My Other Hobby

[n3ont3tra]

That's so pretty! At my lps, there was one kind of finch that was like $175 a bird. They have these too:

My cockatiel was $175 from a breeder.
I love your finches, though. They are always so active when I see them in pet stores.

 

[mrssittingduck]

hehe great looking bird omen

and my hand reared teils sell for between 45 and 100 pound depending on color

only ones i ever give away are for the auction hehe

hows the chicks coming on you were hand rearing ??

katie

 

[finchfarm]

I love Zebra finches. I have three Zebras as well as a Silverbill and three Orange Cheeks.

 

[omen666]

My Finches are a big enjoyment for me, especially since this new mutation has been produced.

Those are Gouldian Finches in the photo with the Bright red and yellow.

Katie I did not know you were on here as well LOL

The bird market in America is a BIG business and they go for a whole lot more than they do here in the UK!

 

[lljdma06]

I kid you not! They're expensive out here. The other colors are slightly cheaper (around $30 to $40 each), but the cordon bleu were $70 a pop

I guess it's because they're quite common on your side, but not so much on my side of the pond

Everything is expensive in CA! In Miami, their like $8 each. I think we have a very small established population here as well, in addition to the common mynahs, parakeets, macaws, amazons, and other delightful species. It's really quite sad, 1/2 the time when I look out of my window, I'm not seeing a native Floridian species, but that's the topic of another thread.

Your birds are lovely, Omen666. I keep a pair of zebras myself. The natural variety. They do breed like mad, but my male has a disability (lost his foot to an accident) and he can't fertilize the eggs, so no babies for me. I'm not crying, however, as I don't think I want to deal with screaming baby birds right now.

I also have an Indian spice finch, again super cheap here in Miami, FL. I'd love to eventually have a small aviary with finches of assorted varieties. Keep me posted on that orange color morph, should turn out stunning if you can get it to breed true.

Neat stuff!

 

[omen666]

Oh he will breed true....I have a whole flock , 18 pairs of orange breasted. They will Produce only Orange breasted chicks if I keep the lines pure from here on out. I have him a nice little OB hen and I am pairing up some other I have in the aviary. This is another of my males.

I have about 6 males like him.

Here are some other orange breasted combinations that I have too.

And I also have one olympic Ski Jumper...

 

[cane76]

some great pic there

 

[omen666]

My first chick of 2007

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

Cute birds .

If someone wanted to keep finches who hadn't kept them before, what would you personally recommend when it comes to the size of the cage and the number of birds kept?

 

[omen666]

Well in my opinion bigger is always better. I like for my birds to have plenty of room so a nice big spacey cage would be nice for them. If you can't have a big cage then go and buy a set up especially for finches.

It depends whether or not you want to breed them. You should know that zebra finches will breed easily and 2 will become 8 or 9 rather quickly.

I would start with a pair and see how it goes and then if you want more later on you can get them. Breeding pairs will squabble and fight if there is not enough room for them.
I hope this helps some , feel free to ask me anything and If I am able to I will reply

 

[WildernessLofts]

My cockatiel was $175 from a breeder.

That's just insane. I don't even sell my albinos (lutino whiteface) for that much! I can guarantee mine are tamer than most breeders, anyway. Most, but not all, of course.

If someone wanted to keep finches who hadn't kept them before, what would you personally recommend when it comes to the size of the cage and the number of birds kept?

I had mine in a 4'x4' cage. I had silvers, fawns, and normals. That is...until my grandma left the cage door open...

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

Well in my opinion bigger is always better. I like for my birds to have plenty of room so a nice big spacey cage would be nice for them. If you can't have a big cage then go and buy a set up especially for finches.

It depends whether or not you want to breed them. You should know that zebra finches will breed easily and 2 will become 8 or 9 rather quickly.

I would start with a pair and see how it goes and then if you want more later on you can get them. Breeding pairs will squabble and fight if there is not enough room for them.
I hope this helps some , feel free to ask me anything and If I am able to I will reply

Do the finches do ok in all-male or all-female groups though? Or do they do best in mixed gender groups? What would you personally advise as a minimum size cage for a pair or trio of finches? Is a long but not very high cage better than a tall but not very wide cage or vice versa?

 

[WildernessLofts]

Well in my opinion bigger is always better. I like for my birds to have plenty of room so a nice big spacey cage would be nice for them. If you can't have a big cage then go and buy a set up especially for finches.

It depends whether or not you want to breed them. You should know that zebra finches will breed easily and 2 will become 8 or 9 rather quickly.

I would start with a pair and see how it goes and then if you want more later on you can get them. Breeding pairs will squabble and fight if there is not enough room for them.
I hope this helps some , feel free to ask me anything and If I am able to I will reply

Do the finches do ok in all-male or all-female groups though? Or do they do best in mixed gender groups? What would you personally advise as a minimum size cage for a pair or trio of finches? Is a long but not very high cage better than a tall but not very wide cage or vice versa?

With birds, width is more important than height. I'd probably keep a pair (not a trio, they pair up) in an 18" x 18" minimum. However, a lot of people would say even smaller. I like my birds to have space. I'd, personally, keep them in even bigger cages. I've never tried same sex groups, though, so I can't help you out, there. Maybe the other person will be able to answer that question.

 

[omen666]

I had a pair in a 36x18x12 thats about the smallest I would keep mine in because Like I said I like mine to have plenty of room. But this is a personal preference. I now keep Mine outside in an aviary with on octagonal shaped flight with a 6x4 foot shed which is insulated and water proofed, and also heated.

But mine are spoiled. I would not recommend trio's because they will fight. I had 2 females in with a male and the one female nearly killed her when she wanted to nest. I do mean she almost killed her she was torn to shreads. I managed to save her but barely. If you want expert advice I can give a link to a bird forum that I am a member of that will help you with anything you want. Send me a pm with your email and I will email it because I do not think we can post other links here.

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

I had a pair in a 36x18x12 thats about the smallest I would keep mine in because Like I said I like mine to have plenty of room. But this is a personal preference. I now keep Mine outside in an aviary with on octagonal shaped flight with a 6x4 foot shed which is insulated and water proofed, and also heated.

But mine are spoiled. I would not recommend trio's because they will fight. I had 2 females in with a male and the one female nearly killed her when she wanted to nest. I do mean she almost killed her she was torn to shreads. I managed to save her but barely. If you want expert advice I can give a link to a bird forum that I am a member of that will help you with anything you want. Send me a pm with your email and I will email it because I do not think we can post other links here.

No its fine to post links to other forums if they contain good and well written information that is unlikely to be found on this forum, so i think a bird forum should be fine .

Finches are just something that i'm lightly considering...I've always like birds since i was a kid and would love to have some finches, but i was speaking to me fiance about having pet birds the other day and he raised two points that i kinda agreed with;
a. It just seems such a shame to cage birds which like to fly a lot. I know its not really different from fish, but i just think its kinda a shame to cage birds unless they have a large aviary like yours to live in (which i would not be able to have, too large).
b. My fiance said he knew a guy who kept a lot of birds and that he and him tried to watch tv one day but couldn't as the birds were constantly tweeting away. I dunno if people get this problem with zebra finches, but i wouldn't want to not be able to watch tv in peace?