First of all, never purchase finches you do not know anything about.  Make sure that there is ample room in your home or bird room and that the food that you can obtain will meet the needs of the finch that you are wanting to get.  Many times people buy finches, they die and they blame the breeder.  In reality it is not the breeders fault at all, it is the fact that the purchaser knew nothing of the needs of the finches that they purchased and therefore the finches did not get proper care when they were brought home.

     When planning to purchase finches you need to purchase a large cage or build a large aviary to house your finches. Finches may be small birds but they need a lot of room to fly to get adequate exercise that is imperative for them to have good health. Length in a horizontal position is best for them.  The space between the bars on your cage should not be bigger than a half of an inch. Larger spaces can lead to escape, injury, or even to the death of your beautiful little finch.

     Be sure to prepare your cage or aviary before your finches come home.  If this is impossible get the cage ready before you put your finches inside their new home. This will cut down on the stress to your birds in their time of transition to their new environment. Never put your finches in with other finches during their transition period. Doing this could result in so much stress that it can make your bird sick, or even worse, kill it.

     You should have a small travel cage to bring your new finches home in. This cage should have a piece of spray millet, a food dish, and a water dish. I always make sure that I have a bottle of Pedialyte or Parent's Choice Pediatric Electrolyte, unflavored (purchased at Walmart for $2.77 a bottle) in my pantry. I put this in the water dish instead of water to help with the stress of my new finches.  Changing your finches environment is extremely stressful, the electrolytes can help to give the finch the extra edge to help them to be able to survive the stress of being transported.  I keep the electrolytes in the new birds cage for about two or three days. I used to live in Florida so I always made sure that I take a towel or a cloth to cover the birds from the air conditioning in the car, in the winter or in colder climates you can use the towel when transporting the birds outside, to keep them from the cold air.   

     The new cage or flight that you have prepared for your new finches should have multi sized perches, I prefer to use natural limbs off of my trees in my back yard. I cut a limb and strip the leaves off and put them in my aviary.  You need to wash them good and leave them in the sun to dry. All perches need to be away from the food and water bowls so that the bird droppings do not get in the bowls. 

     Your cage should be placed out of drafts especially air conditioning.  It is important to know if your birds have been raised indoors or out. Putting an outside bird in air conditioning is a sure way to kill it.  After making sure the bird is not in any draft give your bird a light on one end of the cage so that it does not get chilled. It can warm itself under the light, but if it does not need the warmth it can stay away from the light. I just use a 60 watt bulb in a reflector.   

     Remember that you can purchase a perfectly healthy finch and the stress of getting used to its new environment can stress the bird so much that it can make the immune system of the bird get weak and it can get sick very easily.  Take every precaution that you can to make your new finches new environment as stress free as possible.  

 

 

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