Janette

Hi there and welcome! I look forward to seeing pictures of the flock.

WHAT!!!!!! Who the *** would keep a dog with wolf in it any closer than about a zillion generations back near kids!?! In fact, why would anybody cross a dog with a wolf? Is it just me who thinks that's insane? Dogs are powerful animals; if people can't keep them responsibly, they shouldn't have them at all! Grrrrr... And as for "Ohio law has to deem the dog dangerous" I'd say 70 stitches on a kid is plenty dangerous!! Sorry Lovey, I feel quite strongly about responsible dog ownership, so I tend to go off on one a bit. I'm sorry for breaking in on your happy post about your adorable new boy. I think Merlin is a wonderful name. You'll have to get another few and call them Uther and Igraine, and Arthur and Guinevere (or Lancelot and Guinevere). Ooh, and a Nineve (said Ninnavver) and Vivienne (they're two of the ladies of the lake). Then you'll have to call your Aviary/cage Camelot! Yaaay! Am i getting a bit carried away?

That's such a shame about your son's experience. What kind of dog was it? Was it destroyed? Hopefully one day he'll find a lovely pooch that loves him enough to change his mind. So... what are the two names you're debating then?

Beautiful budgie! Has your daughter inherited your love of birds then?

Ha ha! That's the kind of thing that makes me wish I carried a camera around with me all the time. What a fuuny little guy.

When Jimmi was fluffed up for preening I noticed that her vent seems to be redish and swollen. I have noticed her preening down there quite a lot before, but I didn't really think anything of it until I saw the red lump today and noticed that there's a slight bump in the feathers in front of her vent. I did wonder at first whether it was an egg bum, just by the shape of the bump, but it seemed so red and raw looking. She's eating and drinking the same as usual. She still clumsily flies wherever Custard flies like she always has. She does have sporadic panting spells sometimes, but she has done ever since I got her, over two years ago (she might be older than 2 as she'd already lost her baby bars when i got her, so I didn't know her age). I'm going to take her to the vets on Friday as the avian vet is only there on Monday and Friday. I'm mentally preparing myself for bad news. I hope I'm worried for nothing, but I have a feeling I'm not; I think sometimes you just know when your bird isn't right, don't you?

Ha ha. Good for Ozzie! Good for you! I imagine it's all a bit overwhelming for Blinkie, poor boy.

Aww cute! He looks like he's got bundles of character.

If you've only had him for 3 weeks, he's probably just scared and that's why he sits up on the curtain rail. He's probably doesn't think he's safe anywhere lower down. It's a birdy survival technique - get as high as you can so the big bad thing can't get you. Also, it could be a case of 'I'm the king of the castle...', but I think it's more likely he's still nervous. Once you've bonded with him and he's more used to his surroundings, he'll probably become more sociable. Budgies quite often get restless when they're in their cage all day; they're energetic birds, so they'll often squawk, flap, jump and climb around the cage just to burn off some excess energy. Also, he might feel a little exposed with the window there. He won't know it's a window, so he might think he's open to whatever predators are out there and feel a bit panicky and unsettled. I know my birds seem happier when they have their cage near a wall. I guess they know that's one side of the cage they haven't got to watch for baddies. Maybe it's just a case of working to build a bond with him so that he feels afer around you and in his new home.

Blinkie laying an egg - now that would be a surprise!

Both my fiance's nan's boy budgies used to hump the cage bars wildly. Budgies are obviously kinky little critters.

I got it at featheredpets. I don't know if they deliver internationally, but it's made by an american company, so you should be able to get it in the us somewhere.

For ages I've been trying to get them to eat fresh food other than carrots. Now I've found the solution! Custard loved it so much, she just jumped right in! Look how long it was before she'd been at it a couple of days. She looks so pleased with herself. Mind you, if I had a great big tub of grass, I'd probably sit in it too.

That's amazing. You must have been so scared! Has she been mated or is it just a random egg?

hmmm... the close-up of the 'no ring' eye looks like it has a ring to me, albeit a much darker one than the other eye. I don't know if it happens in budgies at all, but one of my dogs has different coloured eyes, and I knew a person once who had a green and a brown eye. Perhaps it's just like that.

Persistence! My budgies decided they'd eat celery yesterday - after months and months putting it in the cage with no success. Before, the only thing they would eat other than seed was carrot. Keep trying; they've got to decide in their own time that they're not killer vegies you're offering them.

Ah... I think I've solved the problem. The pet cage disinfectant I was using in a spray bottle ran out mega quick, but I've just managed to find some on the internet in concentrate form. It said 10ml to 5l water, so that should be much more economical. It cost me £5ish for the 500ml ready diluted spray, but the concentrate is about £12 for a 250ml bottle that I can make up myself. I'm no mathematician, but I'd say that works out well. I'm using Ark-Klens. I think alot of vets around here use it.

Is that neat detol, or diluted? I usually avoid detol as I hate the smell, but I suppose it must be safer than bleach. Perhaps I'll find a nose peg and give it a try.

I've been treating my birds for scaley face, so as you can imagine, I've been doing some fairly serious cage scrubbery. The birds are hopefully de-mited, or at least in the process of being de-mited, so I figured I'd better make sure everything else was mite free too. I was using my usual super-duper bird safe cage cleaner stuff, but tonight I ran out halfway through cleaning. I used a bleach solution instead, which worked fine. I know I've read on here before that people use very diluted bleach solution (and lots of rinsing) to disinfect their cages, but I was wondering how dilute it needs to be to work most effectively but still be safe? I just want to make sure I'm doing it right. Also, any other suggestions on how to disinfect without bleach or stupidly expensive veterinary disinfectants would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance!

Ha ha! I didn't read the post at first, only looked at the picture, and I thought there was something wrong with him! Funny birdie!

I certainly will be asking those questions. I'm not in a hurry though, I'm just going to take my time and look around to see what place is best to buy from. If I'm not satisfied with their answers, I won't buy. I've been impatient before and then wished later that I'd chosen a bird more carefully. If it takes me a year to find the right bird, that's okay. I'll just have to wait. I'd love to find a little creamino boy, and having not seen any around here for ages, I think I might have a long search ahead of me!

Thanks Nerwen. That's really helpful. Now... let the search commence.

How's Frankie doing? Any luck organising a vet trip for him?

How can I tell if an ino budgie is a baby? Is there any other way to tell, seeing as they don't have bars on their heads? I would love a creamino budgie at some point in the future, but when I go looking for one, I don't want to be duped into thinking I've got a baby when I haven't. With my first budgie, I thought she was a baby, but it turned out she wasn't (it was purely my inexperience, i didn't realise about head bars then, etc.). As a result, it's taken me two years to get her a little bit finger tame. I do love her dearly, but I would have loved it if I could have bonded with her when she was still a bub. Help me out, so I don't make the same mistake again! Also, are the cere colour rules still the same for working out sex in a baby ino? I'd love a little boy.

I have two girls and they both tuck their heads under.