Anyone with Finch experience?

reeb · Apr 1, 2018

Hi everyone,

My boyfriend absolutely adores my birds, but lacks the time and resources to have a parrot of his own. He works on weekdays, and also lives in an apartment block. He still needs to check what animals are allowed (there are a few people with cats and dogs so we'll just have to see). He's expressed interest in getting birds of his own, but his schedule does not suit having a parrot, so I recommended looking at finches as a possible option. I love the little noises they make, their cute personalities, and I really think they would be well-suited to his lifestyle.

Now, while I do have some knowledge about finches, I'm not the most clued up. I know they should be kept in pairs or flocks and never alone. I also know that they require length rather than height in their cages because they are very flighty and active, and I have a little bit of knowledge about diets, but not enough.

So, I just wanted to ask a few questions for any finch lovers out there:

1) How would you rate their noise levels on a scale of 1-10?
2) Which species do you recommend for a first-time finch owner?
3) Cage size (most likely for 2-4 birds)? I always say the bigger the better.
4) Cage accessories?
5) Diet? My parrots eat a premium seed and pellet blend and fresh foods, and the brand of seed/pellets that they eat is available for finches too, so we will probably look at that. What fresh foods are they typically given?
6) Keeping males with males, females with females or males with females? I know female budgies don't usually get along, so I am wondering what the gender dynamics are with finches, i.e. can we keep two females together, or two males together, so to avoid any hormonal behaviours?

I think that's all for now. If I think of anything else I'll be sure to add more questions below.

Thanks!

SilverSage · Apr 1, 2018

reeb said:
Hi everyone,

My boyfriend absolutely adores my birds, but lacks the time and resources to have a parrot of his own. He works on weekdays, and also lives in an apartment block. He still needs to check what animals are allowed (there are a few people with cats and dogs so we'll just have to see). He's expressed interest in getting birds of his own, but his schedule does not suit having a parrot, so I recommended looking at finches as a possible option. I love the little noises they make, their cute personalities, and I really think they would be well-suited to his lifestyle.

Now, while I do have some knowledge about finches, I'm not the most clued up. I know they should be kept in pairs or flocks and never alone. I also know that they require length rather than height in their cages because they are very flighty and active, and I have a little bit of knowledge about diets, but not enough.

So, I just wanted to ask a few questions for any finch lovers out there:

1) How would you rate their noise levels on a scale of 1-10?

2) Which species do you recommend for a first-time finch owner?

3) Cage size (most likely for 2-4 birds)? I always say the bigger the better.

4) Cage accessories?

5) Diet? My parrots eat a premium seed and pellet blend and fresh foods, and the brand of seed/pellets that they eat is available for finches too, so we will probably look at that. What fresh foods are they typically given?

6) Keeping males with males, females with females or males with females? I know female budgies don't usually get along, so I am wondering what the gender dynamics are with finches, i.e. can we keep two females together, or two males together, so to avoid any hormonal behaviours?

I think that's all for now. If I think of anything else I'll be sure to add more questions below.

Thanks!

I’ve had zebra finches in the past, but I prefer society finches. The societies are much nicer to each other! They are hard to sex but they can be kept in odd numbers and don’t mind third wheels. For example I had 4, the senior one died, and Pattern and Cheery-Cheery paired off. They are still sweet to Finch-Nimi, the third wheel.

1) noise? Umm... you can sleep through it easily. The wing beats of my societies are about the same volume as their calls lol. The zebras are slightly louder but still much less than a budgie.

2)I really love the societies and they are very pretty and inexpensive and you don’t have to worry about aggression.

3)the bigger the better but be SURE the bar spacing is small enough! Mine are in a 32x12x12 right now while I work on their bigger cage.

4)lots of sticks, a place to bathe, and a nest. I like the open top nests because they don’t seem to nest in them, just sleep. Oh and the society finches all pile into the same nest to sleep
And it is adorable.

5) seeds, sprouts, salads. And pellets if they will take them.

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GaleriaGila · Apr 1, 2018

What Sage said!

The Zebras are sexually dimorphic, if you are wanting to avoid pairs and babies and all that, but Societies are awfully sweet and cute.

Canaries are wonderful, but some of the males' songs are LOUD!

I think finch-keeping is a really good idea for somebody who wants birds in their lives but doesn't have resources/time for parrots.

Terry57 · Apr 1, 2018

We have 2 large flights of finches. I absolutely love Zebras, and one whole flight is Zebras and 1 Java. All our Zebras who are together are males and they have little spats, but generally get along really well. Our other flight has Society, Owl, Lady Gouldians, Bourke's Parakeets, Cut Throat & 1 female Zebra.

This is a good cage for just a few finches:

https://www.amazon.com/Prevue-Products-Wrought-F040-31-Inch/dp/B00176F5L0/ref=sr_1_6?s=pet-supplies&ie=UTF8&qid=1522625614&sr=1-6&keywords=flight+cage

Their cages have multiple perches in different diameters, a couple of branches from our lilac, several swings and some greenery. They love to take a bath and we use a glass pie plate that is always available during the day.

My finches all eat the same veggies & fruit that the big guys eat, just diced very fine. They also love a a few leaves of kale stuck in their cage. They eat a seed mis of finch, canary & budgie mixed with Zupreem pellets.

I find them to be quiet, but we did have 2 Gouldians given to us because their owner said they woke them up in the morning.

Here is a picture of our flight when we were still getting it set up:

I love finches, they are so fascinating to watch! They sound like a great fit for your boyfriend.

FlyBirdiesFly · Apr 1, 2018

I’ve never owned a finch, but I think they’re very pretty and I love their fluttery movements. My favorites are the Gouldians. The cage Terry gave a link to is the one I use for Ducky

I agree that keeping finches is a great way to get involved in owning birds if you don’t have the time or money for a parrot.

reeb · Apr 2, 2018

Gosh all these lovely comments make ME want to get little finches!!

Thank you, everyone!

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RavensGryf · Apr 2, 2018

It’s been many years since I had finches. It was a Lady Gouldian Finch I saw at a pet store (when I went in to get fish food) that started me with birds. Prior to seeing that one male who I named Adam, I had never seen a Gouldian, and was taken aback by hos breathtaking beauty. I HAD TO have him. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gouldian_finch

This was the 90’s before internet. Soon I had a lot of exotic finches and learned the hard way. Most “exotic” species back then were wild caught and too wild and spastic to keep in cages. I had to rehome most of them back to the store or to people with an aviary. I lost a lot of money.

The Lady Gouldians were a very calm species and not afraid of humans, so I was able to keep 5-6 in a good sized oak framed flight cage. Although I’m sure they’d have appreciated an aviary, they did well in the cage. They were quiet except when singing a hard to describe noise but it’s low volume, and gorgeous. They’re undemanding and easy. IMO, a good finch for people without finch keeping experience. They’re a great option besides the other readily available finches, and super colorful, if you don’t mind paying a bit more than the zebra, society, or spice.

I don’t remember details of the diet, but it was seed based. I think there was egg food, petamine, basically what was available back then.

The Gouldians were all males. They’re such an easy going species that they all got along. They even slept all bunched up to each other in a row. It was adorable.

The other non-aggressive species that did well in a cage, even with the Gouldians were Blue Capped (cordon bleu), and Shafttail.

They were fun to watch, and beautiful (and cute). I don’t miss the poop spackled all over the walls though.

Terry has a really nice finch set up

.

Terry57 · Apr 2, 2018

Thank you, Julie

Good point about the poop...they are messy little guys, and also like to throw their seed husks everywhere.

66corvair · Apr 18, 2018

Terry57 said:
We have 2 large flights of finches. I absolutely love Zebras, and one whole flight is Zebras and 1 Java. All our Zebras who are together are males and they have little spats, but generally get along really well. Our other flight has Society, Owl, Lady Gouldians, Bourke's Parakeets, Cut Throat & 1 female Zebra.

This is a good cage for just a few finches:

https://www.amazon.com/Prevue-Produ...F8&qid=1522625614&sr=1-6&keywords=flight+cage

Hey Terry, I have a question regarding the cages. I recently upgraded my GCC's cage and have a smaller cage laying around.

This is the cage I own; http://a.co/1TGM8jm
This is the cage I had been contemplating; http://a.co/2lxWdTy

Your recommended cage is actually the one I upgraded my GCC to. My question, is my older cage is a 26x14 footprint, whereas your recommended cage is 31x20.5, and the smaller one I am contemplating about is a 30x18, but is a lot less taller.

Do finches want a wider/longer cage or a taller one? Will they be okay with the smaller (but taller) cage I have now? Thank you in advance for your help, I really appreciate it.

UlyBirb · Apr 18, 2018

Let me give you another perspective, reeb!

1) How would you rate their noise levels on a scale of 1-10?
For my zebra finches, bout a 7. Not loud, but man, they never shut up. I have to move my little flock into a different room at night because they all get going at 6 and it's difficult to sleep through. They have adorable little squeaky-toy voices, but they're very chatty. All day.

2) Which species do you recommend for a first-time finch owner?
Zebras are the only kind I've ever had, but they're incredible easy so far!

3) Cage size (most likely for 2-4 birds)? I always say the bigger the better.
A flight cage would be ideal. Even so, they are happy and fine as long as they have at least 2feet x2feet to stretch their wings. They're incredibly active little things.

4) Cage accessories?
I've found mine aren't huge users of toys- if you have a male/female pair, which I now don't recommend, DO NOT use toys with strings/that they can shred. If they don't have a nest it gets them frustrated. They like a place to bathe, and a cuttlebone/ all that normal stuff is good for them as well. If you have a male/female pair I wouldn't give them a nest on the off chance they lay live eggs, unless you want babies.

5) Diet? My parrots eat a premium seed and pellet blend and fresh foods, and the brand of seed/pellets that they eat is available for finches too, so we will probably look at that. What fresh foods are they typically given?
I give them nearly everything I give my lovebird. Fresh greens and fruit. All of my birds are on Roudybush pellets with a few seeds mixed in for the finches.

6) Keeping males with males, females with females or males with females? I know female budgies don't usually get along, so I am wondering what the gender dynamics are with finches, i.e. can we keep two females together, or two males together, so to avoid any hormonal behaviours?
If I could redo it over again I'd have only females. My dominant pair right now won't stop laying eggs and get territorial about their "nest" (in one case, a food bowl- since I didn't provide them an actual nest as I didn't want babies.) There are also some weird dynamics going on right now between both pairs. I have been told by breeders that 2 females get along just fine.

Terry57 · Apr 18, 2018

66corvair said:
Hey Terry, I have a question regarding the cages. I recently upgraded my GCC's cage and have a smaller cage laying around.

This is the cage I own; http://a.co/1TGM8jm
This is the cage I had been contemplating; http://a.co/2lxWdTy

Your recommended cage is actually the one I upgraded my GCC to. My question, is my older cage is a 26x14 footprint, whereas your recommended cage is 31x20.5, and the smaller one I am contemplating about is a 30x18, but is a lot less taller.

Do finches want a wider/longer cage or a taller one? Will they be okay with the smaller (but taller) cage I have now? Thank you in advance for your help, I really appreciate it.

How many finches? They really enjoy a wider space so they can fly back and forth. I have a friend who has the cage you are contemplating with a couple of finches in it, and they seem to be happy. If you can go wider, I would do that as they can never have too much space

66corvair · Apr 19, 2018

Terry57 said:
How many finches? They really enjoy a wider space so they can fly back and forth. I have a friend who has the cage you are contemplating with a couple of finches in it, and they seem to be happy. If you can go wider, I would do that as they can never have too much space

I was thinking approximately 3-4, ideally a pair of gouldian finches with maybe some society, or, barring that, do all zebras.

chris-md · Apr 19, 2018

reeb said:
Gosh all these lovely comments make ME want to get little finches!!

Thank you, everyone!

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I’ve had the same reaction, unfortunately!

Terry57 · Apr 19, 2018

66corvair said:
Terry57 said:

How many finches? They really enjoy a wider space so they can fly back and forth. I have a friend who has the cage you are contemplating with a couple of finches in it, and they seem to be happy. If you can go wider, I would do that as they can never have too much space

Click to expand...

I was thinking approximately 3-4, ideally a pair of gouldian finches with maybe some society, or, barring that, do all zebras.

I would go for a flight cage with 3-4 finches. I would do 4, otherwise someone may be left out and finches are very social.

66corvair · Apr 19, 2018

Terry57 said:
66corvair said:

Terry57 said:

How many finches? They really enjoy a wider space so they can fly back and forth. I have a friend who has the cage you are contemplating with a couple of finches in it, and they seem to be happy. If you can go wider, I would do that as they can never have too much space

Click to expand...

I was thinking approximately 3-4, ideally a pair of gouldian finches with maybe some society, or, barring that, do all zebras.

Click to expand...

I would go for a flight cage with 3-4 finches. I would do 4, otherwise someone may be left out and finches are very social.

So the cage I have with the smaller footprint won't work out for that level of finches? I should get the shorter, but wider one on amazon for the group of four?

Anyone with Finch experience?

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