Got my buttons today

[ldupuis44]

Here are my new buttons. There are two in one flight and one in the other. Do you guys think that is ok or should I put the one that is alone in the other cage with the other two? It seems to be ok for now, but I've only had them a couple of hours. The dark one is a for sure male. The two whites I don't know. I'll have to listen for calling and eggs since the females do the calling in the chinese painted quails.

(For sure male, Bucky and unknown Jazzy)

- Unknown sex in its own cage, Snowball

I'm so excited to have them and they are so cute.

On another note, I put my male java with Speck (the girl I am pairing him with), and they have done nothing but groom each other and chase each delightfully around the cage! It's so cute.

[G8love4finches]

You will know what sex they are as they grow....I had what turned out to be 1 female and 3 males.....As soon as the males were old enough, they started to fight over the female, and chased her ragged....I then separated the boys and left one pair in my flight cage....I am now looking for mates for the 2 boys.....They went through a stage of calling and "moaning" as a sort of mating call...They even we calling through the night.....Thank goodness my husband wears ear plugs for my snoring!!....Lol

[ldupuis44]

I would like to have two pairs eventually, of course, that depends on what the sexes of my little buttons are.

I was told that the dark one was a male...of course the breeder could have been wrong there too

I'm sure I will know soon. They are just so cute!

[Nipper06]

I think Buttons do best with 1 male per enclosure. But 1 male can have several females. So if you 3 Buttons are 1 male and 2 females (or 3 females), they can probably all live together.

[Ursula]

I'll have to listen for calling and eggs since the females do the calling in the chinese painted quails

Where did you get that information from?? I have 3 boys and they all call!

You can tell the males by the white bib under the chin. Even in my silver I can see it. I have no experience with whites though.

And I agree: don't put 2 males with 1 female, they will fight for sure!!! And chase the female to exhaustion.

[ldupuis44]

That's what I was told by the breeder is that the females do the calling. They all make noise, but the females will do the calling.

When do they get the bib? Since I have 1 that is a male for sure (supposedly), should he have a bib already? He will be 6 weeks on Tuesday.

Is there any other way to know?

[Ursula]

That's what I was told by the breeder is that the females do the calling. They all make noise, but the females will do the calling.

When do they get the bib? Since I have 1 that is a male for sure (supposedly), should he have a bib already? He will be 6 weeks on Tuesday.

Is there any other way to know?

I wonder why the breeder would say that. It's simply not true. And I've never read that anywhere else...

Maybe this will help you sexing the white ones. But 6 weeks is pretty young. Can't remember when mine got the bibs. http://www.zebrafinch.com/newbuttonquai ... quail.html

[ldupuis44]

Thank you for all the advice
I got back in touch with the breeder and she told me that they both call, but the calls are different. I tried to explain to her that I am new to button quails and so to me they will probably sound the same

The dark one, is definitely a male, he is getting red on his rump and wing feathers. But according to the breeder, he will probably not get a bib since his father did not have one. But he is a week older than the two white ones and he is a week older (he is 7 weeks)

[L in Ontario]

Strange, I thought all male CPB's got the white bibs. My male chicks did around the 6-8 week time. So cute! And I thought only the males called. Guess I don't know as much as I thought I did.

[tinysparrow]

your buttons are so cute i have 2 females and one male. i find that the females actually call louder than the male. sometimes i can hear them when i'm in my basement (and they live 2 floors up!).

buttons are really fun as they like to interact with people one thing that is great to do with is to stand by the side of the cage with a mealworm in your hand and wait patiently. after a while their curiosity (and hunger!) will get the best of them and they will eat right out of your hand. for my little guys, they now let me pet them and even scratch their heads! they are so funny. especially if you can give them a bit of play sand or chinchilla dust in a bowl as they will have a sand bath. they always look like they are trying to tunnel into the sand.

one important thing: my females lay one egg a day, so give them egg food as much as you can.

congratulations good luck with them! they are so fun!

[ldupuis44]

I love my buttons so much. They are so sweet and cute! I have one of my white ones that I am almost certain is a female, she's dense and heavy and really round compared to the for sure male...and even the other white one, so I think I might have 2 males and a female.

[tt101]

aww they look adorable. i was really close to buying a pair but im scared of all the calling and that it could get ugly with my gouldians. congrats

[ldupuis44]

aww they look adorable. i was really close to buying a pair but im scared of all the calling and that it could get ugly with my gouldians. congrats

Obviously, they are still young, but none of mine call very much. They are so cute and amazing. They eat the seed that my Javas scatter (my Javas scatter a lot of seed) and they eat meal worms out of my hands. Bucky, the boy, is coloring up so beautifully. He's getting a deep blue chest and so much colorful red.