The keeping of Canaries for their appearance and song is a tradition that dates back centuries.
Most bird veterinarians today recommend a diet of 80% canary pellets. Many breeders still use the canary seed mix available in pet shops. All canaries benefit from a supply of green food such as lettuce, dandelion leaves and nasturtium leaves. They can eat any produce you do, with the exception of avocado. Care should be taken to ensure leaves supplied are clean and have not been sprayed with any chemicals. Canaries also enjoy little bits of fruit, but be careful to offer only what the bird can eat in one sitting, or you may wind up attracting ants, or hornets.
During the moulting period it is advisable to supplement their diet with egg food or nestling food (can be bought as a dry mix to which water is added until a crumbly but not soggy consistency is achieved. Some nestling or egg foods can be served dry, others are best served with a soak seed mix; this is a special mixture of seeds meant to be soaked, rinsed, and sometimes sprouted a little, before being served).
To ensure caged birds are happy, toys should be provided and swapped regularly to avoid boredom (which can lead to aggression and feather plucking). Most people keep males and females in separate cages, except during breeding season. When buying pet canaries, great care must be taken to ensure the right mix of sexes in a cage. A mistake could lead to the birds attacking each other, even to the extent that one may kill another.
In general, pet canaries do not require companionship; the canary species is territorial, not social, and does not generally appreciate company in the same cage. It will be seen as an intruder, not as a companion, and although it might take up to two years or so, if they remain in a single cage all year round, usually one or the other will eventually die. A male and a female stand a better chance of getting along amicably, but all too often the less dominant bird will eventually die, although it may take some time.
This is because the dominant bird will feel the need to constantly ‘oversee’ the less dominant bird of the two. It will never be able to eat, sleep, or drink its fill in peace, and eventually the stress will take its toll.
If a bird is present in the home and a companion is bought, it must be kept in a separate cage for at least couple of weeks, both for quarantine, and to ensure the birds get used to each other; the new bird can then gradually be introduced to ensure that no fighting ensues. A male and female will often get along reasonably well if introduced in this way, but should not be allowed to remain together all year round; each should have some privacy, during the period from midwinter until the start of breeding season in early spring, at the very least.
Two males will very rarely be happy together, although keeping them permanently in separate cages will prompt them each to sing more than they probably would on their own - however a good recording of canary song will work equally well. A cage with a number of males may work as long as no female is present, but again, they should not be expected to live in peace all year round, and each should be separated into an individual cage during the spring/early summer breeding season at the very least.