How many finches can you put in a cage

A variety of live and dried insects are available at That Fish Place. Eggfood either chopped hard-boiled egg or commercially prepared eggfood is an excellent source of protein for birds who will not accept insects, but should be offered no more than two times per week to non-breeding birds.

Birds like to bathe, but different individuals prefer to bathe in different ways. Some like to bathe in a shallow dish , some like to be sprayed with a fine mist. Offering your finch the chance to bathe helps it maintain healthy, beautiful plumage. Clipping your finch's wings is not recommended, as finches have a very high metabolic rate and need to have the ability to fly in order to get enough exercise and burn energy. Zebras do not normally appreciate being handled, so wing clipping is not necessary.

Nails should be trimmed by a qualified person only, if they become unhealthy, too long or interfere with perching. Clean the cage , perches and toys daily with warm soapy water. Use a non-toxic cleaner such as mild dish liquid and make sure that the soap is completely rinsed off when you are finished cleaning. Disinfect the cage and perches with bleach water regularly while keeping the bird in a seperate room.

Bleach fumes can kill your pet. Allowing the cage to air dry in sunlight is a natural way to disinfect. Make sure the smell from the bleach is gone before you place your bird back inside the cage. Replace toys and accessories that become worn or damaged, as they can injure your pet.

Rotate toys when your bird becomes disinterested in them but remember never to place an unfamiliar toy in the cage without first introducing it to the bird in a neutral location. Mirrors can be confusing for birds, as they will sometimes bond to the bird in the mirror instead of bonding to other birds. If your bird behaves in this way toward a mirror, it should be removed. Mirrors should not be used in substitute of having a companion for your bird. Zebras are social birds who live in groups in the wild.

For this reason, they need a lot of social interaction with other birds in order to stay happy and healthy. It it best to keep at least two zebra finches together. Pairs can be same sex or opposite sex, though females tend to get along better together than males. If a same sex pair is kept, a nest or nests should NEVER be placed in the cage or fighting may occur between the birds.

Also, a cage housing zebra finches of only one gender should never be kept in the same room with zebras of the opposite gender - if the birds can hear the song of a potential mate they will fight with their cagemates trying to establish a territory. However, pairs of zebras can be kept in colonial situations as long as the enclosure is of appropriate size.

They can also be kept with other types of softbills or finches, as long as the cage is large enough to allow the different birds to have their own territories and interact without conflict or too much competition. Please research potential cagemates carefully to make sure that the birds will be likely to get along.

When taking your new bird home please remember that the surroundings in your home will be new to it and it may take some time for the bird to feel settled in the new environment. Speak softly and move very slowly whenever you are near the bird's cage.

It is recommended that you do not handle your finch, as they are very fragile. With a well balanced diet you should not need to give your bird vitamin supplements. Before giving any supplements in the bird's water, make sure you clean and wash the water dish daily to remove any residue from the supplements.

At the same time, as soon as you start to bring finches into captivity — and start to sort of box them in with a cage or aviary — things start to change a little bit. Sure, you can keep multiple finches inside of a single cage or enclosure but you have to be smart about how you go about it.

You need to be sure that you have exactly the right amount of finches in your enclosure but you also have to make sure that the mix of different types of finches is dialed in, too. Singular finches living alone are really going to struggle, especially from a mental health standpoint.

Their physical health will nosedive due to lack of socialization, too. An uneven amount of finches are also going to have a tough time getting along well with one another. The even number of birds will pair off and the singular finch left alone will suffer or fight with other birds, wreaking havoc across the board.

The trouble with just two pairs of birds is that finches can become territorial and start fighting over resources when they feel threatened. Two pairs of birds may start to find the other pair encroaching on their territory and then everything sort of falls apart. As a general rule, each pair of finches should have anywhere between 3 ft. Avian experts also recommend that finch cages also have at least 30 inches of length for each pair of birds that you are keeping.

Think about the special considerations you have to work with before you commit to getting larger flocks of finches that demand larger cages and aviaries. A finches cage bars need to be less than 0,6 of an inch wide, or you risk the danger of your birds escaping or getting stuck. The cage you are keeping your birds in has to be safe. Sharp-edges or toe-snagging hazards are all a no-go.

This even applies to the exterior door area of your cage as well, as if you decide to give your canary some free-flying time, they may choose to sit on the door or on top of your cage. Be sure to check any toys or pieces of equipment before putting them in the cage, these need to be safe as well. It is also important to remember that Canaries are the only finch that can be kept alone. If you plan on getting any other type of finch, you have to get at two, in cock-hen pairs.

Ideally you should have more birds. A lot of species are very territorial and will have a tendency to try and fight their way up the finch hierarchy. If you do plan on keeping more than a pair of birds, you will have to buy a much larger cage.

A larger cage enables the birds lower down in the hierarchy to find a safe cormer to hide in whilst the higher ranking birds flex their muscles.