Basic Canary Care

Cages       next       top

Try not to keep a canary in a round cage - it will give him psychological problems. The ideal canary cage is rectangular, thirty to forty inches long, fifteen to twenty inches wide and twenty-five or thirty inches tall or more, with bar spacing of no greater than one half an inch.

The picture on the right shows an example of a good pet canary cage - click on the picture to learn more about it. To see more cages Robirda recommends, see the webpage at robirda.com/birdcage.html

Consider training your canary for free flight within a limited area of your home when you are around. It’s easier than you might think, and it will add enormously to his well-being, particularly if your cage happens to fall a little short of ideal, as can happen! Patience and consistency are the keys.

You can learn more about how to keep and train your canary in our book, Brats in Feathers, Keeping Canaries. Find out about our books and ebooks at robirda.com/books.html

Food and Water       next       top

Fresh water must be available at all times! Never let a canary go without water; if he has no water for as little as 16 to 20 hours, it is possible he will not survive.

Use a high quality seed mix. The seed should be fresh; the best way to test this is to see if you can sprout a few seeds, just as if you were going to plant them in your garden. Fresh seed should sprout easily.

The best seed mixes, like the canary mix from Abba Seeds will contain about 80 percent canary grass seed (beige colour) ; the rest will be mostly canola (also called rapeseed), a small round black or brownish seed, and some flax (brown shiny pointed seeds). Most canaries cannot eat the larger white or yellow millets; these should not be present, except in very small quantities!

Greens Daily Please!       next       top

Fresh greens are a must if you want to have a healthy and happy canary. They are essential to both his physical and psychological well-being. Give him a selection each day of whatever’s available for the season, and remember, as long as he is used to eating greenery, he can consume up to half his body weight a day or more.

Some good choices are broccoli, savoy cabbage, kale, grated carrots or beets (they learn to eat these faster if you mix them with chopped greens, at first at least.) More good choices are dandelions (no pesticides, please!), leafy endives, rapini, collard greens, gai lan, or any other nutritious leafy green.

Avoid giving too much lettuce, except romaine, as it is too watery. You can give fruit such as apple, pear, or orange, but stay away from softer fruits such as peach, papaya or mango, these can make their feces too soft, which can have deadly consequences for a canary.

Treats and Extras       next       top

Treat seeds should be given no more than once or twice a week most of the year, and no more than a teaspoon per bird at a time. Canaries can damage their livers eating too many of these fatty seeds, so be sparing, even though they love them.

Be very choosy if you must buy store-bought treats such as candied bells, spray millets, moulting, condition or song foods. They are usually stale, and will offer little to no nutrition.

Gravel in small amounts is not a necessity for proper digestion in canaries. A good source of calcium and other minerals is needed to maintain health, however. The best brands will contain a balanced selection of minerals. These 'gravel' mixes are often called 'mineralized'. You may add baked, sterilized eggshells or crushed cuttlebone or mineral blocks to them if you wish, or do as I do, and just used the eggshells, and fix the mineral blocks and cuttlebone )still whole) in the cage, for them to chew on. Make sure the softer side of the cuttlebone is towards the inside of the cage.

Vitamin supplements are a necessity for a bird who lives indoors. Many brands specify that they should be served mixed with water, but I find this is not a good method when dealing with canaries, who drink little at best.

My preference is for products like Hagen’s wonderful vitamin-mineral supplement, 'Prime', which can be simply sprinkled on the bird’s vegetables or fruit. As long as they find the flavour acceptable there is rarely any problem getting them to consume a product like this. Always be careful never to give too many vitamins, it can be as dangerous for your bird as too few. I give each canary about as much of this powdered vitamin supplement as will fit onto the skinny end of a toothpick, daily. It doesn't take much, but they do need it!

Keeping Your Bird Clean       next       top

Change the paper on the cage floor daily, and do a major cleaning of the cage and perches every week. This will help you avoid and prevent diseases and such pests as mites.

Remember please that canaries are particularly sensitive to toxins of all sorts and refrain from using sprays of any sort around them. Perfumes, air fresheners and similar heavily scented products should likewise be banned. When washing their equipment, ensure that all traces of any cleanser is thoroughly rinsed off before returning it to the cage.

Avoid sandpaper perches and flooring, they will only give your canary sores on his feet. Various shapes and sizes of perching is best. Natural branches are fine as long as they are from a non-toxic species and are well-washed.

Make sure you never offer your bird perches made of yew, cherry, or cedarwood; all of these may be toxic, particularly if chewed on. Alder, apple, aspen or willow are good choices. Make sure you remove all the buds and leaves and wash and dry the branches thoroughly before offering them to your bird. You will find a list of some of the safer woods to use for perches here.

Feathers, Feathers Everywhere!...       next       top

Canaries moult once a year, usually in the heat of the summer. You can expect a normal moult to last six to eight weeks or so. You should protect your canary from any unusual stress or major lifestyle changes during the moult as they are much more susceptible to health problems during this time.

Give your bird lots of extra nutrition and variety in his diet when he is molting. If you have a red factor canary, now is when you want to make sure there is lots of carotene in his diet, to ensure good colour. If you use soak seed and nestling food, this is an excellent conditioner and energy source.

Make sure that your bird has access to his bath every day during the moult, as well. This is important for the health of the new feathers. Bathing is very important to a canary, especially in the summer. Every day is not too much, but at least once or twice a week is a must.

Use cold water (not warm!) in a non-slip dish or store-bought bird bath and have the water about a half-inch deep. Give baths early in the day and remove them after about an hour. Never let your bird get wet in the evening, as having damp feathers at night could make him seriously ill.

Hot or cold drafts from a furnace or an open door can also make your canary very ill if he cannot get out of the breeze. Remember though that there must be some air circulation.

Sunshine is great for all birds, but there must also be shade available. I do not recommend keeping your birds outside; there is too great a chance of exposure to canary pox or some other disease from wild birds or mosquitoes.

If your bird moults for a period of 12 weeks or more, see an avian veterinarian; prolonged moulting is not natural and may be an indication of disease or malnutrition. With some things, only an experienced avian vet can tell for sure!

So there you have it! Follow these proven pointers and you will have a healthy, happy, singing canary!

by R. C. "Robirda" McDonald
Copyright © 1990-2007
All Rights Reserved.

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