Finch Thread—Discuss and Show Off Your Birds

[BantyChooks]

Thank you!

What substrate are you using?

Ground walnut shells meant for lizard bedding. I was recommended it and it seems to work quite well—no evidence of excessive consumption, easy to clean, and fairly cheap.

 

[ColtHandorf]

Ground walnut shells

I thought it looked like crushed walnut shells. I used to use that on all my parrots because it is siftable. I didn't love it with the finches because the hulls from their seeds got mixed into it. Once I switched to the ABBA feeders it wasn't such a big deal. But by then I'd switched them all over onto paper under and on top of the grates.

 

[BantyChooks]

I thought it looked like crushed walnut shells. I used to use that on all my parrots because it is siftable. I didn't love it with the finches because the hulls from their seeds got mixed into it. Once I switched to the ABBA feeders it wasn't such a big deal. But by then I'd switched them all over onto paper under and on top of the grates.

The hulls are a bit annoying, but I have a small enough sifter that works to remove them.

 

[ColtHandorf]

These work great!

https://kingscages.com/product/canary-finch-seed-dispenser-4w-x-2-75l-x-5-5h/

As do the water tubes. It keeps their water for drinking cleaner. I always gave them dishes too, so they could bathe.

 

[BantyChooks]

These work great!
View attachment 2753080
https://kingscages.com/product/canary-finch-seed-dispenser-4w-x-2-75l-x-5-5h/

As do the water tubes. It keeps their water for drinking cleaner. I always gave them dishes too, so they could bathe.

Wow! Thanks for the recommendation. I'll look into those for when I get a larger setup (currently planning out an aviary build.)

 

[Serin]

I use large glass hamster bottles for all my birds to guarantee clean water. I also used to use those seed hoppers that sit outside the cage until most of my birds started using them to sleep in and filling the food tray with poop... so I use a variety of dishes now and try to position them low and in places they will not choose to sit in them.

 

[ColtHandorf]

I use large glass hamster bottles for all my birds to guarantee clean water.

I had a hard time getting all the finches to use the water bottles with the ball. The tubes worked really well for me. I prefer the clear ones so I can see quickly if they got anything icky in it versus the blue ones, and they are so easy to pop in and out of the wire.

 

[muddy75]

I had a hard time getting all the finches to use the water bottles with the ball. The tubes worked really well for me. I prefer the clear ones so I can see quickly if they got anything icky in it versus the blue ones, and they are so easy to pop in and out of the wire.

I’m not sure my finches ever really used a bottle either but many of the parakeets did especially when the guinea pigs were in the elevated habitat.

 

[Serin]

I had a hard time getting all the finches to use the water bottles with the ball. The tubes worked really well for me. I prefer the clear ones so I can see quickly if they got anything icky in it versus the blue ones, and they are so easy to pop in and out of the wire.

I usually have to spray the nozzle with a spray bottle a few times with new birds to get them to start pecking it for water but they figure it out. I have finches, budgies, quail and pigeons trained to bottles and it's so clean, my birds would fill the little drinker tubes with food residue after eating and they required daily sanitizing

 

[CSAchook]

I always gave them dishes too, so they could bathe.

Tiny little birds in tiny little baths?! I died