Avoiding future housing compatibility problems

[raymeedc]

Hi..... I'm a newbie to finches & this forum (but not other animals, as I've kept everything from fish to snakes to turtles). I've just obtained my first pair of male Gouldians (1 Blackhead& 1 Yellowhead..... I'm not interested in breeding) about a week ago, & I'm hooked!
They are being housed in a 30" by 18" by 18" flight cage by themselves.
I have a 30"x18"x36" cage arriving this week. I would like to add another pair of male Gouldians (different mutations) to this larger enclosure, along with the pair I already have, at the same time. These would be the only inhabitants I intend to be keeping in this enclosure. Does this sound like a workable formula?
Another possibility I was mulling over was obtaining another identical cage & attaching them together to create a 60"x18"x36" space & obtaining a third pair of males to add to the mix, the point being to avoid possible targeted aggression present in lesser numbers in a smaller space (or would this mostly be a concern if they were male/female pairs?). This would be the prime reason for selecting this option, as I would prefer keeping 4 birds in the cage I have arriving this week.
Would one scenario offer a better chance of successful compatibility than the other, or does it depend more on the individual birds?
As I've stated, I'm a newbie to birds. Consequently, my ideas are based partially on very recent reading about these birds, & partially upon my experiences with other animals. This being the case, any help in correcting or affirming my assumptions would be greatly appreciated.

[B CAMP]

Welcome to the forum ,if you fill in your profile with where you live it makes it a lot easier to answer questions sometimes ,have you checked out the finch information center there is a lot of good reading there
http://www.finchinfo.com/birds/finches/ ... _finch.php

[ac12]

So far with all of my birds, except one, they are very social and get along with each other. That one is sometimes aggressive to the juvs. So for gouldians I think 4 of one sex in the cage is OK.

As Bill pointed out, the FIC has a bunch of info, including a calculator for the number of birds in a specific size cage:
http://www.finchinfo.com/housing/cage_s ... ulator.php

[poohbear]

Don't blindly follow the guides on number of birds to a cage.Birds,like humans, sometimes get on and sometimes not.It all depends on the temperament of the individuals.It's always wise to err on the side of less birds than too many.