Nest Boxes

[laurab]

Hi

can anyone tell me what type of nest box/basket I should supply for my waxbills?

[Waxbillman]

hello Laura,

In Britain most waxbills prefer to nest in those dome whicker or thatched nest baskets, i have never know then nest in boxes, though you can still try. i do know that the dutch breed them in boxes, but then again they are far further forward in domesticating then what we are,

matthew

[laurab]

Thanks Matthew, I will give them a go, have you ever known them to build their own nest?

[PAUL HEARN]

Hello Laura,

A few years ago my Orange Cheeked Waxbills reared young in dome shaped wicker nest baskets, Finch nest boxes & they built free standing dome shaped nests too.

I would provide a mixture of dome & bottle shaped wicker baskets, Finch boxes, various Plants for them to build Natural nests & bunches of Conifer branches for the same purpose as the growing Plants.

My Orange Cheeks nested at different heights, some in boxes & dome baskets near the top of the Aviary roof, 3-4ft from ground level & even ground level of a container planted with Bamboo.

As wide a choice as possible will help a great deal with breeding any of your Waxbills.

Good luck, Paul.

[Waxbillman]

hello Laura

Yeh like Paul said provide plenty of cover, as some will choose to build their' own nest, it depends what waxbills they are, some prefer to nest in baskets, and some prefer to build their own nests, like orange-cheeks, red-ear and st. helenas.

matthew

[iguanaman]

How big are orange cheek eggs as at the moment i have a canary nestpan with a zebra and an orange cheek both taking it in turns to sit there are 3 eggs they look to small for zebras but to me look to big for orange cheek
Darren

[PAUL HEARN]

Hi Darren,

Orange cheeked Waxbill Eggs are quite small in comparison with Zebra Finch Eggs around two thirds of the size.
Fingers crossed you have Egg laying Waxbills, but I'm sorry to say if you have serious hopes of breeding Waxbills the Zebras will have to be housed seperately.:-?

Good luck, Paul.:wink:

[laurab]

Hi Darren

Last year I bought Red Eared, Orange Cheek and Gold Breasted Waxbills, the only pair to breed were the Goldbreasts. I'm sure this was due to too much interference from the Zebra Finches. I have now therefore removed all Zebras from my collection and I am hoping for a better season this year with the Waxbills.

Good luck with yours;-)

I did have a similar problem last year with 'nest sharing', it ended up with my pair of Goldbreasts hatching and trying to rear a Zebra Finch:confused:

[iguanaman]

Paul/Laura
Tell me about it i thoght it would be ok to house them together but all the zebras are on nest at the moment but as soon as the chicks leave the nest im taking the zebras out and moving them out i thought i might of get away with it as i put in more nestboxes/pans than birds but all the zebras have done is interfered with the waxbills
Darren

[Waxbillman]

yeh, zebras are bad around waxbills, i had them with my gold-breasts years ago, the zebbies bred and the Gold-breasts didn't so the year after i put the gold-breasts in their own aviary with waxbills, and they bred like rabbits!! so it just proves how much bigger and more dominent birds dictate the breeding success of the who aviary inhabitants.

matthew