Aussie Finch Forum

Wondering if I should get gouldians I've read their easy to care for.
What are your opinions?
Ps. I really love their colours
Mike

Gouldians are a great second step from zebbies, beautiful, easy to cater for. Just keep the cold and wind protection up.
No live food necessary, they'll breed on soaked seed and greens.
Nst boxes, no need for brush.
Very easy going and excellent colony species

i wouldnt say they are easy to care for at all, i'd say they are more of a specialist bird that needs some prior knowledge before buying them. once you know the basics then it becomes a little easier. ive been keeping them for about 18 months and even i still ask questions that are relitivly basic. research them first is my honist opinion and save yourself a fortune they are fantastic birds though, i wouldnt be without them now

Thanks I've also also read that they can be housed with other species happily, like the double bar, what other species can you house them with?
Cheers

Mine are with all the species in my signature, as well as a lot of other species ( double bars, orange breasts, ruddies, etc. etc.) no problems at all. They're not aggressive in any way towards my other birds

DB's are hard to sex if not familar to sexing them and sometimes can not be the easiest of finches to breed.There quite small compared to Goulds.There attractive and peaceful.

Thanks Jay Might house them with ruddies

Make sure you give them plenty of soaked seed then - they both like it

Jay has given some good points but I would have to disagree a bit with some points. Yes their diet is quite easy to please but some are not very good at trying new foods so it may take some time for them to get used to it. Great in colonies well some can be and others are aggressive, 1 male gouldian drove away a pair of canaries from food as well as their nest due to him building one close by so there are nasty individuals. When looking at housing your gouldians try and buy from a breeder if you can, this will give you a good heads up at what housing the previous owner had them in because gouldians can be tough with weather and some not so tough, this can help you determine if your housing is suitable or not but as jay said they aren't the best with cold winds blowing on them.

ive kept sthelena's, owl finches, star finches and shaft tails with my goulds and not once have i ever seen any problems. if problems arise its normally because its breeding season for the bird thats causing the problems. gouldians can be mischievous when they want to be and they can fight to the death. personally ive always found red head gouldians the most dominant of all gouldians but others may have different opinions. dominant goulds usually end up being good breeders and produce good strong offspring. avoid the over agressive types though.