Hi all, I am very new to this world so thank you for any help and patience as I learn up as much as I can. My grandfather had 2 canary’s for about a year but can no longer take care of them so I took them in. I’m hoping I can post what I’ve done and get opinions/suggestions on how to make them happier.
Their cage was a mess so I cleaned it up by washing everything in hot soapy water, rinsing, soaking in a bleach solution for a few minutes, then rinsing heavily and washing with soap again. I rinsed it all very well afterwards and let it dry. I lined the cage bottom with paper towel.
For food I used the last of an expired bag of Zupreem pellets and a bit of kaytee seed mix, along with fresh apples, lettuce, cucumber, and bell pepper. We went to a local bird shop and got some of their house canary seed mix so I will be using that mixed with the kaytee for now.
I also got some millet, a wood perch (they only had dowels which I know aren’t the best), a swing, and a toy. The shop offers free nail trims so I will be bringing them both by soon to get that taken care of.
Does anyone know what variety these are? They both have leg bands, from what I can tell the pink one is female (left leg) and the red is male (right leg) but I can’t tell what the markings on the male band mean - they say “M003”, any ideas? The female is quite a bit larger than the male, is that normal? One of them is also making a clicking noise which I am afraid might be air sac mites, but it isn’t always and both their breathing seems normal. I usually hear it when they’re by their mirror toy and it sounds similar to when they crack open their seeds. Could this be anything other than mites? Lastly, I am planning on replacing the dowels with different perches soon, but is there anything else that could be improved? I would love to create the best home for them. Thank you again for anyone that read though this all!
Their cage was a mess so I cleaned it up by washing everything in hot soapy water, rinsing, soaking in a bleach solution for a few minutes, then rinsing heavily and washing with soap again. I rinsed it all very well afterwards and let it dry. I lined the cage bottom with paper towel.
For food I used the last of an expired bag of Zupreem pellets and a bit of kaytee seed mix, along with fresh apples, lettuce, cucumber, and bell pepper. We went to a local bird shop and got some of their house canary seed mix so I will be using that mixed with the kaytee for now.
I also got some millet, a wood perch (they only had dowels which I know aren’t the best), a swing, and a toy. The shop offers free nail trims so I will be bringing them both by soon to get that taken care of.
Does anyone know what variety these are? They both have leg bands, from what I can tell the pink one is female (left leg) and the red is male (right leg) but I can’t tell what the markings on the male band mean - they say “M003”, any ideas? The female is quite a bit larger than the male, is that normal? One of them is also making a clicking noise which I am afraid might be air sac mites, but it isn’t always and both their breathing seems normal. I usually hear it when they’re by their mirror toy and it sounds similar to when they crack open their seeds. Could this be anything other than mites? Lastly, I am planning on replacing the dowels with different perches soon, but is there anything else that could be improved? I would love to create the best home for them. Thank you again for anyone that read though this all!
