slangbos?

[greeneyes]

Does any know where I can get slangbos for my finches. I heard the finches love to breed in this shrub. The bushes I use to cut offfor my finches for nesting doesn't last long and breaks apart after a few weeks. I heard that slangbos is the ideal bush for finches and last much more longer if I'm not mistaken.

[lovezebs]

greeneyes

Welcome to the Forum.

I have never heared of 'slangbos' lol. When I first saw your post title, I thought it was a new species of birds

Is it some sort of bush that comes from Australia, or Africa?

I live in Canada, my Gouldians breed in nests.

Good luck finding what your looking for. Hopefully someone on the Forum will have an answer for you.

~Elana~

[Sam007]

Which kind of bush is slangbo?

[Colt]

Rox, monotwine, MariusStegmann and the other South African members...

We need your help here... ;)

@lovezebs - Slangbos is a brush/plant/shrub that grows in Africa. A lot of the forum members in that area use it in their aviaries as nesting sites. I believe it holds up much longer that other stuff. The closest thing I could think of would be like Mesquite (thorny and long leaved) or maybe recycling old Christmas trees or other evergreens. There have been a few posts about it in the past...

http://www.finchforum.com/viewtopic.php ... t=Slangbos

http://www.finchforum.com/viewtopic.php ... os#p331913

http://www.finchforum.com/viewtopic.php ... t=Slangbos

[Sally]

Yes, it is a South African plant, so those members from S.A. will be able to help with this. I've been told that the tumbleweeds that we find in the western U.S. would be a good substitute for us to use.

[Colt]

Tumbleweeds would be a good idea... If I had a walk in aviary thought I'd be sure to use the Juniper that grows wild. It makes a great windbreak, nesting site, and roosting site in the winter as it's an evergreen.

[lovezebs]

Colt
Can we actually use old Christmas trees? I always thought, that with the sap, it would make birds sticky.

~Elana~

[greeneyes]

slangbos is a shrub, indigenous to South Africa.

The plant makes very good kindling for
fires, so good in fact that it should not be
grown too close to a house in high fire
risk areas. It is also used as nesting
material in aviaries, tightly stuffed into
chicken-wire baskets or nesting boxes,
and is favoured by zebra finches, star finches and waxbills. Any
outdoor enthusiast will testify that the
plant makes very good bedding material.

[Colt]

Outdoors when it's still cold the sap in the trees really wouldn't run. I wouldn't recommend using them in the house, because then it warms up.

I've seen people use artificial ones inside though.

[lovezebs]

Colt
Oh okay. That's what I'd thought too.

~Elana~

[isobea]

Elana - I've put a used Christmas tree in my aviary before (years ago). No ill effects, no problems with sap, but also no birds that wanted to use it (either to roost or to nest). On top of that it really took up quite a bit of space. Tried it two years in a row with different trees (noble fir, douglas fir). Thought that might make a difference, but no. I also tried using branches I had cut off my Hollywood juniper, again no takers. One time I put a bunch of bigger pine branches into a corner and my owls built a nest in those (quite a ways inside, very well hidden). Other than that, no luck.
Now I use mostly eucalyptus branches (about 7 feet tall) which I cut in the valley behind my house. All my birds love to climb around in them and the spice finches are endlessly entertained by twisting the leaves off. They also use some to line their sleeping nest. Only drawback to eucalyptus: the leaves dry out rather quickly and everything needs to be replaced several times a year.
Iso

PS: Just heard from a lady down here that her birds love to nest in tumble weeds! But watch for those thorns, she said. Don't know if I'm ready to tangle with those.

[Rox]

You have to go and look for it in the veld. It is an indigenous plant and grows wild. Brilliant for waxbills and birds that prefer to build their own nest. But it is a mission to go and find and collect. Some florists sell it for flower decorations but that is in small quantities, much less than what we would need for aviary's.

Best bet is to drive around and see what you can find. I drive past some in Stellenbosch but it is on private farms. I don't feel like being shot down for trespassing I gave up finding it this year and used branches from the fir and conifer trees I have in the garden. The waxbills also love those and the leaves hold.

[MariusStegmann]

greeneyes Slangbos can be found along the side of the R304 (the road between the N1 and Stellenbosch.) You take the N1 towards Stellenbosch, take the R304 turnoff to Stellenbosch. You get to the big petrolstation / Shopping centre on your right, you drive about 1 km further and for the next 3 km you will start seeing slangbos on both sides of the road. There are also slangbos on the Bottelary Rd and N7 (near the Melkbos turnoff. Take some of the bushes that have flowered yet. The follage stick together better. I took all my slangbos out of my aviary. The waxbills were breeding like crazy in the slangbos, but mice got into my aviary, and bushes smelled like rodent urine. If I get slangbos again, I won't use it as a big bush, but will use it to make small nests inside wiremesh,

[greeneyes]

wow thanks, I'm going to strand side today I'll sure take a ride to stellenbosh area , hopeful find and cut find down slangbos along the road. I think so too Rox that I have too many birds in my biggest aviary. I'm going to take a couple of gouldian and grass finch pairs out and put them in breeding cages.

[MariusStegmann]

greeneyes I am not so sure whether grassfinches will breed readily in a cage.