Agitated gouldian pair

[paddywack]

I have a pair of gouldians that I set up for breeding that do not seem happy together. I separated them from the rest of the flock, and put them in a different room. They seem to be putting all of their effort into getting out of the cage and back to the flock. The female is related to all of the males in the other cage, so this is the only male I can pair her with. She was obviously bonded to her father, who leaves his cage and gets into the room where her cage is if the door is left open. The pair does not seem bonded, and there doesn't seem to be any affection between the two, although they slept on top of the nest together last night. That is a change from last week when they were sleeping in different parts of the cage. What should I do? Will they settle down eventually? They have been in the room together for almost 2 weeks. I do not have another female to put the male with. Any suggestions?

[Babs _Owner]

paddywack

Sleeping together is one of the signs of a pair starting to bond. Give it some time. Sometimes gouldians just dont bond, like humans. Wish you luck!

[ac12]

I had a pair that took over 6 months before they finally bonded and the hen laid eggs.

Well that isn't quite right, because after the eggs were laid, the hen would come out of the nest and sometimes AGGRESSIVELY CHASE the male, so the male could not land on a perch. He had to cling to the side of the cage, waiting for the hen to go back into the nest. It could also be that the hen thought that he did not do his share of sitting on the eggs.

But this pair was troublesome. Half the time, the hen would abandon the nest, and I would have to foster out the abandoned eggs. The fostered eggs produced the only chicks from this pair. The other half of the time, the eggs were duds.

[paddywack]

I just wanted to update everyone on my unhappy gouldian pair. After 2 months, I finally decided to throw in the towel and return both finches to the group flight cage. They just never warmed up to each other. They would sleep in different areas of the cage, never did any mutual preening, and in general, just couldn't get past "hello." The male did try by singing to the female and jumping in and out of the nest, but she would have none of it. They would each call out loudly several times a day to their friends in the other room. Now that everyone is back together again, there is no more calling. I am not sure what I am going to do now, as this female is related to everybody else in the flight cage. Gouldian females are crazy hard to come by. I've been to 3 shows now, no females. Hopefully the show in September will be more fruitful.

[Babs _Owner]

paddywack

You gave it your best shot. As Debbie would say "some gouldians are simply not a compatible pair."

Hoping you find a frisky hen soon!