**KAZ**

Medium brown cere is the colour you want not dark chocolate. Once it gets too dark and wrinkly its at the stage where it peels off to reveal the white blue underneath of a hen not in condition .

They dont love long unfortunately BUT some live longer than others and I hope yours does too. Here's the story of one of mine http://forums.budgiebreeders.asn.au/index.php?showtopic=29737&view=findpost&p=355851&hl=%2Bfeather+%2Bduster&fromsearch=1 You may learn something from that topic that may help you. There's a lot of people that euthanase them immediately its obvious what they are. It seems a heartless thing to do on face value but its also understandable when so many of these people have had the experience of them dying not long after leaving the nest. They are trying to save the poor creature any pain and suffering. Hardest thing is keeping enough food up to them to sustain the excessive growth of feathers.

If deficient in vitamin D3 they cannot process calcium to their bodies..post some photos of your aviaries so we can help assess your access to good sunlight.

It sounds like you do have a budgie with psittacosis........and the meds you now have are appropriate for the treatment of psittacosis as long as you get the proportions right for dosage. 5 days will not be enough. The dosage for psittacosis is 6 weeks fresh meds in water daily and during this time do not feed any other sources of moisture....no vegies etc. Take out any sources of calcium like cuttlefish or calcium or mineral blocks. Treat them all. Pay attention to your clothes and footwear as it can be tranferred that way. Also psittacosis can be conbtracted by anyone who cares for the birds while they are infected.

What access to sunlight for the absorption of vitamin D3 is there ? http://www.burkesbackyard.com.au/factsheets/Birds/Vitamin-D:-A-Sick-Budgie-Breakthrough/6123

The planning is half the fun

Give it to him for a week and see how he is then...........reduce the amount of drops if your drinker is smaller of course

I would still double check the distance from fence and neighbours thing.............the info you got doesnt sound right.

Thats it

as above.......sorry.............7 drops per litre

The squeaking sounds if not a respiratory issue are iodine deficiency usually. A chemist can make you up a small bottle of aqueous iodine also called lugolls iodine

The feather mites and the squeaking sound will be unrelated. The squeaking sound could be lack of iodine, easily fixed by adding an iodine block to the cage but more easily if you can add 7 drops of aqueous iodine to his water.

How close to the fence it is will be an issue council will have rules on.

There are feather mites....longish brown mites usually seen in and on feathers. There are red mites that look like grey dots when not feeding and red dots when they are. Chances are he has feather mites. Usual treatment for feather mites is feather and mite spray ( I suggest getting some vetafarm avian insecticidal liquidator ) and spray him till sopping wet on warm day.....nowhere near his food. let him dry and that should be all you have to do as regards him. Then spray and clean his cage.

Terrific to see you up and running JB....so pleased you are finally getting down to it One thing...........council requirements is a certain distance from the fenceline. Usually between 500mm to a metre. No point doing a slab if they say move it. Also too close to fences allow rodents access........rats in particular like to run along fence tops to access aviary roofs. Slab thickness...........100mm is for garages so 75mm is fine for an aviary...and cheaper too. Noise levels as pertains to your house ( which rooms are close by ? ) and the neighbours....which of their rooms are going to be affected by early morning budgie wake up calls. How cool are you with your neighbours and if they move things will and do change as far as good neighbour relationships goes. If the aviary you have bought has mesh right down to the ground level, factor in some sheet metal to come at least 2-3 ft up the sides to stop mice running through. Mice do easily get through normal aviary mesh as do snakes. Be prepared to double roof your aviary............a 6 inch gap and a second roof......makes it a massive amount cooler and if you extend the second roof it can stop rain getting in. If you new aviary doesnt have a safety door, make one.....you will never regret it. Be prepared to buy some bird mesh ( the kind they sell for fruit trees and close off the area so cats dont get close in the night time. I lost 3 birds the other night due to marauding cats scaring the birds into hard flight in the dark and hitting walls. Have since closed off my area too. Feed on platforms not ground, and not off the wire sides. I think thats it :D

I know this is only a typos or spelling gaff, but ya gotta laugh when trying to picture budgies or birds eating palletts..wooden they get splinters LMAO :D

BOY **** Please edit all photos to forum sizes 480 by 640 before posting as per forum rules

Mine get theirs soil and all.....the roots is the first part they eat.

If you dont catch him and examine him as I suggested and he keels over dead because you didnt check and didnt act....wouldnt you later wish you had ??

Welcome

The budgies are very young and not 3-4 months either..I would say 7 wks and possibly taken away from parents too soon for parents to show them how to eat properly. Could you please put their food in flatter dishes on the floor of the cage not where they currently are. Make it easier to forage for food. Whats in those dishes ? Looks like seed treat sticks which is junk food for budgies, give them a simple good quality seed blend, and try feeding them some grated carrot, corn, dark leafy greens ( sprinkle it with budgie seed to get them interested. But for now the blue one is sick...most likely not eating well enough. Pick it up and check its butt. Is it poopy or stained feathers around its butt ? Feel the keel bone...the bone running vertically down the birds chest....does it feel sharpish ? .....if so serious weight loss. Now if the budgie has a poopy butt and loss of body weight .........its sick. A sick budgie cannot regulate its own body temp so they fluff up and look "bigger" .

It is a lack of calcium...........I usually add more liquid calcium to the water of any cage where soft shelled eggs are laid and it immediately fixes things. How much sunlight are your birds getting before putting them down to breed ?

Help me!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ????? :D no need for panic or urgent help.. its depending on the mutation of the budgie thats all

How is that related? It's not like I'm gonna breed them now, I just wanna know the possible outcomes in order to decide which 2 to breed in the future, based on that I'd pair them up soon and keep the couple in their own cage. This is related because you did not say when you would be breeding them and they are way too young and its still too early to be pairing them up in seperate cages. So, in light of it not being said WHEN I posted that they are far too young, which they are.

all too young