Hi all Newbie interested in Gouldians

[erisksc]

Hi
I'm new to the site and to birds in general, i ised to maintain a larginsh avairy where i bred zebra finches and stubble quails.

But i'm interested in getting a small bird setup where i can keep a pair of Gouldians, and i was wondering what the minimum recommended cage size would be?

I don't have room for an aviary in my new house so i'm interested in keeping something that i can breed in a smalleish cage.

If gouldians are unsuitable what would be an interesting species i can breed in a small cage?

Thanks troopers!

[fischer]

Hi, and welcome to the forum ;D

Gouldians are quite suited to breeding in small cages, and breed freely in small cages, the minimum size cabinet style cage would be something like 3 feet long by 2 feet high by 1 foot deep, this would give one pair of birds ample room, you can make it larger if you like, it depends how much room you do have.

A suitable nesting box would be something the size of a budgie box, with fine nesting grass supplied, Gouldians are terrible nest makers, so put an amount of nesting material in the box, and with your fist make a hollow in it.

Hope this helps

[erisksc]

Thanks Fischer, i'll take 900x600x300 to be my minimum's.

What materials are suitable for building the cabinet from? Do Gouldians cause as much damage by chewing as parrots?
I was thinking of using melomine/form ply to build the box then just using wire mesh (10mm) for the face?

[AussieBirds]

Gouldians are not destructive at all they are a very placid bird and the material you suggest for the cage sounds OK to me. As far as the placement of the cages I would suggest a position that gets lots of sunlight and no drafty areas, Gouldians can be a little touchy and do require a little extra care, however thy can also give you a great deal of joy when they do breed and i don't think that any finch looks quite like them .....I love them.

John

[erisksc]

So the logical next question to ask is, are there any well know/reputable breeders on this forum or that you know of, from the Newcastle area.
I've found a few web pages and links but many of them are dead links or the pages haven't been updated since 2003.

They do sell them in most of the petshops here, but quality of housing is a definate issue, as many of the birds i've seen are missing clumps of feathers or appear to have scabby looking legs.

Could anyone suggest a weblink where i could get abetter idea of the different mutations and the price tags they carry?

If i keep them outside should they be covered through the night? There are a few cats in my area as well as Owls.
Can birds be sent by freight? Might be a silly question, but i keep reptiles and tropical fish as well, and these are frequently sent interstte by courier, what sort of costs would be associated with this?

[echucabirdies]

Hi
I recommend a cage size of about 70 cm high and 50 long and 45 wide Please note i presonally do not recommend wooden cages as they are dangrous only the other day one of my darling little canarys got a very bad injury for crashing in to the side of the wood i recommernd you make one out of non toxic wire and non galvinsed wire as that seem to seem to be the best to make the cages out of that is the safest in my mind and that is recommend to be the safest by my vet or buy one from a pet shop Please do not use hard dowels or tree braches as preaches they may the be best ands the natural branches may trim nail and beak they can be rather dangerous if one of your birds in fighting with another bird as if they hit in to a preache near the head near the eye this can cause a eye injury and normally they can involved a lot of blood and small bird such as gouldians and any other canaries and finchs do to have any blood to spare and in small bird like them these accidents can be fatel I have gouldians and bird can be frighted but the costs arnt cheap i dont think i charge $100.00 a pair male and female they are young goudians or old if wanted cost of a well sized travel cage and price of the birds and cost of the shipping I dont have any links but gouldians start $90.00 for a low class gouldian up to $170.00 for a high class i onyl sell high class guoldians Can you afford the cost of vet care is there avain vet in newcastle ? only avain vet can really help with treatment of birds and they are the best vet to go to can afford the cost of good brand goudlian/finch mix such as trill cuttlebone and crumbles vet care that is around about $45.00 can you afford the cost of wormout gel your bird need to wormjed every six months sorry if i am askign a few too many question but i feel that people new to bird must need to know how to take care of the birds right if you answer yes to all of the above then goludians are probally the birds for you