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Post by jimstreet on Dec 4, 2012 19:42:53 GMT 10
Hi there I just found this site. A mate was getting rid of an aviary that was at a house he bought so I grabbed it. I added some 'habitat' and yesterday added 8 zebras. I had no idea what I was doing and I bought them from a pet shop so I hope they're ok.   |
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Post by avinet on Dec 4, 2012 20:34:52 GMT 10
Hi and welcome to the Forum.
Looks like a nice setup for some Zebras, they will enjoy the plants. Before you know it they will be breeding and you will have baby Zebras. In the photo it looks like three males and one female - the males have the red beak and the females an orange beak.
Give them a good quality finch seed mix and some chopped up vegies every day. Those Zebras will normally eat include celery leaves (not stalks though), bok choy and other Chinese leafy greens, English spinach, endive and kale. Also a bit of grated carrot, and some corn kernals. Make sure there is some calcium grit in the aviary as well. Seed alone doesn't provide the rang eof vitamins that they need so the fresh food will help make a balanced diet.
To help them nest you should be able to buy cane nesting baskets at the pet shop - just the open cup shaped ones are OK, and provide them with dried grass leaves a few cms long and some feathers (again the pet shop should have some) to line the nest with.
Look forward to reports on their progress,
cheers,
Mike
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Post by jimstreet on Dec 4, 2012 20:47:48 GMT 10
Thanks for the welcome Mike. I hope 3 of the 4 not in the picture are females, otherwise the female will be busy  Thanks for the tip on the fresh food. I bought some 'finch mix' seed and a bag of the Vetafarm finch crumble. I'll try and grow some seed as mentioned in other posts. I have a nature reserve across the road so I have a ready supply of grasses and brush for them. Do you just add the grit to the seed or do you have a separate feeder? I currently have the 'D' shape feeders but I am looking for a better option. Only having one big door is a bit of an issue so I am looking for a food/water option where I don't have to open the door. I plan to get some of the cane nesting baskets next week. I thought I'd let them get used to the aviary before I let them get down to business. The aviary is 1mx1mx2m, how many pairs should I keep in there? Do you think I could add a whistling canary? |
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Post by avinet on Dec 4, 2012 21:33:35 GMT 10
I hope 3 of the 4 not in the picture are females, otherwise the female will be busy Look at the beaks - the red v orange is a good guide as well as the male's cheek patch. If you have odd numbers Zebras don't seem to get too many problems like some species can Crumbles are excellent to give them - to some extent they remove the need for fresh vegies. Seed, crumbles and fresh grasses, both home grown and collected - will see them on a healthy diet. I always give it separately. Just a dish on the ground is OK. I did notice the door, and finches can be very quick about flying out of a door like that. One option is to have a drop down screen - maybe an old sheet that will cover the door when you open it to deter them from trying to fly out. There are revolving bird feeders that may be the solution for you - www.ruralfencingsupplies.com.au/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=88_314 Searching for revolving bird feeder on Ebay also brings up sellers. They involve cutting out part of the aviary wire and bolting two plates together through the wire - one plate as the revolving part with the feeder dishes hinged on it so it is easy to change water and food. I also found it easy to place "D" cup style feeders hooked to the wire either side of the main revolving feeder with additional foods in them. Since you have the finches already in the aviary you would either have to catch them up while doing the fitting,or hang a towel over the mesh on the inside of the aviary while you cut the wire and install the feeder from the outside. I have always worked on the principle of one pair of finches to one cubic metre of volume - so your aviary has 2 cubic metres volume meaning 2 pairs. however Zebras are especially good flock birds so you will be OK with 4 pairs. One whistling canary may be OK - they do need separate canary seed though - although I have sometimes had problems with a canary male attacking other finches. In fact I have a pair in a big aviary all to themselves - 7 cubic metres all to themselves!! And all because he took exception to a Cuban finch and would have killed it without separation. At least they have 4 eggs now - hopefully they will produce 4 babies any day now. cheers, Mike |
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Post by jimstreet on Dec 4, 2012 21:45:16 GMT 10
Thanks again Mike, I have an old curtain I use as a drop sheet I can use to cover the door. Any particular grit? I was planning to buy a 20Kg bag of the Avigrain Blue Finch seed mix, is this ok?
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Post by avinet on Dec 5, 2012 10:15:26 GMT 10
I'm not familiar with that brand of seed but I had a look at their web site and the finch mix looks OK - although I would like to see more red pannicum in the mix than is in the web photo.
I am a big fan of red pannicum as a finch seed variety and like to see it make up around 20% of the mix - their photo looks closer to 5%. However red pannicum tends to be variable in availability so perhaps it was in short supply at the time they did their photography.
Their Blue range looks better than the cheaper range - what sort of price will you be paying for a 20kg bag?
I am currently using the Golden Cob finch mix from a local Petstock store - seems to be quite a good mix as well.
cheers,
Mike
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Post by jimstreet on Dec 5, 2012 17:37:43 GMT 10
Their Blue range looks better than the cheaper range - what sort of price will you be paying for a 20kg bag? I am currently using the Golden Cob finch mix from a local Petstock store - seems to be quite a good mix as well. About $25 for a 20Kg bag. What's the price on the Golden Cob? |
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Post by avinet on Dec 5, 2012 20:35:48 GMT 10
$35 for Golden Cob at Petstock - $25 is a good price by local standards if the quality of the seed is as good as they are claiming. There is a couple of local produce stores selling it which I will try to visit in a few days time. I'm playing lawn bowls the next three days so it will likely be Monday at the earliest before I can get to them.
cheers,
Mike
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Post by jimstreet on Dec 5, 2012 20:42:58 GMT 10
I gave them some kale and various grasses tonight. They ate the kale but left the grasses, don't know what is going on there.
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Post by avinet on Dec 5, 2012 20:55:55 GMT 10
I gave them some kale and various grasses tonight. They ate the kale but left the grasses, don't know what is going on there. Mostly they will just eat the seed heads of grasses and use the leaves for nest building. cheers, Mike |
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