new breeding cage

[phear]

hi im making a couple of breeding cages they are 900cm wide 400cm high and 450cm deep ill be keeping stars in 1 and the other 1 will have red painted emblema's just wondering how many of each i can keep in each cage?

ill post pics in next couple of days when finished. just got some more painting to do and put a front on it.

thanks jamie

[GregH]

Hi Jamie. I don't use breeding cages so you may get better advice from those that do but I wouldn't put more than a single pair of Stars & Painteds in each cage at the size you mention. Finches like most animals have a personal zone and a dominace heirachy within their groups and forcing them to live in too close proximity increases competition for resources that lead to stress whichshortens lives, depresses reproductive efforts and skews the sex ratio of the young towards male. Even with zebras you'd get better reslts from a single pair than with two. Society finches as the name suggests are a little more sociable and easy going so you could try two pair.

[jusdeb]

One pair in each cage will keep them happy , you couls also use natural perches and give them fresh branches regularly just as a means of keeping them entertained and to keep feet in good health. The only thing I have noticed when using ca binets for birds is that the nails seem to grow faster than my birds in the aviary , I dont know why for sure I can only guess its lack of perch size variety.
Also as most finches like to hang around at ground level keeping the floor spotless is essential. Keep the perches clean too.
Smaller cages mean more work but if you keep up with it you will have no problems.
Be aware too that they get enough sun and fresh air . Thats about it from my experience with breeding cages .

[Mickp]

if your plan is to breed the birds, which I assume it is, then as Gregh & jusdeb have said only one pair per cage.
my reason is that if they do breed successfully then you will suddenly find yourself with an extra 2 to 6 birds in the cage.
with cage breeding you will need to remove any fledglings as soon as they are self sufficient

[wilsta]

cm or do you mean mm? 900cm is fairly large

[jusdeb]

900 cm = just shy of 1 metre or approx 3 foot, good size for flight between perches ....is that right ?

[Mickp]

900cm = 9m, good size for an aviary. or an indoor cage if you happen to own a hollywood mansion

[jusdeb]

crap

[jusdeb]

back to school for me

[GregH]

Oops!!!!!!!!!!!!! Funny how we read what we expect to see and not what's there. "900cm wide 400cm high and 450cm deep" = 9m X 4m X4.5m = 162m3 as Deb pointed out. Back to school for everyone. Depending on the configuration of the nesting areas I reckon you could have 40-45 pairs of birds! I'd rather go for a lower density though (maybe 10 pr each of each Stars and Painteds and you'll be set for some serious breeding). Both species prefer to build their own nests in brush or in plants within the aviary so there may be a bit of competition for nest sites and live food when they are rearing.