Gu53bee

Belated happy birthday. How are the parakeets?

Happy birthday

Thank you. Had a lovely day learning to spin silk straight from the cocoons (you had to be there I suppose ) Then when I came home, the cpqs had laid the first egg for a fortnight, so had spinach and quail egg (unfertilised) pizza for tea.

Happy birthday from me too.

Lovely little bird Emmy. Hope he settles in well. Do you quarantine new arrivals?

Welcome Andy from a newbie. Bee

Hi Carole I'm a newbie zeb keeper and have already had lots of advice from the members here.. I've also been to a couple of auctions and both those who ran it and some of those attending, have been very generous with advice. I'm keeping only males as I don't want my numbers to increase. I know this goes against the grain for most, but that hasn't stopped members here being very helpful and supportive. Enjoy Bee

Hi Sarah and welcome from a fellow newbie to the forum. I too, had plans of what I would keep....the zebs....but 1 auction later had fallen for Chinese painted quails and now have 5 of those pottering about under the finches. Have fun Bee

Lovely little bird Clare, excited for you.

Oooo clare....look closer! And as for 2 hours, most of that was either a policeman, or a farm hand, wandering around the corner, counting them and then going again!

Oh no, it was hilarious even at 4 in the morning. My boys and hubby went back to bed, but I made a pot of tea and my daughter and I sat and watched. It took 2 hours for the farmer, 4 farm hands and 2 policemen to round them up and load half of them into a truck, then come back for the other half.

Off topic, but just had to share..... My family are just getting used to my zebs , peeping away in the living room. We're off to look at Chinese painted quails tomorrow. The police have just knocked us awake at 4am, to say....there are 13 cows in your front garden!!! I woke my family and told them that since we might be getting our own quail eggs soon....I thought it might be nice to have fresh milk too. Lol lol lol...3 teens stunned into silence at 4 in the morning!

How lovely! My zebs are getting used to dogs running past, the parrot shouting, barking and singing 'always look on the bright side of life', so I think they'll get used to the quail. I'm supposed to be waiting until my birthday next month....we'll see

Excuse the question if it's silly... As I have all male zebra finches, if I keep all female Chinese painted quail, would they be releasing any hormonal aroma that might excite my zebs?

Thank you both. Looking forward to seeing what the zebs think of them...

I went to my first auction yesterday. Had to sit on my hands! Especially seeing Gary's lovely birds. I utterly fell for a trio of Chinese painted quail. I resisted.....for now. Hope it's ok to pick people's brain here. I read a generous comment on another post that said many of you have other birds as well. Where do I start? I've an indoor aviary, 100x60x150cm, still with my 4 zebra cocks, in our living room. Will they mind sharing with cp quail? Is the floor space big enough? Will the finches make the quail too skittish? Will our African grey barking like a pack of dogs make them too skittish? Do the Chinese quail smell too much to keep in a living room? I was told Japanese quail smell and to avoid them being kept indoors. How noisy are they? We're needing the subtitles on the TV with just the zebra boys. If I have just quail hens, will they keep laying? I haven't got enough space for babies and I'd find it difficult to part with any babies. And......what size toast fingers do you need with a boiled quail egg?......

Bearing in mind that I have been a zebra finch keeper for a whole 2 weeks....and I'm still on chapter 1 of the chris Blackwell book.... Is it by any chance a cross with a Bengalese? Our garden centre has one. Similar throat. Please laugh derisively if utter and obvious rot.

Hi Carl I'm a newbie zebra finch keeper . There's a bird auction in warrington on Sunday. The full address is on the sale topic at the bottom of the home page. You might meet some local keepers there. Bee

My Chris Blackwell book arrived. I've read the first chapter and am full of new questions already. Does the 9 year coloured ring system still happen? If so, what are this year and last year's colours? Do people keep new purchases in isolation? If so, just a different cage, or a different room? How would you then introduce them?

My black cheek male is spending much of his time tearing up newspaper and taking it up to the feeding tray which has grit in it. I was advised having all males, not to provide a nest box as it might confuse them. Should I give him a nest box? Also, he has been tail quivering. Have I got a female not a male?

There's quite a few secondhand ones on Amazon. I'd bought a general finch book, but now realise I need more specific information.

Thanks Gary, I've sent for the Chris Blackwell. Looking forward to learning more. Bee

Any that you'd recommend over others?

Went looking at zebra finches in a pet centre today, just musing on what to get to add to my gang. I was a bit lost in thought. You know a little knowledge is a dangerous thing.... Well, when I asked, "You see that one 4th from the left. Is that a penguin? ".... I have never seen a shop assistant's eyebrows raise that high before! What books do people recommend?

What a fabulous list! I'm learning so much, so quickly. I actually came home early from a day out today, because I wanted to sit with my birds before they nod off. They settle about 7 which is the usual time I get to sit down. I've heard new noise this afternoon....like their batteries are running out. Before I got them , I only knew about their " peep-peeps". Once I got them home, we quickly heard their "I'm a squeaky floorboard" battles. I was dreading the family saying they couldn't stand the racket, but whilst this is almost continuous, apparently it's quieter than the lovebirds used to be. Also my hubby's African Grey, Hercule, is sitting on the other side of the room singing "Always look on the bright side of life". Anyone have any ideas what the various songs are about? Any more songs that might be on the horizon?