Boris' Slave

Excellent news Pixie!! I am so happy for Casper and you. :glare:

Hey nerwen, this place has cheap breeder cages starting from $20 and $10 postage: www.cagesandaviaries.com.au they are located in SEQld.

You don't really need to do anything different to when they are not breeding, except maybe some extra calcium supplement in their water and a little more seed.

You've heard one talk?? That's amazing!! A breeder told me it would be unlikely anyone could get them to talk. Are they clear? I'm going to have to talk more to mine.

She's not as sweet as one though, but with good reason. She refuses to eat any of the grit, blocks or wood, branches anything to cut her beak down & gets cross with me when I have to trim it! I know it is a delicate piece of equipment and I am extremely careful with it. The vet showed me how to safely trim the beak. Luckily she is the only one who needs it as Boss died early June this year, he was my mum's bird and she was on holiday at the time & still hasn't forgiven herself for not being here. Ah well, beauty does have it's privelige's though.

(Laughing out loud) nothing is as pretty as a galah except a Lutino budgie of course! Another Bourke mutation . . . a cream split pink & she's a snob (maybe because I don't have a mate for her)!! This one, she's a sweetheart - normal split pink

Here is a different mutation, pink split cream Gorgeous is his name (the mrs is in the nest that's why he's showing off) Front . . . Side, see the cream (a bit blurry, sorry)?. . . Back, absolutely gorgeous!!!

I agree with Chirpy!! Don't force them onto each other, do it slowly.

ugly? UGLY? I'll have words with you!! :yelling: They are beautiful

If she's sitting on them, I wouldn't disturb her, maybe they are fertile. We'll just have to wait & see. Has she stopped picking on the others?

Any more eggs yet?

Prestige Aquariums & Pets at Underwood have breeding cages like Daz's with the box inside the cage at the top with a slider at the front to inspect the eggs. I had 6 at one stage but sold them as I never did anything except clean on the weekends!

Yes, AUD. I have www.grassparakeet.com bookmarked and they sell Rosa's from $100 US each (they're in Florida though). That would get 2 pairs over here!!! I can't complain though, I'm dying to get ahold of a couple pairs of lineolated parrots (can't quite work out fauna import laws) & from the same site they are up to $500US and I had a quote from a guy in Australia who wants $6000 for a pair!!

When you do get a budgie & if you still want an Albino, check out www.petlink.com.au as you can advertise what you want & a breeder no doubt will respond. Karen :wine

Rosa and Don? *scratches head then* :wine

I think someone played catch with an egg and she didn't catch it :wine

All you can really do is keep working with them. Try working with Roy too, if you can get him to eat from your hand you've gone a long way towards gaining his trust. But anyway, even if he does bond with Roy and undoes his training, it would still be very rewarding seeing them happy, wouldn't it? Otherwise give Roy away and get a second new baby to tame? Karen. :wine

I just remembered, I saved all my photo's into Photobucket last night! I can post them now - work is VERY slow no customers. Here you go, ENJOY!!!! Mrs Bourke on the left and Mr Bourke on the right (yeah I know, how original :wine )

About the only time Rosa Bourke's get noisy is dawn & dusk which is when they are most active (and it's not really "noise" as such, just a sweet singing) - or if you have a whistling contest. Half the time you don't even know they are there (except when a budgies grabs one!). Their poo's are solid and about the same size as a budgie and you can feed them exactly the same foods as budgies, so it's good not having to supply a different diet. Karen.

Usual pricec for Rosa Bourkes from a breeder is $25 each. I really wouldn't expect anyone to charge more than that - prices increase for the mutations, but unless you want to breed them don't buy a dearer mutation as the personalities are the same and the Rosa is the prettiest mutation anyway. You can advertise on www.petlink.com.au in the wanted section, that's usually where the breeders sell them. Happy to help. (I also have Turq's too but I'm not succesful with them!! :wine ) Karen.

I have 7 pairs of Bourkes and yes they get on well with the budgies. The budgies pick on the Bourkes alot though as the Bourkes are quite timid (except when you pick them up!). Budgies like to tear out Bourkes' feathers (they come out very easily so be careful), although none of my budgies have ever actually hurt a Bourke. Oh, and their correct name is Rosa Bourke not Rosy. I have a photo on my computer at home of my pair of Rosa's which I will post tonight, they just attempted their first clutch which the only baby died (usually does with Bourke's). Bourkes have the sweetest personalities, just don't get in a whistling contest with them as you will lose!

If you have the patience, try and dissolve a cough drop (not in water just the drop), I haven't tried to dissolve one myself but I have been told it is extremely hard and takes a long time. Feed the dissolved cough drop to the bird (this was suggested by Bob Donnelly, a top avian vet in Queensland), this is supposed to do the same function as Megabac S. Only trouble is trying to dissolve it. Just a thought. (Laughing out loud) to your sick babies, my thoughts are with you. Karen.

if you dont mind me asking, why do you feel that many supplements are necessary for healthy adult birds? it has been proven in humans that taking too many vitamin supplements can actually cause more harm than good. do you think it would be the same with budgies? i have read that feeding many vitamin supplements together with a healthy diet can cause vitamin toxicosis in birds. supplements are a quick fix, for short term use and usually only necessary for sick birdies, under the advice of your vet. its a little bit different for breeding budgies as they need more calcium in their system. i think it is un-natural to feed so many supplements, and vitamin supplements are definitely not a substitute for a healthy balanced diet. if you can get them eating veggies (especially green leafy ones) they will get all the vitamins they need. also, i dont think megabac s is available outside of australia? its not available in the uk to my knowledge. my budgies have megabacteriosis and they are on treatment for it. i hope it isnt 100% fatal. i have read case studies of birds that have survived it. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Many seeds in Australia lack the essential nutrients owing to poor soils, so as well as supplying heaps of vegies I also supplement them. My birds have only been sick once (megabacteriosis) and my vet (my birds' actually) said I have the healthiest birds he has ever seen (except for the sick ones). That can be attributed to the maintenance program of supplements as well as their regular diet. The other losses are due to accidents/fights etc. I don't over supplement, I supplement them every fortnight alternating = 2 treatments a month, 1 of each per month. My birds breed year round (limit 2-3 clutches each per year depending on clutch size) so the calcium supplement is to help with the development of the chicks & to replace what the hens lose during egg production, I only give calcium supplement once, maybe twice a month if there are alot of babies. My birds will make a calcium bell last 12 months so I have to supplement them. The only blocks they demolish are the breeding aids & charcoal ones. You can get megabac S from www.vetafarm.com.au and they do send overseas. It cost me $110 less member discount when I bought it from them in May this year. They also have good information on megabacteriosis.

A general multivitamin and mineral supplement which can be added to their water is good. You know, they'd have to eat a kilogram of cuttlefish bone every week to get the same benefit as a liquid calcium supplement? Plus cuttlefish bone can get dirty (disease) and not all birds will eat it at all (mine can attest to this!). Karen.

Try adding some liquid vitamin B to his water, you can get it from a chemist (Vitamin B is Vitamin B.) about a teaspoon to a litre of water - obviously you will need to adjust the amounts. This will help improve liver function and unless it's too late may reduce the size. Do this for 3 weeks then repeat every 6 months, he should be fine.