Smudgie

Victorian markets are allowed to sell live animals, pets, chickens, pigeons, etc.

I totally realise that they are a big company and their image is important. However I was very impressed with their shop and the fact that Lort Smith (which is an exceptionally reputable organisation) has endorsed them. I'm not quite sure where you got the idea that I thought the staff are "educated" I certainly don't expect them to have a degree in animal husbandry to work in a pet shop, but definitely - the staff we dealt with were very knowledgeable about the animals we enquired about. Yes I'm aware that it's a large operation. But the point of my post is that Lort Smith has opened up a partnership with Pets At Home and whether or not the commercial operation is a money making endeavour or not - I absolutely DO trust Lort Smith and I thought it was a good thing so post here. Sorry if I posted the wrong thing.

Nope you're right! Bill IS a long billed corella And an evil one at that too. Well worth a visit to say "hello" but do NOT give him a "scratch, scratch" no matter how be begs. It's an evil plot to get your finger!

Chrissie, please accept my condolences on your sad loss. You tried so hard to do everything possible to help your little friend.

I am so tempted to reply to the ones I receive and say "Dear Nigerian Prince. Thank you for your kind offer of friendship but I have interest only in marriage and I would dearly love to marry you. Please fly here immediately to complete our union"

Well I have two boys, 2 years apart and it was so much easier than I had expected. I thought it was going to be absolutely hellish with a 2 year old and a baby but I was so pleasantly surprised. The only drawback is that the "baby" years are over and done with too quickly and they both grow up together. That's also an advantage though :)Oh I should have read on...You already have 2 boys! Well forget my reply - you already know it

No wonder you feel so rotten. Tonsillitis is yuck and Flu is a pretty severe illness. It's understandable that you didn't know you had the 'flu as normally only men get it. They never get colds at all :hap: Even if you don't like honey & lemon - just keep your fluids up and have some nice hot tea. Do you like chicken soup?

There are two pairs. One pair is mating. The other want nothing to do with each other. My husband says it's because they've been married too long :lol:I was thinking of putting in two nest boxes just in case the other two rekindle the flame.

I had no idea there were so many kinds of veggies that budgies can eat! We give ours a big variety but I've never even thought about sweet potato or pumpkin. We have a sweet potato at the moment and I was going to cook it tonight. I better save some for our feathered friends.

I think that comment qualifies for the understatement of the century!

I understand that it costs a lot to hire the venue etc, but I think it's a rip off that you have to pay for tickets for your kids that are actually IN the concert!We just had my son's concert last weekend and the tickets were $15 for adults and $10 for siblings or seniors/pensioners etc but the performers absolutely did NOT have to pay and all the costumes were provided by the school. It was a great concert but I silently breathed a sigh of relief that he is my last one in Primary school and we don't have to sit through any more of them Oh I should have kept on reading before I posted!I'm with you Denise - I would tell them to stuff it too! Good for you!

They're a bit bigger than budgies But if you want to help out a great animal charity and have a really pleasant family day out, open day at Donkey Shelter is a great thing to do. http://home.vicnet.net.au/~donkeysh/ (click on "dates for your diary" for the list of all the open days. Here's the next open day. http://home.vicnet.net.au/~donkeysh/HtmFil...eyDaySecond.htm

Awww that's adorable. I can't wait to show my son when he gets home from school.

We have the exact same problem. The noisy miners have been really aggressive, swooping the aviary and harassing the budgies. A few weeks ago we had a budgie who was very healthy and happy one minute and we went outside half an hour later to find him dead on the floor of the cage with one eye poked out. We didn't see what happened but I totally blame the miners. We've started putting the cat bowl near the aviary so that the cat scares away the miners. I also do what AV does and squirt them every time I see them. And I'm also thinking of buying some wire mesh to hand as a curtain around the aviary to provide an additional barrier. I hate those miners!

My son's budgies have been very frisky over the past couple of weeks. Last year we took out the nest box (that came with the aviary) because we didn't want to be indiscriminately breeding (although we let him have one family before taking it out) but then they started laying on the floor. Well the budgies are at it again, this time without the nest box. If er don't put it back will they keep laying eggs on the floor? I'm in two minds whether or not to put the box back again for Spring.

Duncan's my son. I feel a bit bad that the two are actually both in the running for the medal because only one can win and both of them are such great young people. I'd love it for Duncan to win but if Elizabeth wins I'll be thrilled. She's obviously worked tirelessly. You can see more of Duncan's work here - http://home.vicnet.net.au/~donkeysh/ including youtube videos of the shelter with him introducing some of the donkeys. My son says his two favourite animals are donkeys and budgies! What a kid

Both these young people have been nominated for the Youth Pride Of Australia medal. Elizabeth Anile attacks animal cruelty and Young Duncan Peat is donkeys greatest mate Who says young people are materialistic and self centred? Young people like this restore my faith in the future of the world. Oh and I am biased because one of them is my own kid

I just googled pics of long billed corellas and Bill's bill is even longer. Oh I bet that's why he's called Bill! Next time I go there I'll ask them what kind of bird he is. He is quite chatty and will ask for a "scratch?" (fortunately they have warning signs on his cage)

Other budgies would have fed it. Really? That's amazing. They really are the most incredibly social creatures.

I have a question. I'm trying to word it and I keep trying because I think I sound a bit like a dill. Does scaly face only come from one bird to another or are those mites in the environment? (like fleas) I'm thinking it's like kids with head lice and they have to catch them from one another.

I was looking for a budgie picture when I came across this one on google http://ocw.tufts.edu/Content/5/lecturenotes/215763 It's a horrific case of scaly face. How on earth could the bird still be alive? Wouldn't it be impossible for him to eat with such a severely deformed beak?

I better check it out! If you ever do get the chance to go to the seed and grain shop right next to Eltham Stockfeed beware of Bill! He's an evil bird (I don't know what type but he is white and has a very long hooked beak) who tries to con people into giving him a "scratch" so he can bite your fingers off! They have a couple of lovely ringnecks there who are always loose and are very friendly and will sit on people's shoulders.

I thought this was quite interesting. We checked out a new local pet shop and were surprised to see a lot of information about Lort Smith animal hospital. And instead of having kittens and puppies for sale, they had a very small number (only about 2 or 3) for adoption from Lort Smith. The pet shop didn't make any money from the sale of the animals as they were simply a "venue" for Lort Smith, which required potential purchasers to have an interview about adopting their pet and would not permit impulse buying. My son bought a budgie there and they wouldn't just sell it to him. They wanted to know what kind of care it was receiving and what he was going to feed it, whether he planned to breed etc and it was quite a time consuming process as they were obviously making sure he was going to be a responsible pet owner. From their "Q&A" about the partnership with Lort Smith they say http://www.petsathome.com.au/questions They gave our son some great "fact sheets" about budgies and they encourage people to phone back at any time with questions. They also have a vet on the premises and the staff all have qualifications in animal husbandry. I was quite in awe of the huge aviary that the budgies were kept in and I have to say it was hard not to spend a lot of money in there because they have the most awesome toys and accessories (my son spent his birthday money on some very delicious looking seed and mineral bells!) I hope it's okay to post this here. It's truly not an advertisement but I was more interested in the partnership between the stores and Lort Smith because I have the absolutely utmost respect for that organisation after the fantastic way they cared for my son's budgies over the past couple of weeks.

That's close to us. Is it better than Eltham Stockfeed?

More like a sparrow size?