GBW Chicks!!

[KarenB]

These guys were sitting up and looking out toward the big wide world. Mom and dad are no longer sitting in there 24/7, so I think it won't be long until they fledge. I cant wait to see their whole tiny little bodies.

[Rox]

Ah, congrats!! I just love GB chicks. Tiny little puff balls

[MiaCarter]

GBW = Gold breasted waxbills?
Can that be right? These babies look so dark!
I wouldn't have guessed they'd look like this!

Super adorable, though!
How many? Looks like at least 3 from your pic.

How exciting!
The fertility fairy has made quite a few visits to Karen's house lately, eh?

[Smurf]

Congrats, from the size of adult GBW's any newly fledged chicks must be absolutely tiny, looking forward to the photos after they venture out into the big wide world.

[Ginene]

Congrats on your babies!! These guys are super small. Keep count of them once they fledge...their infamous for escaping through the tiniest bar spacings.

[finchmix22]

Congrats! Great news on the babies. Can't wait for pics when they fledge.

[KarenB]

To be quite honest, I'm a little nervous about them fledging. I have 1/2 inch bar spacing, which would allow them to be able to stick their heads through the bars but not their bodies. I have considered getting some of that bridal veil material to cover the flight, but it would take a LOT of material to do that.

I was also surprised at how dark they were. After doing a little research, I guess that's normal for them. I totally love their little punk hairdos. It makes them so endearing. As far as I can tell, we have three little rock stars.

To give an idea of how small these guys are, I did an egg comparison:



The GBW egg compared to a dime:


The photo below of the DIS and the dead baby with two clear eggs was my other pair of gold breasteds first and only attempt at parenthood after I'd had them for about a month. They went into a major molt just after this, and they have yet to lay another clutch. The clutch which this thread is about is from my second pair that I acquired in late spring, early summer.

[KarenB]

GBW = Gold breasted waxbills?
Can that be right? These babies look so dark!
I wouldn't have guessed they'd look like this!

Super adorable, though!
How many? Looks like at least 3 from your pic.

How exciting!
The fertility fairy has made quite a few visits to Karen's house lately, eh?

There are two subspecies of this waxbill: Amandava subflava a/k/a Zebra Waxbill a/k/a Orange-breasted Waxbill in other parts of the world but called Gold-breasted in The States, which is what I have; and Amandava clarkei a/k/a in Australia and other parts of the world as Gold-breasted Waxbill, which are a bright golden yellow on the breast. I prefer to call them gold-breasted as to not confuse them with the commonly kept Zebra finches.

There are three other very closely-related and similar-looking finches to these, which are the African Quailfinch, Black-chinned Quailfinch, and the Locust Finch, which all have that zebra striping on the flanks

Photos of either don't do them justice. Mine are the orange breasted ones, and that orange is dayglow bright, effectively neon in color. Very striking. I'd love to have a whole colony of them. They are one of the finches that you can keep a bunch of together in the same flight and they will get along just fine. I find them to be monogamous and loyal to their mates. Just pure little delights.

[lovezebs]

KarenB
I can't believe how tiny those eggs are. Trying to think what you could wrap around your flight. I have put clear, thick shower curtain sections around bottom of flights, but that's to keep cat out, plus you can't do the whole flight in that for obvious reasons. Can you get some window screen material? Don't know if you can get that in rolls.

Good luck with babies.

~Elana~

[KarenB]

KarenB
I can't believe how tiny those eggs are. Trying to think what you could wrap around your flight. I have put clear, thick shower curtain sections around bottom of flights, but that's to keep cat out, plus you can't do the whole flight in that for obvious reasons. Can you get some window screen material? Don't know if you can get that in rolls.

Good luck with babies.

~Elana~

I use cheap clear shower curtains for the backs of my other flights just to keep the splashing off the window sill and walls. That could be a good option if I taped it on....and, well, cheap.

[Ginene]

I have read about people wrapping 1/4" plastic mesh (hardware cloth?) around the cage to keep these babies from escaping. Sally would know...I believe she has bred this species. Hopefully you can get their cage secured before they fledge.

[KarenB]

I couldn't find the plastic 1/4 hardware cloth so I got the galvanized kind. I just finished wrapping the flight. Took me about an hour. I bought two rolls and still I ran out, so I used a piece of window screen that I already had to finish the circumference. It now looks like Fort Knox. But the hardware cloth only goes up 2 feet from the bottom, and then the last two feet are without it.

Then I banded the babies, once I finally got them out. They were like velcro inside that nest. I took a photo of the first one, then in the stress of trying to band the second one, I forgot to take his pic, too.

Here's the first one. I put him in the bowl until I could get the other one out of the nest, and then I put this guy in while I banded his sibling.

[Ginene]

Omgosh!!! Teenie Tiny bundle of cuteness! Great job wrapping up your flight. Best of luck with your cuties

[KarenB]

It's driving me crazy. Those babies are bouncing around inside that nest, and I just know they are going to fledge while I'm gone this weekend.

I actually have no clue when the eggs were laid, what day the babies hatched, or when they should be fledging, but it seems like I've been monitoring them now for WEEKS. Come on, already!

My best guess for incubation date would be around 9/13, and hatch around the 27th, but again, not sure. If that is the case, maybe they need to cook some more.

[Sam007]

Cute baby. Congrats!
Make sure there is no extra space between the bars of your flight cage and hardware cloth to prevent their heads, feet or any body part getting stuck there.