# My Two New Canaries



## artgecko (Aug 12, 2016)

Hello all!
Last Saturday I went to a bird fair and picked up my first budgies. I also picked up two female American Singer canary females. We've been enjoying these little ladies so much that I'd like to add another pair of females and maybe a male (separate cage for the male). These guys have been active since bringing them home, flying, hopping around, taking baths (even in their water dish), and chirping to each other and me.

First pic is the yellow female 


Next up is a pic showing both females. The yellow one had just taken a bath which is why her feathers look so bad in the pic. 


Finally, a pic of their cage setup. I've since added another feed dish, a third natural perch (between and below the two main ones), a sand perch, and a couple swings. I have yet to see them use the swings. This cage is 3'x2'x2'.



To anyone considering canaries, I'd say go for it... These guys are fun to watch and listen to. I can't wait to add a few more and hopefully get a singing male as well. I did purchase these from a breeder that shows and they did appear healthy at the time of sale (treated with scatt and will do a wormer just in case). They also tear up veggies...like seriously tear up. Having animals that will eat is never a bad thing lol.


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## StarlingWings (Mar 15, 2013)

They are beautiful!  

It's good to hear that they're doing well and I can't wait to see more of your lovely ladies  What are their names?


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## Minigrace (Sep 29, 2015)

They are beautiful! I had a pair of canaries years ago that someone gave to me. I loved watching them, and like yours, they were great eaters. Is that a Critter Nation cage they are in? How do you change their paper and give them food and water without letting them out? It is such a nice cage.


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## FaeryBee (May 9, 2011)

*They are beautiful! Congratulations :congrats:
I look forward to seeing lots more of these beauties. *


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## artgecko (Aug 12, 2016)

Thanks everyone! I haven't come up with names yet... I may wait until we add the other two and see how they act as a group. I will let you guys know if we do pick out names before then. 

minigrace- It is a critter nation. The budgies are in the unit below the canaries. When I change food / water, I open the door only enough to access the hanging feeders or the tray on the ground and move slowly. With the paper, I do the same thing. I have the paper split in half and change the paper on the side opposite them. So far, they seem pretty good about flitting to the side away from where I am doing stuff and watching me. 

On a finch forum, they suggested that I get some beads (like hanging door beads) and attach to a dowel and hang over the door to create a visual / physical barrier for the birds. That way, I can reach in, but the beads will hang everywhere but where my hand is. Someone said this had worked for them in the past, so it is worth trying. So far, the only bird that has flopped out during me changing food is the female budgie, but she was easy to catch and put back. 

The canaries are nervous when my hands get near them, but otherwise, don't seem to "spook" when I do normal cage stuff. The budgies spook more, but don't fly around as much when I get near them.


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## Cody (Sep 5, 2013)

Congratulations on the new arrivals. I also have 2 canaries, they are in a cage about the size of yours, I had 2 swings in the cage for months and they never used them so I finally removed them. They are very active and are always hopping around. Recently I decided to see if they would be comfortable having some out of the cage time and they love it and have had no problem finding their way back to the cage. My two eat a lot of veggies, seed and egg food, probably more than the budgies eat, their metabolism is so fast they need lots of fuel.


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## aluz (Jul 24, 2011)

Congratulations on your two new beauties! arty:
It's true that canaries love to bathe and will do so often. I'm glad they have been so entertaining to you!
In my case, when I had canaries, they would love to go from a perch to their swing. Once the swing stopped moving, they would return to the perch and back to the swing to enjoy the swinging motion once again.


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## artgecko (Aug 12, 2016)

Cody and Aluz- Thanks! I haven't seen them use the swing yet, but I'm hoping they will warm up to it.

These guys have been little vacuums! I gave them fresh basil today and they ate all of the leaves and the stem. This evening the seed I had soaked had sprouted, so I gave them some of that and they were gobbling it up.

I will attach some more pics below from tonight. The nails on the pied female look very long, but I'll have to wait until my catch net comes in to attempt to trim them.

Both eating sprouted seed


The yellow hen eating seed


The pied hen on her branch... Showing the long nails


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## shanebudgie (Feb 5, 2016)

aww how cute they are.I love canairies so much.they have beautiful songs.congratulations to you and thanks for the photos.blessings always


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## Pegg (Jun 7, 2011)

:congrats:
Their so adorable! I love listening to them sing.


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## artgecko (Aug 12, 2016)

Thanks guys! These are hens so they do not sing, but they do cheep at each other and me lol. I want to get a couple more hens to go with them and possibly a male to keep in a separate cage... The trouble is picking a breed for the male so that I know what type of song I will be getting.


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## Jedikeet (Feb 3, 2014)

Aww, such a beautiful pair of lady canaries. The Singers are very pleasant little birds bred to sing and a male can do a long and distinct string of soft pitched, rhythmic chimes that are very pleasant to the ears. Hope you're able to get such a vocal male to serenade the ladies

And canaries do love to bathe on their own and its so fun to watch them do it. We use always see a canary claim a water feeder as their tub in every cage at the bird store I've worked part-time at


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## artgecko (Aug 12, 2016)

Jedikeet- One of the females was doing just that in the sale cage my two were in. Mine have both attempted to bathe in their water cup, even when I provided them with a bath. I put on in the cage every morning and remove when I get home from work. 

I'm on the fence between getting a male AS or getting a fife... The other breeder had fifes and I listened to some of their songs online and might prefer that to an AS... I'm just not sure lol. Maybe I should get both.


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## JRS (Sep 3, 2016)

Canaries are still entertaining even though they're independent little birds. My little hen is also very uneasy with hands but in other ways (eg. cage changes) quite curious and brave.
Also, you do find the odd singing hen. Here's my girl singing (definitely female, solitary bird that has laid) - it amuses me how she stops and looks back at me as though to say "Are you hearing this? Who says girls can't sing!"


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## artgecko (Aug 12, 2016)

JRS- I've heard my broken female sing a little. I find it so amusing how vocal these guys are. Mine know when it is feeding time now (after I change their paper in the evenings) and they will start chirping VERY loudly at me when they see me get the seed out. Once they get their food, they don't make any noise for quite a while lol.


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## Birdmanca (Jan 24, 2008)

Thankfor showing your Canaries. I grew up with a Canary as a boy. It brought back memories.


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