Some Pics

[lovezebs]

MariusStegmann

All the twinspot family are lovely, but we never see them over here. I have bever seen one, other than in pictures,

Elana

[MariusStegmann]

lovezebs Maybe it is a good thing as they are not really cage birds and they don't thrive if they don't get lifefood. They don't take readily to eggfood and other prepared foods. The food has to move. The folks I know who has bred them successfully give termites on a daily basis.

[lovezebs]

MariusStegmann

Don't have termites either.... only mealworms, and the occasional unlucky creepy crawly that I manage to catch outside (I am not a very good huntress).

They are such pretty birds though, sigh......

Elana

[saulosirds]

MariusStegmann

My Peter's raised to chicks to fledge indoors in a 4 x 2 x 2 breeder box cage but both chicks had leg uses and dead within days. The odd part was that they were so shy and secretive that I didn't even know they eggs or were feeding chicks. They never had egg food or live provided so they reared them totally on seed. Might have been part of the problem with the chicks but not sure.

My cock bird builds nest after nest even after I split he and the hen up. They are exceedingly aggressive as I have even had a hen kill another hen over night. I love mine but they certainly don't like being easy to care for!!

Rob

[MariusStegmann]

saulosirds The people here, who are experts with Twinspots call them 90 / 10 birds. 90 Percent live-food and 10 % seed. I am quite certain that the lack of live-food is the reason for your babies ending up dead. Mine are not overly aggressive to other birds except when it come to the tray with live-food. Also when I put a 2nd hen in with my pair, it didn't end so well for her. I knew that the males are extremely aggressive towards other twinspot males, but didn't know that the hens would be the same.

[Rox]

I separated my twinspot pair middle April, as I was warned about keeping them together during winter rains. As Marius mentioned, rain stimulates them to breed and the hens are unfortunately prone to egg-binding in cold weather.

On Saturday, I decided to put the male back into the breeding aviary, as spring is around the corner. The pair reunited within minutes and by Sunday, Mr Twinspot was back to his usual obnoxious self. I think the rest of the aviary is rather bummed that he is back He has never caused harm to any other birds but he can be a bully. Thankfully my twinspots eat eggfood and fresh veggies, they especially like broccoli. I will only start feeding live food again in October but in the meantime, they hunt the aviary and catch whatever flies in.

I'm holding thumbs for twinspot babies this season

[MariusStegmann]

Rox I am going to put a couple of those big cement bricks into the aviary for them to breed in. Apparently you put the bricks on their ends and put something like a fern in front of it. Then you put a bit of nesting material into the holes. Twinspots like to breed on the ground, and if they breed inside the cement blocks, dampness that might be in the ground don't affect the eggs.

[Rox]

Thanks Marius, I am definitely going to put some cement blocks in. I have a second pair now in my other aviary as well (captive bred, from a breeder in Pta). I'm curious to see which pair breeds first. Wild caught from Leon or the captive bred pair. Both eat the eggfood and veggies, so it will be interesting to compare when the live-food gets going. Hopefully the Pta pair do well on mealworms, as I don't have termites.

[MariusStegmann]

Rox You say that your P twinspot cock is a bit obnoxious. Mine is a gentleman then. He only doesn't like other birds to eat his mealworms. I saw last night an article on the internet that groups the P twinspot with the birds that can't be kept with other birds in a mixed aviary. I was so surprised.

[Rox]

MariusStegmann He is just protective over his hen. He chases other birds away from her but he does get protective over the live food dish as well. That's why I have 2 dishes for live food when I offer it. When he was in the holding aviary with my young birds, he was an absolute gentleman and kept to himself. BUT they have not gone to nest yet, so he might just turn into a nightmare still. I will have to wait and see...

I've read that they are shy birds. The total opposite is true for my pair. They are often out and about in the open and don't mind if we walk right past the aviary.

[MariusStegmann]

Mine were shy when I got it, and just sat in the corner of the aviary and didn't move for a few weeks. It was bullied by a bunch of wydahs in the aviary of the previous owner. That guy just gave his birds seed and gave the birds fresh water once a week.

Once my Peter's realized that my presence meant mealworms, their behavior changed.