First time society finch owner dilemma!

[Trinosaur]

Here's a bit of a story for you! I work at a pet supply store (we don't sell animals there) and somebody brought in a small bird that was lethargic and in mild shock. After some research and food offerings, we figured out it was a society finch 100%. So this was someone's escaped bird that had been outside for an unknown amount of time. It feels like a miracle anyone found the poor thing! I've looked around to see if anyone is missing a bird, but couldn't find anything, so I took the little guy home and became a finch owner. I'm a very dedicated person when it comes to my animals so I've done some pretty rigorous research. I even took the bird to the vet to make sure they were in good health. Thankfully they were just fine!

Knowing single finches are sad finches, I got them a friend. Turns out the new friend is a male, and the one I rescued is female; I observed their behavior and found that the female did not sing but the male is quite vocal. They are getting along swimmingly!

Here's my dilemma: I do not want babies. I know these birds breed easily and prolifically. I've done some reading around and I'm on the fence on what to do about it. Some have said not to give them a nest because it encourages breeding while others have said that they will try to breed anyway, so you should simply replace the eggs with fake ones. But then I run the risk of an eggbound mother or an over-producing mother. And if I get rid of the nest/materials would that make my finches unhappy?

I'm just not sure what to do. I care very deeply about their well-being and I just want to do right by them. Any advice on how to solve this problem would be enormously helpful!

[Sheather]

Mine breed, but do not lay eggs if they don't have a nest. Though they do greatly enjoy one and it provides them enrichment, they can make do without. I would not put one in.

[Icearstorm]

Trinosaur

Don't provide them any material and install a small platform with no rim and they can still sleep cuddled up, but shouldn't lay eggs. No nest or roosting area should do just as well; they will adapt to sleeping on a perch.
Note that they will probably try nesting in a regular food dish, so switching to feeding seed in a hopper feeder and greens on the ground or tied to the sides of the cage should not give them a place to nest; make sure they know how to eat from the hopper feeder. Limiting eggfood to 1-3 times a week when they aren't moulting should also encourage them to stay in non-breeding mode. Still provide ground oyster shell or cuttlebone, as they use these as supplements to their base diet.

[Trinosaur]

Thank you guys. This is super helpful information.

[lovezebs]

Trinosaur

Agree with Dylan.
Without a nest, you might find an occasional egg here and there, but no big deal.

Once you put in that nest, it seems like there's no turning back.

Instead of a nest, offer them a foraging box, which is the equivelant of a bird toy box. It can contain things like rocks, hay, alfalfa, tree bark, twigs, some bird grit, some seeds, some bits of spray millet, seed heads from safe plants, live mealworms, freeze dried mealworms, herb salad, bits of dry egg food, all sorts of wonderful things for them to keep busy with.

Also offer daily baths, they love LOVE them