FINCHforum

Raised Zebras when I was younger and I've had several other species through the years usually as 'rescues' or fosters. I recently purchased my first pair of goulds about 2 months ago or so. I'm enjoying them immensely. Green backed, white breasted, black headed, potentially blue carriers.

The best place in my apartment for them is across the room from my sliding glass door so I Thought it would be good lighting for them. Unfortunately, Michigan weather doesn't always comply and on cloudy days the room they're in can be quite dark, so I purchased a small T5 strip light for the top of their cage and put it on a timer. Also in my apartment is a large setup of succulent plants which also have their own T5's on a timer which stays on a bit longer than the bird light - so when the birds' light goes off above their cage, they can still see to roost and know it's bedtime, without going from light to dark. Works excellently to help them adjust.

However, I do have some questions.

- How on earth do I get them to eat egg food? I have Quicko regular egg food and have tried just about everything. I've served it dry and wet in several types of dishes or plates. I've mixed with their food. I've sieved out the fine particles thinking the big chunks were too big and served it various ways. I've mixed seed with it both dry and wet to encourage intake. I've mixed it with veggies. I've taken away their seed for a few hours and only put out egg food with seed mixed in... I've also tried mounting an egg biscuit in their cage, they don't really care about it. I've tried cooking eggs and mashing the whole thing fine. Nothin'. ;) When I FIRST got them, I put in finely chopped veggies and greens and they loved them - but they haven't really been interested since. While I know it's not really necessary unless breeding, I would like them to like it and eat it when necessary so thought I'd offer it as a regular treat so it's not new during breeding.

- How many hours should I have their light on in their cage? I'd like the number of day hours to be supportive of breeding if possible. I'm not rushing that, but that is the plan eventually.

Thanks all!

Caprice Acres

Shave cuttle bone onto the top of the minced boiled egg. My kids can't resist the shaved cuttle bone powder. That got my entire birdroom eatinging boiled egg. They cant eat the powder without taking bites of egg.

Whoda thought that cuttlebone powder would be the seasoning of choice?! ;) I'll give it a try for sure. They don't care about the cuttlebone in their cage, nor have I seen them mess with their grit w/ cuttlebone pieces in it, but have not tried the powdered yet. Always wondered if their beaks could even put a dent in a cuttlebone.

Caprice Acres

Oh, you can spot a finch thats about to lay an egg. Watch for the one that ignored the cuttlebone, suddenly gnawing on it like a pitbull. ;)

Caprice Acres You've gotten 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. Gouldians often tend to be picky eaters, but I'd keep trying them, especially with fresh veggies, as those are good for them year round.

Thanks! Yes, I've been on that info site and it's mostly useful. The lighting section is under construction... Beyond that I should offer egg food, not a lot of tips on getting them to EAT it. It does nobody any good just sitting in the cage, unfortunately.

I am just going to keep trying the fresh foods, though none seem to be a huge hit yet. They do like the dried bird greens. I mixed in some kale/mustard/collard greens that I dehydrated myself. They tend to pick around to get to the chunks of commercially produced bird greens... Which seems to be mostly alfalfa and parsley etc.

Fresh stuff is hit and miss. Since the first time they LOVED it, they haven't really cared since. I've also tried some suggested all natural fruit baby foods, offered frozen/thawed fruits. I've got ice cubes of mashed egg, veggies etc all made up in the freezer for easy feeding. Now if only they'd eat it... ;)

I know with my first pairs of gouldians they wouldn't touch the egg food that i put in for them. So i put a pair of my societies in with them to show them that the egg food was good and after about a week all of the gouldians were eating the egg food and still love it to this day.
You could also try introducing some zebra finches with the same results as the societies.
I know that gouldians are usually not the first to try something new but if they see other birds eating it then they will usually try it out.

Caprice Acres sometimes those little birdies of our just don't want to cooperate at all.I have 3 pairs,and 4 youngsters that eat there veges and eggs when they want,I always keepcuttlebone ,minerel block, seed,millett,pellets,dry egg food in dishes and offer fresh veggies and sometimes fruit everyday sometimes they eat it and sometimes they don't but they do know it's there,What I do notice is when they are in breeding mode they chow everything down and like babs says they can knaw at the cuttlebone with no problem .They must know what they need so I like to put in there in case they need it,Offer small amounts every day at the same time then it's not too much waste if you have to throw it out.would love to see pictures everyone here loves pictures

Gouldians aren't motivated to breed by light as much as they are temperature and food. If you keep the time of daylight the same as your natural daylight timing you will be fine.
There are a couple links to very helpful lighting information below my signature.
Welcome to the wonderful world of gouldians

Caprice Acres

Hi Dona, and welcome to the Forum, from Canada.

Gouldians, are wonderful little birds, sweet, gentle, and beautiful to look at.

Regarding the food issues...

Birds that were not introduced to different foods as youngsters, tend to be suspicious of anything new (similar to many humans lol).

I have an eggfood recipw, which all of my birds enjoy (including Gouldians)

Here's the link for it...

http://www.finchforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=31995

I would try very small amounts, (half an egg) on a flat plate at the bottom of your cage. Don't be shy with the crumbled spray millet (and don't offer spray millet in any other way for a while).

Regarding the greens and veggies...

Clip a couple of fresh wet spinach leaves close to their favorite perch, and see how it goes.

Good luck.

Thanks guys! Did the greens again today with no more than passing interest. ;)

As for the daylight timing, it's not currently the same as daylight hours I don't think. Not sure I'm up to watching the timer to sync up with daylight hours, either... Hmmm. Plus there's also the lights from my plants that will influence them to some degree anyways, most likely. Oh, the complications. ;)

Here is the finicky couple.

Nice looking pair. Some Goulds will turn their beaks up at egg food until they have babies in the nest, then they eat it like it was going out of style. Keep offering it.

Caprice Acres

Hi Dona,

They are beautiful!
Did you name them yet?

I would keep offering small samples of different foods. Eventually someone will try something. Even if they have just a tiny nibble, that's a start, and it's better than nothing, right?

Regarding the lights, they can be put on automatic timers

Oh yes, it's on a timer already. It just may not correlate too well with actual daylight hours. It's currently on from 7 am to 7 pm. However, my plant lights across the room (they're real bright) are on from 7 to 8:30. Seems to work well as a signal to the birds to settle in for the night, as I know turning off lights suddenly for birds often means they're not roosting and bonk around the cage in panic because they can't see.

No they don't have names yet.

Anybody have a good link to banding protocols/how to? I understand that different clubs/associations provide closed bands to individually identify, plus there are the plastic split rings which help with management. Suggestions for associations would be helpful. As someone with lots of other species management experience (rabbits, dairy goats, livestock of all sorts) I'd love to hear how breeders keep track of individuals, lines, etc. I'm probably a few years out from having significant numbers but I'm a planner.