BabyGumnut

Hi all, We are moving from VIC to NSW in a couple of weeks and I need to figure out how Albie with travel. He cannot come with us in the car, just not enough room, yes, even for one little bird, plus an unpredictable toddler in the car! I have never had to move house with a pet before. So how and where do you find a 'budgie removalist'? Sorry I am totally clueless. The removalist we have for our household goods doesn't move pets. Any reccommendations would be fantastic :-) He will need to be with the removalist for 6 - 7 days. Can anyone shed any light on what usually happens? Many thanks in advance,

That has already been stated in this topic. Our own forum link has heaps of vets listed. Oh oops sorry. Ignore me, I need more sleep.

Just from last night Albie has become unwell I think. A bit of background - he is about 4 months old, a little on the skinny side (weighted 27 g at 2 months). He has been a great pet so far, he has adopted us well and is becoming tame. He comes out of the cage on our shoulder etc. He is generally vocal and active within the cage. He doesn't eat a lot other than seed, he's just taking to other vege etc and doesn't eat much of his crumble. His droppings are now somewhat green. The white bit is still white. It's not liquidy but the black bit is bulkier, tubular and is yellowy or pale green. The pattern around the cage floor is normal. Today he's also quieter. So talking/singing much, not moving around his cage much but I think he had some seed this morning and has happily destroyed the silverbeet that I hung in the cage today. I've made an appointment with an Avian vet (Tina at Uni of Melb, Werribee) but can't see her until Monday. She was the Vet who saw him at 2 months. Is there anything I can do over the weekend to help him? Any food suggestions? Many thanks in advance.

I just tried the link under "Australia". It appears to be a dead link. Just FYI

Love this thread. I'm planning on ordering supplies in the next few days to make some toys for Albie. In the meantime however I took inspiration from Chrysocome's post with cardboard tunnel and I used a toilet roll and stuffed it with shredded paper (old bills) and pegged it to the side of the cage. Albie has been having a ball with it all day. It took him all of 30 secs to start playing and I was suprised at his attitude and determination for such a lil fella. Happy to report we have a happy and tired little budgie tonight!

Thanks for the replies. My hubby guessed right then! He said it lookied as if he was trying to get our attention and to get out. We've had him a week now and we're still getting him used to our hand. He's still pretty skittish when we put our hand in. We'll endeavour to pay some extra attention when he's doing his L-R thing!

Hi, Albie is settling in well I think, he's chirping and eating and moving all around his cage. The question I have is he often hops onto his fav perch - the one closest to us and farthest from the walls, and he steps sideways back and forth. I'm sure he's trying to let us know something I just haven't figured it out. he seems happy, not aggitated when he does this. Is he jsut trying to join in on our activities or is he tryingto get our attention cause he needs something? What do you think? Do your budgies do this? Is is normal?

Thanks birdluv Well he seems to be settling in nicely, he's moving around the cage, chirping and eating. If I put my hand in he tries to get away but he isn't frantic. His ceres are pinkish at the top as I thought more a light blue. Anyway here he is: This is him looking a bit puffy and standing on one leg This is his side profile The kids absolutely adore him even the 14 month old who flaps her arms and puckers her lips to whistle when we say 'birdie' . I've seen some threads on making toys so the kids and I will be doing that during the school holidays and now we'll start trying different foods to see what he likes. Quick question - where do you put the vegies etc? his cage has a seed feeder and a water feeder, should we put a bowl on the floor with his other foods?

Okay, we have our bird We think he's a he The top half of his ceres are pink and the bottom half blue, the lady at the pet shop openly admitted she gets it wrong about 20% of the time but her guess was male. We're taking him back on Friday to get his wings clipped and the owner will also give his opinion. His name is Albie He's whitish/grey on the face and back with purple cheeks and pale blue on the underside. So far he's sat quietly in his cage for the 1st 90 mins and in the last haf hour has started chirping. I hope that's a good sign I couldn't get any clear pictures tonight as it was poor lighting and I didn't want to use the flash on him - poor little guy's had enough for one day I think. I'm hoping to get some nice pictures tomorrow.

Thanks Kaz Yeah, I know the cage isn't the best but we've changed the top 2 perches to run the other way so there is more hopping room and added a lower perch so it can hop to the feeders too. (Chances are we are moving house in a couple of months anyway so will look at better position/cage then) okay I'll remove the grit. Right, no shiny toys, clean bum, not fluffy, go healthy - Got it One of the babies I noticed had what I would call lilac coloured ceres - I'm guessing that is what you mean by purply pink Getting excited!

So after promising the kids a pet budgie a couple of months ago and having to deal with some family crisis in the meantime today is finally the day we get our 1st family pet We have a cage set up - it's not the perfect shape but it's size is fine and it has 2 feeders, the perches set up for lots of hopping, a cuttlefish tied on and some newspaper in the bottom with some grit spread on. I was unable to find a local breeder so I have done the rounds of every pet shop and found one I'm very happy with. Lots of gorgeous happy, healthy looking budgies. So later this afternoon we are going to choose our bird! We're getting a baby and have decided to clip it's wings initially while we all learn to handle it (our kids are 8, 6 and 1). We will pick up food when we buy it and the kids are using their pocket money to buy a toy. Any tips on what is your birds favourite kind of toy? I have some old towels for a night cover. So what am I forgetting? or what else can you suggest I get or do for a 1st time budgie owner. Many thanks,

okay, here's the best picture I have of the cage at the moment. That was 'Patch' the rescued canary with a very temporary cage set up Might try and measure the cage tomorrow and give it a good clean anyway. Part of the reason we chose that cage was so we could hang it inside. Due to the layout of our 70's house and the heating/cooling setup we found a good position but it would be prime for our toddler to get at if we had a standing cage. Thankfully there is already a strong hook in the ceiling beam and my hubby got some of this strong chain from the hardware shop. This way the cage could hang at a good height for our older children but out of the reach of our toddling 13 month old Oh yeah, and thanks for the welcome Hi Jodie, thanks! we are really looking forward to the company our budgie will give us

Thanks alpaca-boy! Yes we think a budgie is going to be perfect for a 1st pet An 'easy' animal was definatley a priority. Thanks for the links Ratzy. This is exactly why I decided to join the forum so thanks. For a beginner it's hard to know what you don't know We quickly bought a cage at a local pet shop when we found the canary but I am not sure if it's suitable for a budgie, as for food all I have is some left over canary seed that I know isn't going to come close to being appropriate So I'm really starting from scratch! I will make sure we sort out these 2 basics before we go shopping. Not that I know where to buy yet, but we have decided to buy from a breeder, we walked into a local pet shop recently and quickly walked back out. I'd like to find someone local in Western Melbourne preferably.

Hi all, I found this board this morning and have been lurking but now it's time to say hi I'm a mum to 3 children aged 8, 5 and 1. Up until now we have been without a pet. However that is soon to change and the pet of choice is a budgie - so here I am! A couple of months ago we found a little canary in our front yard and rescued it and looked after it for a week after which the flyers we had dropped off to neighouring houses paid dividends and the original owner came and reclaimed the canary. In the meantime however our children fell in love with the bird and proved to us they were ready to take care of a pet. So after the canary left we promised them they could have a replacement bird. After family discussions we have decided on a budgie for a 1st pet Only problem is I have absolutely no idea what I'm doing I've never owned a bird of any kind. My hubby had a budgie for a while as a child but that is our only experience. So I have a million questions but I'll start reading the FAQ's and have a look around for where to post my noobie questions.