1zebra (f) +1 society (m) + 1red factor canary (f)

[Chimelette]

so I recently got a cfw zebra and a society finch together. I wanted to add a third bird but as we all know, 3 is not a good idea for finches. so I opted to get a red factor canary to join them since I heard that canaries have been known to get along with finches. My question is, will it be a problem later since there's 2 females? Or is this set up going to last? They dont seem to mind each other so far.

PS. planning on getting a new cage on Monday, so don't worry.

These are my birdies names!
cfw zebra = Egg
society = Toast
canary = Juice

Juice looks like a Pheonix watching over her young

[Sheather]

They'll probably be fine, canaries can handle themselves.

The most important thing with canaries is keep them on a natural day and night cycle matching the outside. If they are suddenly shifted to longer or shorter days, bad things happen to their body clocks, they can go bald, stop singing, etc if the day is too long at the wrong time of the year and it affects their lifespan.

[Chimelette]

Oh no! I usually put the cage cover around 9-10pm and take it off at 7am cause that's when Toast likes to wake up lol. Is that adequate enough for my canary?

[Fraza]

I think they will be fine it might have been a problem with two zebras and one canary or two society’s and one canary but it’s fine because u have three different species and they look settled in the picture above when society’s are scared they sit pinned up making a clicking noise

[Sheather]

No! That cycle will cause abnormal molting and a sharp health decline in the canary very quickly, canaries are one of the only pets in which their care has become more difficult in the modern age. They come from a climate where the day length changes seasonally, and when domesticated before electric lighting, they had to be kept on their cycle. Now electric lights can be kept on all day, and that damages the canaries' bodies.

Canaries must be kept on the sun. Rise at sunrise, sleep at sunset, and not a single light in the room after that time, or they go bald, start laying eggs all year, don't sing, and die after one to three years instead of ten. When I started with canaries, I didn't know this, and my birds were a hot mess. 12 hours of light all year, and their wing feathers wore out into just quills with no feathers left, the female laid an egg every other day, and the male dropped dead after just a few months of unknown causes. None of this was ever a problem once I learned of their lighting requirement, and made sure to follow them. They are beautiful birds but trickier to manage than other finches, and sadly pet shops don't even seem to know their needs.

[Flight Feathers]

No! That cycle will cause abnormal molting and a sharp health decline in the canary very quickly, canaries are one of the only pets in which their care has become more difficult in the modern age. They come from a climate where the day length changes seasonally, and when domesticated before electric lighting, they had to be kept on their cycle. Now electric lights can be kept on all day, and that damages the canaries' bodies.

Canaries must be kept on the sun. Rise at sunrise, sleep at sunset, and not a single light in the room after that time, or they go bald, start laying eggs all year, don't sing, and die after one to three years instead of ten. When I started with canaries, I didn't know this, and my birds were a hot mess. 12 hours of light all year, and their wing feathers wore out into just quills with no feathers left, the female laid an egg every other day, and the male dropped dead after just a few months of unknown causes. None of this was ever a problem once I learned of their lighting requirement, and made sure to follow them. They are beautiful birds but trickier to manage than other finches, and sadly pet shops don't even seem to know their needs.

Yes I never knew about this before joining this forum. Fortunately for my canaries they are in an outdoor aviairy so lighting has never been a problem.

Also bit off topic but your soceity looks like a pied! Very cute.

[Chimelette]

No! That cycle will cause abnormal molting and a sharp health decline in the canary very quickly, canaries are one of the only pets in which their care has become more difficult in the modern age. They come from a climate where the day length changes seasonally, and when domesticated before electric lighting, they had to be kept on their cycle. Now electric lights can be kept on all day, and that damages the canaries' bodies.

Canaries must be kept on the sun. Rise at sunrise, sleep at sunset, and not a single light in the room after that time, or they go bald, start laying eggs all year, don't sing, and die after one to three years instead of ten. When I started with canaries, I didn't know this, and my birds were a hot mess. 12 hours of light all year, and their wing feathers wore out into just quills with no feathers left, the female laid an egg every other day, and the male dropped dead after just a few months of unknown causes. None of this was ever a problem once I learned of their lighting requirement, and made sure to follow them. They are beautiful birds but trickier to manage than other finches, and sadly pet shops don't even seem to know their needs.

omg that's so awful. Well that's good to know. I just got an app for sunrise - sunset.but my room doesn't get much sun directly in it but it does get some natural light. Is that enough for her? D:

[Sheather]

Just set up the light on a timer roughly matching the outside, and adjust it every week or two as the days change, from 9 to ten hours in winter to 15 hours in summer.

If the birds don't get natural sun, supplement their diet in some way to provide vitamins. Boiled egg, water-soluble vitamins and pellet food all provide Vitamin D they need, which they'd produce naturally in natural sunlight outside.

[Chimelette]

Just wanted to update everyone, I actually ended up having to return the canary . It really stressed out my society to have her around and I think it was actually a male rather than female like everyone else suggested. He/she was showing some aggressive territorial behavior and would kick my finches off of their perch. I still would like to get another bird or two. Is it possible to have another pair of finches for a total of 4? I was thinking of getting 2 more females unless it needs to be 1 female and 1 male. Maybe waxbills or spice? Anyone have suggestions for what to add?


this is Egg and Toasts new crib!

[Flight Feathers]

Hi there, sorry to hear about the canary that's odd, my canaries have never annoyed my finches like that.. How strange

Looking at the perches in your cage, I'd recommend some nice branches and rope perches. Round/dowel perches are not completely recommended as birds need natural branches to stop their nails from growing too long, it also isn't natural for a birds feet to be round so rope perches and branches are good to use, but some dowel/round perches can be used too. I think variety is very important when it comes to perches!

Also probably wouldn't recommend a mirror as can cause an unhealthy obsession.

I'm not trying to be criticising, just trying to give you some helpful advice!!

[Chimelette]

Hi there, sorry to hear about the canary that's odd, my canaries have never annoyed my finches like that.. How strange

Looking at the perches in your cage, I'd recommend some nice branches and rope perches. Round/dowel perches are not completely recommended as birds need natural branches to stop their nails from growing too long, it also isn't natural for a birds feet to be round so rope perches and branches are good to use, but some dowel/round perches can be used too. I think variety is very important when it comes to perches!

Also probably wouldn't recommend a mirror as can cause an unhealthy obsession.

I'm not trying to be criticising, just trying to give you some helpful advice!!

No worries! these are some very helpful tips.
It could have been the cage size that led to the tension but I cant upgrade to more than what I have now as space is limited. Im renting a room while attending school
I had a rope in the previous cage but its too short for this one so ill have to buy new stuff'. I was wondering about the mirror since the canary enjoyed it but my finches just ignore it lol

[Flight Feathers]

Hi there, sorry to hear about the canary that's odd, my canaries have never annoyed my finches like that.. How strange

Looking at the perches in your cage, I'd recommend some nice branches and rope perches. Round/dowel perches are not completely recommended as birds need natural branches to stop their nails from growing too long, it also isn't natural for a birds feet to be round so rope perches and branches are good to use, but some dowel/round perches can be used too. I think variety is very important when it comes to perches!

Also probably wouldn't recommend a mirror as can cause an unhealthy obsession.

I'm not trying to be criticising, just trying to give you some helpful advice!!

No worries! these are some very helpful tips.
It could have been the cage size that led to the tension but I cant upgrade to more than what I have now as space is limited. Im renting a room while attending school
I had a rope in the previous cage but its too short for this one so ill have to buy new stuff'. I was wondering about the mirror since the canary enjoyed it but my finches just ignore it lol

Thanks Yeah I guess it's a bit different for me as my birds have a walk in aviairy. My canaries are also a pair so if they annoy anyone it's generally each other that they annoy hahaha. Yeah don't think finches would generally use a mirror that's probably more bigger birds but some birds do get obsessed with their mirror and then they get overweight because they're not moving around.

[Chimelette]

Flight Feathers I'm still generally new to birds so any advice is very welcome. thank you so much!
Haha that probaly plays a big part in it! maybe it would have been different with a bigger cage and a mate.
Someday when I have my own place, id love an outdoor aviary for now i got them a cozy lil hut that need more perches. everyone on this forum is very helpful and informative. I just want my birds to be cozy so eventually, I can pet em without freaking them out.

I know bigger is always better for cages do you think a couple more finches could fit comfy in there? or a third bird?

Im open to suggestions!

[Sheather]

You cannot ever pet finches, the very rare exception is the tame hand-fed finch.

But these are very much look and don't touch pets.

The cage is sufficient, just barely, for those two.
Even one more bird, would be too much!
Especially with a zebra finch in the mix.
Please don't add any more to this cage. It's also good you rehomed the canary - this is not a large enough cage for one in addition to two finches, and that may be why it acted out. I house my finches and canaries together and they get along but I was shocked when I gifted a canary to a neighbor once and it brutally killed one of her society finches which I would have never anticipated from the experience I'd had with my own canaries. But every bird is unique, and that one was just very aggressive.

Finches don't play with toys like you have in there - canaries like them, and budgies really go for them. For finches, they take up space, and they just crowd an already small cage like this. I'd take them out, and add a plain wooden swing instead. For finches, a nice thing to add is a nice branch of silk flowers near the top. It provides a cozy, sheltered spot to perch to sleep without encouraging egg-laying, and it makes the cage a little more natural.

It's hard to tell what it's in the food dishes but if that dark mix is seed, that is not something these finches will eat. These types of finches mostly eat millet seed (not the same as millet spray) canary grass and oat groats. If that is a mix of darker seed it is intended for wild finches.

If that is some sort of mineral mix, not dark bird seed, disregard my above statement.

Make sure to also introduce some fresh food to their diet. Finches enjoy romaine lettuce, hard boiled egg (mashed up in a dish), frozen/thawed sweet corn, and broccoli. I try to give my birds fresh food at least every other day.

[Chimelette]

Sheather wow that's some really useful information!
That's real disappointing lol. I hope they'll someday wanna perch on my finger atleast! I love them. They're so cute and tiny.

Thank you so much! I'm so sorry about the canary and yeah, it was really sad to have to let her go but it was for the best. Atleast there was someone already there who was eager enough to take her almost on the spot!

I'm also almost equally bummed with the toys. I thought they were a cute addition to the cage but I did notice that they don't really do anything with them lol. As far as the silk flowers go, that's exactly what I wanted but was never sure of!!! I felt bad that they didn't have any cozy nest but I didn't want mating to happen either. I have some of those fake flowers from Micheal's, would I be able to use those? I don't think they're silk but they are some sort of fabric.

Will definitely get em some fresh stuff asap! I just got them so I didn't want to be super ambitious with their diet just yet since I wasn't sure how they'd take it with the new environment and all.

Once again, thanks a bunch for all the info