Vonn

Thanks so much for all the welcoming posts and info. I tried to take a photo of Luke but he panics at the sight of the camera (or anything new to him ) I tried to take it in his cage but he flapped about so I thought I would wait till he was calm and in his favourite spot on the houseplant. As soon as he saw the camera he flew about the room in a panic. He is such a nervous little bird. By the way, the house plant is a Swiss Cheese plant (Monsteria deliciousa). Is this plant safe for him? I have had him for about 10 weeks now and at first I kept him in his cage and tried to tame him. I put my hand in his cage for a few minutes each day for a couple of weeks. He never got used to it and as it upset him, I stopped doing it. He was frightened by toys ( have a whole bag of exciting toys for him!!) so I only put one toy in his cage and that's after leaving the toy outside his cage for a few days before so that he could look at it. He does answer us if we whistle to him and gets excited when we are in the room with him. He really is sweet and when I put my face close to his cage and talk quietly to him, he will listen attentively and then answer back in a quiet chirrup - adorable! My vet wanted him to eat organic pellets but Luke would not even try them. I mixed them with his Trill and he would throw them out. I took his Trill away after his breakfast and just offered him the pellets but he just starved himself all day and could hardly wait to get to his Trill at the end of the day. My vet wanted me to perservere but I got upset that he was going hungry all day and stopped doing this. Luckily I found that if I put vegetables on the leaves of the Swiss cheese plant, then he will eat them. He won't eat them anywhere else. I wish I could tame him as I would love to have him sit on my finger or just be on the same level as us. It would probably take a very long time to tame him as he is so nervous. I follow a strict routine with him so that he always knows what is coming next. I even clean his cage in a set order which he has come to recognise and makes him less nervous. Thanks once again for the replies and the welcome. Luv Vonn xxx

Hello everyone, I have just registered. I have a 5 month old budgie, my first! I have noticed that his beak seems to be growing longer and wondered if I should take him to the vet. I don't know how long too long is and don't want to waste the vet's time making an appointment for nothing. I have noticed that when I give him apple or broccilli he seems to struggle to bite off a bit to eat. I may be worrying about nothing as he is eating his seed (about two tablespoons a day and two sprigs of parsely as well. Another question. Is it normal for a budgie to stretch it's neck and open it's mouth wide a few times in quick succession? Also I notice that my budgie opens and closes his mouth almost like panting but I don't think it is panting. He does it in the evenings after I have cleaned his cage. I take care not to frighten him as I clean his cage. I talk to him all the time and afterwards I sit close to his cage and talk to him quietly. I then notice that his beak is opening and closing. He does not open his beak wide, just a little. Yet another question! My budgie spends virtually all of the day out of his cage and sits at the top of a tall house plant. He loves being right at the top and looking out of the window. He sings and chats away all day and when we are in the room he will fly at us. Why is he doing this? My husband feels he is looking for attention. He does seem to do it when we look away from him and stop chatting to him. I wondered if it was a dominance thing, though. He is not tame and won't sit on a finger/hand. I could go on and on with questions but I think I have already overdone it!! Hope someone can help me. Luv Vonn