Rainbow

Hi! I just had to say your birds are very pretty. Oh, LOL, and that 10 budgies isn't too many.

No Mickey, unfortunately it's not normal. By any chance is the placement of his cage anywhere near your heat/ac vents to where he might be getting air blown on him all the time? That per se won't make him sick, but it might always be blowing dust (or whatever lives in the vents ) at him. He may have gotten a little URI from that. Just a thought. I'd still take him to a vet, or at least phone one and explain your situation. Maybe between the two of you something can be done. Bec, were that everyone was so lucky....

I just saw this - Lin you are doing a great job. They are so cute!!!! 28 grams is a fine weight (they are the smaller type budgies, right?) so I wouldn't worry about him being underweight. If you are syringe-feeding them just keep that up. You should be able to get some formula into them that way, whether they like it or not. How often do you do it? Soften up some pellets, soak some seed, or give them millet now too. They look old enough to be able to start experimenting with food. Congratulations to you!

Thank you chirpy. Having been faced with the decision myself whether to euthanise or not, I can assure you that you have done the noble thing. (((((hugs to you))))) I have heard about how traumatizing it can be if the animal is not anesthitised first. I wholeheartedly agree with doing that first.

I can see the purple tint. My guess is opaline violet skyblue. Daz, do me a favor and let me know the color of the two longer tail feathers NEXT to the long ones. Please?

Lin, I don't have serious issues with hens either. Lately all the girls have been voluntarily seperating themselves at night from the boys (LOL) so I have 6 hens in one cage. They squabble for a few minutes when the lights go out, but seem to get along fairly well otherwise. Phoebe, you have some seriously oversexed budgies!

Caring for budgies can be expensive. I cannot even fathom how much I have spent in the past 5 years on vet care and meds alone. Chirpy, I'm not sure about the exact currency exchange, but I think from yours to ours is almost 2 to 1, so in English pounds the $50 bucks is almost 25 pounds. Is that still a lot over there? Some things to think about while you are searching for an avian vet - is there discharge when your bird sneezes? Are the feathers above the nares stuck together? Are the nares all wet after a sneeze? What other symptoms are there? Lethargy? Fluffed up? Sitting on both feet with eyes half closed? If so , get thee to a vet ASAP. If not, what food do you feed? Some seeds are dustier than others, and will cause your bird to sneeze after eating. But it will be a dry sneeze, or just a little wet. (It won't leave the feathers icky.) Also, if you have the heat on, there may not be enough humidity in the air and this will cause sneezing also. But just because your bird may not have any other symptoms than the sneezing, you should still see a vet to be on the safe side.

LOL, you made me laugh with the way you phrased that. I'll bet that is funny, seeing him go through his food and chucking out the millet. Oh well, maybe he will like it eventually. Have you tried clipping a piece to the side of his cage near the perch he likes to sit on?

I'm glad you found a vet. Also that Bluey is eating veggies. That's wonderful! What kind of scales do you have? Is there a perch attached or just a flat surface? If it's flat, you can either use a lightweight container to put your bird in, or try holding your hands barely over him as he sits on the surface. You might be able to keep him still long enough for the weight to register.

I'm very sorry to hear Slim passed. :bluebudgie: But it can be serious when they are sick enough the droppings stick to them. It sounds like he was sick for a bit before, and was seriously ill enough that the vet wanted to keep him there instead of sending meds home with you. Although it's possible the stress of being at the vets affected him, it is unfortunately probably not likely that was the cause. :ausb: Please don't feel guilty about leaving Slim at the vets. I know you are sad enough as it is. Did the vet tell you what the problem was? Did they give you meds to give to Gin? Again, so very sorry.

Mine have never had grit. They do have access to calcium perches and seashell perches though, and do occassionally eat those. I feel whatever they eat of the perches probably gives them anything "grainy" they might want, but they dissolve through the digestive process so impaction is not an issue. It doesn't stay in the system like grit would.

Welcome LittleBirdie. Unfortunately, it's harder to find budgie-specific info. :rip: I've read some of the same percentages about pellets and seed as you have. Each species of bird probably has different nutritional requirements, and I don't see how one type of food could possibly contain everything in the proper ratio that any given bird needs. That's just me. I certainly don't know what the ideal budgie diet is, but I believe the more variety you can give, the better. Mine get a cooked diet (grains, veggies) every morning. They have access to a pellet mixture 24/7. Most days I add dry eggfood to it. In the afternoon/evening they get sprouted seeds and raw veggies like baby carrots, broccoli, baby spinach leaves, green pepper, kale - whatever I have in the house. Sometimes I add a cooked veggie mix. They also get wheatgrass to eat or play in almost daily. Most nights I hand-feed them organic seeds, but they don't always get seeds every day. Most days, yes, but not every. Occassionally I will give them fresh fruits, but they are not too keen on sweet stuff so don't eat much. I also give millet as a treat once or twice a week. I have no idea what percentage of each they eat, and I'm sure it could probably be better, but there it is. I'm aiming for about 20% pellets, 20% seeds (sprouted and regular) and the rest fresh or cooked foods. I think if you can get your bird used to as many different types and textures of foods as possible you will have a good basis for healthy eating. Do a search on the site, as Lin suggested, and also check with your avian vet. He or she would be a good source of information too.

Wow Bea, what a huge difference! Thanks for posting those up!

Bria, that's wonderful news! I can't wait to see pictures of Binks. :dbb1:

When you take him to the vet, take both birds. Even if the vet only sees one of them, it will be less stressful for your birds to have each other. I have 10 budgies, 9 of which have never ever been alone without other budgies around for company. I take a "companion" budgie to the vet for company if I ever need to take a single bird in, as they really freak out if they are put in a cage alone. Since yours seem so bonded, they may do better if they are not seperated. Vet visits seem stressful enough to them as it is. :dbb1:

I agree. Droppings should never stick to the vent feathers, so it isn't really an issue of him cleaning himself anyway. It's worrisome that he is so young and has this problem. I think you should get a second opinion.

Nerwen, I see your confusion! The cere is mostly smooth like a males, but it is so pale! It seems to look a little rough at the bottom, which points toward female....hmmmm. How long have you had him again?

Thanks for using the picture of Arctic - it brings up an interesting point. I believe he is a violet skyblue instead of cobalt. But those two colors look almost exactly alike so this will probably cause more confusion.

Beautiful.

LOL, I put females in an all new light, huh? I hope not a bad one, I really prefer the females to males! I can't wait to see pictures of your new little one...does he have a name yet?

I think this is the color they are talking about. It is called yellowface type 2 skyblue. This bird is a blue bird, but the yellow from the mask "bleeds" down making the bird look more green than blue. Some people call it teal, some call it turquoise.

It can be a difficult decision. I have 10, 6 females and 4 males. The 4 males make enough noise for 10. Here is what I notice in my flock, maybe it will help you decide which to get. It's not cut and dried by any means, I know a lot of people will tell you their birds don't behave this way. Males: are perfectly content to sit and warble to themselves, each other, toys, cage bars, (really any inanimate object) quite a bit. LOL mine are almost never quiet unless they are asleep. I do not find the singing annoying, but I am used to it. They warble and intersperse that noise with short, sharp, chirps. Males usually have no problem sharing food or toys with each other. They will chew toys up, but not to the extent a female in breeding condition will. Contrary to poplular belief, males can bite just as hard as females. My males will bite if you pick them up, my females won't. My males tend to be a bit more flighty, and will startle more easily than my females. I have one male that likes to make the "danger, danger" call just to see all the other birds take flight. What an unusual sense of humor he has... I'm told males are more likely to talk, but either sex will talk. Females: have one mantra. What's mine is mine, and what's yours is mine. If you are looking at it, it is mine. If you are playing with it, I want it. If you are near it, I will chase you away, whether I want it or not. If you are eating it, it is most definitely mine. My females are 100 % more jealous of my time and attention than the males. The males could care less - they are happy with each other or with toys. But if I pay attention to one hen, then all the other ones want attention too, and will chase away other birds to get it. Hens generally don't quite understand the concept of sharing, LOL. But I find my hens are sweeter, steadier, and gentler than the males are, and have much more attitude. They are more curious, and when I introduce new food or a new toy, the females are usually the first ones to investigate. They also chirp and warble, but not as loudly as males. Most of their noises are softer, single chirps and clucking or clicking noises. They chew quite a bit. With only two birds, it really won't matter what sex you get. It's really whatever you prefer. It might sound like you can't keep two females together, but you really can. If you do get two females though, I would suggest a slightly larger cage as they seem to require more "personal space" than male budgies do. With two birds, use three seed cups in case one of the birds gets possessive of the food. A bird can guard two cups, but it's too hard to guard three. :fear

You've been given some good tips to try, there's not much I can add to that. Budgies start to lay eggs about 10 days after the first mating, so I think yours must have been at it longer than you think. About 24 hours before she lays an egg, she will appear swollen around the vent area, but other than that budgies don't really look pregnant. Their environmental conditions must seem right to your birds to have them mating. I have trouble in the winter months too, with mating issues. This time of year is summer in Australia, so maybe there are some pre-programmed genetic factors going on. It seems like November to April are the months my birds like - they don't seem to realize it is below freezing outside... Good luck stopping the cycle. Oops, almost forgot - welcome!

Mine are out whenever I am home.

Julie, that is too cute! He looks so indignant that you would even think he would mess up your wallpaper! Don't tell him, but I think he looks like he got caught in the act.....