Rainbow

Do you think it could be due to one of the other birds? Or maybe he just doesn't pay much attention to preening his tail? One of mine, Blossom, will preen the long tailfeather but pretty much ignores the smaller ones that fan out, and as a result they are almost always fanned out and a bit rough around the edges. Sometimes she preens them, but not often. I don't know if she is just one of those birds that doesn't care about preening her tail, or maybe if it's that she's a bit on the heavier side and it's just not comfortable to preen those. Is he heavy at all? How long has it been since his last molt?

How old is he? Is his behaviour any different, or just the way he looks?

julie, I hate to hear Budgy2 is looking poorly. What kind of feather problem is he having?

The females will always go brown, but I'm not sure it's always right after the molt. I'd think by 8 - 10 months old though, the color change would have started.

My thoughts are I want birds # 4 and # 6 ........

Mine like them all. I like Cream of Tweet personally - don't you find it somewhat ironic they eat something called Cream of Tweet....???? LOL. Nuts for Alfredo is an instant one, they like it but it is mostly couscous and it is harder to vacuum out of the carpet.......... I use all mine up in 4 or 5 days, so don't have to freeze it. Boomberry, I'm sure your a better cook than you want us to believe!

Looks like a young female to me. But my males will sit in the seed dishes too.

terri - when did your's start eating the beak appetit? Do they like all the flavors? Mine expect the stuff every morning for breakfast now! Boomberry, sorry yours didn't like it. As far as changing recipes, I think you could just use a regular muffin or bread recipe (like banana nut bread, maybe?) and just add whatever veggies you wanted to it??? Substitute applesauce for sugar?? (I've never done any of my suggestions before, so you can ignore them if you want - LOL - I'm just trying to figure out a way for you to add variety. )

That was a good article. Boomberry, you can feed spinach (mine love it too and the babies were practically raised on it) but not every day as it does contain a lot of oxalic acid which might cause problems if ingested excessively. But not only for birds, for people too, so if you feed spinach I wouldn't quit. It contains a lot of vitamin c and iron, as well as other nutrients that are good for you. The article suggested not ever feeding it unless you grow it yourself, but I get my bird's veggies and fruits from the organic food store so I am pretty confident it is okay. I've never tried sweet potatoes, that will be my next purchase! Usually they get purple and green kale, red-leaf lettuce, baby carrots, broccoli, spinach, green and red peppers (not a favorite), apples, plums, banana, parsley and carrot tops (for baths, LOL). I used to feed grapes until chirpy posted the story about the person that lost all their parrots from feeding bad grapes. They didn't really eat them much anyway so no big loss for me. It's probably still not enough variety.

A picture would help, but if it is not very big, more like a flake of skin, he could have just skinned his cere on something. We can't really tell something like this without a picture.

Julie, is there any brown on Sherbet's cere at all, or is it just the way it looks on my monitor? If you want to try to sex using behavior, watch Sherbet a bit more. When s/he sings, is it mostly single chirps, with soft little "tut tut tut" noises interspersed in? Maybe shaking the head (like s/he's saying "no") while making those noises? Are the chirps louder or softer than the other 2? Does Sherbet ever warble like crazy all alone, for no reason, or just when the other birds start? When the other two are billing and cooing with Sherbet is Sherbet the one that gets tired of it first, and makes the other birds stop? Does s/he ever feed the other birds, or is Sherbet the one that always gets fed?

LOL I think I follow his logic! Any excuse will do, you know. I think it's wonderful he loves that little bird so much.

Mine look like that every time they molt, so you have agreement there from me too. Sometimes the feathers even start to look dirty or brown above the cere, almost like they have been sneezing or something, but as soon as they all unfold everything is back to normal.

I would guess the baby is being plucked. There will not necessarily be any blood or scabbing on the plucked area, and the back of the head and between the shoulders seem to be the most frequently plucked places. Telmadee, the baby in your picture looks plucked.

I was thinking hen unless that is not brown around the nostrils.... And mating will not necessarily go on when they are that young. Sometimes they are content with just feeding and warbling , and don't actually mate until much later.

Thanks, eterri.

Very spiffy. Are the nest boxes actually fixed inside the cage or are they hung? And out of curiosity, do you let them out for flys, or will they stay in those cages until the young fledge? I've never used an actual "breeding cage" like that and was wondering.

What a heartwarming story. I don't know what I'd do if any of mine escaped, angry dolphin sounds wouldn't get them anywhere, would they?

I would take him to the vet if I were you. Poor Birdie. At least he doesn't act like it bothers him, so hopefully he isn't just hiding that from you. Please keep us posted.

LOL - I was a bit embarrassed that I used old-fashioned methods instead of something like daz! Thanks! I feel better now!

Oh how awful for you! I'm so sorry.

**cough cough** Um...notebook paper and a calendar??? I started with the calendar, noting when the eggs were laid and when they hatched, but I graduated to notebook paper and started taking notes when they began to feather and such. I jotted down things like the colors as they came out, when they left the nest box, weight, how long they stayed out the first time, when they went back in, when the parents began to mate again, vet visits, little things about their personalities, stuff like that. Not too professional I know, but there aren't too many to remember. If I ever am in a position to breed my birds again, I will look into an additional method. Both of those programs look good daz.

I don't see where it would be a problem. Budgies groom their feet when they preen, so any sand will be removed by the bird anyway.

So to shorten the name, he would be a Recesive Pied Blue Mutant 2? LOL, I guess! I would have said type 2 yellowface blue recessive pied though. I keep chuckling at the mutant part.......