Rainbow

Now that is neat. What a fantastic idea! And the birds are just beautiful. But aren't you worried they will chew up the bamboo curtain?

I have a gram scale like they use at the vets. It has two tops, one with a perch for cooperative birds to sit on to be weighed (which mine are not - LOL) and a flat one that you can tare a container on. I use a light piece of something like tupperware with a lid and catch the budgies and put them in it. Then wait for them to be still for a nanosecond so the weight is right.

Daz, Your link isn't working. Can you check it? I'm following all this very closely, as I'm sure we all are, and especially appreciate the links to the news articles. Thanks to everyone.

It IS great. I know you love to watch him fly.

I think it depends upon the type, pixie. I agree 28 grams is thin, but it is the weight where they do not carry any excess fat. They are supposed to be thin, streamlined birds. Right now Sunny is my thinnest budgie - he floats between 29 and 31 grams - and he is also the most active and the most agile flyer. He can run circles around any of the other ones - even when he had one eye swollen shut from the fight a few months ago he could out-manouver any one of them with only one eye. According to my vet, he is at an acceptable weight, but recommended I make sure he doesn't gain any. But my own personal opinion is that you also have to factor in the build of the bird too. A more solid build should be able to carry a few more grams and be fine. If you don't feel excess fat on the bird at 40 grams it is good, but if your bird has extra padding you can feel at 35 grams, then 35 grams is too much for that bird. But I do notice the lighter they are the more active and agile they are, and they seem happier too (ie make more noise, LOL). Booms, I think he looks much trimmer! Does he fly more now too? Do you notice any difference in the way he acts since he lost weight? I can tell with mine, I was wondering if you could too.

6 should be fine, like Bea said maybe rearrange the toys a little differently. Just arrange some perches so that each bird can have a different section of the cage to himself if they need space. Here's a picture of one of my cages. They are 24" x 18" x 34" and has 5 birds in each. You can see they can all get away from each other and have their own space if they want it. Yours is longer but not as tall. I think if you arranged it right they would be fine.

Oh terri, believe me 55 grams IS way too much for those type of budgies. I thought exhibition budgies would top out at 50-55 grams. Daz, I think my birds would explode long before they ever reached 80 grams. They certainly wouldn't be able to preen anywhere except the chest. I think they would have a heart attack being that heavy. I don't mean to seem like I am arguing, but that just can't be right. Are you sure?

echucabirds, how old is he?

What a cutie! I would guess male. (karenoffernvale, I think the head looks round. ) I do not think it cruel to keep a budgie as a single pet, so long as you know you will be his replacement flock. As such, you will need to spend a lot of time talking and interacting with him. Letting him out 2x is probably okay as long as it's for a good while. I'm guessing even when he's not out you are still in the same room as him and can talk to him as you go about your day? You will be able to tell after a few months whether he is acclimating well to being an only bird. He should be fine, so the decision to get another bird down the road should be made because you want another bird, not just because you think he needs a friend. My first 3 budgies were only birds, and they were fine. Look forward to more pictures and stories about him!

I think he must have been referring to the larger exhibition budgies. The smaller "American" or "pet quality" budgies weigh about an ounce, or 28 grams optimally. I can't imagine a budgie at 85-110 grams. I'm not sure if a cockatiel even weighs 185 grams. I imagine they couldn't move or preen at that weight. Some of mine are a little on the heavy side, but thankfully all are now below the 50 gram mark - all but three are below 40 grams. The max weight one of mine has been was 56 grams, and the vet said that was morbidly obese. It is almost double what they should weigh. My next goal is to have them all under 40 grams, then between 28-34 grams as a final weight for all of them, the ones close to 34 grams being the largest of them (Crystal). He's at 37 grams now. Just a few more to go! Most of them are close, but those few that aren't...whew. I thought wild budgies weighed even less than the "American" budgies and were slightly smaller too? I was wrong then. Daz, yours are the bigger ones aren't they? They seem to be at fairly good weights if they are. Lucky you.

I have been looking at a cage that is about 64" long to put all 10 of mine in. I think it depends in part on how you install perches, toys, and such. You have tons in yours - lucky birdies!! The more toys you put in, the fewer birds as they will not have as much fly room. Yours is a wonderful cage, but are you sure it is that long? 64" is over 5 feet, and it doesn't look that long in the picture. In your first picture you have two birds in it already with plenty of room, but I can't imagine 8 more in there...but you could put at least another pair in there, maybe 2. Maybe I need to re-think the size of my next cage.... :hap:

I guess this means you've figured it out. If not, here's a link to a thread about how to give oral medicines. It's about halfway down. Glad there was nothing serious wrong with your birds, and I'm very sorry about Bigger. :hap:

Julie, I'd need a bit clearer picture. Sorry! It does look all blue in the first picture though. I'd say if there is no other color besides deep blue on it, he's a he. If there is a hint of any other color I'd be a little suspect about the sex. Would you mind trying for another picture?

That's all the toes he's supposed to have.

There are all sorts of shades of brown that are normal, from light tan to chocolate brown. It is okay if the cere isn't crusty too.

: Does this mean I can't play?

I'm glad you're taking Casper to the vets. He shouldn't be losing weight just because he's molting. I hope it is nothing serious. Please let us know as soon as you get back from the vets what they said. For now, I'd just keep seed in the cage at all times, and keep some millet in there too, so he can nibble whenever he gets hungry.

Ooh, ooh, I know!!! **jumps up and down in seat and raises hand**

How traumatic for you. I'm very sorry about Sunny. ((((hugs to you))))

A little bit of humidity is fine for her. :budgiedance: I do admire all the things you are doing to take care of your birds. You obviously love them very much. Your cage is great! It won't even fit in the tub! I think you could fit 4 - 6 birds very comfortably in there, maybe more depending upon how the perching areas are sorted out.

Awwww.... Got any pictures? :budgiedance:

You might have to try several different brands of pellets before you find one they like. It may help to try the next size down (canary/finch) instead of the budgie size. It's closer to seed size. :budgiedance: Mine eat two different sizes of pellets, and seem to like the mash size best, which is finely ground up. And eterri - I've read about the renal failure with an all-pellet diet too, but not too much information on why that might be. Have you found any studies that give any clues why that happens sometimes? **topic moved**

:budgiedance: Poor little birdie! Bless you for rescuing her. Does she ever try to fly, or flap her wings on a perch for exercise?

The "green" one is actually a type 2 yellowface skyblue. It's not really green.