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| | From:  becky30866 (Original Message) | Sent: 7/12/2007 11:14 PM |
I like to try to get my finches some live food. In the spring I gave them peices of plants infested with aphids(they may have picked off a few but didn't go for them as well as I thought they would but then I don't think they had ever had any live food before). I haven't seen any aphids lately, either we are too hot or the Japanese beetles are eating anything the aphids could want. But I got to thinking about when I worked at a Bait and Tackle store and we had those tiny red wiggler worms and I wondered if the finches could eat them. I am sure they would have to be washed off good as I think the worms are fed a lot of coffee grounds if I remember rightly but I was just wondering if they could eat them. If I had any pet stores close I might just buy any live food they had but going all the way to the pet store here is a special occasion. Any thoughts on this? Oh and, any bugs they definitely can't have? Becky |
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I gave my Gouldians meal worms but only after cutting the heads off. Disgusting job. Mealworms can be bought by the thousand from some bird supply catalogs. They come in cardboard containers and are overnight hand delivered. Then you either keep them refrigerated to keep them dormant or grow your own in cornmeal and wheat bran. I did it last year and got so sick of worms and stink. They smell bad if you don't change the substrate often. It's expensive because I have to get mine at the health food store. Our pet shop here charges 6 cents each for the live mealworms. Rip off. They eat sliced raw potatoes. I don't know about wigglers. Are those the big earthworms used as fishing worms? Those are way too big to give to finches. Annie |
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I used to give mine the small live mealworms. I don't remember seeing any of the zebra finches eating them, but my orange cheeked waxbills and shafttails loved them. I can't get live ones here--well, I might be able to get them at a bait place, but they would be the huge ones. Who cuts off the heads in the wild?  |
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Hmmm, I wondered that, too. Do mealworms grow in the wild? I read that they will bite the babies' crops. True or false? Annie |
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Ok, red wigglers are very tiny thin red earth worms used for fishing(I don't know how you get one of those tiny worms on a hook as I am not a fisherman). I have no idea what mealworms are but after what I have read, the birds don't seem to like them much. I guess I am looking for something more natural, that the birds might actually like. I think I am going to look at the bait store and see if they still have them. Becky |
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Here's a link to live mealworms photos. Mine were about 3/4 inch long. They shed their skins and regrow them. I bought thousands for the bluebirds last year. Their baby was so fat he could hardly get out the nestbox opening on fledging day. Annie |
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Annie, I absolutely love that picture!!! |
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Thanks, Abby, I do, too. I wish they had come back and reared another clutch this year. The male has been here pretty often but the female has only been here a time or two. He sings a lot out in the trees. Annie |
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Humm, I am pretty sure you can't compare what wild bird can eat to what caged birds can but seeing the size of these worms I am pretty sure they can eat the worms I am talking about. They are about the same size (possibly thinner)but don't have the hard outsides, they are little tiny earthworms. Becky |
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| | | From: momnoah | Sent: 7/15/2007 5:02 AM |
Becky, I don't think the worms themselves would hurt, but I would be concerned that what's in the worms would also be in the birds. I'd be worried that the coffee grounds (or dirt or what they are fed), would be harmful to the birds' GI tract. If you were to get some and feed them bird friendly stuff for a while, I'd think they'd be ok. Just thinking out loud here. |
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That's a good idea, get worms and feed them something besides coffee grounds for a while. Becky |
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