Aussie Finch Forum

Received them on 5/3, started nesting 19/3, hatched 13/4 & fledged 24/4. Had a few anxious moments with them though - By 10/4 I thought they must have clear eggs so checked & they were fertile. On 16/4 a dead fledgling was thrown out presumably due to a big gap between oldest & youngest.

What was the main source of livefood, im guessing termites but cant recall if you breed maggots as well. How did the livefood intake compare with Blue Caps and melbas?

They had constant access to termites, drosophila & mealworms. When young hatched they got a mothtrap load of moths each morning plus extra very small mealworms & white freshly moulted mealies & pupae twice a day. Before they had young they would eat no more livefood than say a pair of Cordons with young, but after hatching they ate the equivalent of an aviary full of Melbas. Excellent learning experience & made much easier with regular advice from garymc. I know they had a good supply of protein but I still can't believe the rapid rate of development, fledging at 11 days old & today at 12 days flying quite well for fledglings if not a bit uncoordinated. Fantastic devoted parents - I'm hooked.

the growth rate is a shocker , how quick they fledge is a amazing compared to most of finches, I never fed termites but I did go through a lot of small crickets. Well done...pete

Now how hard was that? And you were reluctant to keep softbills.

Well done Tiaris, and thanks for sharing your experiences re growth rates & amounts of livefood eaten.
We wait for the next instalment....

Better shot of young one:

That was a great "next instalment"- thanks. Nice looking youngster!

Beautiful result. Congratulations.
LML