Videos of my finches

[jusdeb]

This subject has come up a couple of times and still you youngins buy birds before you have the correct equipment for quaranteen /transition .
With all the cash you kids seem to have these days there is no excuse for not having the correct cages for new birds. Birds welfare comes first and foremost .

[Nathan Morleyy]

Deb,
I don't have heaps of cash I don't have enough money at the moment to buy a new quarantine cage I will have to save up.


Thanks Nathan

[Diane]

I agree wholeheartedly with the above observations and the suggestions regarding the correct cages to purchase in the future.

However, as these cages have already been bought I have a couple of suggestions for you.

Notice on the video when you try to get closer to the cage to video them, the increase in the birds movement, they are extremely stressed, frantically trying to escape from, in their opinion, a large predator coming in from above who is getting closer and closer. Banging and crashing around a cage like this could cause heads to get stuck and broken legs and wings, not to mention death by stress.

My first suggestion is to keep the cage at head height.

Then the very least you could do is get some old towels/sheets and drape these over the top back and sides, while not ideal, it will give the finches some sense of security and protect them from drafts too. This would mean the birds only have one area to watch for danger, if you were a finch this would be considered a plus.

Another more permanent suggestion would be to make a cabinet for this cage to go into. A wooden top, bottom, back and sides, slide the cage in. Even hardboard is better than nothing at all.

Most important, regardless of how good the cage/cabinet/aviary is, the birds need their space, this is a new environment to them all and apart from the stress of bringing them home, finding the food and water, a safe, draft free area to roost, the birds are trying to work out their new pecking order, so less in a cage is far better.

[Nathan Morleyy]

Blue butterfly,
How much does it cost to buy a breeding cabinet to quarantine them in?.

Thanks Nathan

[Diane]

No idea Im afraid, I had my cabinets built for me
The only cages Ive bought that could be considered as breeding cages were originally $55 each but reduced to $30 each. Size is 600 x 410 x 410
I bought two and joined them together as I didn't think they were big enough for a pair of birds while breeding. So that the birds don't lose any space I attach the nest box to the outside.

Bargaincage001.jpg

These cabinets in this topic below are the ones I had built, made from the same type of coated wood as kitchens are made from, very easy to clean. Although I can divide each one into three small areas I only do this when cleaning them. I only ever have one breeding pair to one complete length. I think they cost about $200 to build from scratch, including nails, screws, glue, cage fronts, wood and paint.
If I was making them over again I would make them taller and deeper and make them with a lighter/thinner wood. Would still only have one pair per cabinet though.
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[E Orix]

Is there anyone going through from south of Albury to Sydney if so can you contact me.
I have a cage for Nathan and a couple of other things.