Budgietalk

newbie.

budgietalk@gmail.com — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 12:42:04 GMT

Hi there. I am a first-time budgie owner and love my wee blue birdie Brucie. I am looking for some advice on tempting him out of his cage. So far I have tried:

* Tempting him out with fruit (he doesn't like it, even if I leave it pushed between the bars of his cage he will ignore it!)
* Getting him to perch on my finger/a stick and then moving it out of the cage (he jumps off as soon as it moves)
* Hanging his honey stick treat outside the cage & opening the door so he can reach round to eat it and thus come out of the cage a bit without having to fly out all the way (he just eats what he can from inside and ignores the rest)
* Leaving the cage door open for hours on end to see if he'll get curious enough to come out (he doesn't)

I've had him for nearly 4 weeks - is this too soon to expect him to come out?
He seems happy in every other way, very talkative and lively.
He flies around his cage and doesn't appear to have had his wings clipped.
He is about 12 weeks old.

[X-posted to budgerigars]

Question

budgietalk@gmail.com — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 13:15:57 GMT

I recently got a new budgie to keep my 7 year old parakeet company. I'd like to know why the new one (and others I've seen) have bigger eyes and nostrils than he has. Is there a difference in budgies and parakeets?

Our Kind of Product

budgietalk@gmail.com — Sat, 19 Jul 2008 05:06:18 GMT

Can you see yourself and your feathered companion in this nerd-bird pack? Those commenters do not understand . . .

Cage for freee

budgietalk@gmail.com — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 21:04:14 GMT

I have a GIANT cage sitting in my closet, not being used. I'm willing to give it to someone for free who lives in my general area (Wilmington, DE) and is willing to pick it up. We used to have three parakeets and have decided since the last had died we didn't want anymore... If you're interested, let me know. I can take pictures. Its about 5 feet tall when its on the stand.

Yay!

budgietalk@gmail.com — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 02:07:03 GMT

Good news everyone! I got Pita to perch on my finger today. It's so exciting. He's learning a lot really quick!

New

budgietalk@gmail.com — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 03:00:26 GMT

Hello all! Im new to the community and I just wanted to introduce myself and my birdie buddy Im a new Parakeet owner, so I look forward to getting some helpful information and advice. My parents have both had budgies before and when I exoressed that I was loking into adopting a bird, my mom suggested we adopt a parakeet. I am learning so much from the little guy and I feel like I'm teaching him a lot too.
When we first brought him home he was very timid, but it has only been two weeks and he is already warming up and he's very close to perching on my finger. It's so exciting!

His name is Pita :-)

.

He's still not quite ready to come out of his cage, but it's only a matter of time!!

budgietalk@gmail.com — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 16:42:58 GMT

New here, hello :) I have two budgies now, and have owned two others in the past.

Last night my husband and I had the birds out and they were playing like they usually do. Falco hopped up on Ryan's finger and I noticed he was bleeding a bit on both wings. I knew right away that he'd broken bloodfeathers again (which happened to be his new flight feathers). This is the third time he's done it - the first he only broke one and it stopped bleeding pretty quickly. The second time he bled a lot and Ryan took him to the vet. Last night, it was really late so we had to take him to the emergency vet, because I didn't want to leave him alone while we were sleeping hoping that the bleeding would stop. The vet pulled them out and showed us how to do it since it seems this particular birdie is going to do this every time those flight feathers grow in! These three occasions have all occurred within the span of maybe 2-3 months.

My question, I guess, is twofold:
1) I have read it's okay for you to pull out broken bloodfeathers as long as you know what you're doing (which now we do). However, I also read that if they are primary flight feathers (as these are), then you shouldn't do it yourself. Any advice as to that?
2) Any advice on how to keep Falco from breaking them again? It's getting old, and expensive! :(

For your time, enjoy a picture of Falco (the blue/white budgie) and Amarillo (the yellow one). :)

I got them!

budgietalk@gmail.com — Sat, 14 Jun 2008 21:15:13 GMT

So, i posted below saying that I was adopting two budgies.
And now I've gotten them. I've had them for about three days and it is so nice to have some chirping, chattering, and squawking around the house again.

One is a male and one is a female. The male chases the female around so they live in separate cages. The male's cage seems a little small for him but hopefully I'll have him to the point that he can explore the house with me soon.
The woman used to call him something like "Mr. Meany" and you can really tell she favored the other one - she had the larger cage and more toys.
He seems to be just fine for me, though. In fact, he seems to be taming out more quickly than the female.

Anyway, I have a couple more questions. First of all, the male is somewhat less active and talkative than the female. He chirps and plays sometimes, but he spends a lot more time silently sitting on his perch than his buddy in the other cage. His beak also looks almost flaky towards the end and his cere is sort of weird. I'll get some pictures up at some point, but I guess I could best explain it by saying it's kind of... like built up a little bit, like a mound. And it's just not very smooth and nice looking.
But he really doesn't seem very unhealthy at all.
Should I be concerned?
I'm not sure if we have an avian vet around this area, but I'll probably look into it. I've never really bothered taking small animals to the vet for a lot of things because it seems like there is usually nothing they can do if anything is wrong for any animal smaller than a cat.
But, you know, I don't want the poor guy to be suffering.

And my next question is just about everybody's taming expriences. After three days I can get these guys to eat celery leaves or millet spray stick things from my hand, but not anything in the palm of my hand.
Should I put them in separate rooms for training?
Are some birds just untamable?
How long should I assume it will take before I can get them to perch on my finger and leave the cage with me?

I've been reading tips on the internet and there are a lot of contradictory things. Some suggest 'grabbing' the bird and holding it for a while each day until it calms down and accepts you.
Some suggest just sticking your hand in the cage for long periods of time until you can get it to perch. So I figured I'd just ask you guys about your experiences.

Introduction

budgietalk@gmail.com — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 21:04:16 GMT

Hi, everybody. I hope this is an appropriate topic to post here.

So I'm adopting two parakeets from an older woman who is going to be living in two different houses and thus does not feel like she will have enough time to devote to them in the one house.

I haven't owned any parakeets since I was quite young. My first two were basically my life. Then the next one I got I basically ignored, save for feeding it and watering it every day. (I know! Horrible! But I was so young...)
Needless to say, I would like to be a little bit better of an owner to these guys. I've done a lot of reading but any tips that you think people generally miss would be great.
I don't know much about them yet (I'm getting them tomorrow) other than one is a male and one is a female and they come in separate cages because, according to their current owner, the male will chase the female around all day if they live in the same cages.

I'm also wondering about moving with parakeets.
I'll be moving in September. It's a two hour drive and I've never really driven with parakeets. Anything I should know? I'm worried it will massively stress them out and make them lose all their feathers or have little birdie heart attacks or something.

And my last question:
We keep it pretty warm in the house I'm living at now, but where I'll live in September we usually like to keep it around 60 degrees because we're all poor, environmentally conscious college students. I'm assuming this is too cold for parakeets. I don't suppose there is some efficient and effective method of heating only their cage, is there? Or am I just going to have to turn the heat up a bit?
I haven't come across a lot of information on the type of environment they like other than to keep them out of drafts and if it's too dry to give them a humidifier.

Photo Post!

budgietalk@gmail.com — Sat, 07 Jun 2008 22:00:22 GMT

I know it's been forever since I've posted anything, but due to some rainy weather I've been stuck inside today. Thus I decided to take some photos and share them with you all!

I recently cleaned thoroughly, repainted the house, and rearranged the budgie/computer room and cage. One of my budgies, Seafoam, is off at a friend's house, being a buddy bird for her little budgie until she gets a second of her own. He seems to love it, confident little bugger that he is, changes of scenery and flock don't seem to bother him at all. He even sings for the vet!

This is their new set-up. They seem pleased. They also get free range of the room whenever I'm home. They're all fully flighted save one, Kelp.

You might notice this girl is holding her right wing oddly. When her original home got her from the LPS, the employee caught her out of the budgie cage for them, and in the process, broke the humerus in that wing. The owners didn't know much about birds and didn't take her to the vet. Turns out it was a clean mid-shaft break, but the ends didn't heal together end to end, instead, they slid past each other and healed side to side, resulting in a shortened and non-functional wing.

The budgies love their toys!

The large twiggy, leafy branch is off my (pesticide/chemical free) lilac that I had to trim back pretty hard this spring. Lots of fun to destroy according to the flock. If it weren't for the fact that they have the whole room, I might have to worry about overcrowding their cage!

Sometimes the budgies have to share with me and this crew. Both the dogs and the cat know better than to even look at the budgies crosseyed. A good squirt gun helped out my training quite a bit. Proof that you can have budgies and other pets safely, so long as you're willing to work on it. Of course the mammals and the birds are never out at the same time unless I'm there to keep tabs on everyone. I don't worry too much about the rest of the flock, but since Kelp can't fly, I worry that she might look just *too* temping of a toy were she on the ground. She's also the reason for the birdy 'sky-bridge' though the others use it too.

See! proof. Even the flighted budgies are too lazy and prefer to walk home!

Except for Salt here, he loves to fly. He also likes to show that you don't need to be a cockatoo to impressively puff up your head feathers and get a point across (here it's that he's the best bird to fly the earth and everyone should be bowing to him).

Sun is not impressed however. Nothing impresses her, though she does like to have conversations with people, even if she'd rather they leave her alone most of the time.

And another picture of Sand. They get their seed in limited quantity (pellets are always available), but they have to either forage or at least go over to the playstand for it.

Hope you enjoyed!

x-posted to my own journal lindabcs and parrot_lovers.

RIP Davi

budgietalk@gmail.com — Fri, 23 May 2008 18:19:26 GMT

Hey everyone,

I wanted to do this a week and a half ago when it happened, but I was having LJ issues (long story) and could not.

My mom's budgie, Davi, passed away at the age of approximately 3 years about a week and a half ago. Mom attributes her death to stress... Davi had laid 27 eggs since Christmas when she started laying.

I'm going to stay in the comm at least for awhile though, because I love hearing about others' budgies (and especially seeing pictures).

I wanted to thank everyone for any help provided while we had Davi in our lives. She was a sweet girl and is missed.

Quinn

tail feathers

budgietalk@gmail.com — Mon, 12 May 2008 07:29:33 GMT

i just adopted a budgie from a lady who said she didn't have enough time for him. she was examining him one day for a possible blood feather and some of his tail feathers came out. he doesn't seem to be missing them too terribly. anyway, will they grow back?

thank you!

picture post: it's been a while...

budgietalk@gmail.com — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 03:12:55 GMT

you take my breath away

kiwi keeps lookout

shanks patrols the skies

"you want some of this???"

kiwi runs his own manicure business

"what color polish would you like?"

kiwi should have been named chicken little

kiwi and a BirdyBooty.com toy of happiness :)

YOU ARE DISMISSED ::salutes::

cross-posted to budgietalk, parrots101, parrot_lovers

new budgie question

budgietalk@gmail.com — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 22:09:58 GMT

I just got a new budgie (I already have one three-year-old who is thriving). I have had her for three days She seems mostly very happy and healthy; her feathers seem clean and shiny, she is eating and drinking, after some diarrhea at first she is pooping normally, and she seems fairly energetic. The only thing is, she seems to preen an awful lot. Is this normal for a new bird, or could she have some sort of problem? She doesn't seem to be pulling out feathers...

Any personal experience?

budgietalk@gmail.com — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 01:45:57 GMT

i was wondering if anyone had experiences with avian harnesses with budgies. I've seen them on larger parrots, and some even on tiels but i feel like they may be too bulky for budgies? But i did see one nice brand here (http://www.mybirdstore.com/WHAT_S_NEW_EXCITING-AVIATOR_HARNESS_PETITE_X_LARGE.html) it seemed nice because it has an elastic on your wrist so the shock of running out of leash isnt harsh, (I mean the bird is clipped but i still would never take it out unrestrained). Since spring is around the corner and early summer will probably be the only nice time i can take him out without it being too hot i though i would ask now instead of at the last minute.

|| Grandma LunR ||

budgietalk@gmail.com — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 01:47:28 GMT

Ty's a daddy!!! OMG!!!

Itried to tell everyone that it would happen... no one believed me. Well, my proof is growing feathers as I type. His/ Her name is going to be Miracle Maxine or Majic Max once sex is determinable, in honor of the fallen Maxine who died tragically just before the hatching. Brave Maxine fought valiantly for her life after sustaining fatal injury caused during a fight after Jayda layed her eggs in Maxine's favorite hiding place.

We will always love and remember her for her kindness and spunky personality. We love you, Maxine!!!!

Need setup pictures!

budgietalk@gmail.com — Sun, 02 Mar 2008 22:09:22 GMT

Hey guys! Just wanted to let you know that I'd like to add more cage setup photos to budgietalk.com. If you have photos of a setup (that belong to you) that you'd like to share, please reply here!

Please include as much information about your cage as possible. Most importantly, the dimensions of the cage, model name (if you know it) and the pros and cons. What do you like about it? What do you hate about it?

We've had a cage setup post before but it's been a long time and it will be easier for me to get permission to use photos if we do a new post. (Not to mention, we've gotten a lot more members since then who might want to share.)

Bird getting on in years

budgietalk@gmail.com — Sat, 01 Mar 2008 19:37:21 GMT

Hi all!

I was just doing some calculating and realized that my little bird Pell is now SEVEN! I am astonished at this, since I've never had a budgie over two, and Pell just keeps chugging along. She's never been sick a day, sings and chortles at all hours (up through midnight, even when covered) and eats well. She's having a bath with a bit of water and some watercress right now, as she's decided she likes greens. Her regular food is pellets. She gets out to fly a couple of times a week, usually for a couple of hours while I've got my cat locked up in the other room.

Anyway, now that Pell is getting older, I'm just wondering if there are any particular health issues or other problems I should be on the lookout for. Her cagemate died suddenly two years ago without warning. She has a different attitude than her cagemate, however, and has always been more relaxed and way less afraid of stuff. Any advice?

Oh, and here's a pic from a couple of weeks ago.

She gets occasional seed treats and yeah,
she had just torn apart a seed log

Advice on male/female pairs

budgietalk@gmail.com — Sat, 26 Jan 2008 16:22:29 GMT

Hello all,

It's been forever since I've posted in here; I haven't lived with my birds for a couple of years (they're with my parents), so I rarely have anything to post anymore, unfortunately.

My question stems from sad news; Phoebe, one of my two budgies, passed away on Monday after a bad case of pneumonia combined with either a cyst or a tumor, and an enlarged liver. Now, Ollie (a female) is on her own. She's more sociable with my parents now that she doesn't have a budgie to keep her company, but we don't feel it's right to keep her on her own. A friend of mine has several budgies and has offered to give me one (this way we can get Ollie a friend that is about the same age).

Now, in my experience, male budgies are (in general) more sociable, and just have different personalities than females. I love my girl budgies, but I really would like to see how it is to have a male. BUT...Baby budgies are the last thing I want, and they're the last things my parents want. I know to shake/freeze any eggs that might happen and to put them back to avoid over-laying and babies, but my parents and I are worried about how any laying might affect Ollie's health.

So my questions to the rest of you budgie owners are the following:

- In your experience, does having two budgies, a male and a female, result in eggs all the time?
- How do your males and females interact?
- For those birds that do lay eggs, have you seen any negative effects on their health and general well-being?

Ollie (left) and Phoebe (right) in the shower

budgietalk@gmail.com — Tue, 08 Jan 2008 20:15:59 GMT

signature fro

budgies enjoying the sunlight

More pics of Sparky.

budgietalk@gmail.com — Mon, 07 Jan 2008 23:15:34 GMT

So far so good. He's still VERY shy and we try to tread softly when around him. But he's adorably cute. Those big eyes and funny face.

Look at those colors! He's so cute... He's also been in that spot for a while and pooped a few times into his food dish! I'll have to clean that up. :)

Looking spooked.

Eating millet.

I laughed.

budgietalk@gmail.com — Sun, 06 Jan 2008 10:51:46 GMT

New friend.

budgietalk@gmail.com — Sat, 05 Jan 2008 23:27:31 GMT

This morning Marc set up the bird cage with new perches and some of Scooby's old toys that she didn't really like. He told me he was ready to get a new bird and he wanted to go get one today. I took one look at the cage and burst into tears. It was so hard imagining a new bird that wasn't Scooby. The pain is still very fresh for me and I still feel sad for her every day since she died. Marc reassured me that the new bird will not be replacing Scooby at all. It'll be like one of her brothers or sisters that we will be giving a new home to. I know I wanted more birds but didn't think we'd get one so soon. But we did.

Isn't he kinda cute? He's got lovely coloring, yellow with some green, white and blue. When we saw him at the pet store we thought he was so deranged looking and ugly with those wide eyes! He was very animated and rambunctious. We were deciding between two other birds when he came up close to the glass and tried to kiss my face! It was adorable. So we changed our minds and got him instead. (We think he's a boy as his cere is still blank, it should turn blue if he's a boy.) So far we've had him for several hours and he's already singing and chirping with Marc. :) Already he has brought some sunshine back into our lives.

EDIT: Marc has decided Sparky is a better name than Sprite. But it doesn't matter because I like to call him "Lemon Chicken"! :)

Egg Questions

budgietalk@gmail.com — Tue, 01 Jan 2008 16:05:04 GMT

Hi everyone!

I haven't posted about Mom's budgie Davi in awhile, but I'm doing so now, because she's laying eggs for the first time since we got her (October 2005, when she was less than six months old) and we're curious about a few things.

She's been going through this for a couple of weeks now, and every few days she lays another egg. Mom read up on it in her budgie care book (and I think she talked to the lady at the petstore too...that woman knows more about more types of animals than anybody I know) so she's doing everything she's supposed to do and Davi herself is fine.

First question, when Davi started, her beak turned a really dark green, and has gotten lighter as this has gone on. Is this normal?

The second question is actually a series of related questions. How many eggs is she supposed to lay? She laid her 7th egg today and I thought I had read on this comm not too long ago that they usually lay 4-6. Is that just a guideline? How many is it possible for her to lay?

And my third question is, how often will she do this now that she's started? Like I said, this is the first time she's laid eggs and she's over 2 years old. Mom might actually know that, if they said it in the book, but I'm curious myself.

We imagine this is not comfortable for her at all, and really hard on her, so we're hoping she's done soon and gets back to normal.

Thanks so much for any answers/help and happy new year!

budgietalk@gmail.com — Sat, 29 Dec 2007 15:50:34 GMT

Well guys, its been a slice, but I just wanted to let everyone know that I'll be leaving the community since I don't have budgies anymore! My sister came and took them back since she got a place where she can have them now.

Thanks to anyone and everyone that ever offered me help or advice regarding those two crazy cats. You were all fantastic!