Aussie Finch Forum

I just purchased my first pair of Jacarini's and was disappointed to discover after almost a week that they are both in pretty poor feather condition. I use the word "discovered" because these guys are so ridiculously jumpy in the converted wardrobe cage i used for quarantine, that it literally took me catching them to actually notice. the cock has a fair bit of feather loss on the back of the head as does the female.

I'm not feeling very optimistic as i've only had a bald head grow back once or twice and had quite a few birds stay bald permanently.


i'm putting Vetafarm Multivet in the water as logic would say that would help, but my question is: does anyone have any tips for encouraging feather growth?

tlj,stress is most likely the problem and being in this small cage would not be helping. These birds are very secretive and usually hard to see in an aviary and hide in the brush,especially if you are trying to catch them. Imo,let them go in your aviary and in a couple of weeks they should be fine if you ever see them. Craig

thanks craig,

thats actually why i was catching them. i couldn't stand watching them bounce back and forth in the small avairy, so as much as i like to play it safe and quarantine, it was into a holding cage with some other birds in the yard for a bit more space.

interesting birds: iv'e always been fascinated with the fact that, with exception of the siskins, the south american "finches" are actually all tanagers in disguise. And there is something distinctly un-finch-like about them, the hens remind me of minature weavers and there are definite similarities with their relatives the red crested finches.

Agree, them and cubans are different again. Cubans build a bottle nest whereas jacarini's build a cup shaped nest but somewhere down the line they are related. Craig