keeping a pair of Coturnix in the house?

[cece4]

My son wants to keep the two smallest in a cage or tank in his room.Is this possible? Do they stink much? Will they tame down enough to be pretty good pets?
I know people keep the button quail but does anyone keep a coturnix in the house? Will two be happy together?

 

[Wifezilla]

I had 4 in my house for several months. The bedding in their dropping pan had to be emptied daily. They also like to fling food all over the place. The table the cage was on was a constant mess.

I DID love their singing and even my little roos crowing was cute. Of the 4 I have one tamed down to the point where I can pet her and she eats from my hand. She is an english white. The other 3 are browns and they are big chickens.

It might be worth a try, but just be prepared. A large tank might be better than a cage. They LOVE to scratch and dust bathe. I felt it was cruel to keep them on wire because of this so when the weather improved I moved them to an outdoor pen. They are so happy now. They love playing in their "sandbox" and they tunnel under the hay. It totally cracks me up. If they are in a tank you could put in sand bottom. It would have to be raked/cleaned like kitty litter.

Your son would have to keep up on the cleaning. If he does it is doable.

If you only want 2, get 2 girls.

 

[Bettacreek]

I wouldn't use sand in a tank. I tried that with the babies and I really couldn't keep it clean. The sand gets wet and you can't sift through wet sand.

 

[cece4]

Thanks, we may just keep them for awhile in a tank in his room and when they get bigger put them out with the others.Or even build a separate pen just for his special pets if he is still interested in them by then.They are only a week old so I dont know what sex they are yet.

 

[Plain_View_Farm]

If he plans on keeping them in his bedroom I hope it is completely dark.
In the smallest amount of light the Males are known to crow all night.
We keep a crippled Male with 2 Females in the house but rarely hear the Male crow.
They are not in the bedroom though either. lol

David

 

[Bettacreek]

I had mine in my old apartment. They were right outside of my bathroom, which had lights on 24/7. They were exposed to that light basically 24/7 as well, and I honestly never had any problems with crowing. My male only crowed once in a blue moon.

 

[kingmt]

The stench is horrible.