Over The Top For Goulds!!

[alfdtuna]

After a long time of research and MUCH deliberation, I think I have decided to house some Gouldians. I found an aviary (flight cage) of 40''w 30 deep and 70'' tall. It will be located in my computer room. Im not interested in breeding at the time so the question is...Is a cage this size ok for say, 4-6 males? will have fake greenery, limbs and branches throughout. For those in the Tx range (Sally?).. would love some input on breeders.. You folks have been priceless! I really enjoy the forum..
Tracey

[Sally]

According to the cage calculator at the FIC, that cage would do for 4-5 finches. Since Gouldians are pretty laid back and you are thinking an all-male flight, I don't think you would have any trouble with 6 males at all. I have a similar flight, and I wouldn't hesitate to put 6 birds in it, and even more if I use it for a bunch of juvies.

You must be in the Houston area. I used to live in Pasadena, but didn't get back into finches till I moved to Ft. Worth area. There must be some bird marts in Houston. There is a breeder in Dickinson, I don't think he does Gouldians at all, more into Africans and softbills, but he would know what is going on in the area, as he is a big vendor at our marts up here. His name is Chase Austin, Paradise Exotics, and I will try to get the phone number.

There will be a mart in Temple March 20, don't know how far that would be for you.

[alfdtuna]

I am just north of Houston (Humble). S&S exotic has Goulds, heck that where I fell in love with them! Im just not sure of her source and they are packed in with SO many other birds.

Temple is a good jaunt for me..the Houston area should prove a good source I will jsut have to keep my eye out. I am going to guess that all birds do not have to be added the same time, correct me if I am wrong. Even with just boys, eggs food (protein) and cuttlebone (digestion) still needed right??

[Sally]

Here is Chase's website--paradisebirdsandexotics.com. His phone number is 281-337-7500. His show schedule is way out of date, but he should be able to tell you when there will be a mart in the Houston area. And I see from his website that he does list Gouldians.

I don't have Gouldians, had them for a short while, but there are others on here who know much more about them than I do. Even with just boys, you want good nutrition--a good finch mix, mineral mix of some sort (oystershell grit is basic), I like to use cuttlebones, not all do, veggies if they will eat them (Gouldians are notoriously picky eaters). Gouldians need iodine in their diet, which you can supply with powdered kelp offered free choice in a small treat cup. Adult male Gouldians really don't need a lot of eggfood, though I would give it when they are molting (protein makes feathers).

There was a woman in the Woodlands who had Gouldians, I will see if I can find her name again.

[Sally]

The woman in the Woodlands is Alpine Price, her website is thegouldianlady.com. She has just posted March 1 that she will be taking a sabbatical from the birds, but the website will be up and she will answer questions. There is a place on the website to contact her, she might be a good source of other contacts in that area.

[alfdtuna]

I tried contacting her (Alpine) a few weeks ago and have not heard back..Sally.. I just have to ask (if you dont mind)..why dont you have Goulds??

[Sally]

I don't mind answering. When I started running out of cage space, I had to decide in which direction I wanted to go. I wanted to work more with the African species, especially waxbills. I first decided to get rid of all my Australian species. There are so many breeders of Gouldians in my area that whenever I decide to have Gouldians again, it will be easy to get more. I found it harder to let go of my Stars, so I will probably keep working with the Yellow-faced Stars. The Owls are basically the bread-and-butter right now, as they are a very hot species and a sellout at the marts. I would like to keep working with the fawn (or brown) Owls.

Someday, I would love to have an aviary like Donna's (dfcauley) with a very large and diverse population, but for now, controlled cage breeding is what I need to be doing. That means an absolute minimum of 3 pairs per species, so at least 3 breeding cages per species--and I am running out of room again!

[Sally]

Tracey, I found a listing for a club in the Houston area. It looks like they meet every 2nd Sunday, so that would be next weekend. They meet at the Alameda Methodist Church on Alameda School Road, I think that is on the south side of town (their map was useless, but you could use Mapquest or a GPS). Anyway, it is http://canaryfinchsociety.tripod.com/

Oops, I posted the link wrong, still trying to get it to work. I think it is working now.

[alfdtuna]

Thanks for all of the info Sally and gang. I was just hoping you werent going to tell me that you didnt keep Goulds cuz they were impossible to keep ALIVE!!!!

[Sally]

Thanks for all of the info Sally and gang. I was just hoping you werent going to tell me that you didnt keep Goulds cuz they were impossible to keep ALIVE!!!!

Oh, no, you can tell by the number of forum members on here that they are very successful with their Gouldians, and many of them started out with this species.

[lovemyfinch]

Thanks for all of the info Sally and gang. I was just hoping you werent going to tell me that you didnt keep Goulds cuz they were impossible to keep ALIVE!!!!

I w3as also worried when I acquired my first gouldians, I am soo glad that I took the chance. They are beautiful to look at and to hear. Now I have the impossible task of deciding whom to keep and whom to sell. Wach has it's own reason in my mind for staying.

[Domenic]

My gouldians don't require any special treatment either. They get what the zebras get, and they like it that way.

[alfdtuna]

I sure apprecaite the encouragement. I will pick the flight cage up this coming weekend and begin my quest for birds once armed with all supplies. FYI..Marigold had a bad winter for babies (too cold).. so she is not really an option. The exotic birds in Dickinson phone is disconnected, Alpine not doing birds at the moment so I will have to beat the bushes for birds BUT..thats all part of the fun! If anyone knows of good Goulds in the houston area drop me a note!

One more quick question..is iodine just during the molt or a year round addition??