A Little Update

[sv452]

Hi Guys and Gals,

It has been a couple of weeks and it seems like my two boys is settling in.

Holy cow - they can sing though. They make this one sound that is similar to that of a bomb dropping that is absolutely adorable. And a funny like murmur sound like they are talking to themselves.

I made a little video recording and when I played it back to see it, they went ballistic hearing the chirps and they started singing and chirping to the recording.

Having observed them over this time some questions has come about and I hope that I can get some advice.

1. The two of them fly a lot in the cage and sometimes sounds like they hit the cage sides when they land. Is that normal? Should I get a bigger cage? The cage they are in right now is quite a nice size.
I was considering maybe getting another and joining them together into a big cage.

2.The little white one seems to be losing loads of feathers. now it is summer here by us but the other one is not loosing feathers at all. Is this a problem?

3. I made the cage a little more homely, is it ok to have little honey seed sticks in there? They have really taken to the cuttlefish bone I put in so that is nice.
They do however seem to hate shiny surfaces like mirrors. I put one in and they where sitting as far as possible away from it. So I took it out again.

4. I read somewhere that you can put stuff in like hay and stuff - is that ok to do?

5. they also once in a while will sit on different perches and look at each other and make a funny noise and aim at each other. It doesn't look aggressive but still got me a little worried.

Sorry for the long write up but these two little feather babies has gone straight to my heart and I know that everyone here feels the same.

Love and Greetings.

[lovezebs]

sv452

Hi there.

Glad to hear that the boys are doing well, and that you have grown quite fond of them.

Your white boy, might be molting (thereby losing many feathers). Sometimes different birds, will molt at different times.

Make sure that you supply hard boiled eggs for protein (very important for feather growth), along with good seed mix for Javas, and greens and fruits .

Just wondering, how large their cage/flight is ? Javas, being somewhat larger than many other finches, need quite a bit of room to move and fly around. A small cage might explain why they go into a big panic when you approach (they have no where to escape to, to feel safe). In a larger cage/flight, you might find them become more calm and comfortable.

Good luck

[sv452]

sv452

Hi there.

Glad to hear that the boys are doing well, and that you have grown quite fond of them.

Your white boy, might be molting (thereby losing many feathers). Sometimes different birds, will molt at different times.

Make sure that you supply hard boiled eggs for protein (very important for feather growth), along with good seed mix for Javas, and greens and fruits .

Just wondering, how large their cage/flight is ? Javas, being somewhat larger than many other finches, need quite a bit of room to move and fly around. A small cage might explain why they go into a big panic when you approach (they have no where to escape to, to feel safe). In a larger cage/flight, you might find them become more calm and comfortable.

Good luck

I saw in another post about the person who had a couple of baby birdies that lost their mommy mentioned about giving them boiled eggs and the shell? should I also mash it up or just break it up a little, with or without the yolk. (cannibalism? )

will this be the same for mine? I have tried some blue berries but it remained untouched for some time so i removed it from the cage.

I will upload a nice picture of the cage and some measurements.

Also I have noticed when I looked at the gallery that many cages has like greenery behind and inside the cages - is that real or fake? Cause that makes it look so much more cozy.

ideally I would have loved to be able to open the cage to let the boys fly around for exercise and let them stay in the cage if we where not around. But I guess that since they are this big it might not possible.

I will try some greenery like cucumbers and carrots, I see that is always mentioned so I recon that is good to give.

They do go through a LOT of seeds though and water as well.

It is summer time now so that is understandable.

[Spreckles]

Oh let them out. It is so fun as long as you have no predators. i can't imagine keeping my little ones closed up all the time. they settle down after awhile once they discover they can fly if they want too. it is really crazy to me how much we all love these birds. Who knew?

[lovezebs]

sv452

To answer your questions:

Most birds tend to enjoy hard boiled egg that are grated or put through a garlic press. However, you can also try to mash the egg with a fork.
- I boil my eggs for ten minutes and peel them, saving the shells. I put my eggs through a large garlic press, then toss some crumbled spray millet into them and mix gently with a fork. All of my kids love this mix, and it is extremely healthy for them, especially when molting, breeding, or raising chicks.

The shells, I allow to dry, then crush them and mix into my bird grit and offer daily (egg shells offer the birds Calcium, and they eat tuem like potato chips).

A diet of seeds alone, is not a healthy or complete diet for your birds. Aside from eggs, which are very health, there are many things which you can offer your bird boys.

In the Veg dept. You can offer:
Kale
Spinach
Broccoli
Romaine
Cucumber
Parsley
Carrot greens
Grated carrots
Beet greens
Red Swiss chard
Baby spring mix
Corn on the cob
Peas

These should be washed and either chopped, or offered as is.

In the fruit dept. You can offer:

Apple, cut into pieces
Oranges cut into slices
Grapes, halved
Water melon bits
Cantaloupe bits
Banana slices

With these choices, I would offer small amounts at first, to find out what your guys prefer.

Most of the greenery that you see decorating cages and flights Is fake. I pick mine out at the $ store, other folks prefer craft shops.

Regarding free fligh.

If you have a relatively safe and quiet room, where you can close door and windows, you could try to allow free flight and see how it goes. I would only offer food and water in the cage though, which would serve as an incentive for them to go back into their cage.

Good luck.

[sv452]

Oh let them out. It is so fun as long as you have no predators. i can't imagine keeping my little ones closed up all the time. they settle down after awhile once they discover they can fly if they want too. it is really crazy to me how much we all love these birds. Who knew?

I am just worried that I would not be able to get them back into their cage.

I will also have to do it in a smallish room with no real obstructions where they can hide or hurt themselves.

They do share the same house as a little tubby cat. We have a little routine in the morning where we move them into a safe spot for the day while at work and then out into the living room once we at home.

i love em to bits.

[sv452]

sv452

To answer your questions:

Most birds tend to enjoy hard boiled egg that are grated or put through a garlic press. However, you can also try to mash the egg with a fork.
- I boil my eggs for ten minutes and peel them, saving the shells. I put my eggs through a large garlic press, then toss some crumbled spray millet into them and mix gently with a fork. All of my kids love this mix, and it is extremely healthy for them, especially when molting, breeding, or raising chicks.

The shells, I allow to dry, then crush them and mix into my bird grit and offer daily (egg shells offer the birds Calcium, and they eat tuem like potato chips).

A diet of seeds alone, is not a healthy or complete diet for your birds. Aside from eggs, which are very health, there are many things which you can offer your bird boys.

In the Veg dept. You can offer:
Kale
Spinach
Broccoli
Romaine
Cucumber
Parsley
Carrot greens
Grated carrots
Beet greens
Red Swiss chard
Baby spring mix
Corn on the cob
Peas

These should be washed and either chopped, or offered as is.

In the fruit dept. You can offer:

Apple, cut into pieces
Oranges cut into slices
Grapes, halved
Water melon bits
Cantaloupe bits
Banana slices

With these choices, I would offer small amounts at first, to find out what your guys prefer.

Most of the greenery that you see decorating cages and flights Is fake. I pick mine out at the $ store, other folks prefer craft shops.

Regarding free fligh.

If you have a relatively safe and quiet room, where you can close door and windows, you could try to allow free flight and see how it goes. I would only offer food and water in the cage though, which would serve as an incentive for them to go back into their cage.

Good luck.

I need to visit the pet shop to look for the millet, very odd looking things. lol.

Most of the fruit and veggies we have for ourselves so I can easily have them nibble on some as well. A healthy family is a happy family.

As I mentioned it the other post I will let them out in a small safe room and see how it goes. Hopefully they will go back for food and drink.

Thank you very much for all the help and advice - it is really appreciated.

[Spreckles]

With a cat no flying unless they can be safe of course. My birds go back and actually fly fairly close by their birdie condos

[lovezebs]

sv452

I agree with Spreckles.
With a kitty around, flying would definitely have to be done in a safe room.

One word of advice/caution, once you're in the room, and before you let them out, lay a large towel over the space between the door and the floor.

I actually had a juvie Gouldian swiped through such a space by a kitty. The outcome for this baby, was not good :'(.

[Spreckles]

lovezebs

How do you put someone's name in the text? i would have a heart attack to see a cat snatch a baby bird from under the door. My cat knows there are birds in the upstairs room but I shoe him away from upstairs. They never go on the floor thank God. Pretty much they stay in the dormer where their cages are. Maybe it's just knowing you can fly if you want too that they like. Cats and birds don't mix. If my granddaughter didn't love cats we wouldn't have one. He is a beauty though.
But so are my sweet little birdies....another good reason for an aviary.

[Sally]

Spreckles You can put someone's name in the text by using the @ key followed by their member name, like this @ Spreckles, except don't leave a space between the @ and the member name.

[sv452]

spreckles lovezebs

I am 100% in agreement on kitties and birds do not mix well.

Would cry much tears if my birdie was swipe under the door.

Seeing as I spend a fair amount of time in my study I will let them loose in it while I am there. Lucky the door goes all the way down and have little space for kitty paws but I reckon a towel there is not a bad idea in any case.

I am happy to say though that when I changed their water bowl for new water they did not fly around like usual and was quite relaxed about it.

Will keep everyone up to speed and post some pics when they get to fly free.

[Nipper06]

A suggestion for the free flight: do it in mid or late afternoon and leave a small light on next to the cage - then they won't stay out too long - they will want to be in the cage before it gets dark but the light will ensure they find the cage.

And whatever you do, don't chase them out of their cage. Just open the door and let them come out when they are ready. Javas can become tame if handled when they are very young. Adults rarely will hand-tame but if you are gentle around them and move slowly, they will become tame-ish and be content to be near you. But if you chase or grab them, they will never forget it (or forgive you for it)!

I had these 3 tame Javas back in the 1990s. I got them as juveniles right from a breeder.


Now I only have this one (on left, in photo below) and I never tamed him. But I keep his cage door open most of the time and he has free run of my 18 X 20 foot sunroom. He lives with a Spice Finch who also has free run - but he has a strange friendship with my Ringneck Doves and often sleeps next to them in their cage.

[sv452]

A suggestion for the free flight: do it in mid or late afternoon and leave a small light on next to the cage - then they won't stay out too long - they will want to be in the cage before it gets dark but the light will ensure they find the cage.

And whatever you do, don't chase them out of their cage. Just open the door and let them come out when they are ready. Javas can become tame if handled when they are very young. Adults rarely will hand-tame but if you are gentle around them and move slowly, they will become tame-ish and be content to be near you. But if you chase or grab them, they will never forget it (or forgive you for it)!

I had these 3 tame Javas back in the 1990s. I got them as juveniles right from a breeder.
[ [url=http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b353/mesangeai/Animal%20Photos/Rons3Javas.jpg] ][/url]

Now I only have this one (on left, in photo below) and I never tamed him. But I keep his cage door open most of the time and he has free run of my 18 X 20 foot sunroom. He lives with a Spice Finch who also has free run - but he has a strange friendship with my Ringneck Doves and often sleeps next to them in their cage.
[ [url=http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b353/mesangeai/Animal%20Photos/P1160168_zps3d51982c.jpg] ][/url]

[ [url=http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b353/mesangeai/Animal%20Photos/P1210768_zpsxfx5vevf.jpg] ][/url]

Holy cow! that is insanely awesome!

I would be stupid to expect them to be completely tame. Sad as that may be, I prefer to at least try and make sure my boys have the best life ever.

[sv452]

Another little update:

Work kept me very busy and to that degree I did not get a moment to let them out a little as I did not want to be in a rush.

Tonight however after work life was a bit nicer and relaxed so I thought it would be a great time to see if they would be at all interested to fly out of the cage.

The good thing as you noted above is to not force them out of the cage. I simply opened the cage door and patiently carried on doing my own thing.

The grey one was the first brave soul to "escape" from the cage after sitting with the door open for 30 mins.

One mistake I made was to not cover the mirror and he promptly tried to fly to to it.

I left him to fly and discover the room. He settled on a fake flower and sat for while before exploring again.

A few mins later he started to breath very loudly that kinda freaked me out a bit so I slowly approached him and gently picked him up. He flew into my hand and I gently held him but he did not struggle to get loose but if I open my hand he did try to fly away. I put my hand in the cage and he walked out of my hand onto the perch and the heavy breathing stopped.

The white one then decided it is his turn and took off, but he was a lot more "wild". By this time I did cover the mirror. He kept on flying around really badly so when he landed behind a pillow I picked him up gently but he did not want anything to do with me so I put him back in the cage and he settled down right away.

So that was the excursion for the little ones. I suspect that unless otherwise stated they will take their own time to get used to actually being out of the cage.

I wonder should I close the blinds and then have the little light by the cage next time? Tonight the blinds was slightly open to let some outside light inside.

I do apologize for the terrible pictures.

EDIT:
Sorry also for the very long story but I feel that I want to explain everything to make sure than I do not mess up and traumatize the little guys.