ima.snowbird

I'd be concerned that it's nasal discharge, and a sign of infection. I just finished a round of antibiotics with Twitter. At his follow up vet check she said he was doing really good. He was tested for Chlamydiosis, results negative. She forgot to request the test for French Moult, but the lab still has the swabs, and should have the results tomorrow. Good luck with your little one. I hope it's nothing serious.

Congratulations, Rashu. What an amazing miracle to see something born into the world, and transform from the ugly little baby to a beautiful adult. I can't wait!

I'm reassured to learn they're only having sex for fun! HAHAHA. As I said in another post, she's started chewing on the paper on the bottom of the cage now too. I hope they're just having fun, but I guess only time will tell. If I've read correctly the eggs are usually laid 5 to 10 days after mating. Is that correct? Diana

Two days ago, Gracie and George were feeding each other. Yesterday, they were mating. Now she's chewing the paper on the bottom of the cage. She seems determined to have these babies. I started covering the cage last night, trying to cut down on their daylight hours. It's a big cage, and really hard to do, but I'm going to try. Is there anything else I can do to derail this potential train wreck? If her age isn't bad enough, the vet did a throat culture on Twitter the day before yesterday, and I submitted an environmental swab to check, I think, for French Moult. I really don't want babies brought into this right now. If I can't stop her from laying eggs (there is no nest box, but from what I understand, that doesn't always stop them) I've considered addling the eggs, so at least she won't raise a clutch of potentially sick babies. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Diana

TY BJ. This is an 'unplanned pregnancy.' The question is, can I stop it at this point? I started covering the cage last night again. It's a 6' cage, and taller than I am when sitting on the table it's on. So that's no small task. But I will shorten their days drastically, even if I have to sit here in the dark! I have not provided a nest box, but if eggs are inevitable at this point, I will. I was considering addling any eggs that might be laid and just letting her sit, if that would cause her to stop laying, and give her time to mature before trying to raise a clutch. I'm guessing it's too late to separate them? Is there anything else I can do to dissuade them at this point? Diana

Ahem... Last night they were feeding each other. Today... uh, well, they weren't eating! They waited until my girlfriend to stop by to meet them, and they decided to educate HER on the bird husbandry. George is probably a year or more. We're thinking that Gracie is closer to 7 or 8 months now, and while the body is ready for babies the mind probably is not! Are they getting too much light? (They're in a 6' long flight cage, and it's hard to cover. All I have is a sheet, and it doesn't darken the cage... so I haven't been bothering.) Do I need to separate Gracie? Or should I just let nature take it's course? I'm taking an 'environmental swap' back to the vet today, we're testing, I think, for the virus that causes French Moult... I really wasn't thinking baby birds in the near future. Which begs another question, if this is inevitable at this point, how long do I have to prepare? I don't have a next box yet... do I need to get it ordered fast? Thanks, Diana

Oh I'm so very sorry to read about Finnie. That must have been so hard. I'm glad you have her legacy still with you.

Ugh. The more I learn, the more I know I don't know. I do know, from personal experience that oxalic acid in spinach and other dark green, leafy vegetables does bind with calcium, not only depriving the body of the calcium, but forming crystals that must be passed from the body, accompanied by great pain. My vet says birds don't have this problem, but maybe they just pass the crystals without pain? I'm still trying to shift mine from the Romaine lettuce that I've come to learn still doesn't have the nutrition that other veggies do, to Harrison pellets, spinach, parsley, and broccoli. And they still look at me like I'm trying to poison them.

Isn't "4 or 5 years" at the upper limits of breeding age?

BJ, What rules did her daughter break?

That would be great info to add to the FAQ for breeding... (the part about 10% of their body weight.) I'm guessing 40gms was a number you pulled from the air? Please tell me that chicks don't weight that much. Poor little Twitter was only 27 gms when we went to the vet last week. Now I have to get my scale out! Diana

I LOVE it when things work out so well. Congratulations! Diana

CTRL V will paste anything that's in your clipboard including the link to the IMG file. I've just talked with my avian vet about French Molt. We're going to be testing one of my birds for it. Her information says they shed the virus for 6 - 12 months, but from what I understand, it's rare for older birds to show signs. We're doing an 'environmental swab' to test for Polyoma virus (the one that causes French molt), one other that also effects plumage, and Chlamdyiosis psittaci, which can be passed to humans as Parrot Fever. AAV recommends testing every new bird. I'm lucky, I guess. I get to test all 7 of mine at 1 time. :-\ I hope whatever the problem your birds are experiencing that it's easily solved. Diana

There's an excellent article in the FAQ's, complete with pictures. http://forums.budgiebreeders.asn.au/faqs/index.php?action=artikel&cat=4&id=306&artlang=en Hope that helps. Good luck!

I use new paper on the bottom of my cage. They don't seem to have a problem with footing, and I love the sound of their little feet as they run around scavenging, which they're doing right now. Newspaper is cheap, and easy to just change out. Mine don't chew it, at least not yet. But I'm not terribly concerned, because our local paper switched over to non-toxic inks a few years back.