Elly

Norm I love seeing your babies, they are all gorgeous.

They look like they are having a blast

Oh my gosh don't pull any feathers out that is is like pulling hair out of your scalp that would hurt and it won't make them come in any faster along with that you will loose your birds trust. If he was clipped in December you will start to see a few new flight feathers come in 1 at a time they don't come in all at once and he will start to get lift. Withing 6-12 month he will have a full set.

Keep us informed, he does sound under the weather.

Those are normal..I do believe and have seen it on normal greens the blue feathers around the vent and within the tail area.

You can't determine if she will continue to lay and letting them have the babies doesn't get it out of their system and my get it more into their system. If you don't know what you will do with the babies I personally would addle them good (or what other breeders on here my have another solution) let her get sick of sitting on them and hope she stops. Robin had a egg laying hen that would not stop she did have to separate the hen and worked with the rescue that she volunteers with to find her a good home. The babies are fun (all babies are) but then they grow up and there is such and over population of budgies, dogs and cats you really have to take that all into consideration too. These are just my thoughts.

Very sweet NickNack and if the girlfriend loves you like Weebel then she will come around too :nest:

Yes I was thinking that and Tim said well mom you can get one down the street for $20 she said OH no we don't need any more animals we had our share....as she proceeded and said Merlin has them wrapped. This morning FIL forgot to uncover him and talk to him, so MIL did it and when my FIL went to talk to him he refused to acknowledge him and talk...(Laughing out loud) talk about personification

yes you are all very lucky, we have pretty birds but not like AU

I agree if you have some younger pics and then now pics that would help determine what is going on .

What a beautiful boy, I do pray he will be okay but if he is not he will be flying free with the angels

Will do if I can get him back (Laughing out loud). MIL and FIL were over for Easter and I said I will take him back in the middle of the week or weekend and she laughed and said oh we will have to discuss it :

I have found with my birds that they molt every 3 to 4 months and it is a different type each time, like example...one molt Merlin pay drop feathers like they are going out of style and another molt may be long lasting and seems to take forever. With the artifical living that most birds live it is hard for them to develop the molt patterns that the ones in the wild do. So that is my experience with mine.

That is interesting Kaz, do we have that noted in the FAQ because I just learned something new today , I had not a clue.

oh my goodness Kaz just dying of cuteness overload over here, they are just darling

I agree boy he is a darling

so the mites lay dorminant and can be induced by stress?

If she hasn't been around any other birds, not outside in an aviary, and you have had her for quite awhile I wouldn't think it is scaley face. Since she is a hen her cere could be going into breeding condition, along with that even Merlin rubs his beak on different objects which rubs it and can make it look flakey so I wouldn't jump to the conclusion that it is. That is my opinion only though. :budgiedance:

Aly, I will do my best to ensure that Merlin will never blend into the background. The color in my office is a dark sand color and I think it will be perfect for his vibrant violet coloration. I miss him more just because of this thread (Laughing out loud)...I think by mid-week he will be back for sure. Don't want to rush it because there was so much painting.

I don't know it by memorization but I did ask the mods if they would like to have something like this written for the FAQ so Kaz volunteered so you did promote a new FAQ

Welcome :budgiedance:

How cute, I do love your "veggies" feeder too that is neat.

That was very nice for him to reply back :budgiedance: and now you have a more definete answer.

There is something "dirty" around or in the cage that they are drawn too. It have to get rid of them because they can carry disease and can make your birds sick. I don't deal with them much where we live and I am sure others will come and and give you better advice then myself.

tsk tsk....you are SO right Kaz , we shall see it has to be better then the last color