Rainbow

Bea, I love it when you post pictures of your birds. They always look great. Those little ones grow up so fast, don't they? Poor Blinks, that first picture is a treat! :hap:

Cheeta, both girls are lovely! The flight picture really shows off the wing markings so well. I love that one!

I'm sure Bea can add the crown...after the fruit a crown should be easy...

Sorry to hear about Tobi not feeling well again. Hopefully the vet finds out the trouble soon. I'm sure Tobi is not happy about all these vet visits! (You either...) I read that parsley is a kidney tonic or can affect the kidneys somehow, ask your vet what he can tell you about it. It might help.

So he's got to be a blue, but I don't see it!

I think type two yellowface dominant pied. He could be type one, but on my monitor he seems to have a bit of greenish on his chest in the first picture, which would be the yellow bleedthrough of the type 2. Type two doesn't necessarily mean the whole bird will look green. The yellow edging to the wing feathers is normal since he is a yellowface, and the white flights and tail could be due to the clearflight pied gene. I'm guessing the tail is white, if it is normal blue colored, the white flights are simply a manifestation of piedness. He is a lovely bird! Kathy5, did you get another????

If you can't find a breeder, get the birds you want, and spend a year getting them into the best condition you can. During that time, do plenty of research about the pros and cons of breeding, and ask-ask-ask questions all the time. Once you are certain the birds are old enough to breed (because you've had them at least a year) you will be 10 times ahead of the game and as prepared as you can ever be. Then you won't have to second-guess.

I was told that certain mutations are more prone to tumors than the normal green or normal blue due to inbreeding to get said mutations. Knowing what little I do about genetics, chromosomes and such I can believe that. But I don't think that means if you have a bird that is a combination of several mutations you can plan on a shorter lifespan. I think the possibility is definitely there, and the chances are better than average you could have problems, but that good nutrition and an active lifestyle go a long way toward longer life. Just because the bird might have a genetic propensity for, say, kidney tumors, you can't tell when or if they will occur if other aspects of the bird's care are optimal. Feed him a seed only diet and the tumors may start growing at a year or two of age. Take the same bird, feed him a varied diet with plenty of opportunity for exercise and play and the tumors may never grow, or may start growing at 5 or 6 years of age instead of one or two. Right now the mutations have been bred all over the world to a large degree, and the gene pool is more varied than if they were only bred on one continent, or in 12 aviaries. They are not all brother/sister pairings anymore. But somewhere down the line they were, which is where the problem began. From past experience, my longest-lived budgies were normal greens. On seed-only diets. Never got sick. (Yuck I know, but this was over 30 years ago. Thank goodness I know better now.) I wouldn't NOT get a budgie because the mutation might die early, but in the back of my mind I know the possibility is greater. I will love them for as long or as short as they are in my care. My thoughts.

Smaller pieces are better than larger ones. Sometimes birds are afraid to eat anything larger than themselves... This picture is for comparison's sake only - my birds are used to veggies and will eat most anything, but if you have a look, the food is almost as big as she is... In the beginning if they can stand on it it's too large. Try a piece of food about 1/4 the size of their heads to start off with. Once they figure out it's food you probably won't have to be too careful with the size.

What did the vet say when you took him in on the 10th?

Oh they are still babies. They are just practicing. I wouldn't add a nest box for at least another 6 months if your intent is breeding them. It is cute to watch them, isn't it?

The hesitation and the running up to her then running away is normal behavior. Even males that have reproduced many times will do that. It's just the next step after all the singing he probably does. He will do that until she stops "screaming" at him LOL. She is screeching either because she is not in the mood or because he is not wooing her right. He might start to put his foot up onto her back next. She probably won't allow that right away, and may even chase him off. Once that stage stops, she should allow him to feed her frequently. However, she won't allow him to mate unless he feeds her fast enough. Does everything boil down to food with these birds....???? :fear

How old are they?

Gnawing can be a sign of breeding readiness. They like to chew anyway, but increased interest can be one indicator that the hen wants to breed. Other ones are the darkening of the cere to a deep chocolate brown and an increased "wrinkly" look to it, allowing the male to feed her, showing interest in the male's courting behaviors, the searching out of dark places to hide when she's out. I think the biggest indicator is allowing the male to mount her. Unless she is really interested in breeding, she will not allow that to happen and will likely chase the male away.

You should submit that to a magazine. How utterly adorable!

There should be an option somewhere on photobucket's website once you log on to resize by percentage. You should be able to select the picture, then resize it. Let me look to see where it is. okay, once you select the picture, click on the edit button above it.

It's nice they responded to you with all that information. But the word "pesticide" is a little unnerving....I wonder what they use?

He looks very happy in his new cage. But it's way too big (the picture, not the cage, LOL) so please resize it. Thanks.

I would seperate them into three different breeding cages. It seems to be safest that way. Once they have finished raising their young, they should be fine in the big aviary again.

My guesses are your white hen is a recessive pied, the wing markings look brown so I'll add cinnamon to that. The yellowfaced blue male is just that, a type 1 yellowface blue. The whiteface blue hen is just that. The other pied male is probably a type 2 yellowface blue recessive pied. Check both of your pieds for the presence of a visible iris ring. If the eye looks baby black or even plum colored, they are recessive. If there is a visible iris ring they are dominant pieds instead. They are all very pretty birds. I will change these to links also as the photos are above size restrictions for the site. Please try to keep them below 450 x 450 or the images will just be removed in the future.

Pixie, mine like to nibble the clay from those cholla perches. Do yours?

Rainbow used to do something like that, and another one of my males does it now after eating, but not every time. It smells a bit "cheesy" to me. My previous vet said it was normal and had something to do with regurgitation in males and not to worry. Apparently they don't always spit it out. Ew. It was a long time ago I asked and don't really remember details. So I didn't think anything of it when I noticed it in a different bird. If you are really worried I would call around to another avian vet and ask about it. Now that you've brought it up, I will ask my new vet when I take them in for their annual later this month, and see if I get the same answer. Health, eating, weight, singing, flirting, all that is fine just like you said. It's curious.

They may breed, but with a young male I think there is a good chance the eggs will be clear. Sometimes it takes a bit before they "get" how to mate. It's a balancing act plus the hens will only allow mating if the male is properly wooing her, otherwise she will chase him away. I think the risk is not worth it, personally I would wait another 6 months.

I agree with hath. I remember reading somewhere that the bones aren't fully hardened and physical development finished until somewhere past a year. For some reason I'm thinking closer to 16 - 18 months?

Oh my goodness, Kylie...do you have any progress reports from the vets?