Hello!

[Vicky 0]

Hi all,

 

Just wanted to say a huge THANK YOU! All the posts in here are just fantastic. I grew up with Budgies as my Dad built a literally massive aviary off our deck and bred them (had a total of about 18 in there - not as many as some of you, but basically a mansion sized very roomy and happy habitat for some beloved family members) that was until a certain daughter (hrm I wonder who ) accidentally left the door open and they discovered an even bigger aviary - the World! I can only hope they were okay in the wild... but I have a feeling they weren't

 

I'm adopting a baby budgie (1 week out of the nest) and I was thinking "Oh it was EASY and we had so much FUN, it was GREAT!" and I sort of missed out on all the "Do" and "Don't". I have definitely increased my shopping list and will be terrifying my husband a bit tomorrow with all the running around!

 

Below is a picture of what I have so far...

 

(Doh... Just realised I got my chrissy lights in the photo... yes... they are still hanging up :Shame: )

 

Anyway - I went out today and bought a few items... will be going out tomorrow and RETURNING a few items (Sand Paper sheets) Not to mention the bad things about mirrors! I've left it in there for the moment for the bell while I hunt for a better toy and "Rotational" toys. I HOPE the cage size is okay for the moment (14x27x18in (or) 34x68x45cm) I know a lot of the websites I have researched say even the much smaller version of cage is fine - but I'd prefer them to be "Happy" than to "Cope". I would LOVE for someone who knows what they are talking about to tell me "It's okay!" or even that it's not so I can start finding a better option. If it IS okay - How many would you think to put in there? I'm thinking definitely no more than two.

 

I was also going to adopt two budgies but after reading the posts on taming I think I will go with the one... But knowing me I will probably fall in love with all and come home with two... I would feel slightly mean not adopting a "pair" but in the interest of gaining a really happy relationship with Ms.Budgie I may need to force myself to start off with just one. I fully plan on letting her/him out of the cage as I would feel terrible not doing so (Thank you for the information on best ways to do that!!! My 7 year old self had some... interesting techniques which when looking back - I'm surprised how much the budgies liked us!)

 

I have a cuttlebone, Millet sprays and the worm treatment stuff. Some of the things I plan on picking up tomorrow - News paper and soft perches. Also need some things for him/her to climb as most the bars are vertical which leaves no climbing toys!

 

My "wish" for the moment is for the Budgie to be a new family member and then to build it up from there. Eventually I would like to build an aviary like my Dad did and have a whole lot of happy little budgies.

 

Any other suggestions for essentially a "Starter-upper-er"?

[splat 0]

Hello Vicki and welcome to the Forum.

Is your cage 27 in wide or is that the height, Budgies need more length in their cage than height. If it is 27inch wide it will be fine but if not it should be fine for a time But i would advice a cage that is more rectangle, like the wire flights you can now buy, they are about 60cm wide and about 40 cm deep and about 40 cm high.

But sounds like you have thought of everything from perches to toys and worm meds. I think your new budgie will be very happy.

I like to give my birds shell grit, something for you to think about.

Anyway good luck with your new venture.

[Vicky 0]

Hi Splat!

 

It's high not wide!! I will drop by the pet shop tomorrow morning and see if I can take it back and swap it for the wide one rather than the high one! Thanks for that

 

Also the shell grit... Sorry but how exactly do you give that to them? Is it like a thing I hang in the cage?

[Vicky 0]

okay... I did a big search for shell grit stuff and found lots of for's and against - a few "It killed my budgie" That being said though there seems to be a logical argument FOR it but in moderation or you can clog up their digestive system with the insoluble type of grit not to mention opening up a whole new world of Iodine, Chicken bones and Steak Dinners... (I'm getting a feeling the budgie will be my master!)

 

 

 

 

I found a thread on BBG for grit (like shell grit) So I just posted in here

 

Thank you Splat... With two simple words you managed to confuse and increase my knowledge

 

Thanks

 

(Oh! Also - I found the receipt )

[Maddy 0]

You post made me lol

 

Welcome to the forum.

 

I had a cage exactly like that for my budgie (when i just had one) and he was really quite happy in it.

A wider one is suggested for flight and exercise, but if he/she is going to be a family pet outside the cage type of bird then it probably won't be much of an issue.

Really the only cages that are super bad are the ones where the gaps between the wire lessen towards the top (strangle hazard) or the ridiculously small ones.

 

But don't worry, I got caught up in the excitement and bought a whole lot of stuff for my bird too. A lot of it bad and now collecting dust in the shed.

 

I feed my birds shell grit on occasion when I feel a calcium boost is in order.

I get it from my local stock feed place.

Its mostly oyster shell I think, but I can see small hermit crab shells and the like in there too.

But if you feel like your bird needs that sort of stuff, you can always get those little pink iodine/calcium bells from pet stores or stock feed places. My birds love them.

[bren 0]

Hi Vicky, welcome to the forum. It's great that you are reading all the posts and preparing yourself to be the best budgie owner you can be. In regards to getting one budgie or two as you already know it will be a lot easier to teach and tame one rather than two. If you really want the bird to be a part of the family only bring one home. I know this is hard as they are all cute but try and restrain yourself! Also if you have not chosen your new budgie yet remember a male budgie will talk more and usually make a better pet.

[Vicky 0]

Hi Maddy & Bren Thanks!!

 

I'll be getting one today... I've made a massive list of things to look for so if by any chance one of you turns out to be the breeder - I'm so so sorry, but it may take a while >.<

The guy said that they are a week out of the nest so I guess it will be luck as to if it is a boy or girl. I will see when I get there though

 

I will trade the cage though, I figure it would be best to do now with the sand paper and I'll see about the calcium bell and grit while I'm there.

 

Will post a picture when I get home

[Finnie 0]

Hi Maddy & Bren Thanks!!

 

I'll be getting one today... I've made a massive list of things to look for so if by any chance one of you turns out to be the breeder - I'm so so sorry, but it may take a while >.<

The guy said that they are a week out of the nest so I guess it will be luck as to if it is a boy or girl. I will see when I get there though

 

I will trade the cage though, I figure it would be best to do now with the sand paper and I'll see about the calcium bell and grit while I'm there.

 

Will post a picture when I get home

 

Hi Vicky, welcome to the forum. I can't wait to see what you come home with!

[Vicky 0]

JUST GOT HOME!!!!!

 

Awe the budgie is an ABSOLUTE sweetie, she even let me stroke and pat her when I was there (And not the terrified frozen in place kind, the sort of inquisitive kind). Anyway once we put her in the box for transport (with a nice fluffy cloth and a bit of yummy weed!) she was so terrified! Was making that scared squawking sound so I made little chirping noises and talked to it really gently and she/he calmed right down. Talked to her the whole way home too (about 40 minutes!) near the end she started chirping back to me

 

She was terrified moving from the box to the cage though and I accidentally let her go, she flew around a little bit then let me pick her up once I calmed her down a bit and now she's going NUTS on the little bit of food I sprinkled on the bottom of the cage (Sorry I can't remember who posted the suggestion for that - thank you whoever it was!)

 

Also - The pet store was great and took back the cage and the sandpaper floor stuff so below I have a couple of pictures of the new budgie and one of the new cage

And I tried to find some of the grit but the pet shop didn't sell it so looking for some places to get it from ASAP

 

Anyways... She.. or He is just LOVELY although she doesn't like looking at the camera hehe

Oh! and this youtube video

- she started chirping back to it (between stuffing her face with seeds!)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Oh, new cage is 42cm x 42cm x 61cm

Thoughts?

I know it's looking rather barren need more toys and play things! But don't want to compromise wandering space )

[Maddy 0]

What a lovely bird.

I can't tell gender from that angle but it is a beautiful YF grey Dominant Pied (I think it might be opaline too?)

YF dominant pieds make beautiful birds, I love them.

 

It was nice of the pet shop to swap the cage for you. Thats a perfect cage for it and will suit it for the rest of its life.

A suggestion would be to trim the perches so that they run front to back instead of side to side. That way, they have more flying space

 

You're doing a wonderful job so far!

Congrats on your new bird.

[Vicky 0]

Woops! Posted at the same time - sorry!!!!

 

Thanks for that

I will DEFINITELY look into getting them switched front to back, She's falling asleep now so I might do that while she sleeps

 

I've put a little shallow bird bath type dish in the bottom of the cage in case she wants a bath but will take it out tonight

Also gave her some mullet which after a little gentle coaxing she took from me

 

Thanks again

Edited June 5, 2011 by Vicky

[*Nerwen* 0]

sounds like you have a great little friend in the making there.

 

the cage is wonderful! don't rush into making the cage changes as you want 'her' to settle okay as you have just removed her from all that she knew as safe and home.

 

Since you live in aus you could look at swapping some of the branches to natural ones (there is a list around here somewhere of what is good.)

 

seed on the ground is great as they take a while to find the dish. don't stress about the shell grit - sometimes it is in the seed depending on the type you have.

 

keep the millet as a treat and for training such as eating it from your hand - that way she learns you are fun to be around and the talk is great, every time you are around her or even walking past just talk so she is use to the sounds around your house and your voice.

 

I can see you are going to be a great budgie mum.

[RJT 0]

Congratulations on your new addition Vicky, he/she is gorgeous. I second Nerwen re the millet. I have pet budgie who rules the house, his name is Bob, and I use the millet as a treat, and specially when I was training him. Now all I have to do is shake the container, and wherever he is in the house, he comes flying in. We call it 'birdie chocolate'!!

 

You sound like a very dedicated 'mum'!

 

Robyn

[**KAZ** 0]

You chose a lovely budgie and the cage is just right. If the cere on your budgie has a lot of white its a female. If the cere is bright pink to purply blue its boy. Post a clear cere shot for us to tell you but the glimpse I have of the cere at this stage looks male. Final verdict when you post a front on clear photo.

 

PS Welcome

 

 

**** please trim shorter the longer fringing on the rope swing. Budgies have been known to get caught up and hung by fringing on toys. AND I would remove the mirror bell toy. It does their head in, affects their mental stability and gives them something to protect from you ( the pretend friend they see in it ) and makes them crankier with you.

 

They like ladders.

 

it is a beautiful YF grey Dominant Pied (I think it might be opaline too?)

 

 

well done Maddy....but not opaline.

 

 

Also gave her some mullet

 

 

How did she like the fish ?

Edited June 5, 2011 by **KAZ**

[Vicky 0]

Woops! Millet not Mullet!

 

Here we go, bars are fixed up, stringy bits trimmed and I was able to remove the mirrors but keep the bell! I know Nerwen said not to go crazy, but she seems to be having so much fun with everything, she's been flying from toy to toy and checking everything else... plus she gave me the evil eye when I took the millet out, so I dare not take anything else hehe

 

 

 

 

[bren 0]

Congratulations! A really cute budgie and good choice of cage. I'm sure you will get alot of enjoyment out of each other.

 

Oh, and I think it's a male but definitely don't take my word for it.

[Hezz 0]

Hi, Vicky, and a big welcome! Sounds like you are on the right track with everything. I would just like to add that while your little friend is still young is the time to introduce him/her to veges. I realise he (for convenience) is still settling in and that can take some time, but don't leave it too long as the older they are the less likely they are to take to new things being introduced, food-wise.

 

Also don't read too much into him letting you stroke him. Even though he is acting fairly laid back about the whole thing most budgies will put a stop to this once they fully settle in and feel comfortable enough with you to let you know what they really think. But now is the time to sit back with your new friend (name????) start talking to him, introducing your hand to him and encouraging the step-up training - one of the handiest tools in the training repertoire - and generally getting to know each other. Hope you have plenty of time to spend, because they are real little time-wasters!!!! In that I mean, you will think you'll just spend 15 minutes with him and before you realise it an hour will have passed!! Good luck and let us know when you have a name.

[Vicky 0]

Hrm, he's preening himself at the moment and then it will be bed time so I'll start giving him various veges from tomorrow morning!

As for a name.... We aren't sure if he's a boy or girl... As above though there's one vote for BOY! We're debating a bunch of names since we hate just calling him/her "it" or "Budgie"... So far "Amadeus" for a boy and ... we can't agree on a girls name haha

 

But yeah he's now the life of the house and is currently sitting right beside me, falling asleep hopefully what he REALLY thinks is something nice hehe

 

Thank you for all the great help by the way If you can think of anything else please let me know

[Finnie 0]

 

 

 

 

Congratulations! He (I think maybe) looks very cute! You must be over the moon!

 

I'm glad to hear that he's eating, happy, and playful! Maybe the breeder is one who handles his chicks a lot, and so it is settling into its new home easily? But I noticed something that I want to point out, not to alarm you, but to give you an idea of how very young this budgie is. In the two photos above, you can see that his tail pin feathers still have the sheaths on part of them.

 

I think I read above that he is only one week out of the nest? It looks to me like he may be only around 4 weeks old. Anyway, you have said that you have seen him eating, and that is important. When my babies come out of the nest, I leave them with their parents for one week, and then once I'm sure the parents have taught the young fledglings to eat by example, I take the parents away, and then watch the chicks for another week, to make ABOSLUTELY POSITIVE that they can eat on their own, and not lose too much weight.

 

 

So I just want to suggest that you keep an eye on his eating, to make sure he is actually cracking the seed and eating it, and not just playing with it. (I think I see empty husks in the photo, so that's great.)

 

Also, did the breeder send you home with a sample of the seed that he's used to eating? Let him settle in for a few days at least, before you switch him over (gradually) to a different seed, if you aren't able to keep using the breeder's brand. (A good sign that he is eating properly is that his poops will be small, black and circular, not flat runny and greenish.)

 

Did the breeder mention to you any other foods that the chick is used to eating? I keep quite a few different foods in my breeders' cages, and the chicks learn to eat those. You don't want to be leaving something out that the chick has learned to rely on. It's quite possible that he has already been introduced to vegetables.

 

As for the millet, again, if the breeder was always supplying millet in the breeding cage, you will want to gradually take it out of the chick's main diet, not just deprive him of millet right off the bat. You have plenty of time to switch from millet as a main meal to millet as a snack only.

 

I'm not trying to rain on your parade. It sounds like everything is going great, and you are getting a lot of good advice on becoming a new budgie owner. I just wanted you to know that his eating is very important. He is still actually growing his feathers, so he needs his nutrition, and especially while he is in his transition phase.

 

Enjoy your new "parenthood"!

[splat 0]

That's great Vicki, that is the cage I was talking about. When I had mine inside, I made a seed catcher because they make a real mess, I just got some material and sewed some tucks in each corner to make the corner and sewed a casing around the top and then out elastic in it. I made it that it went over the whole bottom and up the around the sides up to where the doors are so the seed to fly out to much, plus it looked pretty because I used kids pattern material.

You budgie is beautiful, really nice and I also think he is a boy so far.

[**KAZ** 0]

Hey Vicky....

 

you have done a great job setting up the cage. You have cheerfully taken on board all advice and thats just great.

As far as sexing goes your budgie does have an ambiguous cere by those photos ....so tell me....looking at the cere does it seem whitish to you or purplish ? Can you try for a macro photo closeup of the cere...natural light conditions and no flash.

Budgie looks about 5 weeks to me based on tail length and wing flights. looks very healthy too. A colour and mutation I love and admire.

[Vicky 0]

Thanks Finnie! I definitely appreciate all the great advice I've received so far so please, BRING IT ON!

 

To be honest - The breeder said that he eats seeds fine so I didn't really consider the different types! He is definitely husking them though and went through all the ones I had put down and ate them all. He didn't make much mess either which I was happy about... then he decided to fly up to a perch and spread all the husks everywhere! The breeder gave me some milk thistle weed (may have the name wrong?) but I have a sample and when I gave him a little earlier he grabbed a big bit and scurried away to chew on it so I'm pretty sure he recognized it. The breeder said he gives that to his birds once a week. I'll pick up some baby feed tomorrow just to help him out. Thanks for that

 

With the Millet, I'm not sure if he actually recognized it, it took a little bit for him to take some, so I don't think he's "Used" to it and seemed to prefer the milk thistle more!

 

I also think he may have been handled quite a bit - I find that he yawns and his eyelids starting to droop etc so I carefully put the blanket down over the cage so he can sleep but after maybe 2 minutes he gets restless, flaps about and squawks a bit so I put the blanket back up and he's clinging up against the cage wall closest to where I am sitting. Once the blanket is back up, he watches me for a bit then moves back to the perch and starts falling back to sleep. He got so flustered just before that he landed in his water dish (although to me that was a relief because now I KNOW he knows where it is). But is this just normal behaviour? should I just leave the blanket down until he does fall asleep or just let him stay up? I heard they need about 12 hours of sleep a day and I have a feeling he's just not going to get it!

 

I think I will get sewing and make that type of casing... with his flying about he's spread husks everywhere already!!

 

Also - that is 2 for boy and it is Pinkish like Kaz suggested so I guess Amadeus it is

 

 

EDIT: Missed your post, sorry Kaz! it's whitish on top with pinkish towards the beak. I'll be able to get a better shot of it tomorrow!

 

FYI: he/shes now trying to sleep on my hand, outside the cage o.0, have taken a picture but hard to use comp with only my left hand.... and he keeps nibbling my ring... I think he knows when I say no, he's trying to do it sneakily when I'm not looking

Edited June 5, 2011 by Vicky

[**KAZ** 0]

 

 

 

EDIT: Missed your post, sorry Kaz! it's whitish on top with pinkish towards the beak. I'll be able to get a better shot of it tomorrow!

 

 

 

Some baby budgies have a lot of melanin............it give them a blackish beak in the nestbox which fades off. Some of that black covers the cere making it look pinkish as it fades away. If you can ignore that part of the colour on the cere and look at the layer under it you have the right colour. If its whitish then likely to be female. Best we wait for a good photo tomorrow.

 

Enjoy your cutie pie

[stace 0]

Hi there Vicky.

He/she is gorgeous. With the flapping about when you put the cover on, leave the cover open enough so some light gets through. When they are little like that, they quite often get 'night frights' where they suddenly get scared and start flapping around in the dark. It's like they are having a bad dream and scare themselves ***less. Mine did it for a while when he was a baby, but fortunately grew out of it after a couple of months.

[Maddy 0]

I'm going to try and even out the votes a bit by saying its a girl

 

Mostly because the white i see in the photo surrounds the nostrils, and the pink seems a little to grey-ish to not still be his baby black cere.

At the moment it reminds me of top deck chocolate lol

 

But I too will wait for a better picture before having my 100% sure say.