Rainbow

Sometimes they will get a flight feather or two out of place and will twitch until it is fixed. Most of the time you can't see it, but for whatever reason sometimes a feather will lay underneath the ones next to it instead of along the top edge. If they can't get it to lay right by flipping the wing, then they will preen it. If your bird was out flying maybe that is what happened.

I'm so sorry to hear that. I'm sure you must be devastated. Please know we all understand.

Mine rarely sleep right next to each other, especially not the hens. They need their personal space, I guess. There usually is a bit of bickering that goes on when they get covered at night until they sort things out.

Definitely reinforce "step up"! Sometimes mine will fly away when I try to get them, and it is usually because I forget to say "step up". They are so patterned to do it that even if they have been 'running off', if I tell them to "step up" they will comply 99% of the time, even if they don't want to. They will ignore me sometimes unless I give the verbal command.

I'm sorry to hear that. Breathing noises usually indicate a respiratory infection of some kind, but I'm not sure about the frothy discharge. But definitely check what he may have gotten into (plants, candles, etc.) If at all possible, see if you can get antibiotics you administer orally. Unfortunately, a lot of times if the birds think something is odd or "off" about the water - either color or smell - they won't drink it. Adding anything to the water also increases the chances that unwanted bacteria will grow in it. Oral or injectable medicines are much better. You control the dosage and are sure they are getting the medicine. Let us know what happens, please.

Check your pm's - I sent you one earlier that might help.

I wish people wouldn't say birds will bond to you better if you hand rear them. There is so much that can go wrong... I have 10 fully flighted birds in my living room, all were parent-reared, and they are all sweet and pretty tame. okay, if you can't put him back in the nest, he obviously will have to eat. If he is taking syringe feedings at least he won't starve, so you can add millet sprays to his diet. That seems to be an easy seed for them to learn to crack. They learn by watching other birds though, so if he is alone it may be harder. You can also try soaking the regular seed so it is slightly softer, or you can crush it yourself so he does not have to hull it right away. You can also begin giving him broccoli or baby spinach leaves, green pepper, something watery and not as hard to eat. They like carrots, but carrots are a hard vegetable, so I'd wait until he seems ready. Vegetables may be a good first food, as they are soft and he can just eat them. Use organic produce if you can, you know pesticides aren't good for people either. If you can't get it, wash them very well first. If you want him to also eat pellets, introduce them now, but soften them first too. Those ideas just came off the top of my head, give me a bit to do some research and if I come across any "official" information I'll post it . Good luck. He is a cutie! He seems to have most of his feathers, so 3-4 weeks is probably about right. Make sure he stays warm! His flights don't seem to be fully grown out, are they still short? Does he have any spots that are still 'downy' and not feathered all the way?

Why do you want to finish weaning him instead of letting the parents do it? Contrary to what you may have read, it will not make him bond any better to you. His parents will continue to feed him for several more weeks. At 3 to 4 weeks, I think he is too young to be seperated. I would put him back in the nest box (if the hen will accept him back in there now) and watch him to make sure he is not getting picked on.

I answered you in your other thread. Males do not vomit because they need a mate. You need to call your vet. If you don't have one, you need to find one.

Sometimes when they lean forward and make the "goose" noises they will also start bobbing their little heads very quickly and their little wings start to quiver. It is really cute to watch!

I'm in KY too! Small world, isn't it? There is blood supply to the beak, but an avian vet would know how much or little to file off. I don't think it hurts them, unless you hit the blood vessel or a nerve. I don't think they will file all that off in one visit. You're vet will probably be able to look at how Pixie acts in the exam room and know whether it will stress her too much or not. My vet usually will watch them in the cage first, and I get them out. If there happens to be a problem during the filing, the vet's office is where I'd want my bird to be anyway. Since you don't go until the end of the month, maybe whenever you have extra time, give your bird some extra taming practice. She may feel a bit calmer by the time you have to go. Oh yeah, I forgot. The new feathers will begin to grow in whether your bird is in the molt or not. Rainbow picked at the second clutch I had some, as he was anxious to breed for the third time, and wanted them out of the box. The feathers grew back in before they had their first molt.

I see what you mean now - I thought that was feathers! Hopefully the vet will be able to trim it to the proper length with a minimal of trips back there. I don't think I'd let them do it all at once. And I think bloodwork is the only way to test for those diseases. It don't think it requires much blood, I think the big worry is if she is healthy enough, as I think it is the stress of being caught, held, poked, and prodded that causes more problems than the actual taking of the blood sample. I'm sure you know from experience some budgies are easily stressed. When's your vet appointment? Is your vet in the same city as you, or do you have to travel far?

She just looks plucked to me. I'm not sure what you mean about the beak though. In the first picture it looks pretty smooth.

Hooray for Peanut! If they do stay in Casper's cage, you should watch them closely at first. Some birds have territorial issues with their cage, and since Peanut is the newcomer, Casper may tolerate it for awhile, then decide he really doesn't want another bird in 'his' cage. Lots of birds don't care, but some do. It's probably a birdie greeting. Mine do that to each other too, males to males and males to females. This is normal bird behavior too. It's a greeting as well as birdie foreplay in older birds. Mine do it to me too, males as well as females. Again, normal behavior. Especially since Casper is young, it's normal to beg food from another bird. When mine were small, the babies even used to feed each other. I think it is a normal part of their growing up. I think they are testing their limits here. When my birds experience dominance issues, one or both will try to become taller than the other, and will try to put a foot on the other one. I'm sure they have not established a pecking order yet. This is part of establishing the pecking order. Goose noises? I love that- I've never heard it described in quite that way before! I think this is just juvenile behavior, and ties back into # 3. Some of the behaviors you described could also be attributed to male/female attraction, but since you cannot for certain tell the sex of both of them yet, I think it is more that they are just getting to know each other. Isn't it great to just sit and watch them? If you could get a closeup of both of their ceres, I could give it my best guess as to what sex they are. It's hard to tell in your signature. From my experience, Casper's behavior sounds like hen behavior (demanding food, not wanting to share food from the cups, and wanting to be the dominant bird for example), but could also be construed as the first bird showing dominance over the newcomer. Sometimes it's hard to tell what they are doing.

When a male budgies cere turns from blue to brown that can be a sign of a testicular tumor. My vet and I have had conversations about it before. Those type of tumors are estrogen-producing tumors, and that is why the cere color changes. Unfortunately, they are a common tumor in budgies. :glare: I'm sorry your little budgie suffered. I know the decision to put him down was agonizing...

Millet is high in carbohydrates, and for some reason birds find it extremely tasty. Carbohydrates make you want to eat more. :glare:

You will either need to type in the whole address, or copy and paste from the "img" or "url" box on your photobucket account. I'm sure you'll get it - try again. If not, e-mail the picture to me and I will post it for you.

hommer, is your budgie grey or mauve? I can't tell from the picture. He is a big fellow!

Most of the time budgies will breed better with another pair they can see and/or hear. Congratulations on the small peeping noises!

Hmmm, has he been molting? Maybe it could be parts of the feather sheaths.

Purely for destruction, cooper! They just love to shred.

By request, I went through the archives and found some fairly good pictures that show the cere color in very young birds. This is only to illustrate one way I could tell the different sexes in my birds, but it should give you a fair idea of possible cere colors when trying to sex a young bird. All these were taken between 4 and 8 weeks. I won't even make you guess.... Female Female left to right - Female, Female, Male Male Male back to front - Female, Female, Male, Female Female left to right - Female, Male

Today is cage cleaning day, and I'm putting the new pinata in. I find these in pet stores, I've gotten them online, and also at bird fairs. (Local stores are more expensive.) They also like the "shredders" - they are woven strips of the same material that come in a small roll and you can cut off whatever length you want. I clip them to the side of the cage and they chew them up too. scully, they will last anywhere from 5 days to 3 or 4 weeks, depending upon their moods. They have several different toys in each cage to choose from, they just seem to like to shred this one best. :bluebudgie: I like the rope perches, the rope is woven very tightly so toenails don't get stuck. I've had the ones that are short and have the fringies on the end, and they liked to chew them up, but the regular perches that attach at both ends don't get chewed up. I don't know why they shred one kind and not the other. Imotive, I have 2 of those cages. One houses 4 birds, the other 6. Sometimes all 10 will pile up in the same cage to sleep, and I will let them do that. But I wouldn't keep them all in the same cage during the day. :bluebudgie:

A brand new birdie pinata is such a sight to behold! After a few days, it begins to show some age, but it is still cute. After a week or so, the poor pinata is pooped. Be prepared to stock up...

I knew birds could see more of the spectrum than we can, but those pictures are really freaky. I never thought about what it would look like. Imagine if we could see ultraviolet light too...but then again, there are probably things we are exposed to we'd rather not see anyway. It would make you afraid to go outside, LOL. Good link! That could be why some birds pair up naturally and others bicker all the time. Maybe they really don't like the way the other bird looks!