Sailorwolf

Norm if both the parents were blue birds then it definitely wouldn't be a green bird.

What colours are the parents of this bird? If they are green, one could be hiding the yellowface gene

I have no idea what this topic falls under or where it should be, so moderators feel free to move it. I know most of you have been wanting to hear about Saffy and how she is doing, some have tried interesting tactics to do so, but I appreciated those who took the time to take a minute out of their lives and put themselves in my shoes. I decided to go with what the vet said. Now before you all go "I can't believe you did that, how could you listen to your avian vet" Turn around and listen to that statement. Many times people on here have been told to go visit an avian vet straight away and as soon as I do, in fact as soon as I get a second opinion from the highest quality vet hospital in all of New Zealand, of which the avian vets there treat and diagnose kiwi birds, our most rarest and endangered New Zealand icon, I get told not to listen to what the vet has told me. I get told not to listen to a man whom has studied the very mechanisms of how an animal's body works for 5 years and has also done extra amounts of hours and courses on birds and knew everything about budgies, that I "tested" him on and whom I trust. He took me behind the scenes and explained everything, he showed me her x rays he told me how the anaesthetic works etc etc. Him and his colleage saved Saffy's life. He and his colleage alone have handled Saffy, know how she is healthwise and know what she can take. He has seen her xrays, done her blood work ups, done her surgery and yet you tell me not to listen to him. I am sorry, but I do not take the stand of a passive pet owner anymore, I am a vet student and I see things from the vet's perspective now. I know how the simple mechanisms of the body works. Take it, I am still learning, but I am being taught a way of thinking, of how to look at things. I appreciate all those who may not have supported my actions, but at least supported me, knowing how I must feel and even if they didn't, understanding goes a long way. Something that as a vet you need to master well. Those people, you know I'm talking about you, you will be excellent at working with people and even a vet. I know this spiel is raw, that's because it is, and I don't care if you guys don't like what I have done, because I know what I did was right for me and for Saffy. I will not weakly give in to bullying tactics, I stand by my decision and I am proud, because I made it with the most education I have ever had when making a decision and it took me 5 days to make that decision. Even though I was angry, I could not stay off this site, I could not ignore people who needed my help and as some of you may have noticed, one of my first posts back was to help those whose budgies were suffering from medical problems. However I know many of you are absolutely wonderful, marvelous people and even if we don't agree, you were looking out for what you believed was best and I personally know you are all animal angels. Now for the update on Saffy. Saffy is currently sitting on seven eggs. She did not encounter any problems whatsoever, in fact she is looking enormously good and perky. She has a little tummy bulge, which she will work off eventually. At least 5 of the eggs are fertile. And as I type this down I can hear little cheeps coming from the nest indicating that in the very near future one of those eggs is about to hatch. Thank you for following Saffy, I appreciate all the care and love you have put out there for her.

His yellow is way too light to be a green. That logic doesn't work Pie. When Saffy and Izzy had babies 50% of them should have been white faces, only 1 out of 6 was a white face. Theoretically 50% of them should have been violet too and only 1 out of 6 was violet Little miss Bacardi is very special being a violet, opaline, spangle yellowface type 2, cinnamon the likeliness of another coming out just like her again is 1/32 or 3.1% so you can't rely on that sort of logic.

An opaline cinnamon spangle is very hard to tell if they are cinnamon. I have one and the only way I know that she is cinnamon is that her eyes were purple at birth, her father is split for it, she is paler than the others and she is female too. Here is a picture of her just to show you how hard it is to see cinnamon when they are spangle opalines. Here is Bacardi a violet yellowface type 2 opaline cinnamon spangle: And here is Itha she is a yellowface type 2 spangle cobalt cinnamon. She isn't opaline but she may help. As a baby close to your babies' ages

I reckon that you should breed him with another opaline and see if you can get even heavier marked budgies.

He may not have actually had french moult. I have heard that chicks that are dehydrated when they have their pin feathers coming through can loose their flights and tail feathers and it appears like french moult. So maybe if you are lucky this is the only reason why he is missing his feathers

That's a little bit smaller than my cage, so I say you could hold 8 comfortably and at a stretch 10. Mine holds 10 budgies at the moment, but it is a bit bigger at 165cm tall x 89cm x 89cm It looks like a chinchilla cage.

Gorgeous, that first one is going to be an absolute stunner

Well he's a beautiful bird and I want him

Bluey- grey opaline Greeny- bright green spangle Murray - Normal sky blue, possibly carrying violet and opaline Edna is strange- she could be a green, but the yellow on her wings is quite light, so I would have to go with yellowface type 2 sky blue. Like Arkady in my signature. Bunny - yellowface type 1 light grey, opaline, cinnamon or brown wing Luna - recessive pied skyblue, possibly spangle and possibly carrying violet. I think Luna is a girl.

wash them in a water vinegar solution and let them dry in the sun, this kills off any harmful bacteria that may make your birds sick

Haha , yes Miss Harley, about two years ago. I got Arkady to keep Izzy and Saffron company then I got Isis to keep Izzy company after Arkady stole Saffron as his girlfriend. Then in the summer of 06/07 I bred Arkady and Isis who produced 2 lovely little babies: Nikio and Robbie. However Saffy and Izzy went against my plans and decided to start making their own babies and so they produced 6, 5 of which I still have, one, Cereal, is now my brother's. And then OI got Emmett, because I decided I needed a green budgie hehe as I actually didn't have any.

Cinnamons are thought to have red eyes at the beginning, but they don't. They actually have plum coloured eyes, which appear purpley and are an intermediate between the red eye and the black eye. It is only inos and fallows that have red eyes and it is all related to pigment. Inos have a complete lack of pigment and this extends to their eyes, hence the reason for red eyes, what you are actually seeing is the blood in their eyes. Animals with red eyes often have poor eyesight, albino humans usually have to wear glasses and contact lenses together to compensate for their poor eyesight, this is because without pigment, light is able to get through the sclera (whites) of the eyeball as well as the pupil causing the image to blur. Cinnamon is similar to albinism in that the melanin is diluted to some extent and only the brown end of the pigment shows instead of the black. Thus their eye appear plum, because they do not have as much pigment as would a normal budgie. Again a similar mechanism occurs in humans in which a person can have very little pigment in their hair, but have blue eyes and are able to see normally, because they have pigment in their eye.

I have been thinking, as there is a lot of consideration on this forum on preventing hypocalcaemia (calcium deficiency), that perhaps also hypercalcaemia (calcium toxicity) should also be considered and I have not see it mentioned anywhere. According to this article: Hypercalcaemia in budgies, budgies have a very narrow tolerable range for calcium. I would just like to consider the fact that a situation where a person may be overly worried perhaps that their bird was hypocalcaemic, or may over supply vitamins and minerals in general, could maybe potentially poison their bird. I'm not sure of the amount that is toxic to budgies, but hypercalcaemia can result in heart failure, renal failure and weakened muscle tone. Apparently the gut regulates the amount it can absorb. But I would just like to put the thought out there, that you can develop deficiencies and toxicities in everything. Just a thought for those who have budgies on complete pelleted diets and supplement a lot of calcium.

I just want to point out the possibility that too much calcium may actually cause hypercalcemia, which is calcium toxicity. I don't really know how high the levels in calcivet are and how much a budgie can tolerate, but I am wondering, because nobody here has seemed to consider it. Here is an article on it:Hypercalcemia in budgies

Because it has red eyes

I find it is best to feed fruit in the afternoon as it is cooler and you can leave it there until dinner time.

Males can sometimes develop tumours on their testis, which stop them from releasing testosterone and can cause the cere to change colour. Sometimes, testicular tumours can also impede the sciatic nerves, which is the major flexing nerve of the leg and they can develop leg problems. I would get him checked out by an avian vet., just to get a diagnosis and make yourself feel better, because if it is a tumour then it may pay to act early.

Try feeding him up with a little extra calcium, sugar and salt, as deficiencies in all of these can cause these problems. See if this works, you never know. He may just be a little bit worse at absorbing it than his brothers and sisters.

Is this an avian vet. Because if it is not, it would pay to get a second opinion.

It sounds like he has some neurological problems. The metacam is an analgesic, prescribed to relieve his pain, so you can be happy in knowing he is in less pain. The baytril is an antibiotic. Interesting that he hasn't been prescribed antiinflammatories. Update us please

In birds the sciatic nerve runs along near the kidneys and the testicles of the male bird. If he has swollen testicles it is likely that they are pressing on his sciatic nerve. The sciatic nerve is the nerve that controls the flexor muscles of the leg, thus if it is being pressed it is making it harder for him to flex his leg. I would say to talk to your vet about it and try and get him to be seen again there again. What sort of drugs ahs he bee given (just out of curiousity)

OMG, you should know better than to walk in on me when I'm having my private time!!! Knock first!!!

To be honest guys, i like babies, everyone likes babies, but I wouldn't put my budgie's life at risk because of it. I can't believe you guys actually think that I am that selfish. What I wrote above, was the constant ramblings, toilings and frustrations going through my mind as I try to decide what is best for her. I think this is a very supportive forum and I know those words weren't meant to be offensive, but they cut deep.I think it would be a good idea to boil the eggs, but there is something in me that just doesn't want to do it, makes me feel sick. I'm sorry you think that way.You see the thing is I haven't actually made any decision yet, I haven't decided to let her go through with it and I haven't decided to stop her yet, that is what I am discussing here. I am very seriously considering this whole situation.