Rainbow

They smell great. I tasted some too, it's good. I'd eat the leftovers myself if they didn't walk around in it! So far, they don't really have a preference for a particular flavor. The only thing I noticed is that they won't eat it as much while it is still warm. They wait for it to cool to room temperature before they start their serious eating. I don't give it to them hot obviously, but they eat it more after it's been sitting for a few minutes.

Is the dropper marked off in cc's or something like that or is it just clear? A few drops doesn't sound like too much to me, but I'm not a vet, just a parrot owner like you. I'm not sure how medicines are dosed in the water, because you never know how much your bird will drink. Just to be sure, I think I'd call the vet's and ask what dosage to give if you are going to do it orally. That way you know for certain.

Make sure your bird has no access to any other water while being medicated and change the water every day. That means no veggies for the duration. If he can get his liquid from veggies he will have no reason to drink the medicated water, and that won't do you any good. Especially if you don't know whether he's drinking or not. Did he show you how much to give orally if you have to do that?

Skittles always ate them. I'd leave them in.

Well, I still don't know. It just seems different and I had wondered if she did not have the type 2 yellowface mutation, if she were type 1 instead, if she would be the blue color of her shoulder instead of the greenish tint she is. Anyway, thanks for resurrecting the thread, maybe Pass or hath will see it and have some ideas.

I think the green baby could also be a true green, getting one green color gene from each parent.

Oh they are so cute! I was thinking two boys also. Will you keep them?

I'll pin it for awhile Bea. I agree with what Mr C has told you so far. My nest boxes were roughly 6" W x 9" L x 6" H. I did not use anything for bedding, tried to but the male kicked it all out. The bottom of the box was flat with no concave, and my hen laid the eggs in the corner of the box furthest from the entrance hole. They did not ever roll around unless she turned them. The top opened, and both sides had sliding partitions, although I never opened the side parts. Her mate was allowed in the box with her, but not all hens will allow this. Make sure their diet is as varied and fresh as possible. Hopefully your birds have been eating well enough already that they have a good vitamin and mineral reserve in their bodies as they will need it. A good mixture of seeds, pellets, fresh veggies (esp green ones) and some fruit will form the basis. Add egg food if they will eat it, and make sure there is a cuttlebone or calcium perches in the cage for the birds. Your hen will probably make short work of the cuttlebone. I also would clip a sprig of millet near the entrance hole to the box so my birds could stick their heads out and have a snack without leaving. I'm not sure how tame your birds are, but my male would follow me into the kitchen for spinach...they really crave green veggies at this time. Check the nest box about twice a day (morning and evening) to make sure the hen is alright. Many people will lightly tap on the side of the box before opening the top to let the hen know you are there and are going to check inside. Sometimes she will leave, sometimes she won't. The eggs will be laid about 10 days or so after mating begins, one every other day until the hen is satisfied with the clutch size. This varies from bird to bird. Normal size averages 4-5 eggs, but you can get up to 8 or 9. It's very possible they will not all hatch, especially if this is the first time they are becoming parents. Raising baby birds is a skill they naturally have, but rarely get it perfect on the first try. Sorta like people. The hen will keep the inside of the box very clean and should not defacate inside it. Once the eggs are laid and she begins to sit on them in earnest (usually by the second egg) she will hold it in so that when she does leave the box to eat and poop, the feces will be very large and bulky. Instead of going every 15 or 20 minutes like usual, she may only go 4 or 5 times a day. She may act like it is hard for her to go, but that is normal. When you see the size you will know why. They will remain large until the male begins to take over the feeding duties and she gets a bit of a break and leaves the box more often. If your birds are indoors and normally get let out to fly at certain times, keep to that schedule. The hen may or may not ever leave to get exercise, but at least she has the opportunity. Keep to their same schedule, just try not to disturb the hen when she is in the box. Oh yeah, one more thing. Keep asking questions as you come up with them.

How old are they? How much daylight do they have (artificial or otherwise)? What is their diet like? How long have they been a bonded pair? We need a little more information as there are any number of reasons why they haven't mated yet.

Here's a link that describes the growth inside the egg (of chickens) but no pictures. There is a chart at the bottom that lists incubation times for various species of parrots. It was interesting. http://www.holisticbirds.com/hbn03/autumn03/pages/egg.htm

You guys are hysterical. Mine eat it really well now. I'll have to get some pictures - they look so funny with all those smushy grains all over their beaks. You might try what I did to get them started - I broke off some of the small heads from a sprig of millet. I hand-fed the millet to the birds...just enough for a taste so they really really wanted it and knew exactly what I was holding. Then I stuck the small heads into the Beak Appetit, sprinkled a few seeds on it, and gave it to them. I made sure they saw me do it. Yes, they will pick out the seeds at first. But once you can get them close to the food (that's the trick - mine were scared of it at first - LOL) to where they will pick the seeds out, the battle is 90% over. Because as they pick the seeds out, they get little tastes of the food. At first they will probably spit it out and shake their little heads at the weird texture, and give you one of those LOOKS, but they will try it, even though it is by accident.

Hooray for Merlin! Doesn't it just make you giddy to see him/her feeling so good?

Dutchman, what an awful thing to have happen to you! Thank you for making us aware of this. I hope you are soon on the mend, and am glad your birds are also recovering.

It took awhile before mine would go near the grass tub too. Then one day, they just got brave. I don't know any other way to explain it. Same thing with the Beak Appetit. They make 6 different flavors of the cookable grains, and so far I've tried 4 of them. My birds eat them all. I don't even have to sprinkle seeds on top anymore, but I do anyway since I've restricted their seed intake. I've also tried the veggie heaven, they won't eat it by itself yet, but if I mix it in with the Beak Appetit they will eat some like that. I'm going to try the other two types too, and will let you know how they eat them. I think they will eventually eat them all - it is just getting them over that stubborn part of refusing to try new foods that is hard. But the funny thing is, now that my birds have finally tried the Beak Appetit, they will eat most anything I put in front of them now, even a little fruit. I even bought some egg food, and I sprinkled some on the Beak Appetit today and they ate it. LOL...what a sneaky bird mommy...

Karyn, I merged your posts. You can hit the + quote button on as many posts as you would like to reply to, then hit the "add reply" button at the bottom and keep everything in the same reply box instead of having to keep replying over and over. Just edit your responses in between the quotes. It makes things easier to read. **edit for typos**

It does look like it was edited, doesn't it? There is even yellow around the eyes. Pass, have you ever seen a whiteface blue with yellow on the body?

He is probably still grieving. I believe birds do grieve for awhile, when Rainbow died it took quite a while before the rest of the flock acted normally, close to two months. Right now I would just shower him with a little extra affection. He will need to get used to a new routine, and that may take a little bit of time.

That is unusual...I've never seen a whitefaced blue with any yellow. It doesn't look right.

I have a book that says asparagus tips are good. I also read on a website today that tomatoes aren't bad, but most budgies don't like them. I've never fed either one to birds, although the wild birds will eat the tomatoes off the vine. I think they do it for the liquid inside.

Food! Make sure the prospective pair have been on a varied diet for awhile. The hen will need to shore up plenty of vitamin and mineral reserves for the rigors of parenthood. The male too, as he does a lot of regurgitating. Healthy parents will go a long way towards producing healthy babies.

I would have said female from looking at your last picture there. The blue around the nostrils is much lighter than everywhere else. But who knows? The tumor that causes the cere color change is a testicular tumor, so for it to be a tumor causing the change Merlin would have to be a boy, but if s/he is only 8 months old, that cere looks like it could be a normal 8 month old budgie hen cere too. Sexing budgies is so difficult when they are young!

Did the vet explain the procedure to you for removing the cyst? What does it entail?

Potter, I'm happy for you too.

Well, Merlin certainly does look like a hen now. Do you know exactly how old s/he is? If it is a tumor, you really need to find that out now. There are dietary changes you can make that may help, if you are into holistic health care at all. A bigger picture of the blue cere would help, though. I can usually sex them early.

I've noticed with mine, if the male doesn't feed the female fast enough, she will get mad and hack him away. It sometimes takes awhile for the boys to figure that part out. The male can sing his heart out, head bob all he wants, and do the beak tapping thing, but if he forgets the feeding part, forget it. You can watch the female beg for food, and if the male doesn't cooperate fast enough to suit her, she won't let him mate. I don't know if that is the case with all birds, but it seems to be the deciding factor with mine. Has anyone else noticed that?