Video Transcript

Hello, I’m Dr. Laurie Hess, Director of Pet Health and Nutrition at ZuPreem.

Most people are familiar with little finches. They’re small perching birds. They’re actually members of the Passerine family. They’re not parrots.

If you’re considering having a finch, just remember that they’re kind of like potato chips. It’s hard to have just one. They’re very addictive. They like to be around other birds. They do very well with other finches in a flock situation, ideally in a large cage with lots of levels for them to jump around in an aviary cage. They come in all different, beautiful, vibrant colors, different patterns, and as I said, when you have one, you often end up with many. If you’re considering having just one, you need to realize that you need to spend a lot of time with that bird every day because they are prone to self-mutilation of their skin and picking at their feathers when they’re not socialized properly or when they’re alone and they’re bored.

They live on average of about three to five years. They can live more than 10 years when cared for properly, and they’re really for someone who is just more interested in looking at their birds than necessarily holding them.