ellmak

Yeah it does sound like you're preaching. Oh well. I guess I will just accept it with humbleness. Sorry, I should have been more thorough with my description of their behaviour - when not having his tail pulled and twisted Pretty Boy would snuggle up to Charka and they would also play with their toys together for hours. PB would strut in front of C like he was showing off, and follow C around like he wanted a kiss. When she would stop for him, he would gently nuzzle her and bob his head up and down against her cheek. That was why I said that he didn't seem to mind, he seemed content (except for the tail pulling) but given what happened, I wonder now if he truly was. If he had been scared of her and constantly staying away from her then I definitely would have split them permanently. I don't know for sure if he "secretly hated her", that was only my thought after he made his big escape. I am always careful with the doors, and in the blink of an eye he was out. It reminded me of a planned gaol escape... had he been watching for a weakness in my routine? I apologise for "putting people emotions & feelings on to other species" but sometimes it is difficult for me to describe without using the analogies. Thanks Finnie. Yep, you're right.. Charka is still alone and will remain a solitary bird.. She comes inside for a few hours every day (her cage is just out on the verandah) and to all appearances she seems quite happy with this arrangement. She still has little mini fits of aggression, but only towards me now. She is 95% well behaved, sits on my shoulder happily nibbling at my earrings or my hair, or wandering around on my desk playing with bits and pieces - but just every so often (that remaining 5%) she has a momentary hissy fit and bites hard, flaps her wings and screeches at me. As soon as it's passed (and it's over in seconds) she goes back to nuzzling and being a sweetie like nothing happened. I'm guessing it's just an attention thing, but I can put up with it as she's so good the rest of the time.

Great info KAZ. Will they kill for any other reason? (other than over nest boxes) We had Charka (F) and Pretty Boy (M) together but Charka was pretty aggressive towards PB and would twist his tail and pull on it til it looked quite mangled. He didn't seem to mind too much but I think he must have secretly hated her because one day when I was changing the feed dish he darted out and flew as far as he could. We found him dead (probably from exhaustion) 2km away across the paddock at the neighbours house. Anyway, we joked that she was a ***** and must have been a pain to live with. Charka seemed pretty happy after he was gone.. more content but then became lonely and withdrawn.. so jump forward a few months and we bought Charka a little pal for company. They were very happy together (although she did take to pulling and twisting his tail a lot) until one day about 6mths later we found the younger one dead. He was found at the bottom of the cage with basically the budgie-kill description you gave. We feel pretty sure she was to blame but not sure why. She now lives alone.

Bea, I just love, love, love your baby disco..!!! Can I please ask what size wiffle ball you used? I've been looking around in stores since I first saw this post, and have come to the realisation that I'm going to have to order the bits and pieces online (most likely from My Parrot Shop too) but had a look and discovered that these wiffle balls come in different sizes! Any help would be much appreciated. After a long couple of months, my 2 are finally in the last few days, starting to play with the toys I've been buying for them - yay! But I really would love to just make them something. Ta

Thanks for the quick reply Dave.

What a brilliant trap! Is it big enough to trap rats too, or just mice? Will have to check out Bunnings when I'm over that way next. Ta

Wow the prices really vary a lot don't they. I rang my local vet the other day to ask about a wing clip and a health check and was told $25.80 per bird, so I'm thinking that's pretty good now after reading this thread! They said the health check though is just to check over the bird and look at skin and feathers etc - no mention of any tests, so probably be extra $$'s for those if they're required. Been reading through the forum on the for's and against's of wing clipping and finally decided that it's probably the way to go for my two. Just have to make the appointment now.

Yep, you can see the chain in the picture I posted in this thread ---> http://forums.budgiebreeders.asn.au/index....showtopic=28187 The front chunky toy was also another 'best seller' the pet store told me about.. and another one my birds don't give two hoots about. To be honest, I'm still trying to figure out what my birds like... I've even got a little bowl sitting in there with a few bits of brightly coloured bits and pieces - beads, coloured chunky plastic things, even some shredded paper - yet they're not even interested in looking through those either. They're happy just warbling away to eachother, eating, sleeping and tearing apart gum leaves. Oh and they quite like their swing, I'd forgotten about that.

He looks like a lovely little fellow. Very cute!

Those toys look fantastic ultrav0x. I'm slowly getting some great ideas and quickly realising I don't have to spend the big $$'s on pet shop toys. Some of their prices are pretty steep. I've bought a few things now that my budgies aren't really interested in - the only thing they seem to tolerate is their ladder (and only one of them will go near it). The pet store told me that budgies absolutely love those long coloured chunky plastic link chains - yet my two hate it and won't go near it. The only interraction is to quickly flick it out of the way in disgust if it accidentally gets in their way. But on the whole they completely avoid it along with the rest of the toys in their cage. Think I paid about $14 for the silly plastic chain.

Oh they're so lovely. I love the greens! How about naming them after the 7 dwarves?

I had no idea ants could eat baby birds! Will they have a go at the older birds too? Ugh, I hate ants at the best of times.

Thanks for the encouragement Finnie! I will keep at the key phrase. I know it will take a long time, and probably even longer since there are two - I just wish my male wasn't so standoff-ish. In the week that he lived by himself he would hop onto my finger 7 times out of 10 which I thought was great, but since Charka moved in, it's more like 1 time in 10 that he'll let step up onto my finger. But he does mumble quite a bit, so I guess perserverance is the key. Thanks GenericBlue! I will definitely keep you in mind if, or probably when, I get stuck on something. Thanks Amy - it's like the book you can't put down!!! It's sooooo addictive! :rofl:

Thanks defieldsfamily. :rofl: Great questions!! I've still got an awful lot to learn as well, so I'm also very interested to know the answers.

Thanks for all the positive feedback everyone, it's much appreciated. They really took to their new home straight away, not the slightest bit scared or unsure at all, which was great! Plus I'm feeling a lot happier about it too. Thanks maesie. I've angled the perches across so that the birds can't sit directly above their feed or water dishes, was that what you mean't by putting them just on from the edge? I'm thinking of getting a couple of nice stainless steel feeder bowls though that I can re-position them anywhere and not have to have the feeders at those little doors either side. Are there any concerns over stainless steel V's plastic feeders? :rofl: Oh that didn't even occur to me! That's great advice, thanks so much Catherine.

Thanks ultravox. I'm in a small town in rural Victoria and I bought the cage at our little local garden centre - they don't have a huge bird section but they do stock a few cages and sell birds on consignment for people. The cage was originally $70 but because I wanted one straight away and couldn't wait til they went to Melb next week to get more stock, I got one that they had put together last week to house a bird they were holding for someone. So the cage is effectively brand new (okay a week old, and only used for a couple of days) but since it was technically 'used' they took off $10 for me. I did use a disinfectant on it just to make sure it was clean though. Oh and I took out the long length-ways perches it came with and used the old shorter ones from their little cage - just incase the longer perches were somehow 'dirty'.

Okay so I couldn't stand my birds being in the wrong type of cage a minute longer so I lashed out and bought them a new home today. I paid $60 for it which I thought wasn't too bad. It's 75cm long x 44cm deep x 42cm high (not including the tray in the height, just measured the inside cage space) I know the perches are wrong, and I need some tree branches or rope branches - I'm working on it though, but in the meantime, any advice on what I can do to improve their new home and make it more 'fun' and comfy would be greatly appreciated, thanks!

Hi Houman, I bought the birds about a week apart but unfortunately I didn't know about quarantining until after they had been together for a while... canoodling like no tomorrow, so in a way I'm kinda relieved they are a boy and girl or any attempts at breeding could have got REAL interesting, lol. Not sure if the store had quarantined them before putting them in the main cage. Oh and I bought them a new home today (yeah I couldn't wait)! I'll post a picture in the cages section. I'm pretty happy with it and the birds are quite chuffed!

Thanks Kaz, yep that's just the sort of cage I'm looking for. That one's in Melbourne unfortunately and I can't get up there, otherwise it's perfect! I need something more in the Traralgon/Morwell or Sale area that I can get to easily. Have been keeping an eye out of eBay but not much around. Thanks birdluv. I was afraid that may be the case - I really wanted a talker, not that it matters that much, just thought it would be fun. Charka doesn't say much, just a loud squawk every now and then and a lot of garbled warbling, but I have noticed that Pretty Boy mumbles away to himself at night in a different kind of way than their daytime chatter. I talked to him last night when he was in mumble mode and he put his head on the side like he was listening to me, and mumbled something each time I paused but I'm probably wishful thinking! Anyway I'm... hopeful... but won't hold out too much hope then. ta

Thanks everyone! I quickly read this post before my hubby got home last night and so I casually said something later about 'the spangles' and he was like.. what???? Kaz you're right about the flash - it was used in the 2nd photo. The blue for Pretty Boy in the first photo is much more accurate. And when I said Charka has the same blue around her legs, I should have said she has a completely green front (accurate colour in the first photo) and the blue is almost like... how can I describe it.. like a pair of knickers, lol.

She definitely has a lovely one of those. One more question, if I may please... Can you tell me any 'fancy' names for my birds' colourings that I can impress my family with? Pretty Boy has a splotch of blue on the back of his head, and I have a feeling there may be a name for that? The only bit on Charka that's a notably different colour is that she is blue (the same blue as Pretty Boy) around her legs, the rest of her is that lovely greeny and yellow colour. Thank you!

Oh wow! Thanks so much Kaz. Yes, definitely older than I thought. Both came from aviaries so I am really surprised that Charka is so friendly and sociable. I thought that since she's really taken to me that she just might have not known better due to her age - I guess she's just naturally friendly then! But how does that sit with the fact that Charka's not aggressive at all and just 'mouths' me with her beak, yet Pretty Boy (glad the sex was right and doesn't require a name change!) is a bitey little soul? Isn't it usually the other way around? Many thanks!

Thanks for the warm welcomes! clearwing, my birds are already giving me lots of enjoyment, I am so fascinated by them - adorable little critters that they are! One question I do have - since I have 2 birds together, what are the chances that one or the other, or both, will learn to talk? Will they take their cues from us humans, or just stick to talking about us in bird speak? I have picked a key phrase and say it umpteen times a day - got the rest of the family in on the act too. Am just starting with the one phrase so as not to confuse them. IF one of them is going to talk - what's the average time-frame? 6mths? 12mths? Don't worry, I am very patient.

Hi everyone, I posted an introduction in the Flock section and as mentioned, here is a photo of my two babies. I was told when I got Pretty Boy (the blue) that he was a male, and then later when I got Charka (the green) they told me he was a male too - BUT after reading all the posts here about cere colours, and running back and forth to check my birds and ending up TOTALLY confused, I thought the best thing to do would be to post up a picture and hopefully some kind forum members may have some better idea. I took this photo in natural light with the window behind me letting the light in, and the colours look pretty accurate to me. I think I also had the loungeroom light on also to help light the area even more. One thing that confuses me though is that I've picked up from the forum that the females are more likely to want to bite.. well Pretty Boy has had a bite or two of me and seems less social and more serious - although yes I am taking it very slowly. Charka is an absolute sweetheart who doesn't mind being picked up and played with, and is very cheeky and will play with me with the beads on their ladder, flipping them from one side to the other with me. He will 'mouth' me with his beak but isn't the slightest bit interested in biting. I was told that both birds were only young (I've had Pretty Boy for 3wks now, and Charka for 2wks) and that the lines running all the way down to their cere's indicated this, which seems pretty accurate. Anyway, any thoughts on if they are both male, as I was told, would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!!

Hello everyone! Firstly I would like to say a big thank you for such a terrific, friendly and informative forum. I have spent so much time reading through some of the different sections here and have learned so much from all your valuable insights and information. I live in Sth Gippsland and am definitely a novice in the world of budgies. I remember my Nan having budgies when I was younger but that's about the extent of my experience! I was given a cage about 4wks ago so I could get a budgie, and a couple of weeks later I got it a friend. I now know, after reading through the advice here, that the cage I have is more suitable for canaries and finches, so I'm quite upset that I have them in the wrong cage type. I've been looking everywhere and asking lots of people if they may have a bigger cage I can buy 2nd hand or borrow but no dice, so I am now trying to save up to try and get my birds some bigger digs. I have no idea on breeds, correct colour names and classifications - heck I don't even know what sex my babies are but I will post a picture of them in the 'What Sex' section shortly, so am hoping someone may have some advice. Thank you all once again, I have really appreciated all your wisdom!