Rainbow

If he is a young bird, that behavior is completely normal! Unfortunately, you just have to wait for him to outgrow it. It usually doesn't last more than a few months. :budgiedance:

I didn't realize he was so young! At 3-4 weeks you can start to offer different foods to him. Millet sprays are easier to hull, you can also soak them a little to soften them. I would also offer cooked foods, like brown rice or couscous, with small squares of carrot. You can also give cooked peas. Sprinkle some seeds over this. Good easy raw veggies to try at this age are baby spinach leaves, kale, or any dark lettuce. Don't bother giving iceberg lettuce, it is mostly water with very little nutritional value. Soaked or sprouted seeds are perfect at this age also, as they are much more nutritious than dry seed, and soft enough for him to find interesting to eat. Keep feeding the handrearing formula until at least 5 weeks of age, by then he should be eating some of the other foods also. Then you can begin to replace one feeding of formula he is least interested in with a feeding of only regular foods. Gradually wean him off the formula once he is eating other foods with regularity. I wouldn't think it would take more than a week or two after that. He will probably be fully weaned from the formula by 7 weeks. If not, don't worry about it, as I firmly believe abundance weaning is the way to go - and he will let you know when he doesn't want formula anymore. If he still likes the evening feed of formula from your fingers, so what? What better way for him to go to sleep than with warm food and cuddles from his favorite person?

If the food is on his chest or somewhere he can reach, if it is uncomfortable for him he should remove it himself. If the food is stuck on the facial feathers and you don't have another bird to groom him, you could do it yourself if he is tame enough to let you. If not, and it is not too caked on to where it obviously is pulling on those feathers, he will get it off himself using a perch or toy as he rubs his face against it. If you are allowed to groom him, you can either use a q-tip or damp cotton ball to get the feathers a little wet (or dip your fingers in a cup of warm water) and gently use the ends of your fingernails to rub the feathers together and hopefully get the food to stick to you. If he protests, don't worry too much unless as I said before the food has dried on the feathers and they are pulling on his skin. Then you will need to towel him, fill the sink with warm water, and use your fingers to remove the food.

I agree with Nerwen. But I don't see any grey? Only yellow and green. The grayish color on his chest looks like down feathers to me, like he was plucked and the feathers are re-growing. Same thing with the forehead. He is a baby, and I would say dominant pied.

Oh, I can't stand it! They are so adorable!!!!!! Congrats on placing so well in the show! Which birds did you enter?

Well, you know there will be no problem there! Looks very nice, Daz, you have done a fantastic job!

Regular nail clippers work fine. You really only need to nick the tip off of the nail to make a big difference. When the bird is standing on a flat surface, if the nail causes the toe to raise up so it doesn't touch, they need to be trimmed. You don't want to trim them near the quick. If the full length of the toe is on the surface, they are fine. Are Jim's nails clear or dark?

He looks like a dark-eyed clear. Bubbles has given the Australian standard as having iris rings, and also some that state no iris rings. You might have to look very closely to see if there are any rings. I have a hen (not a DEC but regular dom pied) that you really, really have to look hard to see them. She still looks like she has little baby bird eyes but she is three years old now. I have one picture that shows them, and I had to use the flash to get her eyes to show the ring. If you look hard, you can see it: Can you handle your bird? It's possible the iris rings are visible, but very faint. Of course, it's possible they aren't, too. Lovey, the hen of any mutation will have a brown cere.

I'd try to scrape the rust off the cage using a steel wool pad. I personally would go that route before painting it, as if you just paint over it without removing it first, you are really just applying a band-aid to the problem. Better to resolve it first, I think.

Maybe you could use some type of scrubber like a steel wool pad that would remove the rust? Just a suggestion, because I'm sure small particles of rust stay on their feet, and when they groom them they would ingest them. Over time it will become a health issue for them.

**scratches head with puzzled look on face** That is interesting. I can see where the recessive pied gene may come into play here then. I thought the other gene would overrule that, being it is a recessive gene and you need two for visual traits. Does anyone have a DEC they could check for us?

Mine would go to bed when the sun sets and rise when it does, but with winter here it would mean I'd rarely get to spend time with them if I let that happen. So I usually cover them about 8:30-9:00 pm year round. In summer they see the light peeking through the blinds and will wake up early while they are still covered, but in winter it doesn't get real light until after I'm gone to work. So right now I uncover them about 6:00-6:15 am, open the blinds, and change food and water in the semi-dark, LOL. I guess they get up as it gradually gets light. (By the way, I do NOT recommend anyone do that unless your birds don't mind your hands moving around when they can't see them very well.) I just try to let them sleep until they want to get up, so I don't turn on the light in the morning. I wish them good morning before I open the cage to change food and paper and tell them to go back to bed, I love them, and will see them later. And thankfully they just peek at me with one eye, give a chrip or two, and go back to sleep.

Dark-eyed clears should also have iris rings. If your hens don't have visible iris rings, Tolula, I would say unless they are recessive pieds it is an age issue moreso than anything else. Pieds tend to develop a visible iris ring later than normal mutations do.

What sex are they, how old are they, and what are the dimensions of the cage they are housed in? It could be a space issue.

I don't put the probiotics in the water, I sprinkle them on cooked foods, sprouted seeds, and over their pellets. I totally agree with armchairangel about not putting additives in the water. Unless water is the only medium you can get meds into your bird by, I don't put anything in the water as it usually encourages bacterial growth at an accelerated rate. I have heard of putting cider vinegar or GSE in the water to discourage bacterial growth, but I don't think it would be a good idea to mix those with any meds that would go into the water.

You have been give some good advice already, but I would like to add that not considering another bird because of the expense of another cage isn't realistic, in my opinion. There is a chance that the second bird you get will not ever be allowed safely in the cage with your existing bird. It is unlikely, but likely enough that you should consider keeping them in seperate cages anyway. In which case the purchase of another cage is not an unnecessary expense, but very necessary. Some birds are very territorial, and seperate cages with out of cage time together is normal. Even if they do not share a cage all the time, they will still have each other in sight and sound distance, so could possibly help your problem of not enough time to spend with them. On the other hand, a second bird means twice as much of your time will be taken up than already is by bird care and interaction. They will need seperate times with you if they do not share a cage. I don't think your bird is a lost cause by any means. I have a hen that is 5 years old that I have never been able to tame to 'step up' on my finger. She used to be deathly afraid of hands, but as I have had her for 4 1/2 years now, she is not as bad as she used to be. Taming is a matter of trust. I know this hen trusts me as I can now put my hands near her and she will not flinch so long as she knows I am not after her. I can change food and water right next to her and she will ignore me, but if I want her to step up, or get too close into her comfort zone, she will move away. At this point, she will just move away...not fly away in terror. Doesn't sound like much, but believe me there is a big difference. :ausb: Especially out of the cage. And it takes a lot of time to get there. Took me many years, but I don't worry about it. Each day I sense progress, whether I actually see it or not, LOL. She will go into her cage on voice command, but not on my finger. If she ignores me I can 'herd' her in with my hand. I just don't touch her. Which when I think about it, I like much better. I think if you forget about having any expectations or any timetable of when you think she should be tame and trusting, you will have better luck. Take it one day at a time. And to give you a little more hope, she will preen my eyelashes, eyebrows, and hair. She will even fly to me and land on my arm, shoulder, or plate if I have food. She gets right up in my face, and talks to me (or tells me off, I'm not always sure). But I can't touch her. But I really don't care. She's my sweetie bird, and I love her anyway. There are many degrees of tame. It's not always being a hands-on kind of bird. Best of luck to you.

I haven't brought any new birds into my flock for quite some time. But if I were going to, I would first have them vet-checked before giving anything purported to be antibiotic or antifungal in nature. So many things can do more harm than good in masking any illness that I would not give anything "medical" that was not prescribed first. The only thing over the counter, so to speak, I would give them would be probiotics. I give them to my current birds on a regular basis in addition to the widest variety of foods I can come up with, and that seems to keep them all in excellent health.

Hi and Welcome! I'll bet your career is very interesting. I've always admired people who can speak more than one language, as I don't remember much of any foreign language I learned in high school at all! I hope you enjoy the forums, and if you have any questions about how features work, don't hesitate to ask. And...we do love to see pictures, so any you want to share would be welcomed. Just remember that they need to be no larger than 450 x 450 pixels. That helps keep page load times manageable for those that are still on dial-up.

Great job Bea!

It is common for the dad to have a go at the baby. Nothing will happen. Normally the dad will feed the baby and teach her to crack seeds so she can eat on her own. It is usually not a good idea to seperate them until the baby has been eating on her own for 7-10 days or so. Double clutching is normal for budgies. If you cannot for some reason put her back in the cage with the parents (if she gets attacked for trying to get back in the nest box), I would start by offering her soft foods. Brown rice, cooked carrots, cooked peas, apples, soaked and/or sprouted seeds. If she does not know how to crack seeds on her own, you can sprinkle them on the warm mushy foods and she will eventually begin to experiment with them. Millet sprays are a nice idea too, as they are not as hard a seed as some that are in the budgie mixes, and she should learn quickly how to de-hull them. The moistened egg food is fine too. Keep us posted, and let us know if things do not pick up soon. Oh, and welcome!!!! We're glad you've joined our little feathered community.

Bea, my birds get sprouted or soaked seeds every day. They love them. They actually will choose them over dry seeds now, which is fine with me, as they are so much more nutritious. There are a lot of different seeds you can use. The mix I have now contains wheat, milo, oat groats, white millet, rice, and mung beans. You can also use lentils, sunflower seeds, and pumpkin seeds. Usually I soak them for 24 hours, rinse well, and feed/refrigerate at that point. The little tails are barely beginning to sprout out. Occasionally I will keep rinsing for another day or two, but my birds don't have a preference as to how long the tails are, so for me simpler is better. Just make sure you get as much water out as possible through the strainer on your final rinse before you put them in the 'fridge - they last longer, seem to be fresher, and don't get mushy and moldy before your birds get a chance to eat them all. The wheatgrass from LeGrass Cafe is actually grown in a non-toxic sprouting medium of some sort...I'm out or I'd check the container to see if it says. My birds have discovered that there are seeds underneath the soil, and whenever I give them the wheatgrass, they pull up the grass and eat the seeds, lol. So much for the actual green stuff! Whatever makes them happy... I think if you are going to use your own dirt, try to get something organic. If your parents have a garden and don't spray with pesticides, I'd use that. Just when the seeds get big enough for you to feed, pull them up and rinse them off before you give them to the birds. That way you don't have to worry as much about any nasties that might have gotten in the soil.

That is a wonderful idea!!!! I never thought about it, until you said something.... It would make things easier, wouldn't it? Brilliant!

Oh my gosh did you notice how cute the puffy grey one was???? You have WAAAAYYYYYY more self control than I thought - I'm impressed! Only 2 came home with you, huh? Well those two are handsome little guys! I think you should go back for the little grey one and we can pretend he is mine, okay? Then it wouldn't be like you came home with another one for yourself......

Hi Tim! Glad you've decided to join us. I am really looking forward to reading about you and your new budgie...which I'm sure you'll get. Welcome aboard. And don't feel any question is a stupid one, the only stupid ones are the ones you don't ask. I'm sure you've heard that before. Just remember you have to post a picture of the little one as soon as you get him!

**BUMP** This was such a good thread, I'm bumping it back up. I'm curious as to what successes everyone has had. Mine has been somewhat an uphill battle, as the girls have me very well-trained as to where the food is placed and what time it appears. Skittles will show interest a small percentage of the time. I think if there were some competition for the food, it would go over better, but the kids are perfectly content to let Skittles do all the work and then go for the food once they can see it. And unless Skittles is really hungry she seems to not bother since the other 3 will be the ones reaping the rewards of her hard work. Anyone that thinks these birds are "bird-brains" has no idea what a compliment they are giving them - they are not dummies, that's for sure! But I am perservering, and one day I'm sure I will hit on the perfect foraging technique! Plus, budgie baby - I gotta know about those pine cones!