Leaving finches behind?

steph · Post by **steph** » Fri Nov 14, 2008 3:36 pm

How long can finches be left alone if you had to go out of town? I.e. could you leave them for a weekend if you left extra food in their cage and had a water system of some kind? Just curious...

franny · Post by **franny** » Fri Nov 14, 2008 3:50 pm

When I had my society finches many years ago I lived on Vancouver Island, and my parents lived on the mainland. I left the birds on their own every long weekend.

I'd feed them just before leaving on Friday night, and wouldn't get back until Monday afternoon. I used fountain type seed feeders, not dishes. (I'd worry that they would cover the seed up with husks and think it was empty, not knowing to dig down deeper.) Always have 2 feeders, so it was plenty to last for 3 days.

For water I use fountain feeders normally, but worried about them possibly dripping and emptying out. So when I was going to be away overnight I had a hopper type waterer (an overturned glass jar with catch tray). This had more than enough water, and never leaked. Stayed cleaner than a dish, too, which they will just bath in and poop in.

I put 2 or 3 layers of paper on the bottom of the cage, too. That way if any water got splashed it didn't tear. Helped with the cleanup when I got home.

Anything longer than 2 full days, I always had someone come in and give them fresh water in their regular fountain waterer and fill the seed feeders if necessary. Again I put extra layers of paper in, so all they would have to do is pull the tray out and remove the top layer of paper. This way no one had to put their hands in the cage, and I didn't worry about someone inexperienced letting them out by accident. They did without treat cups, that's all, until I was home.

I had a cat, too, so I had to have extra food dishes and litter boxes for the 2 days. But for anything beyond that..well... I HAD to have someone come in and scoop, so it worked out OK for the birds that way, too.

Forgot to mention, I had a light on a timer on the cage, too!

Post by **Sally** » Fri Nov 14, 2008 3:51 pm

I have tube-style waterers which hold 2-3 days worth of water, depending on how many birds in the cage (can always hang more than one waterer, too). I also use seed hoppers, which last 4-6 days, again depending on how many birds are using it. For just a weekend, you should be fine if you have this type of setup. Even just using seed cups, a weekend should be no problem--again, you could set up more than one seed cup.

Christopher Smith · Post by **Christopher Smith** » Fri Nov 14, 2008 6:17 pm

I have left mine for about 10 days. I use a triple redundancy system with three food water receptacles and every thing worked out fine.

dfcauley · Post by **dfcauley** » Fri Nov 14, 2008 6:56 pm

I have a pair of shaftails that I keep in my classroom at school. I leave them there every weekend. I clean their cage really well before leaving on Friday and give them two bowls of seeds along with lots of water. They have one of those covered hanging bird baths and I fill it really well.

I must admit that when I get there on Monday morning their water is in need of changing.

But it beats bringing them home every weekend.

But I would probably not go off for the weekend without someone seeing about my birds at home. I would worry to death!

gomer · Post by **gomer** » Sat Nov 15, 2008 7:49 am

with the right set up you can leave them for weeks.I always have enough food for at least 4 weeks available if away for a fortnight.and have self waters on mains.I like them checked at least weekly though.during this period they only have a seed diet.So if you have parents rearing chicks some will wait for live food before feeding which could be a problem.