Rainbow

Chirpy, it IS important, isn't it? I will pin this for a bit.

Did you complain about the wing clipping? I'm guessing you didn't ask for it. Maybe time to find a different vet... What formula did you get? If you use it, be sure to check the temperature before you feed it. Too cold will cause sour crop, to hot will cause crop burns. Neither of which you want your bird to go through. The beak color is normal, a lot of babies have dark places on the beak when they are small. They fade, and are usually gone in a few weeks. Can you post a picture of the little guy? He sounds sweet.

I'd call your vet and ask what they recommend. At over 4 weeks she should be able to pick millet seeds off the spray. If not, crush some off and put them in a dish for her. You can also hull/partially hull regular seeds yourself and give them to her. I think she will soon figure out what she is supposed to do, especially if she has another bird to watch. Dad should still be feeding them too.

All of mine went through "flight training" in the nest box. You could hear them flapping away and raising all kinds of dust - it would pop out of the hole in the top you use to open it with. I think if I hadn't had perches everywhere for them to bump into when they first came out, they would have been able to fly enough so that they wouldn't have just plummeted to the bottom. I think most of them don't come out until they have strenghthened their chest muscles enough to be able to fly at least a short distance. They are unsteady as far as being able to perch. They do have to learn that skill as there is nothing to perch on in the nest box. I do understand your concern though, and applaud you for not buying birds from breeders that keep the boxes too high, and have nowhere for the birds to go except the floor.

Ahem..... back to topic. The first molt can take a few months. Depending upon the temperature where you are, if you have the heat on I think that tends to bring on a molt as well. Ever since it got cold I have had feathers everywhere. Some days it looks like one of them exploded...

Congratulations! That is a big accomplishment. :bluebudgie:

I think pine should be okay. If you get it from the lumber store (??? sorry, I don't know if you have Home Depot in Canada ) all the sap and gunk is gone. I think the dowel perches that come with cages are made of pine anyway, and my birds chew them up like there's no tomorrow. I'll bet they will LOVE having all that extra room!

Do not use treated lumber. I think regular chicken wire is too large to contain budgies or finches, they would get out. I wouldn't stain the wood either. If they chew it (and they will) they could poison themselves. Non-toxic paint is best if you have to do something with it. I found this site, maybe it will help you get some information. If not, it also has some links (which I have not checked out, sorry) to other sites. http://home.ca.inter.net/~dhansen/aviary.html **topic moved**

Fabulous pictures! You have listed some very good tips, too. My camera has shutter lag so bad, I have to click the picture when they take off and by the time they have flown around the room and are ready to land back where they started, my camera will finally take the picture.

3 weeks is WAY to early to take the babies out. Allow them to leave the nest box on their own. Mine would venture out somewhere around 4-5 weeks, but weren't out completely until 5-6 weeks. At 3 weeks the feathers are not even all in! I'm not sure I agree with this...If your birds are healthy to begin with, they will continue to eat as much as is necessary...it's not like food will disappear 10 x faster or anything like that. Your regular daily maintenance should suffice.

Rainbow and Skittles didn't like anything in the nest box either. They kicked it all out of the hole. She happily raised two clutches on nothing but the bare wood floor of the box.

Glad to hear your bird is not seriously ill. I know that is a relief for you. If your medicine is put in his water instead of you giving it to him orally via syringe, you will need to not give him any veggies or fruits for the duration of his medicine. Putting meds in the water is not the most efficient way to get them in, but if that is the case it needs to be the only source of water. Otherwise, he will get his liquid intake from the lettuces and such, and not have any reason to touch the medicated water.

pixie, it's not very safe to have him only trimmed on one side. Both sides should match, otherwise he is very off-balance and will be more prone to injury, and that is not good for his self-confidence. He needs to be able so safely navigate, and he can't do that with his feathers being so lopsided.

You need to check with the glue manufacturer to see if it is safe for use around birds. I know when I had fish and the tank developed a crack on the bottom, I had to get special sealant because regular sealant was toxic to fish, so I would imagine the same toxicity problem would apply to budgies. I don't know for certain, but I'd be hesitant about giving birds access to glue.

If you decide to leave the cage door open, make sure the room she is in is THOROUGHLY bird-proofed. Realistically, unless there is nothing else in the room that is not possible, but do the best you can. Birds will chew electrical cords, strangle in the loops in your blinds, chew plants, candles, anything they can get their beaks on really, and so many more dangers than I can list here...please give this one a lot of thought, as it only takes once when you are not home to not be able to extricate your bird from an unsafe situation... Know your bird inside and out, and know what she has a tendency to do and where she would go in your house with unlimited access rights...before you leave her out unsupervised. I'm not sure she's been with you long enough for you to know all that. You might want to wait.

((((((Feel better soon, Lil'Devil...))))))

Ahhh, so he's feeding her a lot, is he??? :fear I had a hunch that's what it was. I'm glad it wasn't a problem due to illness. I'll bet you feel better, don't you? If you have a spare cage, you might seperate them some so he's not so inclined to feed Scooby all the time if it bothers you. Otherwise, my guess is that he will probably stay that way until either of them goes out of condition.

Glad you are finding a way to rectify the situation. :fear That website has a lot of very good information on it - have you read the whole way through? Takes awhile, but is informative. And mother nature usually finds a way around little deformities like that, doesn't she? I'm not surprised her breast muscles are stronger. I wouldn't have thought about it, but it makes perfect sense. I'll bet she will be a strong flyer. Hopefully the other leg will come around just fine.

What happened with that feather? One of my birds had a bent wing feather like that not too long ago. She ended up gnawing the broken part off. I think if it bothers him he will chew it. It shouldn't hurt unless it's a blood feather, and from your description I don't believe it is. He may just find it slightly annoying, but I don't think it should affect his flying any.

Yes, you can get the same bedding that is used for hamsters to use for birds. They don't necessarily need anything, though a lot of people will use it.

You need to make something about his new cage more interesting so he will want to go in it. When I switched cages, I kept them both out and open for Rainbow and Skittles for a few days, but put more toys, extra veggies, and some millet in the new cage. They would float between cages for a day or so, then when they were comfortable with the new one, I put the old one up.

Maybe call around to the local vets where you are and see if any of them either specialize in birds without being a true avian vet, or ask if they see a lot of birds. You may be able to find a good vet close that way. If not, ask them who they refer their avian patients to. Good luck!

Um...no! I'm just trying to help. I know a lot of times I forget to ask the vet questions, and if it were my bird those are the ones I would be asking... I always feel like I have to take an active role in my birds healthcare, whether it's preventative maintenance or post-illness care since I'm the one responsible for them. I just assume everyone else is the same. I suppose that's wrong on my part. Antt, I hope I've not offended you by asking so many questions...

Get some carrot tops or a colorful lettuce (like red leaf or romaine) wet so it drips just a little and clip it on the top of the cage so that it hangs down into the cage. If you put it near a perch, they may be enticed to take a "hanging bath", which is very entertaining to watch, by the way...

Where is she preening? Is it an all-over preen, or area specific?