Considering a canary

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AlexC1981

Original Poster:

4,904 posts

216 months

Thursday 18th May 2017
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Hi all,

I was thinking about getting a small bird or two as a pet. I have no other pets besides a couple of fish tanks and it would only have any company in the evenings.

A canary seems ideal as apparently they are quite solitary birds. I'm not looking to just stick it in a cage and leave it, but it would be nice to know I would not be cruel if I did not have time to interact with it everyday besides the essentials. Some people suggest it is best not to let them out at all as it could be stressful for them. It sounds cruel to me to have a single bird in a cage alone all day. I understand they are not the most tame of birds, though there are lots of guides about taming them and some lovely tame and friendly birds can be seen on youtube. We had budgies when I was growing up. They were not very tame and I recall a fair bit of mess and noise. If I got two would they be happier? Would this mean they bond with eachother, but not with me? I would like to train it to be hand-fed so I could have some interaction with it besides just looking at it.

If I let it out is it going to disappear behind some furniture and not go back in its cage? Will it poo all over the place?

How easy are they to look after? It's quite hard to find information online that gives a good overview of the sort of routine needed to look after a canary. How regularity to clean the cage? What is involved and how long does this take? Do seed and feathers get chucked everywhere? I have seen some pretty cool looking "no mess" feeders for sale, do they work? Do they have to be taken to the vet for routine vaccinations? Do they get ill regularly? Do I have to worry about parasites? Do the cages smell?

Sorry for so many basic questions. I would really appreciate any advice that could help me make my mind up on this. If I feel I can't dedicate the time to look after one or two properly, I'll just stick to my fish! Cheers.




Boosted LS1

21,166 posts

259 months

Thursday 18th May 2017
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Seriously, can't you find something else to do such as meeting people, reading or joining online forums? I feel very sorry for song birds that get bred to live a life in captivity. I wouldn't like that life.

That said, a friend had zebra finches flying around his house with nests everywhere. They crapped where they wanted to so if you like poo, you'll need a cloth. Personally, imo it's cruel to keep birds indoors.

AlexC1981

Original Poster:

4,904 posts

216 months

Thursday 18th May 2017
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That's a question I have wrestled with myself. I agree with you to an extent, which is one of the reasons why I have not considered a bird before now. It is also one of the reasons why I thought more about the canary as apparently they can be quite content in their cages and don't necessarily like coming out.

How true this is I don't know and I won't know unless I ask the questions....

I don't think a canary feels about captivity in the same way as a human does. We have very different needs as a species. How do you know it isn't perfectly happy? Do they even get happy in the sense that we understand it?

jamesRS6

55 posts

99 months

Friday 19th May 2017
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Thats alot of questions but Ill give it a shot as an owner of a couple of fife canaries.

First of all - Is it cruel keeping a caged bird? Well no , providing its looked after properly, part of this being giving it a reasonable sized cage. You have to remember these are domesticated birds, not wild birds caught and then put in a cage. The types of canaries kept as pets only exist because of being bred in captivity over centuries like most other domesticated animals.

A canary can live very happily on its own.
In fact if you put two in a cage that aren't familiar with each other they will most likely fight especially if they are both male.
You will want a male canary if you only get one bird as its the male that does the singing.

How easy are they to look after ?
They are very easy to look after, 2 teaspoons of canary seed, clean water changed daily and a few green vegetables is their diet. You can also give them boiled egg and fruit now and again. You will need to clean the cage weekly at least. Most cages have a slide out bottom section which makes this pretty straight forward.
Put him at least 2 perches a cuttle bone for calcium and hes good to go. He will also be wanting some water to bathe in.

There is no need to let it out in your house. They could get scared or injured on something that they are not familiar with and then it most likely will not go back into the cage on its own.
You will get a few seeds and feathers on the floor near the cage no big deal and compared to most other animals they don't smell bad aslong as you keep the cage clean.


Taming - to tame a canary to be so tame it will eat from your hands and come to land on your hand is pretty difficult. You need a very young bird to tame it and it would take alot of time and effort.
They will get used to you when you feed them daily , mine come to the side of the cage if I whistle to them and if they think im bringing food. They will not land on you or want to be handled though. They will not be scared of you unless you put your hand it and try and grab them.


Health - the most important thing for good health is keeping it clean and making sure the water is changed daily.
They do not need to get any vaccinations just a quick spray with an anti mite spray 1-2 times per year will do.

Hope that helps a bit!

Couple of quick pics:


AlexC1981

Original Poster:

4,904 posts

216 months

Friday 19th May 2017
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Thanks James, that's certainly helped a lot. Very pretty yellow canary you have there. What's the white bird in the left cage?

I was just reading that you can get canary song training CDs for them to listen to. Quite fascinating.


jamesRS6

55 posts

99 months

Saturday 20th May 2017
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White ones a java finch. Have to keep them seperate though hence having the divider in between.

Ha, Yes you can its supposed to improve their song and it will probably get them going as its thinks there is another bird nearby.


anonymous-user

53 months

Thursday 25th May 2017
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Have you considered getting a hand reared cockatiel?

We have a couple and they are good little birds. Ours are not closed in their cage and get free roam of the living room. We have a couple of perches set up with poo catchers below to keep any mess contained and easy to clean. Whilst they are good fliers, they are reasonably slow and clumsy which is good because ours tend to just fly point to point between perches rather than doing laps of the room.

A single hand rear cockatiel (or any bird really) can be great, BUT you have to consider it more like a dog than anything else. I.e. you do really need to give it time, love and training every day. If you do then you will be rewarded with a cool pet! If not, they can get noisy and destructive (as well as it being cruel). Also be aware that some species of birds can live for many years. Not sure about Canarys but one of our cockatiels (which we adopted from SWMBO's mum) is over 22 years old and still going strong (although he can't really fly any more, he just falls with style!). Below is a picture of our currently 11 year old pearl pied cockatiel. He talks and sings a bit and can be quite affectionate when he wants to be.



Edited by anonymous-user on Thursday 25th May 23:02

CoolHands

18,496 posts

194 months

Thursday 25th May 2017
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Not being funny but won't don't you consider a pet like a cat? You stroke them when you see them, plenty of times they're out and about and don't need much interaction so seems would suit you in that regard?

AlexC1981

Original Poster:

4,904 posts

216 months

Friday 26th May 2017
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That cockatiel is a beautiful bird, but I'm not sure I could give one the attention it would need. Do you really keep the cage open all the time? That's great.

I like cats, just not indoors. They jump all over the work surfaces, furniture, and fur gets everywhere. I live in a flat, so I would have a smelly litter tray to clean out daily.

I was reading about button quail recently. Very cute little things, a bit like tiny kiwi birds. Not friendly unless they are hand-reared and you are lucky.

anonymous-user

53 months

Friday 26th May 2017
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He is pretty little thing, thanks. Yes the cage is kept open all the time. We have 3 currently. This one (Charlie), a 22 year old grey and a 2 year old grey. There are two boys (the old grey and Charlie, the one posted above) and one girl. We hoped that Charlie and the female grey might mate, but it appears as though the two boys are infatuated with each other and couldn't care less about the girl!

The only time we close them in is when the weather is really hot and we want to open the living room windows properly. They generally don't get up to much mischief although when we first bought Charlie (the pearl), and he was our only bird, he would take to walking around the downstairs of the house which caused a few issues, but to be honest I like pets that cause a bit of trouble - far more interesting that something that just sits there.

If you are set on birds, perhaps get a pair of something small with a decent sized cage so they have room to fly. I have no experience in anything other than hand rear cockatiels so can't really add much.