PM a moderator, as we can edit it for you.

[MiaCarter]

Art3mie -- Let's see, not too loud, pleasant song and possibility for occasional human interaction.....

I'd consider:
-society finches -- they have sweet voices and they're not too loud. Also quite social and relatively easy to tame.
-gouldians -- a sweet tinkling voice, relatively quiet and very smart. Also fairly easy to tame.
-java finches -- far and away the smartest of all finches. Very easy to hand tame. They don't have the prettiest song, but it's not unpleasant or "honkey" like a zebra.

P.S. Glad to hear you enjoyed my site!

[wilkifam]

Which species would you guys recommend for the following criteria?
-Not too loud
-Has a pleasant song
-Doesn't mind occasional human interaction

Welcome to the forum. Gouldians have a pleasant song, definately not loud (my husband can't even hear them sing). They are the friendliest of my finch species. Also a peaceful species in case you want to add more finches in the future

[Art3mie]

You should be able to see the 'edit' button in the bottom right-hand corner of your post. However, you are only allowed to edit within 30 minutes of posting, so perhaps that 'edit' button disappears after 30 minutes.

I guess that's the case.
I didn't get a chance to see the edit button yet because a mod still needs to approve my post and that usually takes more then 30 min...

-gouldians -- a sweet tinkling voice, relatively quiet and very smart.

What makes the gouldians smarter then other species of finches?

@wilkifam Thanks for your input, to they ever make noise at night time?

[Sally]

You should be able to see the 'edit' button in the bottom right-hand corner of your post. However, you are only allowed to edit within 30 minutes of posting, so perhaps that 'edit' button disappears after 30 minutes.

I guess that's the case.
I didn't get a chance to see the edit button yet because a mod still needs to approve my post and that usually takes more then 30 min...

Well duh, I didn't even think of that! Of course, that is why you aren't seeing the edit button. We moderators aren't on here all the time, so sometimes posts do sit in the moderator queue for longer than we would like. Soon you will be a regular member, and you won't have to wait for your posts to appear.

[Burd]

Sounds like a Society Finch would be perfect for you, they're not too loud, they make random sounds, and are fun to look at. I usually clean my finch's cage once a week. Just try to avoid Zebra Finches they may be common, cheap and pretty to look at but they can be a pain to look after as they need an aviary and can be aggressive.

[lovezebs]

Art3mie
Hi.
As a beginner finch, Socies would be ideal. Two males would be my recommendation, then you don't have to worry about eggs, babies and so on.

Cut Throat Finches.... I have one male who is a sweetheart and lives in a flight with an army of Zebra Finches. I am told that during breeding, they can get aggressive, but if you were to have only one male and one female, I'm not sure if that would present a problem.

I have never had European Golds, so I can't comment, although I'm told that the male has a lovely song.

There are many other species of Finches which are nice and quiet, such as Star Finches and Parrot Finches, or absolutely lovely, as for example the Gouldians. Shaft Tail Finches, are also fairly quiet and very elegant looking birds. And that's just to name a few.

As in regards to care, maintenance and cages.
-Most Finches, like finch company better than human company. In fact, most will not do well as a solitary bird.
-Cages for Finches, should be longer rather than taller, although long and tall would be appreciated. When you consider that these birds will spend their whole lives in a cage, then the bigger the better. At the least, 30 inches across, so that they can fly back and forth. 30/18/18, would be the bare minimum.
-I clean my cages and flights usually daily, but it can be done every second day. When you get into a routine, and have only one cage, it would only take a few minutes every day to keep everything neat and tidy.
-Food and water get changed daily, as well as fresh veggies and things like hard boiled eggs. Bath water should be offered and changed daily, as many Finches love their baths once and at times twice a day.
-Aside from that, if you have more questions, regarding diet and care, please feel free to ask.

~Elana~

[Burd]

I did some research on the Goldfinch, apparently they require large indoor flight cages or outdoor aviaries. doesn't sound like a very good beginner finch.