My new inhabitants

blakbyrd · Post by **blakbyrd** » Sat Nov 03, 2007 8:49 pm

Along with my recent post of my recently finished aviary and another one about a potential foot problem on my European Goldfinch (in the health section), here are my new inhabitants currently.

Anyone able to sex any of these from the photos would be greatly appreciated or if you happen to notice anything out of the ordinary that I should look into, please let me know.

I could only find one of these in my area, and I am hoping to soon find him another, but he seems quite content so far and took to the aviary quite well and quickly (this is the one I posted in the health section about his possible foot problem)

The petstore had 3 of these beauties, and I could not buy only 2 and leave the other all alone, so I bought all 3. Their nails were horribly overgrown, but I quickly corrected that once I get them home. They all seem quite content so far and quickly claimed the fake palm they can be seen in. 2 of them stay at each other's side constantly, and the third tends to hang around with them about 50% of the time.

Another pic of the Spice

The pet store had 5 of these, and like the Spice Finches, I just can't get myself to break up the bunch, so I bought all 5. There's no telling which might be attached to which and I didnt want to break them up. All five are very active and of the 9 I bought, all 5 of the societies were the only ones with nails in great shape. They all seem pretty active and all stay together, so I am glad to have been able to keep them together and give them a much nicer place to live.

Another pic of one of the societies.

All together I currently have 9 finches (not all pictured), and they are all appearing to get along very well and will stay in their own little groups or occasionally perch together for awhile. None are showing any signs of aggression towards any of the others, which I am glad about.

Again, thanks for looking, and please feel free to offer any advice about anything if you see anything out of the ordinary. In regards to the Goldfinch's feet, please see my post in the Health section for more details if you happen to be able to know what I may be able to do for him (although he seems to show no signs of them bothering him).

blakbyrd · Post by **blakbyrd** » Sat Nov 03, 2007 10:25 pm

I have put up several other pictures on a quick site for anyone interested in viewing them. The purpose of the site is really about the aviary I built though.

Here's the link:

Aviary Link

blakbyrd · Post by **blakbyrd** » Sun Nov 04, 2007 6:22 pm

Well, sadly one of the society finches I got yesterday died. So I now have just the 4 of them. He was a little odd when I got him home last night, choosing to run around on the floor about half the time, while the other societies stayed on the perches and trees. The other half of the time he would stay with the group. After coming back from a trip an hour away, where I finally found 2 other European Goldfinches for sale, I found the poor guy dead on the floor.

PetSmart had no problem honoring their return policy and they didnt even really ask any questions. They took him back, no problem and gave me my money back. I was offered an exchange, but seeing as how I bought out most their stock yesterday, they didnt have anything to exchange with.

I at least have some companions for the European now though. They all grouped up as soon as I released them, and are showing no signs of trouble. The only trouble I did find, was at PetSmart where they had them in the same cage with what appeared to be a rather aggressive orange weaver, who apparently had messed up the tail feathers of one of the Europeans and had picked out quite a few head feathers of the second one. They seemed to stay together, always watching the weaver, so hopefully now that they are out of that environment they will be a little more relaxed and comfortable.

So far all the others appear to be doing well. I've watched all eat well, and they are finally taking to the pond and playing in it now as well, which I am glad.

kittani79 · Post by **kittani79** » Tue Nov 06, 2007 6:28 pm

Man, you were lucky.

When one of my customers brings back a dead bird they get the third degree -- I want to be SURE they aren't going to kill the replacement! No problem if they did everything right, but I always make sure to ask questions, because people do the darndest things sometimes!

blakbyrd · Post by **blakbyrd** » Tue Nov 06, 2007 7:46 pm

I was kind of expecting them to question me a bit or at least inquire a little bit about the specifics. They didnt really ask me anything, other than if I wanted a replacement or my money back. Since I bought most of them to start with they had no replacements I was interested in.

I did bring pictures of the aviary to show them, in case they asked, but that never came to pass.

The lady was a bit busy at the time though, and I had to stand around waiting for awhile before she could get to me, so maybe she just didnt have time.

EmilyHurd · Post by **EmilyHurd** » Wed Nov 07, 2007 6:18 am

I have found that petsmart is usually short staffed... really actually depending on the location. The one here in Castle Rock, CO is usually pretty good... but they get a lot of people in that want fish, so that is usually where you find all the employees.

I'm sorry your little society died!

That is definitely frustrating. I bet you all your societies are related though, and maybe he was the runt. The runts, in my experience, are most likely to be the ones to die if one happens to die. I once had a clutch of societies (all the babies, not the parents) die b/c of suffocation. The all crammed into one of those bamboo nests and suffocated each other.

I was also in a car wreck May 29th of this year, and when I was in the hospital for a little over 2 weeks, there was no one really to tend to my finches, so I had a couple die then too. No I have water bottles and seed hoppers/feeders which last for days without having to refill. That way I can go on short trips w/o anyone having to check up on my birds. My finches lights are also now on a timer, so that is very very convenient. The timer works great and was only eight bucks at Wal Mart. Yes, I shop at Wal Mart, even though I HATE them. You can't beat their prices sometimes.

Anyway... back to your thread and what I was originally going to say. Just be careful with all your birds since they are all probably related. Plus spices will try to hybridize with societies. Spices have a very interesting song actually, and they are some of my only finches that bite! Kinda hard!

I was also going to say that sometimes, when finches are in petstores, their tails get messed up b/c they are constantly flying around trying to ditch hands, b/c I'm sure there are hands in their cage more than twice a day.

I love the feeling of being able to provide a nice home for my birds

They all have lots of flying room and I try to give them the best diet possible

I actually spend a lot of money on my finches!!! They are 2nd to my daughter..

PS: Sorry for the very long post

blakbyrd · Post by **blakbyrd** » Wed Nov 07, 2007 8:42 am

I dont mind long posts, I write them myself

I have spent a good bit on my finches so far as well (mare than I anticipated, asctually, but I have no complaints on doing so) They are in my care and it's my responsibility, as no one else is here to do it. Although any pet can be an expense, to me its worth it (although I know plenty of people who think I am nuts for doing so

)

As you mentioned, most the time I have to wait for help in PetSmart it is because of people buying fish. I went through my aquarium stage pretty quickly when I was little, and they just dont interest me much anymore. Even back then I wanted birds, but couldnt have them, so I guess it was just a way to try to squelch my desire to have them, but it didnt work.

As for the one society that died, you may very well be right that he was the runt. Although he would stay with the group on occassion, he would also quite often go off on his own. They seemed to show no aggression towards him, but I couldnt help but feel that he was being ignored or shunned in some way, but then he would take off and go join the others again. The other 4 are doing quite well though and are very active. I can understand the potential for smoothering though, as the remaining four like to huddle up together at night on the window sill, all in a row bunched up together. Sometimes they will keep hopping around trying to be the ones in the middle. At first I was wondering if this was due to them being cold, but they huddle up with their tails against the window sill, and it can be a little chilly at night, so I wonder if its because they are too warm, but I keep the aviary at a constant 70-74 degrees, which from my reading seems to be a good temperature (is this right?)

As for the spices, all 3 tend to stay together and to themselves most the time. Although at times they will will come out and perch on the same perches with the goldfinches, but I have yet to witness them being all thet friendly with the societies (and vice versa). They just kind of ignore one another, but they do not bother each other at all. Actually the societies rarely ever use any of the perches, instead prefering to cling to the mire mesh by the perch or using the window sills instead. I have been watching 1 of the spices trying to get close to one of the other spices, which is kinda of fun to watch. One will fly to the perch with another and then make little hops towards the other one until they are touching one another, and act as if he/she is offering part sto be preened by the other. The other one will eventually hop over to another perch or fly over to their favorite palm tree which they spend most the time in anyways.

One other thing I noticed which seems kind of odd, but maybe it isnt. Two of the societies will kind of perch on the wire mesh. They will face upwards towards the ceiling and then fan out their tail and stick it through the mesh (which kind of messes up their feathers a bit) and seemingly use their tail as a seat to rest against. Is this normal? Although they do this on occasion they will eventually do back and straighten out their feathers again, so none of them remain ragged looking for long, but as best I can tell they are using their tails as a seat...hehe.

I am a bit limited on food for them at the moment, as apparently finches in my town are not popular (as I have been told) which is why the selection is pretty small here. As such I can only get the typical seed mixes and such, but I do have some special blends on order to try as well as some mealworms and waworm to try (live and dried).

Any other suggestions as to what kinds of foods or treats to try and give them that they would like?

Post by **Sally** » Wed Nov 07, 2007 11:43 am

I read on another forum that the European goldfinch has a need for a high-fat diet, so those members were feeding niger (thistle), oat groats, and sunflower hearts/chips, offered in separate dishes from the finch mix. According to finchinfo, they are also insectivorous birds, so they will probably appreciate the mealworms. Societies and Spices don't need the insect diets, so if your European Goldfinch doesn't go for them, save yourself the expense. At least niger and sunflower chips should be available at any store that sells wild bird seed, but watch the niger, it is often rancid. I get mine from places like Wild Bird Center, stores that specialize in wild bird feeding, and then I keep it in the freezer and just take out small amounts at a time. I have just started offering all my breeding birds small amounts of niger as a treat.

Post by **Hilary** » Fri Jan 04, 2008 9:26 pm

I'm late reading this thread, but congrats on the birds! Hope the rest are all doing well by now. I have to say, that single spice sure looks like a self society. Does it have the same scallops as the other two? Maybe it's just a weird pic! For the goldfinches, a friend of mine sometimes gets me to order hemp seed for hers.

FeatherHarp · Post by **FeatherHarp** » Sat Jan 05, 2008 10:12 am

I love your Aviary....it is wonderful....very nicely planned out and decorated!

I was at PetSmart yesterday and they still have the sign up on their bird display saying they can't sell birds yet because that disease they might have is still being investigated.

They have a lot of birds in a small area...especially the budgies and finches.....waaay to many crowded together especially since they have been there long before Christmas....I feel so sorry for them. I just want to take them all home!

blakbyrd · Post by **blakbyrd** » Mon Mar 17, 2008 1:02 pm

Thanks all

The European I have with the foot problem has gotten better but its still noticable, although it has never seemed to bother the bird at all. The other that had no head feathers has since grown them all back in very vibrant colors for a European.

As for the Spice in the picture, I keep catching myself thinking it is an oddly marked Society as well, but when viewing it normally, it is definately a spice and looks just like the other two. I guess I just caught it at the wrong time.

The societies have been quite happy and have since added 7 more societies to the aviary, which are all doing very well and came out very pretty, although not marked the same as the others...almost fawn llike without any noticable white spots as most the other have. I have since removed all nests and nesting material though.

Fancie Flight · Post by **Fancie Flight** » Mon Mar 17, 2008 11:12 pm

Spice finches are notorious for lONG nails, they have to be trimmed constantly, and Becareful, the spice finches and the societies will cross breed,

I to LOVE your set up,

blakbyrd · Post by **blakbyrd** » Tue Mar 18, 2008 11:36 am

I have noticed that I have to trim my Spice's nails very often, but it is nothing diffult to maintain.

As for the Spices and Societies cross breeding, I am pretty certain it hasnt occurred. The 3 Spices stay together, and dont really socialize much with the Societies. They are equally tolerant of one another and dont bother each other but they seem to prefer to stay together in their own group. Granted they dont seem to care if some of the others land right next to them.

I will get some pictures of the new ones soon so people can see how they look.