Rainbow

Healthy budgies will poop as often as every 15 - 20 minutes, and also right before take-off. The best thing to do is just dab it up with a tissue if it's wet, or let it dry and pick it off or vacuum it up with the dust buster. They shouldn't stain anything unless there is extra urine, but it usually wipes up with no problem using just water and a washcloth or paper towel. Budgie poop is pretty small, and I find it is not really a bother at all to clean up.

What wonderful news!!! She looks just great now! Congratulations. :angel1:

Have you not had him very long? Quite often, a new bird will go to the bottom of the cage in the corner to hide. After that, sometimes they will hang from the corner of the cage and turn themselves practically inside out doing flips. It could be nervous behavior if Sandy is a new bird. Is he still doing this?

I thought that was normal for fledglings, as all mine did the same thing. I could walk all around the house with them on my arm or shoulder or head, and they'd just stay there. If they flew off somewhere, I just had to place a finger in front of them and they would step right up. Enjoy it while you can, because if you still have them when they get about 3 or 4 months old, that behaviour stops, LOL. That's about the time they get "attitude"...

It's been awhile since I posted new pictures, and since my flock has dwindled a bit I thought it time to update the pictures. I'll post more as I get them, but here are a few... What a clean cage. You'd think the girls would be estatic, but they remain aloof. I think they are peeved that I would dare post pictures of them while molting. This is my oldest budgie, Skittles at 4 1/2 years. She is the mother of 9, and I think she looks regal even with a spikey head and missing spots. This is Blueberry, my favorite (YIKES! Did I actually say that??? Knows it will take lots of treats to soothe other ruffled feathers...) She loves head scritches, so is the only bird that isn't in a bad mood all the time from those itchy pin feathers. You'd think the others would learn, but noooooo...they just look on in morbid fascination while she gets those pin feather sheaths scritched off by the magic fingernails. This is dear Blossom, one of my two pudgy budgies. Itchy, itchy, itchy... Do you notice the powder blue portion of those grey flight feathers? I've never seen that color on a budgies' flights. Isn't it a beautiful color? This is my other pudgy budgie, Sky. She is missing so many feathers you can almost see her ear! Well, that's what happens when you go through a full molt. Poor baby. okay, what exactly are you lookin' at?????? http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v333/Rai...1/TheGlare2.jpg Blueberry, ever the opportunist, dives right in. Well, while you two give each other the evil eye over this millet, I think I will eat it while the getting is good...!!! I've promised them the next pictures will show them in full glorious feather with no pricklies to be seen...so they've said I can still live here. (I think their decision has something to do with maid service.)

I've sent you a PM with some information you might find helpful. Your budgie can still have a very full and happy life with one leg.

Hi Neil, and welcome to the forum. By any chance is Chippy molting? It is hard to tell by that picture, but it looks like it could be thinner patches due to missing feathers. If he is not molting, do you notice him wiping his beak or rubbing his head against toys or perches more than usual? Does he sneeze? You might want to hold him and part the feathers to take a good look at the skin to get a better idea of what it looks like, and let us know.

I can recommend two. "The Parakeet Handbook" by Annette Wolter and Immanuel Birmelin. It is published by Barron's and the one I have is copyright 2000. The other is "The Complete Book of Parakeet Care" by Annette Wolter and Monika Wegler. It is also published by Barron's but I do not know the copyright date of that one. Another book I think everyone should own (or at least read) is "The Healthy Bird Cookbook" by Robin Deutsch. It is published by T.F.H. Publications, Inc., and the one I have is copyright 2004.

Possibly, but Bessie is way too young. Booboo will be interested, and Bessie may occasionally let him mount her this young, but only because she has no idea what is going on yet. The likelihood increases if she lets him feed her, but at her age I would guess she wants to be fed because she is a baby, and BooBoo wants to feed her for another reason entirely. Once her hormones really kick in, she may not want so much contact with him, LOL. If they continue to mate (and there is no guarantee they ever will) seperate them.

Is she flying any better now? To me the left wing looks like it sits too high, like it had been injured. I really notice it in the last picture, but in the second one you can see how high it crosses the right one.

I wouldn't put her right in the cage with them at all. I would introduce them by placing the cages next to each other (after quarantine is up) for a few days first, then let them out together if all seems well. I'd leave both cages open, and let the birds explore each cage as they are interested. When she keeps sitting in the new cage and the other two act like they really want her there, only then would I allow her to stay. She may want to retreat to her old cage for a few days. Even if they get along outside of the cages, inside with the cage closed up could be an entirely different matter. I'd keep the cage she's in now alongside the new one for a few days after she seems to have "moved in" with the other two just in case.

With the normals, the iris rings begin to appear earlier than with some other mutations. They also seem to be more obvious. I'm not sure where the 9 months comes in.

The cere lightening in color just means she is going out of breeding condition. That means lower levels of female hormones. Not to worry.

Good for you on catching it! The little holes made it a giveaway, didn't they? Let us know how long it takes after the first treatment before you notice a difference in the appearance of the beak. I am curious.

How old is Fez? Such a pretty bird, and could be doublefactor dominant pied. I will have to disagree with Kirby though about the beaks... Recessive pieds will have an orange beak, not yellowish-green. Single factor dominant pieds can have either orange or the normal darker hued beak. Doublefactor dominant pieds will have an orange beak. If Fez is doublefactor dominant pied and male, the cere will probably remain pink, but can be blue. Hens will have brown ceres when in condition no matter which type of pied they are. The telling factor in differentiating between recessive pieds and doublefactor dominant pieds is the presence of an iris ring when they are older. Recessives will not show one.

Pink Cere. Female. Just Fledged at 30 days old. I miss the baby stage. I would say you have a hen also.

The thing to remember about scaley face, or any other illness or parasitic infection is this: If you keep your birds in the house, and they have no contact with other birds, where would they come into contact with the illness? I'm not saying they can't or won't come down with something, but before you panic about it, think to see if you have brought any new birds in the house, been to a pet store or bird fair where there were obviously sick birds (did you touch them?) and didn't change or wash your hands after coming home, or things like that. Also, scaley face won't show up overnight - it takes a while for those little mites to burrow in good. I don't get Trill over here, but know a lot of people feed it in the UK and think it is a very good seed mix. But seeds don't supply all the nutrition budgies need, so even if you feed an excellent mixture it is possible/probable that without supplementation with other foods there could be some deficiencies. If yours won't eat veggies, cooked diets, or pellets, try feeding sprouted seeds and adding wheatgrass to the diet. If you think your budgie might have been exposed to something, or feel the flakey beak might be due to the scaley-face mite, please call your avian vet and ask what they recommend. The phone call is never a bad idea. Most birds will molt roughly twice a year - one full molt where all feathers - even tail and flight feathers are replaced, and a mini molt where some body feathers and head feathers are replaced. If you notice pin feathers on the head more often, the additional molts are probably stress-induced or temperature-induced (due to constant indoor temperatures in the house). This is not necessarily a problem, just something to be aware of. I'm not a fan of sand perch covers because of the damage they can do to the feet if the bird prefers the location of the perch to others, because of the glue used to hold the sand on, and because I don't believe budgies need grit. But if your bird doesn't eat it or spend a lot of time on the perch it may not hurt anything. Mine don't like to be misted either, but love to take baths in greens clipped to the cage, wet lettuce, or damp wheatgrass. She sounds like a friendly little bird - is the male that is with her the same?

In the second picture her cere just looks like the cere of an out-of-condition hen. Her beak is a little rough, but depending upon her age, a flakey beak can be a sign of vitamin or mineral deficiencies, or she could be scraping it more on a rough perch or toy. That would be likely if the new construction at your place bothered her. How is her activity level and eating habits? Any changes there, and does she seem stressed? Is she starting to molt a bit (also in response to stress)? She is a lovely color.

You will need to keep the new budgie in a seperate room for at least a 30 day quarantine period. Wash your hands between caring for each bird so that if either one has a health issue that isn't apparent yet, you will not be as likely to transmit anything from one bird to the other. Rejy is not too old for you to try to make friends with her still. Will she eat millet from your hand? Can you change her food and water without her freaking out that your hand is in her cage?

The cere looks normal to me. The eye does not, but if it has been like that for 4 years I would guess it is some sort of skin irritation. Good thing you got the rusty mirror out. The staining above the cere could be from the mirror, or it could be normal from molting. My birds will get a bit of staining there when molting too, it always is gone when the molt is finished. I would just clean the area with a q-tip and warm water for now. Please, please, PLEASE do not use Revolution on your bird! I believe Revolution is selamectin and not ivermectin, even though it is used for the same thing. At any rate, you have no way to control the dosage. Revolution is dosed based upon weight, and even if you used one drop from the one for small dogs/puppies or cats you would be grossly overdosing your bird. There is a huge difference between 30 grams and 5-15 lbs. It does not look like your bird has the mite that causes scaley face.

I'm glad everything is okay. That is scary. I had something like that happen to me too. The birds were in their room, out of the cage, only someone had turned out the light. The dog went in there because the door was open and scared them, and Skittles flew out of the room in the ensueing confusion. She flew into my room, where the overhead fan was on, as I'm trying to calm the rest of the birds. I turned the fan off, and tried to catch her, but she is the only one that will not step on your finger. Of course. Anyway, she finally flew to the floor behind a desk, and when I went to shoo her out, the curious dog was on the other side, and Skittles flew INTO THE DOG'S MOUTH!!! She was in her mouth! Luckily the dog didn't clamp down (I think it freaked her out too) and she let go as I'm screaming NO NO NO NO!!! Skittles flew back into the bird room, I shoo'd all the birds into the cages so I could catch her, she bit me when I caught her (of course I needed a band-aid), but was completely unhurt. I was shaking for several minutes afterwards, let me tell you.

So Mandie, does he have the pied spot on the back of his head, or is Stitch a normal?

You can't always tell from the wings whether the bird is dominant or recessive...my vote is dominant pied for the grey,

Dominant pieds' markings usually DO cover the whole wing...was that a typo?

Female. I would say dominant pied, but you can't always tell by looking. If both parents are recessive, the baby should be recessive. I wonder if every chick from this pair has been a recessive pied? She just looks like a dominant pied. If she's grey, call her Smudge.