Rainbow

I did not find what you wrote in your first post offensive at all. You merely stated your opinion, and everybody gets to have one of those. A lot of people share it. The idea of grabbing a bird and holding it against it's will in the name of "training" is offensive to me, not the fact you repeated what you read. It's a shame you know, because someone out there will come across that site too, read that, and try it. How awful for both the bird and the new owner. It will undoubtedly have the opposite effect from what they are trying to accomplish. **sigh** It makes me a bit fired up too.

I think male budgies go into condition to breed as well as females, and this might cause the cere to turn a little bluer. If you had said that picture was of a 6-8 month old bird, I'd have said female, but if he is 12 months already and the cere is still that color I would agree he is male. He is a very pretty blue.

Wing trimming is a hotly debatable topic around here. I have had budgies both trimmed and untrimmed. The only thing I will say right now is that I don't agree with your statement I quoted. If the budgie doesn't want to be on your finger, he will leave whether he is clipped or not. He may not be able to fly up to a curtain rod to get away, but he will jump or fly off if he's not comfortable. They still have a choice.

Risha, that is a good start. I think if you keep giving it to them they will eventually eat it. MIne were really picky about getting it on their beaks at first too, now they could care less LOL.

If she is the smaller "pet" type budgie, she should weigh in around 28-32 grams, depending upon her build. 58 grams is big for that type of budgie. If she is the larger "English" type budgie, 58 grams isn't overly heavy. I have some that used to have weight problems too. Most of them are down to better weights, but one or two are more stubborn than the others. Is she the bird in your profile? She is a pretty bird. How old is she? Getting the weight off is one of the best things you can do for her. She will feel better, look better, and become more active. Not to mention her overall health will improve and her heart and other organs won't have to work as hard to keep her going. The finch and canary pellets are okay - a lot of budgies won't eat the budgie-sized pellets because they are too big. A lot of people have better luck with the smaller pellets. The Zupreem Natural is good, I think it doesn't have the questionable preservatives some manufacturers put into the food. Does she eat pellets already? I feed pellets as part of my birds' diets too, it helps prevent nutritional deficiencies. As far as breeding mode goes, they will act different. Your hen might increase her chewing and destruction of perches or toys. She might get grumpier or some get more loving and want more attention. She will probably become a little more vocal, increase her head bobbing and warbling - I can't describe what that sound is like in the printed word, LOL, and finish off her vocals with more clicking sounds and this sound that I describe as "tut, tut" accompanied by a head shake that looks like she is saying "no". If she is tame, when she is on your finger or arm she might start tapping her beak against you while she talks to you, and her head feathers will get fluffy. At least that's what mine do. Is any of that familiar behavior to you?

Do you have any sort of small platform, shelf, or something the baby can hide under? If he is 3 weeks, he still needs to be fed by mom or dad. If he is 4 weeks, you can take him out and put him in a cage by himself if he keeps getting attacked, you will just have to take some extra time and make sure he learns to eat on his own. Put small sprigs of millet, softened seeds (you can soak them for 24 hours and feed them then), or slightly crushed seeds so he doesn't have to de-hull the whole thing, cooked foods like Beak Appetit or Krazy Korn, etc. in a dish on the floor of his cage. At that age he is probably not afraid of you, so you can even feed him millet by hand. Is he the only baby? It sounds like dad wants to mate again and wants the little bird out of the nest box so he can. If you can find some type of protection for the little guy you can try leaving him in the cage with the parents, and still put foods in the bottom of the cage. If you have a bird ladder, put that in so that it comes up near some type of perches so he can leave the bottom of the cage and get around. I don't know what kind of cage you have, but on some of them the plastic tray that makes up the bottom of the cage is too deep for a new baby to be able to reach up to the bars, and unless they figure out how to flap their way up to grab the bars of the cage, he might feel stuck on the bottom. I am sorry you lost your guinea pig and am especially sorry you haven't been well either. It seems like when it rains it pours, doesn't it?

That was hysterical. "...if you die, I'll know not to eat anymore..." - that is so funny! I can just see the expression on Sunshine's face, LOL. Hopefully your birds will start to like it. Mine love the stuff. I used to put it on a plate and sprinkle millet on the top instead, I made a big production out of it and made sure they watched since they all know what millet is... At first they would just eat the millet off, but then somebudgie got brave and tried the Beak Appetit. They get it every morning for breakfast now, sans seeds. :fear

That is so sweet. From your description, the pale yellow bird sounds like a male, and your blue one sounds female. I can't wait for pictures.

The quiet behavior is normal. They are scared. Your bird may call for the other bird for a little after he leaves, but he will be fine on his own. There are a lot of 'only budgies' out there. Was the other bird bought at the same time from the same pet store? When your husbands' friend picks up the bird, give him this website for his wife to check out if she wants. Maybe the name of your avian vet too, since both birds will need new bird checkups as soon as possible. What did you name your bird? What color is s/he?

I fixed it. Thank you. She is very pretty. I love the grey.

If he has a green splotch on his back, he is pied. If his eyes have a visible iris ring, he is probably doublefactor dominant pied. If they do not and he is over a year old, he is probably a recessive pied. He's a lovely budgie.

I think fresh are okay? It may be the chemicals they use in the drying process for the arrangements that makes it bad.

Good. I'm glad you found a way to clean him up. Hopefully whatever caused this to happen has righted itself and he will be back to normal soon. If not, I think you should put a call in to your vet.

If you can soak it try that. Run and inch or two of warm water in the bathroom sink and hold him in it for a few moments. You may have to "dip" him several times, and then try to remove it. If not, or he really freaks have someone else hold him in a washcloth and you can GENTLY try to trim it away with scissors. I'd try to get it wet first though. Is it preventing him from going to the bathroom?

Yes, very good to hear! Can we see a picture?

Is the hen an experienced breeder? With 7 chicks, I think she would be okay if she was, since the older ones are probably being fed more often by the cock bird now, the hen will not have as huge a task as it seems. There is 2 weeks difference in age between the oldest and youngest baby, right? I'd just watch them and if it looks like the pair is struggling, take the older babies out for an occasional hand feeding to ease the strain on your breeding birds.

My birds craved even more green food than usual when they had babies. I gave them as much as they wanted without any problems. I can't say that in your case the greens aren't to blame, but I've never experienced any ill-effects, diarhhea or otherwise from feeding a lot of green foods. But mine preferred spinach, broccoli, kale, and carrot tops. I've never fed what you are giving them. Since you have another bird beginning the same problem, you could either cut down or cut out green food and see if they improve, or have an avian vet do a gram stain on the feces to make sure the problem is not bacterial in nature. You don't have to take the bird in for a gram stain. Do you have an avian vet you use that you could call? I think I would maybe do both, since you have doubts about the food too.

That's the setup I used. It worked fine for me.

OH! I can imagine!

That's so good to hear, Claire.

That's funny! I had to play it twice because my birds kept talking to Teapot. But I heard it..."hello baby, kiss me bum". What a pick up line, eh?

How awful! Hopefully it will do the trick.

That's what I was thinking too. It's funny how the kids have such a preference, isn't it? Do they like to help take care of him?

Be patient. I would guess male still. His head is very rounded and the cere still looks smooth, but you are right - looks are deceiving in the right light. Does the faint color difference around the nostrils really look white? It just looks slightly lighter than the rest of the cere on my monitor.

I collect their feathers too. I used to just save the "pretty" ones, but then I noticed even the plainer feathers have a shimmery quality to them in the right light, so I am indiscriminate in my feather-saving habits now. If it is clean (LOL) I will probably save it. I have some purple ones from Blueberry and Arctic that I especially like, and for some reason I think it is really neat to find either one of the spots, or a feather from the cheek flashes. I guess because they are so small and you rarely find them - at least I don't. But have you noticed that what looks like tons of feathers on the floor doesn't look like so many once you get them in the bag???????