rosy bourke's and canaries??

[meam35]

hi there

i have had 2 rosy bourke's since june and i love them to bits.

at the end of july, a lady from down the street turned up on my doorstep with a canary and a sob story. basically, she had 4 canaries in the one cage and 2 of them attacked a female and killed it. then they were starting on this little canary and she wanted me to take him for his own safety. whether it was true or not, i dont know but i took him in anyway as he needed to go somewhere. i am a sucker for a sob story!!

anyway, this wee canary has been pretty scared for weeks. he ducks down and goes rigid if you go near his cage,etc. he did start to sing again about mid september but seems just to sit in a corner for most of the time despite the toys,etc ive put in his cage.

i tried for weeks to persuade him to come out to fly around the room like my bourke's do but to no avail. on friday there, i left his cage open, made sure the cats couldnt get in the room while i was out and came back 4 hours later to find him cuddled next to the bourke's cage. after a while i put him back in his own and it was like he was back to how he was a few weeks ago. today i tried again and he was straight over to the other cage ,which was open, and he went straight in and ive never seen him so active or seem so happy. the bourke's didnt seem so pleased at first but they all seem to have settled down. i think the canary misses the company.

would it be feasible to keep them all together on a permanent basis or should i try stop this? i have been looking for a female canary to keep him company but nobody round here has any in stock at the moment and i cant travel too far to find one due to other commitments.

i darent close the cage and lock them all in together incase the bourke's decide to attack him (would this be likely??) but i cant keep all the other pets locked out for the rest of the day. in our house, cats get locked out the living room in the morning so the birds can have a fly and then just about 2pm, the birds go back in their cage and the cats are allowed back in the room. this seems to work normally so i dont want to upset the routine

i did sit the canary seed infront of the cage to tempt the canary out. he did come out ,ate some and promptly shot back in the bourkes cage.he has done this several times the bourkes on the other hand, have been in and out like yo-yo's and have stuffed their beaks with canary seed. will this cause them problems??

any advice would be appreciated as i dont want to grab the canary and stuff him in his own cage and traumatise him after he's been so happy looking and i also want my bourkes to stay happy.

help??


am x

[Monica]

Bourkes are, thankfully, one of the calmer more peaceful birds. Many people keep cockatiels and budgies in with finches and canaries, but generally speaking, I don't recommend it 'cause budgies are pessimistic and cockatiels don't care for very flighty birds.... more or less, they like their personal space!

However, grass keets, bourkes in particular, may do fine with finches and canaries! I kind of think of bourkes as the parrot version of finches, just less flighty! So, IMO, if they all do fine together, go ahead and keep them together!

[MicahEspudo]

Originally Posted by Monica

'cause budgies are pessimistic...

I am sure a bunch of people from the budgie section of the forum are gonna be on you for that one Monica!

[meam35]

hi there

thanks for replying. its now nearly 9pm and the canary is still refusing to leave the bourke's cage. i put his cage right in front of their cage,door to door and he hopped to the edge, looked in his cage and promptly went backwards away from it. he is also trying to hide from me everytime i pass the bourke's cage. i think he thinks i am going to grab him.

i have put a bowl of canary seed in with them and when we are going to bed, i will just cat proof the room and leave the cage door open incase things kick off during the night and then he at least has a chance to get out of the way. at least the bourke's dont seem too bothered. i think as long as he stays away from the millet he'll be fine.ive never known anything to be eaten so quickly with that pair.

ta!

am x