Can someone give me advise on my pet canaries ?

Question

ok so ive never kept birds before but someone i know passed away and left me her canary hen to take care of. I wanted her to be happy and have a little friend and maybe even have some chicks so today i bought a male canary, at the moment he is in a seperate cage next to the female. I have read hundreds of different opinions and im really confused, some people say and the woman at the pet shop said just put him in the big cage with her straight away, and some say dont put them together at all? i was planning on getting them used to each other in seperate cages then introducing them? is this wrong? any info would be much appreciated, thank you :)

Answer 1

yes i would have put in separate cages and then slowly introduced them and then put them together. it will take time but they will like each other sooner then you think.

Answer 2

I remember my mom opened the cages doors (several cages) early morning and all the birds were just  flying all day long into the house (doors and windows close, of course)

I recently was working in a home (I'm a Carpenter) where the people there were doing the same.....perhaps is a good way for your couple have a bit more space to meet each other.  

Answer 3

Its best if you just put them together. If you keep them in different cages for a while, and then put them together it won't work out. I have 2parakeets and got 2more after 7months. All i did was put them together, nothing ever bad happened but the longer you keep them away, the worse it will get if you put them together afterword. I insist you put them together now, so they know that they'll have to get along with each other either way because they will notice that will live with each other for a long time. If you put them together, it doesn't mean they will breed. Maybe after 8months they will start thinking about that and if you don't want them to, than just separate them for about 1month, so they understand what your trying to say. It's all about communication.

Answer 4

The male should not be in the same room with her, even.  Let him get used to his new home before even thinking of introducing them.

I have canaries and you must learn a lot before attempting to breed them.  Read, read, read.  Each must have a cuttle bone in their cage.

Buy a good book on canaries and join a yahoo group on canaries.

Answer 5

My advise is that baby birds are very hard to raise unless you have had some experience with it. You take the chance that the female will get egg bound and you will lose her. If you really love the bird don't breed her. She won't care if she never lays an egg and it is much healthier for them.

Answer 6

If you have never kept a bird before, let alone a canary, then you need to get some pet books to teach you, and fast. Canaries are the hardest birds to breed, and a million problems can come along with breeding them. Many pet owners believe that if you have 1 canary in it's cage, it will get very lonely and needs another bird to keep it company. People believe this because  they themselves crave others & company. Canaries are the opposite to us. They like their own, private space, and any other bird in the cage is considered an intruder. A canary's territory is it's cage. The only time you can actually put them together safely is for the breeding season. If you put them in the same cage any other time, then they will fight, get stressed out, and may kill each other, but they will definitely not live as long due to all the stress. In fact, even if you do put them together for the breeding season, they still may not necessarily get on.

My advice is, until you get clued up on canaries, learn about all the dangers of breeding them, decide what you will do with the chicks and learn how to deal with the problems that could occur (egg binding, mother not feeding chicks or sitting on them, father not helping out), then don't breed them. I would recommend you wait a few years, talk to any other canary owners you know, talk to a canary specialist, look on a website called 'Roberta' (google it exactly like that - she is an experienced breeder and has a ton of information), and buy some 'how to look after your canary books' with information on both how to care for them AND how to breed them.

By the way, you will need to know that when you breed canaries, you need breeding cages, weaning cages, special foods and flight cages, and LOTS of space.

Answer 7

Now you have the bird and a new mate for Her,keep the male in a separate cage for three days next to her.then introduce her to him in his cage not vice versa.

The reason for this is your female is Queen of her cage and not having a mate previously may attack him he is in a new cage to him and he has not got used to it,so both are going into new territories.

Breeding birds of any species should not be taken lightly,therefore the best thing to do is read about Canaries and their habits needs and welfare.

There are plenty of good books on the subject and are a worth while investment.

Better still if you can  find a breeder in your area they will always help and teach you the needs of Canary keeping,Pet shops are not always that well informed.

Happy reading and good luck

Answer 8

you keep them in seperate cages for at least 1week and then put them in together, they will possibly not get along but they will get used to each other.