Rainbow

The cere looks brown and flat to me. I would guess female.

They are adorable daz, I can't wait for new pictures!

Those are great shots! Don't worry about his activity level, mine aren't all that mobile either...obviously since some are a bit pudgy. He looks like a very sweet bird! I just love that blue patch on his belly.

I'm thinking dilute (beyond greywing, poorly marked clearwing). It may be the flash, but the shell markings seem too light to be a greywing. But if the wings are darker and the flash just washes them out, maybe greywing depending upon the depth of grey. Body color looks diluted to me, but then again, it may just be the flash. I thought body color depth should be as close to normal as possible with greywings, but will be a small percentage diluted of normal due to the gene? Very light grey can be a clearwing. For some reason in Britain it is difficult to get a clearwing with white wings - most of them seem to have a greyish tint to them. I usually look to see how slight the grey tint is. If very light, I will sometimes think clearwing instead of greywing.

Ideally, Greywings have the wing feathers diluted about 50%, but the body color should be almost that of a normal. There are lighter and darker greywings. I think the two I have are pretty good representatives of greywings. You can compare her with a bird with normal black markings here and here. Your white hen looks like she has some blue near her legs, so I'd guess she is pied. Your blue one I would say is a dilute, and the green one could possibly be a dilute also.

I've moved this to Breeder's Chat for you. As far as the size of your pics, when I click the links the size is 691 x 518. To get the true size of your pictures on photobucket, you have to click on the picture so it brings it up in it's own window, then check the properties. If you just click on the picture while you are on the main page, it will not give you the true size of the picture. Phoebe, your budgies are beautiful. I can't believe Comet is that old. What a lovely budgie.

I got two more this morning. One of them is just beginning to fluff in both shots, and the way the camera caught them, I think they look soooo soft. But it will be time for a new camera soon.

That has got to be the most comprehensive site on safe and unsafe woods I have seen yet. Thank you so much for that link!

YIKES! I thought 200 degrees F for about 10-15 minutes. Much longer I think would be a fire hazard. If weather permits, you could also wash the branches well with a slight bleach solution (maybe 1 part bleach to 10 parts water) and scrub and rinse very well. Then leave in the sun to dry for a day or two.

Ditto on that one!

I don't know...they just sit there! They are pretty good. They are somewhat tame. They will all step up to go back in the cage, and will hop right on me (head, arm, shoulder, leg, whatever) and will preen people. I can pick them up and they usually don't bite. But I can't walk out of the room with one on my finger or anything like that, because they do not like to be away from the flock. They can be pretty skittish sometimes.

Little bugs are not normal. Did you bake the branches before putting them in your bird's cage? What color were they? Red or black? As far as getting lice from birds, the louse that inhabits human heads is different from the kind that dogs, cats, birds, etc. get. You can't catch lice from your pets. Mites may be a different matter though. I do not know about them.

Very cute. :budgiedance: He looks grey-green to me. The greenish hue could be from type 2 yellowface. I think he is a grey bird. What color is he under the wings and on the rump?

Thanks to everyone. I don't mind at all. I used to think he was a rainbow pied, but I think his official description is a dilute type 2 yellowface opaline clearflight blue pied (how's that for a mouthful??). As for which blue, I don't know. Either mauve or cobalt. Thanks, the perch is cholla wood. You can order them from the internet, or can probably find them at the pet store too. I like them, because the birds do. Plus you can stuff food or shreddables inside the holes to help alleviate boredom.

Yes. Here he is again, for those that haven't seen him.

Thanks, they stay brown all the time. I don't breed them anymore, but if I had the room I wouldn't mind a few more clutches. Actually, all the birds I have now except one were born in my living room. Skittles is the mom, she is the one in the last group picture in the center of the row of three - the one with a few white flight feathers mixed in with the normal black ones. (Dad has passed over the Rainbow Bridge.) All the rest are her babies (two clutches). I had a bit of difficulty parting with them. So if I wanted to breed them, I would need to buy new birds to pair them up with. Hence the need for more room. I did end up with quite a few different colors and markings. Not at all what I expected! Thanks everyone, for your nice comments.

Before my camera dies completely ( ) I decided to take some pictures tonight. Out of about a gazillion pictures these are pretty much the only ones that turned out. Hope you enjoy them.

I'm glad to hear there have not been any problems with her passing this second egg. Hopefully all goes well. Don't feel bad though, overweight budgies are common and it DOES seem to be all of a sudden that you notice it. Sending happy vibes your way.

OOOh, pretty!!! I like the name Khepri, myself. He looks like a greywing of sorts...wish I could see his frontside...(hint hint). I take it since he's out of his cage, you are progressing well with taming? I'm looking forward to more pics, and tales of how he settles in. :fear

I forgot to mention wheatgrass. They get wheatgrass most days too. Not only do they eat the grass and dig up the sprouted seeds to eat, they also like to bathe in it when I spritz it with water.

I've had blood taken from one of mine. The vet overclipped a toenail, and my bird was no worse for the wear. It does smart though, I imagine it feels like our fingers or toes when we overclip too...sore for a few days. Your vet should be able to control any extra bleeding, but like any procedure it carries a little bit of risk. If you are worried about it, tell the vet of your concerns before he/she does the procedure.

Your blue one looks male to me in that picture, the green it is hard to tell because of the flash. That one maybe a male too. They look normal size to me.

It looks like a pied to me too. I don't think I have heard of an American Mottle mutation before. I wonder what the specs are? **trots off to search for specs** **EDIT** **finds specs, trots back** I found this on the same site you got the link from. There are more links at the bottom of the article too. Interesting find, lovey! http://www.budgerigars.co.uk/rares/mottles/mottled.html

They are very pretty birds. I think your green one is an olive, and may be opaline too, looking at the edging color of the wing feathers. The blue is a skyblue, probably with some dilute factors. The wings look too light (to me) to be a greywing, but I could be wrong. Is there another blue bird in the background? Something looks odd about him...was he moving when the picture was taken maybe?

At 4 weeks you can give millet, soaked or sprouted seed, or a bit of grated carrot as they will be leaving the nest box in a few days to a week anyway. If you use sprouts be very diligent in your preparation as they can go bad very easily. I'd go with the millet first, as you can break off a small piece (one of the little "bundles" for lack of a better word) and hold it. It also is easier to hull than the seeds you have in your regular mix. It won't be much larger than their beaks, so should not frighten them. I used to leave a bit in the nest box for the babies to experiment with, although I think mom must've eaten most of it at first.