While finches do not live nearly as long as some larger breeds of birds, they still have a decent lifespan. Anticipate some veterinary care. Although finches are generally healthy birds, you will likely need to take them to a veterinarian from time to time. This will incur a financial cost, although the cost can vary widely based on the nature of the illness.
Signs of illness among finches include: remaining motionless with closed eyes, heavy breathing, nasal discharge, or puffed and ruffled feathers. Part 2. Nearly all species of finches have an attractive feather pattern, and are fun birds to watch. Finches will flit around their cage and put on appealing displays of flashy flying.
Although their chirps and twittering are relatively quiet, they can be chatty pets, which many bird owners find appealing.
Unlike other species of pet birds, finches do not need or enjoy much human interaction. If you anticipate having little time—or inclination—to interact with your pet birds, finches will make an ideal pet. If you want to adopt a pet bird that will enjoy interacting with you and need daily playtime, avoid purchasing a finch. Instead, consider adopting a breed of parrot, cockatiel, or parakeet, as these birds thrive with human interaction.
Adopt finches if you have older children. Finches are a good bird for beginner bird owners or children, as they are small, require relatively little care, and are fun to watch flit around their cage. Younger children may not have the maturity to care for pet yet. This is a good trait in animals who will be cared for primarily by children. Part 3. Accommodate a large cage for the birds.
Unlike other pet bird species, finches do not climb, and get all of their exercise from flying. Consequently, finches need to be kept in a large cage. A finch cage should measure at least 16 inches 41 cm tall, 16 inches 41 cm wide, and at least 30 inches 76 cm long.
Forcing multiple finches into too small of a cage will result in violent territorial battles between the birds. Give your finches toys and perches. Finches are active birds, and need toys and perches in their large cage in order to properly exercise and socialize. Cover a sunny window and lower the lights so that you can see but the finches cannot.
That way they will not be able to fly around as much and you should be able to catch them with more ease. Once you have caught the finch, you need to secure it in your hand.
One way to hold a finch is by making a somewhat firm but not-too-tight "fist" around the bird's body with your thumb and index finger secured around the bird's neck to where it cannot wriggle out of your grip.
Another option is to place the bird's head between your second and third fingers and letting the body rest in the palm of your hand. Be very gentle, however, because you do not want to squeeze too hard or place too much pressure on the sternum chest or abdomen, since otherwise the bird may not be able to breathe asphyxiate.
Use your free hand to perform medicating or toenail clipping, etc. Never hold sick finches up-side-down, as doing so may compromise their ability to breathe.
There are, of course, other ways to hold the finch with your hand that work equally well, but make sure that the bird is secure before you proceed with any clipping. Thank you Frank. I am interested in hand taming her, so this article is really helpful. Hello Frank, I am so thankful to have found you! I appreciate what your doing to help so many of us that have come to enjoy this bird hobby. I started breeding Zebra Finches with my Dad when I was a teenager.
My husband and I have started doing it again. We have one large flight cage and 1 small flight cage. I work with local pet store here in Missouri in exchange for supplies. It works out good. However, I noticed that the popularity of finches has declined since my dad and I did it. My problem that I have never experienced before is this. I have 1 male and 1 female pair in the smaller flight cage. They have been together at least six months and have an established nest which they have layed at lest 4 sets of eggs.
I have had to discard all of the eggs because my pet store was not in need of any more birds. Last week they layed 1 egg.
Yesterday I noticed the the Male taking nesting hair out of the nest and putting it into a feeding cup. This morning I woke to an egg in the feeding cup layed by the female.
Why are they doing this? I have never had a pair do this before. Thanks for any help you can give. Thanks for the kind words. When I was a child, even small local pets stores here in NYC stocked many species. Unfortunately, parrot ownership continues to grow, despite the fact that few owners are equipped to care for them properly. A new nest site or 2 placed into the cage may spark them to choose a better place than the food cup.
You might enjoy this on Zebra Finch natural histo ry link to Part I is in text. How you doing? I am planning to buy 2 light yellow canaries unsure of their gender , they are 3months old. My question is , is it still possible that I can tame them? Because the breeder told me that if I wanted to tame a canary , I should be getting a week old chick. Hoping for your reply Frank! Always easier with chicks of any species, but you can work with canaries that are older; in any event, hand-rearing chicks very difficult.
I am going to be adopting two baby zebra finches in the next week… they are only a few weeks old, and have been hand fed. I have a few questions. First, is it dangerous for them to have a large mirror in the room? If so, I will cover it when I let them out. I saw in earlier comments that it will be bad if there are two males together. Is there any way to tell the gender of them while they are only a few weeks old?
Also, if I get two males or two females, will I be able to tell them apart? I want to give them names and train them by name. Will I be able to train two finches at once? Sounds like a nice opportunity.. You cannot sex them when young, but 2 males should get along well as long as a female is not present. They vary greatly as to responses to people, but hand raised individuals should work out well if trained together,.
Thanks for letting me know. Enjoy, frank. I just got them this morning, and when I got them home and tried to give them water, they flew out of the cage! Should I keep trying to catch them or let them go into the cage to get food and water? Useful to have a butterfly net on hand in future, best, Frank. Our cat brought in a goldfinch and had damaged its wing.
I got hold of a small cage and placed perches all within hopping distance. Will give him a couple of weeks at least before offering him the chance of flight though. Thanks for the interesting post; unusual for them to calm down so quickly. A good sign.. And with that… I have a few questions about my own new pet zebra finches! Thanks to your advice, Frank, I was able to catch them when it got dark and get them back in the cage.
My first question is, does it traumatize the birds to be caught and put back in the cage? My second question is about a noise the finches are making.
When I first got them, they just made the normal beep-beep sound. If it helps, I can post a recording of the sound. Yes, it would be stressful if done regularly; best to wait until they settle in, perhaps get accustomed to you being near cage etc. Please see Part II of this article link may be missing from text?
Eventually you might try opening door for short periods, etc. They make a variety of sounds , which change as they breed, bicker over food, etc. Hi I am Amanda Shea Markin I have 2 Zebra finches are I do not know if they have been tame or not I got them at the pet store in Jackson TN they said if I had any qyuestions I could call them but I rather get other peoples advice first maybe they will not let me hold them Yet and I have been trying to get them out of there cage all morning I finally gave it a rest they have perches in there cage maybe I need to get the perches out and try it that way been also watching you tube Videos and they have helped some maybe you will have some advice they may just need some time to get use to us as well too like I said I just brought them home from the pet store yesterday I hope you can give me some good advive.
Read other posts by Frank Indiviglio. Frank Indiviglio. Next: Avian Medical Emergencies: Burns. Jason Painter April 26, at pm. Frank, I recently came into possesion of 3 young male Finches. Any help you could provide or pointers on what I should do would be greatly appreciated. Hello Jason, Frank Indiviglio here.
Please be in touch if you need any further information. Good luck and best regards, Frank Indiviglio. Raymond April 21, at am. Hello Frank I was wondering is it possible to use this method for multiple canaries in aviary… because i already got a 4 months old female canary, all she can do is hop onto my hand to eat.
Hello Raymond, Frank Indiviglio here. Best regards, Frank Indiviglio. Raymond May 6, at am. Raymond February 25, at pm. Hello Raymond Nice to hear from you again and glad to hear your news. Raymond February 26, at am. Thanks for the advice Frank, so I shall keep them next to each other… thing is, most if the time i see them busy looking at each other… How do i get them to pay more attention to me?
Hello Raymond Thanks, my pleasure. Abbie June 27, at am. Thanks again, Abbie. Hello Abbie, A great many color phases and patterns have been developed by breeders. Enjoy, and please let me know if you need further info, Frank. Abbie August 24, at am. Thank you, Abbie. Hi Abbie, Yes, provide a nest…. Enjoy and pl keep me posted, Frank. Hello Larry, Captive birds should not be released, even within their natural range; parasites and other micro-organisms that cause no harm to captives can be devastating to the same or other species in the wild.
Clo September 29, at pm. Hello, Thanks very much for your interest and for passing along your experiences. Anonymous September 29, at pm. Thanks, Jacobjdong. Hello, If the parents are not incubating the eggs, it would be best to discard them. Hello, The parents are incubating the eggs, but with the cotton on them. Thanks, jacobjdong. Hello, Probably best to assume that eggs will hatched if left. Anonymous September 30, at pm. Hello, I checked with Petco, and they have plenty of donated pets.
Please reply, Jacob.
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