Aussie Finch Forum

Hi all,
I have 5 longtails in one aviary and 4 hecks in another. They have been there for about 2 years but have not bred. All other types have bred successfully in the same mixed aviairies- plumheads, cordons, cubans, gouldians, ruddies, bullies, stars, and so on. But not the longtails. Nests have been built, but not a single fledgling- I haven't even seen dead young kicked out. I don't know how old they are, they were bought at different times and pet shops from each other so aren't related.
Any ideas why? Suggestions to get them going? thanks

No suggestions to get them going . .

But one suggestion . . Get them going . . bush 'em . . send them back to the pet shop

You are breeding more difficult species, so it is not your husbandry . . I suggest that the problem lies with the birds . . 2 years is more than enough



And . . You will need the extra aviaries for the "Blue Star" project, anyway . .





Or . . They might have worms

Are you sure you have pairs?

Why send them back to the Pet Shop(per Arthur), if they are no good all you are doing is passing on your problem
to some unsuspecting person for the sake of a few dollars. It is not a good practice and it does nothing to
help our hobby.
Before anyone rushes off to dump worn out or poor birds think who is going to outlay good money in the
hope of breeding them.
As for the Long Tails etc. get them sexed you never know. Maybe they were dumped on to the pet shops
because they were odd cock birds

That can be the problem with petshops you dont know how old they were i the first place. You could on sell them and give the new buyer all the information you have and sell at a price they are now worth. Sometimes a new buyer may have better luck then yourself or be happy to take a punt with all the information. Or some people just are not interested in the breeding side of it but are happy to get birds at a discounted price.

Another thing I have found with some species they may breed some years well and others not so. This maynot be the case here, I have not breed them for many years. Some one who has them may comment if they are in this group that seem to be good one year or so and difficult the next ??

Or as said maybe its as simple as your pairing is out. Are they even prs ?

They are nice birds so I will hang on to them, I just thought there might be a little-known secret to get them breeding; but maybe they are all cock birds, it would be just my luck
Thanks everyone.

This maybe a long shot, a lot of longtails prefer to nest in a nest box or a hollow log. In the wild they fight for nest sites with gouldians for hollow logs.
Over the years i have found to incite certain species to breed is to supply emu feathers, some prs would use these as the only nesting material. Craig

Thanks again,
I'll try a couple of hollow log nests and have ordered some emulated feathers Worth a try!