| T.R | Title | User | Personal
Name | Date | Lines |
|---|
| 574.1 | as long as they're eating! | MEIS::TILLSON | Sugar Magnolia | Wed Jul 10 1991 14:01 | 20 |
|
Gwen,
As long as they are *eating* everything, I wouldn't worry too much that
they don't seem as enthusiastic as the other species you've got. My
experience with zebras, societies, and owls is that they are all pretty
much little pigs that are more thatn willing to consume about 50 times
their body weight if you put that much food in front of them %-) Your
diet seems pretty sound to me, with one exception - if you have
breeding birds, you'll need an extra supply of calcium, such as ground
up eggshell (cook the shells in the microwave for 5 minutes or bake
them in a 350 oven first to kill any salmonella that may be present.)
However, I didn't see any fruit or live food listed - have you tried
any fruits or mealworms or anything? BTW, although your zebras
probably won't eat them, your owls and societies will also really
relish some meal worms or other small live insect food.
/Rita
|
| 574.2 | Oh, boy do they eat! | MR4DEC::GCOOK | Save the Skeets | Wed Jul 10 1991 14:10 | 17 |
| Hi Rita,
I keep grit in a treat cup for everyone...that should take care of
calcium, right?
I've tried meal worms...they unilaterally turned their beaks up at
them. There's a prepared softfood that's mostly ground up bugs
that I've tried. I mix it in with the soaked seed and they think
that's pretty good.
I am going to give the owls a nest soon so I want to also see if
they'll eat some fruit. Have you had breeding pairs of owls?
Any other advice?
thanks a lot!
gwen
|
| 574.3 | Fussy Little Eaters | JVAX::SIPILA | Can I go home now? | Fri Jul 12 1991 12:23 | 33 |
| Hi -
I too have some fussy little finches!
What do you soak the seeds in?
My two like mostly seeds. Anything else except a few fruits and
veggies they turn their beaks up at or poop on!
A few weeks ago I sprouted some seeds for them and they enjoyed
them. Also for a treat in the winter I grow oat grass for them.
On week-ends when we cut the grass, they get some clean grass
clippings to play with which they think is great!
Seed though is their mainstay. It is difficult to find something
different in the seed line for them. We tried that prepared
softfood that's mostly ground up bugs, but they didn't care for
it!
For toys they have little squares of plastic canvas (the kind you
do needlepoint on) and the plastic rings from the gallon bottle
of milk.
Does anyone know of a pet store that has a large selection of finch
seed?
Thanks,
Regards,
Susan
|
| 574.4 | Soak in water | MR4DEC::GCOOK | Save the Skeets | Fri Jul 12 1991 13:06 | 13 |
| Soaked seed: I just cover a day's ration with water and let it
sit out for 24 hours. The seed begins the germination process
which increases the protein level and is better nutritionally.
I also feed whole oats (horse food). They like the harvested
kind out of the bag and also the kind still on the stalk that
grow next to the manure pile.
Have you ever offered yours cooked rice? Mine like it mixed in
with the soaked seed or with some egg.
gwen
|
| 574.5 | I'll Try it | JVAX::SIPILA | Can I go home now? | Fri Jul 12 1991 14:03 | 15 |
| No, I have never tried cooked rice. They hate hard-boiled eggs!
The eat a little bit, lay on it, pack it down and poop on
it!
Someone also suggested plain cooked white spaghetti cut up into
little worm size.
I will try the cooked rice maybe they would like it.
Thanks,
Susan
|
| 574.6 | Celery | ANGLIN::RECEPTIONM | | Mon Jun 29 1992 13:03 | 8 |
| Has anyone ever tried giving their Finches a stalk of celery? I put
one of those plastic branches in the cage for a perch and I stick the
celery on one of the branches so that it is like a branch itself and
the birds can perch on the stalk. They love it!!! They won't have
anything to do with fruit or vegetables that they can not perch on.
Catherine (George and Eep)
|