Aussie Finch Forum

My longtail and his companions ( two mannekin finches ) have taken to roosting at night in their seed dish, regardless of the fact i have put two cup nests in there for that purpose.
Every morning when i replenish their seed i notice their bums are crusty with dried poop where they have been dropping into their seed dish overnight. ( obviously they have never heard the expression of " Dont S*@$% in your own nest...... " )
Just wondering if i should be concerned this could lead to a health problem ? Its not like their vents are BLOCKED with dried poop, just crusty all around the area. Any ideas or opinions, anyone ?

Take the seed dish out overnight and make the place where they roost a water dish for a while, they might get the message after a few nights of wet bums! Might have a secondary effect to getting the crusty bums clean too.

That is a problem also some mornings they are perched over the water dish with wet bum feathers !!! They three of them tend to always stick together, the longtail squished between the two mannekins - i had thought of perhaps replacing both water and seed dishes with something far smaller so they cant all roost on it together ? This whole subject is me just wondering if this needs intervention or should i just leave them be ??

You could try taking out the water too Or maybe offer water in the sipper/ball valve type drinkers.

Have you had a lot of wet/damp weather? are they fluffed or wings dropped? more info on what they actually look like...longtails are one of many finches prone to scouring..

JEWEL wrote:My longtail and his companions ( two mannekin finches ) have taken to roosting at night in their seed dish, regardless of the fact i have put two cup nests in there for that purpose.

keeping in mind long tails are not cup nesters (and neither are bengos from what I know) so would be unlikely to roost in them. Perhaps add one of those cane finch baskets and a bit of nesting grass for him to roost in?

Jewel,Ive got the feeling these birds are in a cabinet and if they are they need some where to roost at night like a gouldian nest box with grass in it.Bengos do build a roosting nest even if not breeding,the longtail will just follow them to keep warm.
The box would need to be placed as high as possible so they feel secure. Craig

Nope, not in a cabinet , they are in a flight cage; and they are most definately sleeping on the rim of their seed dish each night. They camp there at dusk and are still there in the morning. Their droppings are normal, not sloppy - all three of them are in good health.
The feathers around their vents are crusty of a morning because they perch on the rim of the seed dish each night and poop into their seed overnight obviously without moving away from it afterwards. Each morning i have little stalagmite piles of poop in their seed that i have to remove. I just wanted to ask if this may be a health problem in the long term. I dont want to make it into a problem if it isnt one. I am still new to this finch game, so if its just a harmless quirk then i will leave them be.

Jayburd wrote:

JEWEL wrote:My longtail and his companions ( two mannekin finches ) have taken to roosting at night in their seed dish, regardless of the fact i have put two cup nests in there for that purpose.

keeping in mind long tails are not cup nesters (and neither are bengos from what I know) so would be unlikely to roost in them. Perhaps add one of those cane finch baskets and a bit of nesting grass for him to roost in?

Thats fine Jewel but we have said to place a NEST BOX in the cage as those type of birds don't like canary nest pans and like full covered nests like a gouldian nest box,and if they use it you will have to clean the poop out of it and not your seed dish.
There is nothing wrong with your birds,they just need some where decent to sleep. Craig

Cool, will toss the cup nests and get a small box nest then. Thank You !!