Maddie

Hi Finnie, Thanks for your kind words. I do appreciate it & it helps to talk to someone who understands & cares. Yes I have thought of getting another little budgie & will do so after my travels. Again thank you for your thoughts. Love the picture of the baby birdies!

My little Maddie went to Heaven this morning at the Brisbane Bird Vet Hospital. We took her there yesterday as she started breathing heavily & was sitting on the bottom of the cage lots of the time. The avian vet took an x-ray & Maddie had a large liver. They dosed her with the necessary medication, but unfortunately she lost the fight this morning, just after they fed her. I am broken-hearted - such a little bundle to cause me so much heartbreak. I had rescued Maddie on the 26.01.11 (Australia Day) when I was walking my dog, Molly. She was flying overhead, being chased by crows. She flew down into some long grass & I found her & held her to my chest all the way home, not knowing if she would survive the ordeal. She was bleeding a bit where the crows had attacked her, but she survived, which made me so happy. I grew to love her so much & she seemed to love me too, always getting excited when I approached her cage (she had 3 cages - small for travelling, medium for holidays & going outside with me & a large flight cage). She didn't like being handled, but she would get on my hand & hop up my arm. And she talked so much & she danced. A happy little budgie with a great personality. She was so beautiful - all white, but with a bit of the most beautiful bright blue above her tail. I didn't have her for long, but she became such an important & vital part of my life. My heart is broken. The vet has informed me that bird seed contains too much fat - here I was thinking that I was doing the right thing by buying Maddie a good brand of bird seed & giving her some spinach leaf & apple. IT IS NOT WELL-KNOWN THAT BIRD SEED IS UNSUITABLE IN A BIRD'S DAILY DIET. There should be more info out there on this, & more birds would live longer. Farewell little Maddie. I miss you so much & I can't believe that this has happened so suddenly. Thank you for giving me so much pleasure whilst you were here my little darling. Much love from Mummy. xxx

I just cannot believe that the RSPCA would turn their back on what is, bird cruelty. Very disappointed to hear that. I can't cop any form of animal / bird cruelty. These poor creatures can't fend for themselves. How sad it all is.

Hello Maddie,when in doubt about your birds health,just take a sample of it's droppings to a vet,they will analyze the droppings and give you any appropriate medication . Thanks for your reply. Maddie is chirping & as bright as a button & I don't think for a minute that she is ill. I just don't know if I should be worming her or not, as I am getting different opinions. I also don't know what wormer brand is best. As stated previously, I read where some pet store wormers are a waste of time.

I have had Maddie since January this year after rescueing her from attacking crows. I have never wormed her. Are there any budgie experts out there to advise me if I should worm her? 2 people I've talked to have said "yes", another bird owner has said "no, not if she isn't in contact with other birds". If I do worm her, could you advise the best brand wormer that I can purchase (I've been told that some wormer supplied by pet stores are a waste of time & money). Hope I can get some expert replies - thanks in advance!

Don't know if newspaper would have anything to do with it, but just in case the print is dangerous, I use natural white paper towel on the bottom of my budgie's cage.

Hi all. I need some help here. I have had Maddie my lovely budgie since rescueing her from crows on Australia Day this year. She seems healthy & happy. The only thing that I have found so far is that she has one solid black eye & the other eye is black with a grey colour on the outer rim, so I do hope that she isn't blind in one of her eyes due to possible injuries from the crows that I rescued her from. The other thing that is worrying me more is that twice now I have been woken up by her distressed noises during the night, & when I go to investigate she is at the bottom of the cage & seems stressed or exhausted. It seems like she may have fallen off her perch & can't seem to find her way back up to the top of the cage. This really worries me as I don't like to see her like this. I am wondering if anyone else has this problem with their budgie. Also can anyone give me details on the best way to take Maddie in my car? ie - best to leave her in her small cage & hope that she stays balanced, or would it be safer to put her in a shoe box (with plenty of air holes)?

Hi. I am a new budgie owner after having rescued the goegeous little thing from crows attacking it. It must have escaped from its home, & I was so pleased when it survived. So now I have fallen in love with it & have purchased birdie toys, a flight cage & a smaller cage so that I can take her outside with me whilst I am having breakfast, etc. (my pets get the best of everything!). She is a happy little thing & does a lot of chirping, talking (though have no idea of all that she says) & she also seems to do a bit of a dance sometimes by bobbing her head up & down etc. I have just noticed that her eyes are different - one eye is plain black & the other eye is black in the centre with a greyish colour on the outside. Has anyone ever had a budgie like this before? I don't think that she is blind in one eye. Also her cere was a darkish brown when I rescued her & now it appears to be getting paler - is that normal? My third query is - to worm or not to worm. The man I bought her flight cage from breeds cockatiels & he said that if wild birds sit on top of her cage & their dropping go into her cage, then he would worm her, but if she doesn't mix with other birds, he wouldn't bother worming her. Then another guy in a pet shop recommended that she be wormed even if not in contact with other birds. Your comments would be appreciated.