Post
by Ursula » Mon Aug 02, 2010 4:15 pm
solo_birdlover wrote: I don't know why but I've had bad luck breeding any of the birds I had/have. A couple of years ago I had a pair of Budgies but they never bred. Then I had Cut-throats and they never bred either. Then a pair of Strawberries. The female did lay lots of eggs but not even one fertile one. I have a pair of Green Singers now but the female is so aggressive with the male I had to separate them. And my CBs...well...
I dont think I'm going to try bee pollen or anything though.
I agree with the others, you're picking difficult species to breed.
I had my budgies in a large cage in the living room for about 6 years without any breeding attempts. As soon as I transferred them into my new walk-in aviary (a former sunroom, 11 by 11 feet) with some finches, they started breeding attempts immediately and tried to use all sorts of places as nest boxes. (I let them breed twice now by providing a nest log.) With the budgies I very soon had cordon bleus who successfully bred also, as well as other waxbills and button quail...
I'm pretty sure that the setup in the living room is not an ideal breeding environment for waxbills. They are very secretive and need to be able to hide the nest completely. Mine built a nest in a hanging planter with fake ivy that was so high up that I couldn't possibly peek in. To the day the babies hatched I hadn't even seen them.
If you really want to have finches breed you should get another species, such as zebras. Otherwise, just enjoy your birds and be sure that they will be happy without breeding as long as you provide a healthy and nice environment.

Walk-in aviary with Waxbills (6 Cordon Bleu, 3 Orange Cheek, 3 Black-rumped, 1 Lavender, ), 1 European Goldfinch, 4 Gouldians, 2 Spice Finches, 6 Owl Finches, 4 Budgies and 2 male Button Quail.
I also have 2 parrotlets, 3 dogs, 1 snake and 3 freshwater fishtanks.