Aussie Finch Forum

Hi all,

Apologies if this has been discussed before, but I have asked the google gods and searched the forum but couldn't find an answer.

I had a zebra finch go missing recently, assumed it was taken by a rat or snake despite the aviary being covered in 6mmx6mm mesh. Set some rat traps but nothing has shown up.

Was poking around in the aviary looking for clues and discovered a plump cane toad buried just under the surface.

Is it possible this toad is the culprit? The birds feed off the ground occasionally, I can imagine the toad ambushing one of them quite easy.

I won't rest easy until I work out what happened so to prevent any further losses. Just wondering if anyone can shed some light on this?

Thanks
Matt.

Cane toads and frogs will eat anything that fits in their mouth. A big cane toad will take out a finch without breaking a sweat. If you have cane toads in the aviary, get them all out now. Not only can they eat the small birds, if they sit in the water bowl, they release poison into the water and can wipe out everything in the aviary.

ok thankyou, that confirms it then. Much better to know who im dealing with.

What Rod said . .

Go to your aviary during heavy rain . . frogs/ toads will be out and about if they are in there

Also . . more so with large frogs . . they will defecate in water dishes on the ground overnight . .

Doesn't help you to find them, but does indicate that you need to look . .

You should also check for rats and mice. They sometimes come into the aviary from underground and can have small entrances to their tunnels that are barely noticeable. Rats will certainly take finches and young parrots at night, mice will take pinkies (baby finches without feathers).

thanks again for the advice. Will leave the rat traps out a little longer but looks like it was the toad. Glad to have found it. No more in there but will keep a vigilant eye out for them from from now on.