Nesting boxes for sleep

[ChrisieMae]

Hi, I'm an absolute novice to keeping finches and got into it by accident if you like
My question is regarding sleeping, I currently have two females caged separately at the moment as I've only had one of them for a couple of days but I've noticed that both don't like sleeping on their purches my new one would rather sleep holding on to the bars of he cage than on the purch which can't be good for her
What can I put in her cage for sleeping? Would a nesting box be an idea? And can I put nesting boxes in when I eventually put them together or could that cause problems etc
Any advice at all would be greatly appreciated as like I said I'm a total novice to birds!
Thanks in advance x

[ChrisieMae]

Oh and they are both European goldfinches

[lovezebs]

ChrisieMae

Sorry, but I honestly know next to nothing about Goldfinches.

However, assuming that in this particular matter they are similar to other birds, then no, they probebly don't need nests or boxes to sleep in.

My qyestions would be, what sort of perches do you have for them?
How big are the cages they are in? And do you have some fake greenery in the cages for them to hide in or behind? And, do you know if they are wild caught by any chance?

[isobea]

Elana already asked all the right questions. And no, European goldfinches do not sleep in nest boxes. Even for breeding they only use open canary type nests, nothing that's enclosed.
Put their cages up as high as you can (maybe on a top shelf). That might make them feel safer. And try to find them a good seed mix with lots of niger seed and maybe some sunflower chips in it. Seed mixes for waxbills, zebras and such are too starchy for them. They need more oily seeds to stay healthy.
There are several excellent (and lengthy) post on this forum dealing with European goldfinches.
Hope this helps.
Iso

[Sally]

ChrisieMae I don't know anything about European Goldfinches either, but I wanted to welcome you to the forum! As isobea has already said, they do have a slightly different diet than the usual finch pet. There's lots of good reading at www.finchinfo.com, and if you put your general location in your profile, it will make it easier for members to give you advice later on.

[ChrisieMae]

Hi, thank you to everyone who has posted a reply I appreciate it.

I'll give you a bit of background to my situation with the birds, my original goldfinch is a wild bird who I have raised from a bald little chick who was found by my neighbour (her cat was about to eat her) My neighbour, knowing that I have lots of animals came to me to see if I could help, I knew nothing whatsoever about birds never mind hand rearing a wild baby! But with the help of a friend who had successfully hand reared a baby sparrow I began my new role as finch mummy.

To cut a long story short 6 months later I have my little finch who is very tame and seems healthy, I have already been feeding her the suggested seeds along with fresh greens etc. I still have a lot to learn hence why I have joined this forum

In answer to the cage questions my original finch is in a 36"L x 24"D x24"H she has a mixture of real branches and shop bought perches and has artificial greenery in there as well.

My new bird who I have recently took on, I believe to be captive bred, she looks to be in very good health and is ringed, but I must admit I am shocked at how fearful and flighty she is compared to my original bird! maybe that’s because mine was hand reared, I don’t know.

My new bird is only in a small cage at the moment with two plastic perches which came with the cage, it’s this bird who is sleeping on the bars at night.

I am going to need lots of advice on introducing them in the future and so on, so I’m really looking forward to becoming part of this community

I will update my profile but for the time being I’m located in the UK 

[DamonIRB]

ChrisieMae - kudos on saving that chicks life. We had an encounter in our backyard with a Downy Woodpecker that was about 2 weeks old, but the parents quickly started taking care of it when we placed it back in the nest. I'm glad they took care of it, but we were a bit disappointed that we didn't get to baby it for a few days.

Just a few thoughts to share...

First, keep in mind that wild birds may be carriers of any number of viruses/bacteria that don't affect them at all, but may be deadly to a captive bred bird. It's the same as you or I going somewhere new and being exposed to things we've never encountered; over several generations the wild bird may have developed immunities to things the captive bird has never been exposed to and would not be able to fight off. That doesn't mean they cannot be housed together, just that you need to keep a very close watch for any signs of distress/discomfort with the new/captive bird after introduction.

Second, the cage you have is probably sufficient for these 2, but European Goldfinches are on the large side when it comes to finches, in general, so I wouldn't add any additional birds. I would suggest starting the introduction by placing the cages next to each other with about 4-6 inches between them. Let them peek at and talk to each other, but no contact at first. EG's can be a little aggressive. They typically aren't aggressive with their own kind, but since you have a wild bird... you never know. Slowly bring the cages together over a few days, until they are touching. Most likely, they will start checking each other out, but will still have somewhat of a barrier that will prevent any outright fighting and a way to escape without being chased.

Lastly... EG's can be difficult to sex. Are you sure they are both females? The coloring between the sexes is very similar and both sexes sing. I certainly don't want to question your identification capabilities; just curious how you came to the conclusion they are females. ;)

D

[ChrisieMae]

DamonIRB, thanks for taking time out to write me that post, I didn’t think about the wild bird having viruses etc, oh dear, I’d hate to put the new bird at risk, is there anything I can do/give to my wild bird, any treatments I should give before I try any introductions etc?

As for the sexing I went purely off the red markings around the face for my wild bird and I took it on good faith from the breeder that the new bird is female, again she has the mask not extending the eye as does my original.

I don’t intend on getting anymore birds I just wanted to get my lone bird a companion, really hoping I've not made one big mistake!

Chrisie

[DamonIRB]

Opinions vary, but I'm not a fan of preemptive treatments. Routine maintenance for species that are prone to a specific ailment or to prevent a recurrence is fine (such as a very mild solution of ivermectin every 6 months for Lady Gouldians to keep air sac mites at bay), but giving a treatment when there are no visible issues... I wouldn't go there. I keep Baytril on-hand, but rarely use it. It's a rather broad antibiotic and should only be used if there is a visible issue or if a problem has been diagnosed by an avian vet. I buy a new bottle every year, but haven't used any in at least 5 years. The ivermectin is for parasites, internal and external. It is very powerful though. If you do give the wild bird a round of it, make it at 1/2 recommended solution.

And it was just a note of precaution; I didn't mean to freak you out. If both birds look and act healthy, everything will most likely be fine. Continue being the good Mom you are and they'll do great.

D

[ChrisieMae]

Hi everyone, just thought I'd give you an update on my finches.
I slowly introduced my wild bird with my captive bred bird and they have now been together for one week, all seems to be going well, no aggression that I've noticed and both birds look nice and healthy! I'm glad I took the plunge and got my hand reared finch a friend.
I've absolutely fallen in love with the pair of them even though the captive bred seems to hate me! Lol
I'll get some pics uploaded sometime soon.
Christine x

[Zebrafincher]

Even tho they looked SOOO cute in their nesting boxes, I had to remove the nests from my Zebbie Boys because they became so aggressive to eachother! This settled down once I removed the nests

Kind Regards

Zebrafincher