Strawberry Finches

[akidsgal]

Looking for a quick education on my new to be finches. I am picking up a par this week and am wondering if after their initial quarantine time if they will like making their own nest or if they prefer wicker or nest boxes. This will be yet another new finch for me. I am SOOOOO excited! I now have a new pair of Owls too!

[CandoAviary]

Congrats on your new birds. Sally would be the one to talk to about strawberries...she has had a couple of nice clutches this year.
Hope you have good luck with yours too

[tonysr09]

Are they the Red Munia?

[akidsgal]

I am unsure of what exactly they are. I do know they are dirt cheap and I am getting them this week. Do you know who has them?

[Sally]

Munias are Mannikins. Strawberries are Red Avadavat (Amandava amandava). I have Strawberries, and I will post tomorrow to tell you what I did to breed mine. If you don't mind, please PM me and tell me where you got them--I have been scouring the internet trying to find them, so always looking for a source, but they do turn up in the oddest places.

Oops, just caught my misspelling--I had put Red Avadat, meant Red Avadavat.

[cindy]

Congratulations on your new birds. I have only seen 1 pair of Strawberries a few months ago at a bird show.

Enjoy your owls, I have 2 pairs. They are great little birds.

[akidsgal]

Sent Sally

[akidsgal]

Thanks Cindy. I have noticed that they already some some cute little antics

[tonysr09]

I am unsure of what exactly they are. I do know they are dirt cheap and I am getting them this week. Do you know who has them?

Excuse my poor manners. Congratulations on your new Strawberry Finches. OOOoooohhhhh Exciting!!!! I've had the feeling. Best of luck.

[akidsgal]

Oh no Tony, I didn't mistake what you were saying. I did not think that was of poor manners. I was just hoping that someone from around here had them then I would know they were well cared for! I am unsure of what they have been through so I will have to do all my treatments.

[cindy]

Thanks Cindy. I have noticed that they already some some cute little antics

I think they are comical, they have a funny little personality.

[dfcauley]

I have a pair and they are very sweet little birds. The male has the most beautiful song. You will need to watch the hen for egg binding. Mine went through a period where she kept laying too many eggs. Congratulations on finding such a rare species.

[Sally]

My Strawberries have been easy to care for. I use two different cages for breeding, one pair to a cage: HQ single flight 32x21x38, or HQ quad stack 40x20x20. Most pairs like the small wicker tubular nests, placed sort of within a plastic plant, though one pair is now using another type nest, I'll post photos tomorrow. For lining, they like coco fiber, jute, and white feathers. Lights are on for 16 hours a day right now. Cages are inside the house, so normal room temps for them.

Diet is a good finch seed mix, plus homemade eggfood, veggies, soak seed, spray millet, Herb Salad, Abba mineral mix + eggshells. I think whatever eggfood recipe works for you, but the important thing is to add cod liver oil and wheat germ oil to the eggfood, at the rate of 1 tsp. each for every 4 eggs. My birds also like their eggfood fairly dry, so I have to add dry stuff like nestling food, ground pellets, etc. to dry it out. I have recently started sprinkling freeze-dried bloodworms on the top of their eggfood, and they love them--this provides a substitute protein for the mealworms most people feed them. If you do live food, they love mini mealworms, ant eggs, and fruit flies.

Mine love baths, as often as daily if you can manage it. They also like privacy, though mine have been really good about tolerating me peeking a bit. If they hatch out eggs, the babies are silent at first, then when they start begging, they sound like little tiny crickets!

Strawberries are really bad about growing long and curlycue toenails. I use a concrete perch in each cage at the tube waterer, so every time they come to get a drink, they are on that rough perch, but their nails still grow too long--you will need to keep them trimmed.

Please try very hard to get them to breed, though don't feel bad if they don't. Many of the birds available are getting old, so even if the hen lays eggs, often they are infertile. If that is the case, just enjoy them for the beautiful jewels they are. And if you can get them to breed, I get first dibs on swapping out bloodlines!

Also, be sure and read about them in the species info at the Finch Information Center, linked at left.

[akidsgal]

Everyone.... I am so sorry to say that this lady had no idea what she had. They were in fact OC Waxbills! As she described them to me I decided not to get them as I already have a pair. She had like 30 people waiting to get them. I am sure that most will think just what I did. How sad. I will be watching for some Strawberries though as they will add more color to my aviary.

Thanks Sally for the clues as to help them breed. I will surely get some and work on that then we can trade for new bloodlines!

If someone in my area has them I will surely get them!

[Pukasand]

I am unsure of what exactly they are. I do know they are dirt cheap and I am getting them this week. Do you know who has them?

Arrrrrgh.... 'dirt cheap'... like a knife in my heart.... Wishing you very good luck with them. They are the most amazing little birds with a song that is immense from those tiny bodies! Both sexes sing a lovely song.