Rainbow

This was on the news tonight, and I wondered if it hit in your area since they said it touched down in KY and then crossed over to Evansville. I'm so glad it did not and you are safe.

First and foremost, I would stop the bleeding...The wound needs to be cleaned and the bleeding stopped. I know I'm a bit late seeing this post, but what did you end up doing? How is the baby? Missing a toe shouldn't affect his quality of life later on, I had a budgie that had a toe bitten by my sun conure. It eventually turned black and fell off at the bite site as it was bitten badly enough to cause nerve damage and interrupt the blood flow. It never bled. She was fine.

they should really love all that space! :ausb: It looks very nice.

:hap: Your's don't like to share food either?

It looks fine to me. I think it might look longer because it is peeling a little at the bottom.

Thank you Gil. Epilepsy in birds is not something I normally would think about, although I know it occurs. What do you think would be the most common cause? Heavy metal poisoning? Good idea to have everyone double-check the condition of their cages and make sure all toys you buy are bird-safe. Things to think about too would be what your bird has access to that may contain lead or another metals dangerous to birds. I know drapery weights contain lead, as do fishing weights.

I'd take a look at them before making up your mind. :hap:

Hi and Welcome. The babies generally begin to fledge (make short trips out of the nest box) at about 4 - 5 weeks. They will learn to crack seeds and how to eat different types of food from dad for a week or so after they leave the box for good. Most babies are ready to go to new homes at about 6 - 8 weeks of age. Make sure before you give them to a new owner they have been eating on their own for about 10 days. How many babies do you have?

Hooray! Doesn't it make you feel good inside?

Budgies do sometimes slow down and gain weight as they get older, and there are medical reasons for weight gain too. Terri, I don't agree with your statement about neglect, I believe this picture was originally posted for another reason and has been taken out of context here. Wasn't he just playing and actually taught another bird to "hide" like that too? He certainly doesn't look that heavy, I have a bird that looks heavier than that in some pictures and is nowhere near 150 grams. 15 years is an old budgie Hommer. I'm glad to see a budgie that old - it doesn't happen very often.

Hommer, are you sure about the 150 grams? I truly don't see how it is possible for a budgie to weigh anywhere near that much.

I think you can safely leave him be. There's really nothing you can do to make sure it doesn't happen again - you can't control whether he knocks a feather or not. The feathers around it will cushion it to some extent, and if it really bothers him he will either pull it out or chew it until it doesn't bother him anymore. I'd just watch him until it resolves, if it doesn't bleed anymore you don't need to do a thing.

There is nothing to forgive, you are doing fine. I didn't mean to come across that way. I'm sorry. As long as you know how much blood is on him so you can tell if it has been bleeding again, you don't necessarily have to clean him up. If you think it would stress either one of you out to catch him and clean him, just leave him alone and let him fidget with it. It's probably sore and that's why he's picking at it. I'm sure it doesn't feel right to him. I'm just glad it didn't bleed much and has stopped.

As long as it has stopped bleeding there should be no problems if you don't pull it out. Sometimes they don't need to be pulled at all, but if he keeps knocking it and re-starting the bleeding then I would recommend it be pulled. I've only done it once, and I hope I don't have to do it again. I know exactly what you mean about being afraid to hurt them. If you haven't cleaned him up already, I would do that so that if it starts to bleed later you will know it and not confuse it with what's already on him. Did you use the cornstarch?

Aw Bea, that picture is really sweet. Michellec, if you still are unsure please post a picture and we will try to help you figure it out.

If he can't or won't pick it out, it will probably irritate him. I think he will probably pick at it a lot, it may be sore too, depending upon how he hit it to begin with. You will need to watch it because if he doesn't pull it out and he knocks it against anything it could start to bleed again. If it does, I would pull it. Don't use your fingers as you probably won't pull hard enough to get it out because you won't want to hurt him. Remember to gently restrain the wing if you have pull the feather.

You've got no choice but to catch him. Use a washcloth to get him - that way if he bites you hopefully he will get the cloth and not you, and also if his head is covered he may not struggle as much. Take a good look at where the bleeding is coming from. If the feather is broken it will need to be pulled out. Do you have anyone else there to help you?

Chirpy, I'm still laughing at that one! I can imagine him telling you off like that. So, what did you do?

Isn't it though, Julie? And those 4 years have been pretty much effortless, because I didn't think about what I was doing, I just did it. And then I realized. It's ironic the wildest bird is in some ways the tamest, even though you can't touch her.

Thanks. It's nice to know it's normal.

Am I way off-base in my love for my birds? I was thinking about them today, as I watched them playing. I had noticed lately that out of all my birds, Skittles seems to be the one that is most steady. By steady I mean things like this: 1. For some reason, several of the birds have begun to try to get away when I reach my hand in the cage to change their food and water. Since the cage is open most of the time, they just leave through the top. Skittles will just sit there. 2. When they get startled, if Skittles is sitting near me, she will not fly off with the others. She will just sit and look warily around, but will stay put. 3. She will now preen and sleep with her back to me, inches away from me. She will also turn and tuck her head into her wing to nap while she is facing me. For those that don't realize this, this action implies a great amount of trust. After all, if I were a predator, I could eat her then. 4. She is the first to eat whatever I offer from my hand, no matter where she is sitting when I approach the cage. The others will sometimes eye even seeds like they are suspect. Not Skittles. And there are other little things too, I won't mention everything, but the reason for this post is this... Skittles is almost 4 years old. She has never been tame. She will not step up. She is the "wildest" budgie I have ever had, yet when she was nesting she would let me feed her in the box. I have never pushed her to become "tame" like the other birds. They have been "tame" from the nest box, yet sometimes they act like I am evil and the littlest things will startle them. They don't always want to step up anymore (but they do after a try or two anyway. They are still good birds. ). But I realized I have spent 4 years trying to convince this little bird I am her friend. 4 years. 4 years of mostly just talking to her because that is all she would allow. That is a long time. I realized I wouldn't spend 4 years trying to convince a person to be my friend. But apparently I would for a budgie. To be honest with you all, I found that slightly disturbing for a moment. And hopefully she is healthy enough that I will spend at least another 4, then another 4, and part of another 4 trying to convince this little hen budgie that I am her friend. Because I do not ever expect her to step up. Nor will I ever require it from her like I do the rest of my birds. But it is the little things that let me know it is all worthwhile, and even if she isn't "tame", compared to what she was when I brought her home, she is tame. Then, she used to thrash around her cage whenever anyone walked into the room. Now she seems to want to spend time with me, and even gets jealous like my other hens for my undivided attention. She will land on pretty much any part of me except my finger, although yesterday she did perch on my finger to eat the seeds I hand feed them in the evenings. I was surprised. She also will get right up in my face to preen my eyebrows and eyelashes, provided there are no hands in sight. Would any of you spend 4 years trying to convice another person you wanted to be their friend? But how about a budgie? Is that okay?

Very sad, indeed. I'm so sorry echucabirds. Unfortunately, this tends to be more common in the mutations (like pieds) than in normals. Did your vet give you any specific diet to follow, or particular instructions to make his life a bit easier?

**fingers crossed**

He looks like a very cute recessive pied. I'd say he is clearwing also, since his tailfeathers will be white too. A clearflight will have completely white wings with the tail being of normal color. Nerwen, Daz, or hath all have great mutations books so if they see this thread they can double check.

I'm not sure I've ever seen peach on a budgie before. A picture would be great. To determine whether you have a clearwing or a clearflight, what color are the long tailfeathers?