Rainbow

Before all my eggs hatched and I realized I was keeping all the babies, I went around and asked at a few pet stores and only found one that said they would take the babies. They would rather get their birds from whatever source they currently use. It is sad that so many pet shop budgies have so many problems, but not all of it unfortunately can be contributed to their care or lack of it. Much of the problems I am finding out are due to inbreeding to get the color mutations.

I'm taking him back to the vet today. He's not getting around so good, and I'm a mess.

Great! All those pics take up too much hard drive space, huh? I can't wait to see them. Please tell us what it was like.

LOL - kinda in the middle, but considered south. That's a good idea! I will see about that. ***grabs paper and pen and starts to get ideas*** Sorry Adam, we are way off-topic! Let's start over, okay? Adam, did you go to the BBC Annual Budgie show? :bluebudgie:

Yay!!! When's our bird show????? :parrot:

MMM, okay! You on the east or west coast?

Adam, did you go? What was it like? I can't ever find any budgie shows within a couple hours driving distance from me...I think if I'm ever to see one I will have to fly overseas...

OMG, it is not fit to print what I think of that pet store!!! That just makes me sick. I know you wish you hadn't gone in, but it was a good thing you did. I'm sure something had to be done about it after the RSPCA visited. Good for you for calling someone about them, places like that should be shut down and those resposible for allowing that kind of deplorable treatment should be locked up. Hopefully those poor birds and the rest of the animals will now have a better chance.

Having a grate at the bottom of the cage keeps your birds out of their own poop, should they decide to venture down to the bottom. Mine is made out of the same stuff as the cage is, so to me it would be just like climbing around on the cage. I don't see how it would hurt their feet. They so rarely go down to the very bottom anyway, they wouldn't spend enough time on the grate to hurt them. Cafrine, Is your's made of the same stuff as the cage is? Budgies do not need grit, so I would get rid of it if I were you. It causes more problems than anything, I can find you some links if you'd like to read about it. Plain newspaper is fine for them to shred - sometimes if I don't fold it just right, my birds can pull it up through the grate and they will shred it.

I have always used newspaper. It is easy to see the droppings and any changes that may have occurred, and it helps that I am recycling. My birds have a grate at the bottom of the cage though, so they don't have access to the droppings.

If she is frequently disturbed or upset for any reason she may not sit on them. If there are two other hens in the same cage with her, that may be your problem. Hath would know more about it than anyone. Maybe he will see this and can help a little more.

**Update** At this point, I'm pretty sure he will not have much use of his leg anymore. He can perch with it, but I don't think he has much sensation in his toes, as he "misses" the perch and sometimes can't "find" it with that foot. He can still grip it, but with three toes pointing forward - I don't think he can feel they are in the wrong position. The smallest toe points forward instead of back. He has to land just right before they are all pointing the right way. He does much better on very thin perches, but most of the time only uses one leg. Sometimes I let him stay in the big cage with all the other birds, sometimes he seems to prefer to be by himself. At first, he let other birds pick on him and chase him away from food, but the past two days he is starting to take up for himself and will hack back. I'm proud of him for that, but feel like I have to watch him extra closely in case a serious fight breaks out. I think all the birds are feeling their oats, so to speak, as the hens are VERY grumpy now and are starting a lot of fights. I think it has something to do with the urge to breed... Please, if anyone has any thoughts or suggestions, I'm always open to them and appreciate them very much. :bluebudgie:

Well, so far what I have done is put him by himself in the cage he had before I got the big ones. It is in the same room, same spot it was before. I put a nest box in the bottom for him to use as a platform in case he wants to sit flat-footed. It was the only thing I could think of to put in his cage that wouldn't scare him... I put a plate of food on it and bought some more seed cups that you hang on the side of the cage and put one at the end of the highest perch, the other one next to the platform. I think he didn't eat before because it was hard for him to get to where the food was. He has a ladder leading down to where the food and water cups that came with the cage are in case he wants to move around. He has eaten from the new cups I've placed in his cage, so that's a good thing. He is truly happiest though when I let him out and he can fly to the other birds. I may put him back in with the other birds eventually, but I just can't do that until I know he has adjusted and is not in pain. Right now I think it still hurts, and as long as it does I'm afraid he could hurt himself even worse if he gets picked on and can't get away. He still wants to mate with all the hens, so as long as he is still interested in that I feel pretty good about him. It's just sad. Does anyone have any other suggestions about what I can do to help him adjust to only being able to use one leg?

Does anyone have or has had a budgie with only one leg? Rainbow has almost lost the use of his right leg, and I'd like suggestions on how to make his life easier. I took him to the vet, and we don't know whether he has a tumor that is pressing on the nerve, or if somebody bit his foot. No masses were felt in his abdomen, and this came on rather quickly so I don't think that is it. At least I really hope not. It also seems to be a little discolored to me, so I think one of the other birds got ticked off at him. Squabbles have been happening more frequently with them lately, I think because they are getting into the breeding mode again. Anyway, I am beginning to think there is some nerve damage to his foot. Right now, he is seperated in a cage by himself, but he hates it. Yesterday he didn't eat all day, except for some millet. I felt sorry for him so I let him out to fly and the first thing he did was fly to the other cages to be with all the other birds. I let them out too, and after much screeching and flying around he pigged out on their seed so I know he was starving. Then he settled himself in one of their cages and I had a hard time getting him out. When he is out with them he is so much happier, but he tends to overdo it with moving around (he thinks he can still mate with the hens, but he can't with one leg) so I have to really keep watch. Once he starts losing his balance alot some of the other birds begin to pick on him and the other males I have begin fighting him for females. So, does anyone have any suggestions? I've never had a special needs budgie before, but anything I need to do will get done.

I need to look into something for the house, or at least just my living room. They are not bad, but 11 birds inside is 11 birds inside, and they are somewhat dusty especially now that the adults are mini-molting and the youngest babies are still going through their first one.

Did you get it from the same company you looked at in the beginning? Is it quiet?

Mine ate their regular diet that they always did, just more of the vegetables, especially the greens.

Oh dear, I hope the little one is alright. When I cleaned out the nest box, I never removed the babies from it, I just picked up poop around them. It was very dry, so not a problem to do it. I think the oldest was about three weeks old the first time I cleaned it out. They all had feathers. After that, I did it daily or every other day, depending on how deep the pile was. I wouldn't think it was anything you did though-it seems I'm the only one who never removed the babies to clean. I think most people do. Especially since your birds didn't make a fuss when you cleaned out the box. One thing I did notice though, is that if I left a few pieces of poop in the box, they seemed to think everything was okay when the parents went back in, but if I cleaned it out completely, Skittles would scream when she poked her head back in and would get very agitated I think because the nest box "looked different". The first two times I cleaned it out all the way, and I thought she was not going to go back in the box and take care of the babies she was so freaked out. It really scared me. But if I left some in, she was fine with it. Maybe something to think about the next time you clean it out, it might help you.. I'm sure the others are fine. It's normal that they make noise whenever mom or dad enters the nest box. It doesn't necessarily mean they are hungry, although I'm sure they get fed whenever they make noise. Just keep checking on them, I really hope they are all fine. Let us know.

If you mean on the underside edge where the bend in the wing is, I believe that is normal. Some of my birds have that as well. I think the blood supply must be near the surface there, and it seems in birds that have white or very light colored flights you can see it well. But if you are doubtful please try to post a picture.

What do you mean by sore? If you mean there are places under the wings where it looks like there are no feathers, that is normal. If you mean something else, please post it. Does he hold his wings away from his body?

I'm sorry to hear about the little one. That's so sad.

I would say that a week after the last egg was supposed to have hatched would be long enough. If they are turning grey or discolored at all, I'd definitely take them out before then. I had two that didn't hatch, I took one out one day, the second out the next day so they wouldn't both "disappear" at the same time. I wasn't sure if it would bother Skittles to have them both go away at once.

Yes, what did you end up doing? How are all the birds?

Does the baby have sour crop, or are you just worried he will get it? Are you sure he's not being fed at all? **sending healing vibes just in case**

Why do you want him to lay on his back and spread his wings? Is it a trick you want to train? That would not be a natural position for a budgie to be in, as it leaves them very vulnerable. I don't think they would be comfortable doing it. I'm not sure how you would train them to do that. As far as holding him, the best way is to get him while he is hanging on the side of the cage. Cup your hand over him, and put two fingers on either side of his head and hold him that way. Technically, when he tries to bite you at this point he won't be able to, but mine always find a way. He will probably scream and hold on to the bars for dear life, and you may have to gently pry his little toes from the bars with your other hand. I don't hold mine unless absolutely necessary (i.e. to give them medicine) as they really don't like it. It stresses them out. Plus they hate you for a little while afterwards... Make sure you do not compress his diaphragm when you hold him - a budgies respiratory system is different from peoples and you can prevent him from breathing if you hold him wrong. Try to keep him as upright as possible.