Ausmoz

That toy looks great and if it doesn't last long, you'll know they really loved it

Yes, that setup is very impressive, I bet the budgies love it

Welcome to the forum! It sounds like you are doing well taming-wise. Sometimes it seems like they'll never get tame, but they do. It takes a lot of patience to avoid rushing things, which of course just makes them more nervous. You are doing the right thing, so just keep it up! Goodluck, and I look forward to seeing pictures

Sounds great. As long as he gets his out of cage time, the cage isn't such a big issue, but it is nice for him to see your family. Does anyone else ever let him out during the day?

I'm not sure, that's a hard decision. Have you ever thought about getting Blinks a friend? It wouldn't be so bad to leave two budgies alone for the day. That's the main reason we got Eucy, so Quin would never be alone. But, you may not have the time to quarantine and tame a second inside budgie either... Although, if you take one from your aviary, you might not have to quarantine... My feeling is either get a bigger cage for him to share with another budgie in your room, or keep him in his cage where he can see people in the lounge room. Or, squeeze the bigger cage into the lounge room, if you can. You and your family should decide though, you know him best.

No idea, but that's a nice looking bird

What a beautiful baby!

Your aviary budgies are lucky to have someone who spoils them like you do! They're all very cute in those photos, especially Pudding

Eucy has only been out of quarantine for 3 days, and Quin has been living in another room until that time. So, it's a little early to tell how they'll use it now that they're together. In answer to your question though, no, they don't really use the base. They certainly use the top platform and perches a lot, which is what we expected when we designed the gym. If there are interesting things on the base, like millet, eucalyptus leaves/nuts or banksia cones, they will certainly go down there.

On Friday, Eucy's quarantine was over, and it was time to bring Quin back in the study where they will now live. So, it's time to officially introduce Eucy It took a long time to come up with his name (pronounced you-key/ Eukee/ Euki - something like that). We decided to name him after the Eucalyptus branches he was so enthusiastically playing with when we first saw him in the petshop. He looks kind of eucalyptusy too Here are some pictures of Quin and Eucy's interaction of the first night (Friday). I have some great pictures of Saturday too, when Eucy first came out of his cage, but I'll save them for another post. They were so wonderful together, sorry there are so many pictures, but I couldn't help myself :(Laughing out loud): Those of you with dial up (like us) might not be too happy Meeting through the bars of Eucy's cage. (They're still in seperate cages at the moment. They slept apart on Friday and slept in Quin's cage last night). Kissing Eucy spreads his wings Talk to the hand Sharing a banksia cone MINE! No, MINE! Having a snuggle (and some brocolli) Its so much more fun doing things together Chatting I've got an idea... A short flight around the cage Each enjoying one of their favourites So, now that we've gotten to know each other, do you mind if I mount you? ***I tried to post and there were too many pictures - so apparently you CAN have too many budgie photos in a post! There are more cute pictures in our photobucket, click here. The best part about them being together is that Eucy has followed Quin's lead and become A LOT more tame very very quickly. On the Friday that these pictures were taken (2 days ago) Eucy was barely stepping up (he'd done it 2-3 times, very cautiously). Once Quin was in his cage, he was sitting on our hands to eat the banksia with no worries. Not to spoil future posts, but yesterday (Sat) he was on our hands out of the cage. And today, he flew and landed on our heads, shoulders and hands voluntarily (mostly once Quin was already there, and we did have banksia cones... but what a great start!) :D I was standing with both budgies on my hands today, and later with one on a hand eating banksia and one on my shoulder, playing with my earring... It's an indescribably wonderful feeling. They've only been together for such a short time, but I can already safely say that having two tame budgies is even more wonderful than having one (and I think it's a lot nicer for them too, as you can tell from the photos)

To stop the dowel splitting, we used something called a dowel jig. It was very very helpful It also helps for the big holes to drill a smaller hole first. And another thing you can do if you want to drill a hole all the way through is drill half way through from one side first and then finish from the other side. We bought the ladder! The rungs are made of acrylic. If I was going to make a ladder myself, I'd use dowel, or natural wood. Our birds have never shown any interest in this ladder. If you want a colourful ladder/playgym, you can use food colouring to "paint" the dowel.

We built this playgym nearly 2 months ago so I decided that it was time I posted a few pics. So here it is

Awesome that her eyes look that blue in real life :(Laughing out loud):, that has got to be very unusual And, yes, Munch's eye's *do* look kinda big :hap: Maybe it's because he has a tiny head compared to Apple? Or because he still has dark iris rings?

okay, well, I'm pretty sure that the Mum is not a dominant pied (looks like a normal green spangle, oe maybe dilute even, looking again at that picture higher up). That means that no matter who the parents are, the pied baby has to be a recessive pied. Doesn't really help determine who the parents are though Maybe the dark factor does if Munch is a cobalt blue, but I'd like Nerwen's opinion on this Hehehe, I figured something like that must have happened :(Laughing out loud): Also, Apple's Mum has the most amazing blue eyes in that photo, are they like that in real life?

I think Munch is a yellowface type II... in those photos he looks cobalt blue to me too. His wing markings and colour are normal Either of those males could be Munch's father. As for whether pied babies could appear from Apples parents, for dominant pieds, at least one of the parents must be a dominant pied. I don't think Apples Mum is a dominant pied, but I can't be 100% sure from that photo. If she is, this would explain any dominant pieds. To get recessive pied chicks, neither parent has to be a recessive pied *visually*, but BOTH parents have to be at least split for the gene. So it is possible that both Apples parents are split for the gene (both of Quins were ). The second male is a normal blue recessive pied, and looks yellowface type II (or maybe goldernface). Munch has a yellow face, and that gene must have come from somewhere. It could be the second male, but it could also be either of the other "parents" (Apples Mum and Dad would have yellow faces anyway, so it's very hard to tell if they have the yellowface gene. If munch's blue is as dark as it looks to me (ie if he is actually cobalt blue) then the dark factor responsible for this could have come from the Apple's Dad (who looks like a normal dark green). And yes, I realise that was probably totally unhelpful! Edit: Just to show I probably have *no* idea whatsoever, I just looked at the second male again, and he looks kind of like a girl to me :hap:

This is exactly the reason I thought the wire would be okay (or rather, didn't even consider that it wouldn't be). Maybe they are fine, and maybe the wire is safe for birds that don't actually eat it too. I have a couple of toys with bells and metal hangers on them myself. I wouldn't want to see the birds chewing on them, but I'm not overly worried as mine have never seemed to pay these toys that much attention (but some birds might chew them, I guess). EDIT (just to avoid double posting): I need to add that I've just seen some bells online that are plated with nickel rather than zinc. I am actually not sure how many metal components for parrots are coated with zinc or nickel now. Sorry for the above post in which I said most were coated with zinc, I'm really not sure how commonly zinc is used, so I shouldn't have said that. It was something I read somewhere else (on a parrot web page) about the sources of zinc birds might be exposed to.

I love the colour of his blue in that top picture

I'm glad they're so happy together. The both look so gorgeous. You are definately very lucky to have those two, they obviously both love you very much

Thanks for the replies guys, although it seems to have gone ever so slightly off topic... I was just wondering if anyone has any scientific information about zinc. Like I said, I've found no shortage of (contradictory) websites myself, but anyone can write anything on the web. I'd like to know exactly what the risks are, and if they can be minimised or eliminated. I don't want this to lead to any arguements, and certainly not get personal. I'd like to mention though, that if people are very concerned about zinc, they should be aware that most of the metal components used in budgie toys (bells, chains, hanging rings, clips, hooks on the end of wooden ladders...) are coated in zinc. I think the birds are a lot more likely to be playing with these than chewing on cage wire. Also, I've always found that birds don't generally climb on wire if they can easily move between their perches by another method (eg flying/hopping), and of course if they can reach their food and water without needing to. Toys however, are designed to attract budgies, and we further encourage them to play with them. Just a thought. I'd be really interested to hear other people's thoughts.

It looks great, and it's so big! I'm still not sure about the whole wire thing though... http://forums.budgiebreeders.asn.au/index.php?showtopic=7837

Yes, it is a sad story, isn't it? It's the kind of thing that would be funny as a joke, but in real life... Both break-ups and parting with a loved pet are sad.

Looks fantastic. It's a lot more complicated than the playgym that we made (still have to post pics of that... )

Great work Bea :(Laughing out loud):

Where did you find that? "Leached from the cage" sounds a little unscientific to me. The "information" out there is very confusing. Especially because it contradicts itself, as you said. Part of me thinks "It's not worth it", but then I think what am I basing my concerns on anyway? The only scientific articles I've found (in the link from eterri) I can't get access too, and the website that referenced them didn't make the wire sound all that bad. Add that to the fact that so many people use the wire... I do know that doesn't mean that it's 100% safe, but it has to count for something.

I was thinking this too.