Finches with parrots?

[Greytfeather]

Hi. I've come to be home to two society finches from an aviary at work. So far they are in a room separate from my other birds - a TAG, Senegal and cockatiel.
Would it be alright to put them out in the living room with the parrots? Is there anything my parrots can 'catch' from the finches?
Is there anything I need to do with the finches to keep them healthy? I've read about mites and scatt spray... or should I just keep the finches away from the parrots?

Thanks!

 

[expressmailtome]

@finchly is very knowledgeable about finches.

 

[JLcribber]

As far as safety your existing parrots couldn't catch a finch even if they wanted to. So if the finches are "aware" that they need to avoid those other birds (which is pretty natural) then they can certainly be in the same environment supervised. This is how my small birds live full time (budgie, parrotlet, cockatiel). The big birds have boundaries. The little birds don't. The little ones learn pretty quickly where those boundaries are and live outside them.

 

[JLcribber]

There is no health concern other than these are strange birds from a strange environment. Quarantine.

 

[finchly]

Since you’re already a parrot owner, you are probably familiar with possible illnesses, parasites, and so forth. The exact same ones exist in finches, with the exception [depending on who you talk to] of air sac mites. Those exist mainly in the smaller birds.

I would do the normal quarantine and treat for ASM and regular mites (the SCATT). Remember though, just as with your other fids, there could be an illness you can’t see. Veterinary tests are always best.

 

[Greytfeather]

Thank you. My main question was whether my parrots could get air sac mites. I'l treat the finches. They have two more months of quarantine.

 

[finchly]

Yeah it depends on who you ask! I believe the ASM are opportunists and mostly stay with the littles, but they can move around....however their life cycle is short (6 days maybe?). Treatment and long quarantine sounds perfect to me.

I did not do a regular quarantine once...the bird seemed healthy and the breeders were a small, trusted aviary. So I gave it a few days or a week and put him in the bird room. Every single bird in there got mites. Takes forever to get rid of those suckers too.