Space required to breed a pair of blue caps?

[finchbob]

Does anyone know how much space is required to get blue caps to breed? I did have them in one side of a double breeder cage, i've now opened it up and given them the whole double breeder. Would this be of benefit though? In half a double breeder they don't have much room to actually fly, the mostly hop from perch to perch - with a whole double breeder they have to fly between perches.

[cindy]

I have my RCCB's in a 30x18x16 cage. When the male gets excited he flits from one side to the other, very fast. I would not restrict their flying space, if you can afford the space give them the whole cage.

[finchbob]

Another question, I bought both of my pairs as quite young birds, came as pairs, is it safe that i've got them in their pairs already each in their own double cages? Only other option is to seperate them all so they are all by themselves but i don't see how that could be a better option.

[finchbob]

Actually wait no, the females are almost a year old, might be ok?

[cindy]

I keep single pairs of my finches in 30x18 cages or 30x18x36 high cages.

[nixity]

I'm told your chances of success are far greater with older birds.. I think Doug told me 2 years is usually a good starting point and I know my birds are younger than that - and they are breeding, but they have yet to be successful.

Though, I know many have problems with them regardless of age so who knows.
One side of a double breeder cage is not large enough IMO really to breed any species of finch.
Just because some WILL breed in that small of a space doesn't really mean they should be bred in that small of a space.
Most of the divided breeder cages are 24-30" long, making the longest divided space a mere 15", so if they are 18x18 as well that means you have a 15x18x18 cage that eventually will have to accomodated up to 8 birds if one pair has 6 babies.

The only CB pair I've gotten to sit is the pair that is in my 4' cage.
The other pair in the 36" breeder will lay, but does not sit.

[finchbob]

I see, my smallest double breeding cages are 38" x 15" x 12"

My newer bigger ones are close to 4 foot long and a few inches taller again. Those are the ones my blue caps are in, I gave each pair an entire cage, with no divider.

[Sally]

I have each pair of my BCCBs in a double breeding cage with the divider out, so they get the whole cage for one pair of birds. The sizes are 40x20x20 and 34x18x18, though most of them are in the 40x20x20. I think CBs could use as much space as possible--aviary first, walk-in flight second, and cages last, so the bigger the cage the better.

I just saw a post by Misty where the person she got her BCCBs from is having quite a bit of success breeding hers, and I'm pretty sure she breeds all her CBs in spacious walk-in flights.

Most of the double breeding cages are advertised as being capable of holding two pairs of birds, but I believe that may work for species like parrotlets, etc. With finches, it is just the opposite, they need much more room than far larger species.

[Sally]

Another question, I bought both of my pairs as quite young birds, came as pairs, is it safe that i've got them in their pairs already each in their own double cages? Only other option is to seperate them all so they are all by themselves but i don't see how that could be a better option.

I'm not sure what you are asking here. Are you wanting to divide up the two pairs and put them with different partners? IMO, most finches are not monogamous, and if they have not been together for a long time so they are very bonded, you can split them up without problems. If you are ever in doubt that a pair you bought are unrelated, that is often the way to ensure that you don't unknowlingly pair up siblings.

[monotwine]

I cannot comment on housing for breeding as my three pairs are all in a mixed aviary, but will be able to add this much from my own experience with blue caps.

In the past I bought "pairs", but they never paired up. I think the hens may need to choose their mate. If they never "choose" themselves, but are placed with the male I found they were un-interested in breeding. Only once I rotated / swapped out a few hens did they finally choose my males to breed with. My youngest hen of about 1.5yrs old chose and bred first. Some "pairs" I had for 2 years and they did nothing. Others after choosing a mate started nesting within a few months.

I have never had a successful clutch, just eggs so perhaps my males are sterile , but I don't have the heart to swap them out as I chose them for their songs.
Perhaps I am doing it all wrong, but then again my focus is more on just having them add colour and activity to my aviary than breed.