Confession of a bird addict

[vienneparis]

I have to confess that I have a serious addiction: birds. It started innocently enough when I saw some zebra finches at a pet shop. They were so funny & engaging; and they don't take up much room or eat much. So I had to get some. I went home with a pair of normal zebras in a 20"x16" cage.

All was fine until I stopped by the pet shop and saw white zebras! They would provide such pretty contrast to my normal zebras, so I came home with a pair. Then I realized the cage was too small for 4 zebras, so I went out and got a big flight cage. Everyone was happy.

Then I heard that this lady was looking to rehome her 2 javas to make room for gouldians that she were breeding. The javas look so funky that I had to adopt them. So in they went into the flight cage with the zebras. Well, that didn't work out well as the javas were so intimidating and aggressive toward the zebras. So I had to get another flight cage to house the javas.

I was told that the javas were a male/female pair, but as time went by, they turned out to be 2 males. They looked lonely in their bachelor pad, so I went looking for female companions for them. I found a java breeder who was willing to part with 2 females for a pretty cheap price, so they went home with me.

A week later, I went back to the pet shop to "browse" only. This time, I saw some gouldians that were so colorful and elegant, so of course I had to bring home 1. Well, 1 later turned into 4.

In the meantime, my white zebra pair had a clutch of 5 hatchlings, 4 of which survived into fledgings. By this time, my flight cage was getting crowded. My husband jokingly suggested that I get an outdoor aviary to house my growing flocks. He may have been joking but the idea took hold and I became obsessed with aviaries. I researched aviary designs and DIY instructions and nagged my husband until he agreed to build one for me.

It took us a week to build, paint, and furnish the 8'x5'x7' aviary. During that week, I ran all over town shopping for a tree, fake plants, bird feeders, water container, bird bath, nests, etc... I had much more fun than my poor husband who had to do the hard work of building the aviary.

We finally opened up the aviary to my flock of birds. You'd think with all the space that they would settle in harmoniously. Unfortunately, the javas wanted to dominate the entire space and kept chasing the other birds around. I had to remove the javas and place them back into a flight cage. The rest of the birds settled down and seem to enjoy their new home.

A friend of mine was looking for zebra finches to raise so I let her have the 4 juvenile zebras and kept the parents. After that, my aviary looked a bit empty so I went looking for new birds. I came across a canary breeder who had a back injury and was looking to rehome all of his birds. I fell in love with the colorful canaries and their melodious songs. Of course, I came home with canaries, 4 of them. I added the females to the aviary and kept a male in a small cage near a window so I could listen to his songs.

I now have 4 javas, 4 zebras, 5 gouldians, and 4 canaries, in 1 aviary and 2 cages. That should be enough to keep me happy for a very long time. Yet, I still browse craiglist daily and visit pet shops looking for other types of finches. My husband called me obsessive and hoped that I'd stop bringing home more birds. I can't seem to stop myself though. There are so many other types of finches that I do not have, and they are all so distinctive and beautiful. How could I possibly resist?

There's a bird mart coming up this weekend in my area. I've been telling myself that I'll just go to get supplies and maybe a couple of birds. No more than that. We'll see if I will be able to restrain myself.

There must be other birdaholic like me out there. Please tell me that this obsession will be manageable at some point and I'll be able to stop looking for more birds and just enjoy raising the ones I already have.

[Sam007]

Very interesting story and very nice aviary.

[lovezebs]

vienneparis
YOU ARE NOT ALONE!!!
-I've always had some sort of birds over the years. After twenty years or more of Love birds, I said, no more. Then I heard a Canary singing in a store somewhere.
-Next thing I knew, I was at the Canary breeders aviary/garage, with over 200 canaries flying around me. I was in heaven and got bit by the bug. It was BAD bite!
-That was about a year ago.
-Then it was 2 little Zebra brothers....and I havent looked back since...
-More Zebras (different colours) , Socifeties (different colours) , Green Singers, Orange Cheeks, Gouldians, Cut Throat, Shaft Tails, a baby Parrot Finch, Yellow Headed Stars, and last but not least, 2 baby Red Billed Fire Finch boys.
-To add on to that, everybody is now laying eggs, and there are three baby Gouldians as well, just recently come into the world.
-If you don't want any more birds, don't go to the bird sale...... Run as fast as you can in the opposite direction. Take a sleeping pill that day. Don't step out the door, front or back for any reason.....
-The last sale I went too, I meant to get one Gouldian male. Came home with him, 2 Shaft Tails and two baby female Zebras. Then there was the breeder I went to see about a baby Parrot Finch. ... Came home with him, and three baby Stars along with 1 female Society, that nobody wanted.
- Then there was this other breeder.... where I went to look at some Black and White Mannikins... Came home with 2 Zebras, 2 lovely white Societies and the 2 baby RB Fire finches...
-Sooooooo, as I said...RUN!!!

[vienneparis]

lovezebs, thanks for sharing your story. I'm happy to know there are other birdaholics out there
I know I should run away from the birdmart (and breeders, pet shops, etc...), but I just don't have the willpower to do it now. Just a couple more birds

[wilkifam]

Hello Vienne,

My name is Lori and I am a birdaholic.

Basically same story as yours, except no aviary and all cages, bird room and overflowing into kitchen in a large flight cage.

Can't promise it will ever pass.

Have fun at the bird fair!

[KarenB]

You seem perfectly normal to me.

[lovezebs]

vienneparis
Hate to tell you this my dear, but there is no cure.

[vienneparis]

Lori, happy to meet a fellow birdaholic. I'll try not to have too much fun at the bird mart

Karen, so nice of you to say so

lovezebs, I was afraid of that I should tell my husband he's in for a rough time with more birds to come

[lovezebs]

vienneparis
Poor husband. He doesn't know what he's in for...

[Sheather]

Lol, the bird bug is progressive and incurable.

Mine started with two little societies not even a year ago.

Now we've got societies coming out of our ears, a pair of bipolar love-hate canaries, 2 Java sparrows, 3 silverbills, and a parakeet which showed up lost and abandoned on our front sidewalk, who is going to need a friend eventually... not to mention the Gouldians and waxbills I have my eyes on for around Christmastime...

[finchandlovebird]

Vienne; what a great set up. I really like the bamboo ring curtain over the door; am sure it prevents "fly-outs".
Good luck with all you are doing

[Rox]

Lol, I think we should form a bird addict club! I have aviary no. 4 going up next month...

I love your aviary, especially the color. Beautiful!

[rancho2]

beautiful!!!

[Sally]

Love that aviary! What have you planted in that one deco pot at the far end? Is that artificial, or a real dead small tree? That works great for varied perching for the birds, so natural for them.

[vienneparis]

Sally, the plant in the pot is actually a large dried manzanita branch. It provides lots of perch spaces and hideouts for the birds. And I don't have to worry about keeping it alive