Nest Box Question

[Misso]

Hi all.

Got an idea from the dvd At Home with Mike Fidler after seeing he puts a rubber foam insert into his nest boxes for his bengalese.

I was thinking of buying flat 5 -10 mm thick foam rubber to go on the bottom of the Gouldian nest boxes which will stop the chances of babies being hatched on just the wooden bottom of the nest box since i had a pair this yr who made the nest but the eggs were layed on hardly any nesting material and when a cold spell came the babies froze cause they wer'nt on any nesting material.

So if i had the rubber foam inserts on the bottom of the nest box and the parents did a crappy job building the nest il know that the babies would still be off the bottom of the nest box.

may save a clutch or too in the future plus may keep the nest box insulated alttle? not to sure

what do you guys think? any hazards i should be worried about ? has anyone had babies hatch where the parents built the bowl so far down in the nest the eggs were sitting on the bottom of the wooden box?

Jarryd

[regalado95]

This happen to me once, but I gave them a head start by putting the bottom bowl and after that I guess the male saw how it was done and now he is a good builder now he even makes a wall out of the nesting material with a little hole it looks so cool.

About the foam thing I'm not sure if it is a good idea, but if you want too try it you should and keeps us updated and see how things go. Good Luck!

If you would like to see the nest I could take a pic, but after they finish raising their first clutch

[Misso]

Hi Regalado

I too did put a foundation of Nesting material in the nest box and did make a bowl using my fist, the thing was the male or female kept making the bowl deeper and deeper till she layed the eggs on the bottom of the nest box, the rest of the nest was well made with a roof of nesting material over the entire nest.

Don't worry about the pic, i too have my gouldians build their extravagant nests, good luck with your clutch.

I won't know till next year if it helps or not but will let you know if i decide to trial it.

thanks for your imput.

Jarryd

[Page0044]

Hi Jarryd sounds like a good idea and will help with insulation to, let us know if you give it a go i would be interested to know

[gomer]

Never heard of that being done,But if Mike fidler does it,it would be worth a go.

[Mickp]

something like neoprene from an old wetsuit may be worth a try. my concern would be having any nasty little critters decide that the foam would be a nice place to live

[jusdeb]

would be concerned about nasties growing in the foam , may I suggest a layer of coconut fibre matting (like used in pot plants)least its natural and breaths.....and can be attached to the bottom of the nest with a staple gun if necessary.