Lady Gouldian Finches are magnificent birds. They come in a rainbow of head, breast, and back colors, and have sweet, exotic songs that are surprisingly quiet compared to many birds. They make a wonderful addition to a household that enjoys bird watching and desires to do so at a more up-close-and-personal range than is possible with outdoor birds. |  |
 | The personalities of Lady Gouldian Finches far surpass their diminutive size of approximately 5" long from beak to tail and weight of less than an ounce. They enjoy the company of other Gouldians or such mildly-tempered finches as Societies. Neither Lady Gouldian nor Society Finches will thrive if kept alone, but if you are not interested in breeding, same-sex pairs or multiples can be kept with great success. |
All finches should be kept in as large a cage as possible, with 24" l x 16" h x 16" w being the absolute minimum for two Lady Gouldian or Society Finches. These birds do enjoy flying, and cage length is more important than the other dimensions. The wire spacing should be 1/2" or less, as anything larger will result in escape or injury. At Aerie Aviary we provide our birds with natural branches for perches, which we obtain from our backyard. These provide exercise for their feet and are more pleasing to the eye than the dowel rod perches that come with many cages. Please visit this site and this site for a list of safe and dangerous woods and plants. Before use, we give them a thorough once-over a stiff wire brush and a vanodine or bleach / water solution spray, which we then rinse off. We also use Sandy Perches to keep beaks properly groomed and the need for toenail trimmings to a minimum. These can be found online or at many local pet stores. Just ensure that all perches you provide are between 1/2” and 1 1/2” in diameter. |
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 | These birds make great pets for those who enjoy bird watching, but are not meant to be handled except in absolute necessity. If you are looking for a companion bird to sit on your finger and spend time out of his cage with you, a finch is not an appropriate choice. While these birds have been kept in captivity for many years now, they are not domesticated and prefer the physical contact of other finches. |
Because Lady Gouldian Finches are so small it does not take much in the way of neglect to result in dire consequences. They require daily care to keep them healthy. In the wild, they will not display signs of illness or injury for as long as possible to prevent predation, which usually means you will not know that there is something wrong with your finch until it is too late. Therefore, prevention is key. |  |
 | Lady Gouldian Finches require a balanced seed mixture on a daily basis, available at all times, in a seed dispenser that will limit contamination from feces and prevent buildup of empty seed husks. We feed our birds ABBA 1900 Finch Seed, available at www.foryourbird.com with great rates and quick shipping. On our breeding cages, we use JW Clean Seed Silo Feeders, available at many local pet stores or online. In our aviary, we use a hanging feeder intended for outdoor finches, which works wonderfully. |
 | Many people believe that birds can thrive on seed and water alone. While they may survive on this diet, it certainly is not one on which they will thrive. On the contrary, they will probably expire before their variety-fed counterparts due to mineral and vitamin deficiencies. At Aerie Aviary, we provide our birds with eggfood, a crushed eggshell blend, and dried herd salad on a daily basis. (Please visit our Recipes page for further information.) We also offer fresh fruits and vegetables, as well as spray millet, to our flock several times per week for variety. To view a listing of safe and dangerous foods for birds, please visit this site. |
In addition to housing, food, and water, finches require a source of light. We supply our birds with full spectrum lighting, purchased from Home Depot or Lowe’s locations as a fluorescent tube bulb. You can also find more conventional bulbs with an “outdoor” type lighting spectrum. The full spectrum lighting is preferable to regular fluorescent or household light bulbs because the birds derive some vitamin supplementation from sunlight. Even placing the cage near a sunny window lacks these effects, because glass prevents the penetration of these specific waves of light. We also keep a black light bulb on the timer with the full spectrum light, which stays on between 7 am and 9 pm. The black light supplies the birds with access to vitamin D, that is absorbed through their skin. At night, we keep a low wattage light on to prevent "night frights" or "night terrors"- when birds get startled into flight by a noise or movement and are unable to find their way back to a perch due to the lack of light and grogginess. In the most extreme instances, night terrors cause such violent flights that they result in broken necks from the impact of flying into a wall of the enclosure. |
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 | Finally, cleanliness is of great importance. We use newspapers as a floor covering in our walk-in aviary as well as in the slide-out pans of our breeding cages, and replace it weekly. During the weekly cleanings, we use Lysol wipes to remove droppings from surfaces inside the cage, such as on perches and cage wire. Cages with sliding trays aid in the ease of maintenance of a clean environment for your birds, and are highly recommended. |
