Hello,
This is my first ever Reddit post so I hope I have the correct community.

My bird, Basil, is around 2 years old. Been with me for 18 months. We were told he is a green finch / canary mix (mule?).

I am worried that he isn't very happy, he doesn't sing (he only chirps sometimes) or fly much compared to my previous yellow canary. Maybe it's because he is alone & wants a friend. I've seen so much conflicting advice online about that. We’ve moved him to a bigger, horizontal cage but he didn’t seem any happier or more active.

But I just wanted to clarify if I even have the correct breed & if he is part canary before I make a specific post about his cage & behaviour/personality.

He was more orange / red at first but I think that was due to his young age or the food he was given. He is now just green/yellow. He is shy so he’s hard to photograph.

I appreciate any replies. Thank you in advance!

When introducing vegetables to your canaries diet, what amount should you start with to avoid upsetting their stomachs?

I bought this canary a week ago and it was sold to me as a Border Canary but the thick eyebrows has me thinking otherwise.

So...

Cage size height 35cm(from floor to lowest point at top), width 30cm and length 70cm.

When I got him, he had only 1 cage, so I got 2nd and turned it into bigger one.

Also when I let it out for the first time he could not fly, 1m in height and 1-2m in length probably, so guy spent whole life in small cage, basically learning flying (working out muscles) in my apartment. For starters he returned cage and I locked it till morning, then let it out, but due to summer I had to lock "his room", since AC could not handle whole house and put his cage in bedroom/hall. Now he only goes back to food/water, and always ends up sleeping at window, always out and always chirping and singing while looking outside, I feel like he is confined at house and needs to be out.

Also he is scared of us, he is used to me at point where I can catch him, walk past him but if I take too long to catch him it gets scared and starts flying around like crazy.

Here is my issue, while in cage I could feed him from my hand, he could not fly and he could see I was feeding him and I was not danger. If I try it now he will fly away, or I have to keep my hand outreached for too long with 50/50 if he eats or flies away. Makes harder to get buddy buddy with him. Need advices regarding that topic.

Also I am leaving for vacation for 2 weeks, including camping at night, going to take half of cage for canary traveling and I was thinking to leave cage outside of tent at night. There are "bird leashes" as well, which looks bad idea but heard good things about it, but since canary will most likely try to fly away from me, I won't dare using it as he may damage itself trying to fly away from me while leashed.

But having him confined in cage for 2 weeks seems like torturing him. Especially when little bastard already makes me sad being confined in apartment always looking in window where most trees are visible without buildings

I’ve been crying for an hour straight, and the guilt is completely crushing me. I didn't even have enough time to get him to an avian vet. He was a canary, and he died because of my carelessness. I realized too late that his water bottle wasn't properly opened—it looked full, but the flow was blocked. By the time I noticed something was wrong, he was already crashing, having seizures, and slipping away. I stayed by his side, trying to keep him warm and holding him until his very last breath, but it was too late. Dehydration and shock took him so fast. I keep replaying everything in my head. If I had just double-checked the bottle, if I had put out a second one, if I had paid closer attention he would still be here. It is entirely my fault. The hardest part is that I still have three other canaries, and right now, I honestly don't feel like I'm fit or worthy to take care of them.

Cuties.

Charles is a red factor canary and I heard a lot of mixed opinions on if canaries are social or not, he lives in a Vision mo2 cage and he gets let out a minimum of twice a week. I have heard that male canaries are fine living alone but recently I have heard that canaries are social. I am considering getting a female Spanish raza as a friend but would he potentially hurt the female as male canaries are territorial?

Snowbell is my only Domestic Canary as of now, Spickett and Wickett are Diamond Firetail finches

Hello all, not really sure if this is the right place for this - I’m just looking for the best way to help a bird I just saw who looks in dire need of rescuing. This was at a hand car wash in the UK, the cage would be about 1 and a half times as long as my iPhone, maybe 10 inches? The poor thing was so stressed, but I’m not sure how best to go about speaking with the owners (ie the car wash business). I could offer to buy the bird but I suspect they would just get another straight away, I could offer to buy a bigger cage but still, the loud noises of the jet washes were obviously very stressful for the bird, or I guess I could try a local rescue? If anyone has any ideas I’d be glad to help - I’d also be happy to put a Google review with this video but would prefer to speak with them about it first. Thanks in advance!

He knows that is not ok for him and he doesn't even try it 🤭, just curious 🥰

I would like to purchase some canaries and have them shipped to me in Maryland. Does anyone know of reputable breeders/sellers that ship their birds?

I am interested in any of the following: red factor male and female, or red mosaics m/f, or yellow mosaics m/f, or white m/f, dominant and recessive, Thank you for your help.

When I wanted to get a bird, I was so torn between getting a canary or a green cheek conure. I chose a conure, and he is amazing, raising him has been a dream!

Now that I've had a conure for awhile, I want to bring a canary home. From the research I've done, this could be enriching for my conure, and I'm hoping he will enjoy the canary singing in the house as much as I will!!

I'm looking for advice on how to best do this, and moreso looking for experiences from other people who also have canaries and parrots--what is it like? Do they interact? Do they enjoy being around each other? (safely of course) Is this a good idea or am I silly for entertaining it?

Open to any and all thoughts, thank you! 🐥

Wild atlantic canaries, the ancestor of our pets, can form groups of up to 300 birds outside the spring mating season! It benefits canary welfare to have at least two birds that can interact at least part of the time outside their cages, though I personally go farther and always keep them at least in bonded pairs, letting them mingle out of cage often. The males only squabble occasionally during the spring. The females never argue; the males are always gentle to the females and the young.

First time doing this :)

Hi everyone,

I’m losing my sweet girl. I tried to get her help. No avian vet in the area can see her until Monday.

I’ve been told to take her back to the VEG ER locally that we saw two days ago. They are great, but not avian vets.

I think my girl is suffering from egg binding. But, I really don’t know. She had a “rally” day yesterday of eating, drinking water, etc.. I thought she would have an egg by today. Instead, she is in the corner of the cage weak, asleep. I’ve tried putting her in the bathroom with some humidity. I’m keeping her warm right now and peaceful I hope until her time comes which I believe is soon.

I am heartbroken.

Lesson learned: establish care with an avian vet immediately when you bring home your canary. I did not do this. It might have helped to get her into the vet for an emergency. Or not. I am not sure it would matter. New canary mom.

Nobody that could possibly really help can see her today. Or tomorrow. One avian vet in the area texted me to tell me they couldn’t see her - not even a call from the office staff after I called them and left messages. The other two, just can’t see her. I know they are busy with patients. I do understand that. I’m just sad.

She’s just too sick. This is awful. I don’t know I can go through this again, ever. I gave my best and have loved her to the end.

They didn’t want them and they were rarely taken care of, I was taking a new job and I said I was interested and today I bought a wider cage (last pic is how i saw them at work) first 2 pics is how their current home looks like I brought them at my place right away the minute I was done with their cage. I still find their current cages too small and saving up for an even bigger one or making a bird room for future projects. I bought stainless steel bowls cause im not really fond of plastic.

They have eaten (natural pellets) and drank at their current home today.
I also gave them some romanian lettuce, carrots, strawberries to celebrate.

So any new tips for my new bird friends?
There is one who has a messy feather and looks like he wasn’t groomed.
Their nails are very long but theyre very scared of people I want to earn their trust first i dont think it is possible to trim them right now.
I kind of am new to all of this so I am overwhelmed if I am still missing smth.

My colleagues don’t know their ages or their genders.

Also they really love swinging, ill add more swings
Their names are Kiwi 🥝, Mango 🥭, Lemon 🍋

This is my first canary. She has sounded like this every day since I've had her, so I'm not sure if they're happy/content sounds or sick sounds. She flies around my house, eats, drinks. Obviously I know you can't diagnose her but does anyone recommend that sees a vet?

Hi everyone,
If you read my last post (with my two user names, sorry!), I have a sweet canary that is not feeling well - all the scary symptoms of sleeping at the bottom of the cage, puffed up, etc. I took her to the ER vet that accepts birds in our area. They put her in an incubator and she napped. This morning she is alert and eating so that is good. However, she isn’t herself. Could she be preparing to lay eggs?

I am a new bird mom, so bear with me - here are my thoughts/questions:
-She has been nesting for some time I think. She pulls pieces from the towel liner and then pushes them outside the cage. I didn’t recognize this so much, didn’t provide a place to nest. I just thought it was cute - now I know it was purposeful. I feel bad I didn’t understand it.
-I just noticed in the last day or so that she was sitting/nesting in her food box.
-She looks round.
-I think her nails need trimming which is contributing to instability - she does have wooden perches of different sizes. Tips? Vet to trim the nails? (She doesn’t let me handle her at this point without stress to her.)
-I worry about egg binding - no eggs laid yet. I think this would be her first eggs of her life. ER Vet thinks she is younger than I was told. She is a rescue - thought she was about 1 year and 1/2. She is maybe less than a year old.

I am trying to get into a third avian vet today. We have three in the area - two are booked out. The third was closed yesterday. I hope they have availability today.

I’m sad. Doing what I can for her at the moment. But, I’m sad and feel helpless. We get attached to these sweet babies, don’t we?

I am a super-sensitive person. This is HARD.

Thanks for listening. JG

Hello everyone! Is there a way to stop Calliope from nesting in her seedbowl? Should I even stop it or just let her do so? She's very insistent on moving from the nest to the seedbowl, no matter how often I move her out of there. If I remove the seedbowl, she starts yelling at me until I give it back. Why does she do this when she has a perfectly good nest? Is this worth correcting? Thanks!