Peeping coming from my Gold Breasted Waxbills' nest!

franny · Post by **franny** » Sun Sep 21, 2008 4:43 pm

Well I'm really excited, because this time I know the eggs were good because I hear a baby in there1 I got my pair at the end of July and the first eggs were dead in the shell or infertile. I tossed them all and put a new nest in on Sept. 1st, and have not peeked since.

Today I here a very faint peeping from the nest, which I know is neither of the parents, as the female is out right now, and I can see the male peeking out at me from the nest, and it's not him either!

I was wondering.... this may be a stupid question, but here goes. I am too afraid to try to band my birds, and I know that when the babies grow it won't be long before I will not be able to tell babies from parents. Especially since I don't want to risk separating them too soon. Is there any way that you could use some sort of food coloring or some safe dye to put some color on the parent's heads or something? Then it would just eventually be lost when they molt out? Any other suggestions? I don't have any bands, and even if I did, I've never put one on and would be too afraid of seriously hurting them trying to band them.

atarasi · Post by **atarasi** » Sun Sep 21, 2008 5:16 pm

You could always separate the parents from the juveniles. The parents will probably start a second clutch, so you might need to do that anyway.

franny · Post by **franny** » Sun Sep 21, 2008 5:26 pm

atarasi wrote:You could always separate the parents from the juveniles. The parents will probably start a second clutch, so you might need to do that anyway.

Yes, I assumed I'd have to pull the parents out and put them in my smaller hospital cage until the juveniles leave for new homes. But I can't do that until I'm sure that all are eating on their own. And I'm afraid that by that time I may not be able to tell them from the parents.

atarasi · Post by **atarasi** » Sun Sep 21, 2008 5:56 pm

Generally, fledglings aren't going to go thru their adult molt until well after they are eating on their own. Why would you pull the parents and not the fledglings?

Post by **Sally** » Sun Sep 21, 2008 8:42 pm

Goldbreasts are hard to keep banded. They are easy to put on, but they are so tiny, with such tiny legs and feet, that the bands come off very easily. You will be able to tell the babies from the parents for quite a while, at least till it is time to wean them from their parents, don't worry about it.

franny · Post by **franny** » Sun Sep 21, 2008 9:49 pm

Sally wrote:You will be able to tell the babies from the parents for quite a while, at least till it is time to wean them from their parents, don't worry about it.

Thanks Sally and Atarasi, good to know that I will still be able to tell them apart. With Societies it wasn't usually an issue because they each had distinctly different markings. But I thought all GB look alike, so was afraid I'd give someone my parents instead of the babies by mistake! Good to know that shouldn't be a problem. Now I just hope I haven't jinxed things by talking about it. Hope they can raise healthy babies.

I appreciate having a place like this to go to for answers and reassurance when needed!

Fran

franny · Post by **franny** » Sun Sep 21, 2008 9:54 pm

atarasi wrote:Generally, fledglings aren't going to go thru their adult molt until well after they are eating on their own. Why would you pull the parents and not the fledglings?

Forgot to mention atarasi, that I thought I'd pull the parents out, if there were more than 2 juveniles, just because the juvies would want more room, and also wouldn't want to stress them more than necessary. The adults have already been moved at least twice in their lives and have obviously not been fazed by it, since they were busily making babies about a week after they settled in here.

So the move to the small cage, temporarily, shouldn't bother them. Also, the small cage, has a couple of spots by the doors where the gap is a bit big, for my liking. (The adults weren't able to slip out, and I kept them in that for a few days until the big cage was ready.) The big cage has 3/8" wire, and no chance even GB babies could slip out of that!

mickp · Post by **mickp** » Mon Sep 22, 2008 5:55 am

you should be able to purchase split leg rings that are suitable for waxbills. much easier to put on the bird

Post by **Sally** » Mon Sep 22, 2008 10:23 am

If you get split bands, make sure that they are the smallest size possible. Some of them will say they are for finches and canaries--that is too big. I order mine from NFSS, you don't have to be a member to order plastic bands, and their smallest size works for the waxbills, though the smaller waxbills still seem able to lose bands from time to time.

franny · Post by **franny** » Mon Sep 22, 2008 10:36 am

Sally wrote:If you get split bands, make sure that they are the smallest size possible. Some of them will say they are for finches and canaries--that is too big. I order mine from NFSS, you don't have to be a member to order plastic bands, and their smallest size works for the waxbills, though the smaller waxbills still seem able to lose bands from time to time.

Thanks, I did check out the NFSS site. But since it appears I should be able to tell the weaned juvies from the adults, I'll pass on banding them. Since I only have the one pair, it's not like I have to keep track of different "families". I haven't even tried to clip toenails yet. They seem so delicate compared to the other finches. In fact I found someone on Craigs List who lives in my area, and has a mobile clipping service! So I plan on using her (I know, I'm such a coward.

)

williep · Post by **williep** » Mon Sep 22, 2008 10:39 am

Split bands are the way to go like mickp and sally mentioned. I was also afraid the first time I tried it but with the tool you can purchase with them its very easy.

Be sure to buy the smallest size you can find and if you are worried the bands might lose you can always put one on each leg, they are really inexpensive, so much so that I can even band my Zebs!

The other advantage of split banding in that you can do it much later in the development stage of the bird, you can even band adults, so maybe band the parents and the juvies would be unbanded.

Post by **Sally** » Mon Sep 22, 2008 10:47 am

williep wrote:Be sure to buy the smallest size you can find and if you are worried the bands might lose you can always put one on each leg, they are really inexpensive, so much so that I can even band my Zebs!

Now why didn't I think of that?

What a good idea, williep, to double band the tiny waxbills. Chances of them losing both bands at once are just about nil, so you can put a group of them together and still be sure of being able to sort them out later.