Amadins - care and content, useful advice for beginners

How do the amads look, care and maintenance behind them - all this is an important information for people who want to have beautiful and exotic birds in their house. You need to know what the cage should be, where to put it, and how to properly feed the new pet so that it is healthy.

Amadins - care and maintenance at home

Original and attractive birds every year become all popular as pets. It is important to know how to care for Amadina, since exotic pets require special treatment. Otherwise they will often get sick. So, let's figure out who the Amadins are, how to distinguish the male from the female and identify different species. One of the differences is the singing abilities of the male and its larger dimensions. More boys have a bigger and brighter beak.

Amadines - care

Since pets are exotic, their content implies taking into account some features:

1. The cage should be placed in a place with good light. Drafts and batteries located nearby are prohibited.
2. The ideal duration of daylight hours is 12-15 hours. It is important that every day for 45 minutes on the amadin exposed to ultraviolet radiation.
3. In the warm season, the content of amadines at home includes the removal of the cage to a balcony or garden for several hours. It should be set so that the bird can choose whether it wants to be in the shade, or it is better to move to the sun.
4. Of great importance is the maintenance of cleanliness in the cage, which must be cleaned every other day, changing the litter and removing dirt. Every morning, you should wash the food trough and drinker. From time to time, disinfect the whole frame.
5. If you have amadines, care for them and their contents will consist in maintaining a stable temperature regime. The optimum value is from +16 to 23 ° C. Lowering the temperature they tolerate better than raising it. Humidity should be at an average level.
6. Amadins love water procedures, so their content implies the establishment of a small trough in the cage. Pour clean water at room temperature. The liquid level should not be more than 1.5 cm. After each procedure, the bathtub should be cleaned.
7. Moulting takes place during the year, and lasts for an average of 20 days. At this time, care should be supplemented with obligatory plant or mineral top dressing. It is also necessary to give food of animal origin.

Diseases of the Amadins deserve special attention. They can be divided into two categories. The first include diseases from which all the birds suffer: salmonellosis, coccidosis, cholera and others. The second group includes specific diseases that are unique to amadines:

1. Tracheal mite. It is contagious and one of the most common diseases. Symptoms include intermittent breathing, coughing and sneezing. The males lose their voice.
2. Non-contagious diseases result from poor conditions of detention and inadequate care. For example, because of the lack of vitamins, hypovitaminosis develops and many other diseases. Because of close cells, hypodynamia may develop. The sickness is indicated by lethargy, slovenliness, frequent scratching and so on.

Cell for Amadin

The house for exotic birds should be practical and safe. If you have a couple amadines, then you need a cage with dimensions of 30x40x60 cm. It is best if it is elongated in length and made of steel that does not rust and crack. The pallet must easily slide out. Pour into it should be burned in the oven sand with bits of chalk and coal.

When buying amadines, the care and maintenance of which implies the proper arrangement of the cell, you need to take into account some of the nuances:

1. The design should have several perches, the diameter of which should be slightly larger than the grasp of the foot.
2. Feeders should be made of metal or ceramics. It is better to use hanging options that are secured from the outside and have protective caps. Each feed should have its own feeding bowl. For water it is recommended to buy a machine.
3. During breeding, you need to equip a secluded place. Ready nest for amads is not suitable and it is better to choose the duplexes that are in pet stores, but they can also be made with their own hands.

What to feed the Amadin?

The organization of proper nutrition is an important condition for their beauty, health and reproduction. Amadins, whose care and maintenance have their own characteristics, should eat:

1. Cereal mixtures. The basis of the diet should be a combination of cereal crops, where the base should be millet and canariens. Choose mixtures intended for amads. Daily rate - 1, 5 teaspoons.
2. Soft feed. This option should be selected during the feeding season of the offspring, but it can also be included in the usual menu. This includes a mashed boiled egg, mixed with crushed carrots and crumbs of white bread. Soft mixtures should be given 1-2 times a week, and if there are chicks, then every day. The norm is 1-2 tsp.
3. Green feed. Such food for amadins is necessary for maintaining health. It is necessary to accustom birds to the use of fruits and vegetables, which should be hung on the cage. You can choose cucumbers and bell peppers, pumpkin, cabbage, bananas and apples, peaches, lettuce and dandelions. Under the ban is mango, avocado, onion, parsley, dill, persimmon and celery.
4. Live food. This group includes flour worms, maggots and moths. This is an excellent source of protein. During the nesting and feeding period of the amadin chicks, care and maintenance implies the mandatory inclusion of live food in the menu.
5. Mineral fodder. For full-fledged care feeding can be bought in the store and done by yourself. Mixed crushed shell rock, sand, eggshell and gravel. Such a mixture should be present in the cell all the time.
6. Vitamins. Special preparations can be placed in the feed, as they are sold in the form of drops and powder. Choose vitamins, focusing on different periods of life. Proper care implies the constant presence of clean water.

Amadins - breeding at home

Ripening birds early, but it is better to have their offspring in 6 months. Amadines, the care and maintenance of which do not include complex tasks, multiply easily at home.

1. To remove the chicks should prepare a closed house, inside which you need to put a dry grass or hay.
2. In one masonry, there may be 4-7 eggs, and their parents incubate them in turn. The duration of incubation is 11-17 days.
3. Small Amadins fly out of the nest on the 17-21 day. The parents feed their offspring for two months.

Amadina Birds - Species

There are several varieties, the main ones appearing in nature, but some have been selected in a selective way. Amadina birds have some common parameters: a short body length, closely fitting feathers, a triangular beak with a texture resembling wax. Differences include color, behavior and habitat.

Zebra Amadina

The name is directly related to color, because in the chest, neck and tail alternate light and dark stripes. The body length of this bird is 10 cm. They dwell in Australia and the Lesser Sunda Islands. Zebra Amadina , whose departure is no different from others, is not afraid of people. Due to their residence in arid areas, they can be without water for a long time. Zebra Amadina can sing peculiar trills.

Rice Amadina

Since its inception, such birds have inhabited Indochina and southern China, and then they have spread to other territories. Amadins have a small body up to 14 cm long. Above the trunk, the feathers are painted gray, the belly has a light pink color, and the head is black with white cheeks. It is worth noting the massive beak of a rich red hue and pinkish eyelids. There were also other colors: white, blue, mottled, light beige and marble. Such amadins of the house will please a cheerful trill like a bell.

Guldova Amadina

The name is due to what his researcher D. Gould discovered when he traveled through Australia. He named the birds after his late wife - Lady Gould's amadina, but the people simply have guld. Amadins belong to an endangered species, so most of the representatives are bred in captivity. The length of the body reaches 11 cm, and the feathers have different shades: green, lilac, yellow, white and blue. The color of the head has an effect on the condition of the pet.

1. Red . Amadins of a guild with such color have an aggressive character.
2. Black . They stand out with their curiosity, and they are not afraid of anything new.
3. Yellow . Such amadins suffer from a genetic anomaly when the body does not digest food grade carotene.

Japanese amads

This species was the first among domesticated amadins and now they can not be found in the wild. The natural color can be brown with a gray or white hue. The upper part of the beak is black with a blue tint, and the lower part is slightly lighter. Thanks to the selection, other colors were produced: chocolate, yellow and beige. Adult individuals and chicks of amadin are distinguished by the fact that they emit quiet hissing sounds. It is worth noting their balanced and friendly nature.

Diamond Amadine

The name is directly related to the fact that the feathers have small white spots that are randomly scattered across the body. The main color of plumage is light brown, and the head is gray. Present in color and black color, which is painted neck under the beak, sides and tail. At the end of the back and beak there is a dark red hue. The content of Amadins of this species implies compliance with the above rules. They are friendly and trustful. In nature, they live in eastern Australia.

The short-tailed amad

Representatives of this species are the largest, and the length of the trunk can reach up to 17 cm, of which 6-8 cm is the tail and in many it is bifurcated at the end. Such amads have a back and brown belly, which can have a reddish tide. The head is gray with silvery reflection and has black spots between the eyes and the beak, and even in the upper part of the throat. Black is the tail and the line that encircles the lower body. The features include:

1. Ost-tailed amadines at home require additional care, as they are prone to protracted molting, which can last up to a year.
2. Birds can have a beak of red or yellow color.
3. Amadins are the most loyal partners, so the formed pair keeps together all the time.

Parrot amadins

From the name it is clear that this species has similar features to parrots. They are small, so the length of the body can vary from 9 to 15 cm. Like the wild parrots, these amads have a green color of feathers, and there are also shades of red, yellow and blue. In the wild they live in Asia, Australia and Indonesia. Amadina parrots have thirteen species.