Orange breast waxbill housing

[metinemre]

Hi everyone, i have a question. Our baby gs finch is in the same cage with an ob waxbill pair. Waxbills started laying eggs which we can`t house any more birds so we don`t want them to breed and discarding eggs. They have been sleeping in a little nest since day one. o stop breeding cycle should i take the nest out? Can ob waxbills sleep on a perch without a nest? Or should i keep the nest and just discard the eggs and replace the eggs with fake ones?

[Sally]

OB Waxbills can be pretty determined little things, hard to stop them from laying eggs sometimes. It is your choice, either method can work. Mine that are not set up for breeding sleep on perches. A nest will almost always trigger breeding.

[metinemre]

She laid two eggs in two days and i took the nest out. Should i keep the nest inside until she is done laying eggs? Or doesn`t matter and she stops laying since nest is gone?

[monotwine]

To avoid any egg binding issues let her finish laying the clutch and then remove all of the eggs and nest. The eggs won't develop until she starts incubating.
Also I'm not sure what you offer them diet wise, but to discourage breeding feed less protein, e.g. no egg food or live food. You can give them some as a treat now and then/ once a week, but not daily.

[metinemre]

Thanks for the replies, she stopped after 4 eggs and i removed the nest but then i noticed all birds were sleeping except the waxbill couple. i checked once an hour until 1am and they were awake all night, I really felt bad and put the little nest back. Seemms like they didn`t want to sleep without the nest. Do you think they would adapt?

Also my other question is; do they lay several clutches like finches?

[Sally]

Yep, waxbills are finches, so they have the same basic breeding behaviors. My waxbills do not sleep in nests, they only use nests for breeding/egglaying/raising babies. Once the babies fledge, they don't return to the nest either, except for maybe the first couple of days after fledge.

[metinemre]

Nest is out and they are still mating! Does she have egg binding risk due to continuous mating and no nest?

[metinemre]

I will try this product, maybe they can be safe if they try to sleep inside this http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000OB ... UTF8&psc=1

[dfcauley]

Ha-Ha... I have to laugh because I have the same issue with my birds that love to nest sleep. I do not have the heart to take it away from them. They seems so lost without their nest at night. I do not think they will sleep in that little cozy..... It is strange because my goldbreast do not sleep in a nest ever.....I didn't know they were nest sleepers. In my aviary the only ones who sleep in nest are owls, shaftails and society finches.

[metinemre]

That product didn`t work, tried it in both cages. After a week i sent it back thanks to amazon.
Waxbills adapted to sleep without the nest. Covered their part of the cage with some plants and they feel more comfortable now.

[finchmix22]

That should be fine and they'll feel safer with the greenery.