Chrysocome

Thanks Maximillian - I use grapes very occasionally when we get some. I don't think they have any nutritional value, and they're full of sugar. I only have them as a treat(/bribe ). All the budgies I've tried it on seem to like it, probably because it's very sweet. I would say they're safe in moderation. Squee only nibbles or licks at the juice. I think there was that scare about a specific shipment of grapes or something, it's pinned somewhere in these forums, but that was two years ago. Sailor, like Flake said the newer cameras should be a motion/action setting. Or increase shutter speed. That should get rid of blurry ghost pictures. If it's a processing delay, I think it helps to decrease the quality, if you can do that with your camera. Eg taking a photo at 6mp takes a lot longer than 4mp. Of course you lose quality, but you will get the shot in frame. With these photos I used a flash, because it was getting dark. The flash setting is good because the camera has to take the photo in the tiime it takes to flash, so again there's no motion blur. Though, it washes out colours and increases the contrast between fore and background. Plus it's not too nice for your bird if you do it lots. I could frame these fairly easily because I knew exactly where she was going to go - straight to me, or straight back home. Those 'weird shots' happen when she suddenly spots something else that is fascinating and heads for it Here is a good post about flight photos: http://forums.budgiebreeders.asn.au/index.php?showtopic=1962

Squee and I have a new game. If she flies over when I call, she gets a tasty prize - today it was a grape. Perfect oppurtunity for photos! Though, had to use the flash and some are blurry.. oh well. Squee's eagle impressions: *zoom* Some weird shots: Coming in for landing: Showing off that that wingspan:

I want Calico and Pringle! Beautiful birds

Just letting you guys know that I haven't forgotten about this - far from! I've written a fair bit but I don't want to post until I've done a few different topics, so I don't have to go back and change stuff if I've forgotten something. I can't make any promises, but I'm aiming to have some up by the end of the month

I'm sorry to hear about Mr Belvedere. I've never had a big vet visit (thank goodness) but from what I gather, yes, vets are expensive. But it is a small price compared to what could happen. I too find it odd that they didn't even take a look at the droppings, so they must have been damn sure it was respiratory infection alone (or they didn't know what they were doing). The respiratory and digestive systems are separate from each other (until things get really wrong). and tail bobbing is associated with respiratory problems. However, it can also be the case where some other problem has lowered the immunity and led to the respiratory infection. Keep him warm and hydrated. To make it easier for him to breathe, I suggest a gentle steam, like from a kettle in the room or in the bathroom. The runny poops could be associated with the antibiotics, which will disrupt normal bacteria in the digestive system (I remember getting antibiotics for one of my budgies. Vet said to give a certain dose but the only thing that would happen if I went over was that her poops would go watery), It could also be stress, simply from forcing him to take the medicine. Has he lost any weight? If the white cell count is very high, then it is indeed an infection of some kind. The antibiotics should catch any bacteria. From what I remember from uni, the longest treatment is three months for one specific nasty bug. If it works, I think at least a week should show improvement, though I'm not too sure. Most infections are from bacteria so there is a good chance the antibiotics will fix it. However, antibiotics won't catch viruses or fungi. The only way to be sure is to do diagnostics on the blood and poop. I'd get the droppings tested. If not, can you find another avian vet?

Welcome to the forums! What you are doing by distracting her sounds right to me - remove her from the favourite place straight away when she bites too hard. But don't make a fuss about it. I have found that when a bird bites it definitely gets your attention and is often accompanied by loud noises (Oww! What was that for?! Naughty bird! etc). Budgies love loud noises and I think they associate it with enjoyment - this is positive reinforcement. As eterri said, let her associate biting too hard with a negative consequence, she will eventually learn that what it achieves is something undesirable. My Milly likes to chew on hair, but I've only just recently learned that she loves pulling on stubble - as Flake can attest to! :(Laughing out loud):

Welcome! Your birds are so pretty :bluebudgie: Make sure you quarantine your new birds for at least a month, 3 months is the surest, just in case they are carrying something that might affect your first bird :dbb1:

I was baffled for a moment there thinking, Huh? There was nothing wrong with lovey's sig. And wow, suddenly all these people are back, they haven't posted in ages! (Laughing out loud). I guess mine is overdue for a redo as well.. but I'm on holidays until March, so I guess it works for me, right? I too was wondering about Daz

So I'm not the only one that calls it "angry dolphin" (Laughing out loud). I also call them "little Flipper" noises. You can just hear the irritation - the higher pitched and frequent, the more annoyed. I think it is cute too. Squee does it when the sun is down and anyone moves in the room she's in. It's so weird hearing dolphin noises coming from the opposite corner of the room! Milly does it to her toys too - I hadn't thought of it like growling during play either but it makes perfect sense.

Welcome to the forums! I'm sure you'll enjoy it around here. Your budgie is so cute :dbb1:

Great photos. Your birds are such gorgeous colours. I absolutely adore Carrington, she is a beauty

Hi Andy, welcome to the forums!

Welcome to the forums! I can't wait for pics. Are you using Photobucket to host your photos? It has an option to edit photo size :sad: Any photo editing program should be able to do it as well.

Hi Joey! Welcome to the forums. Sounds like quite a flock :sad: We love pics here

Hi rexy, welcome! You have beautiful budgies. Sailorwolf, I love that site you linked, I used it a lot when I was researching mutations. The blackface, anthracite and halfsiders are amazing.

Thanks for all the replies. I learnt a lot from that! I don't know if it happens outside the cage, I've only taken her out once so far and she was far too busy checking out her new environment. I'll make note of it next time. She does bite me inside the cage, too, but this behaviour seems to be decreasing. (She used to take flying leaps and go straight for exposed skin). I think it's because she has realised that I bring her good things. It isn't painful to start with but it can be when she really gets into it. Rainbow your post was very interesting and insightful, thanks. That was just what I was looking for. From everything I have gathered, I think the best thing for now is to remove the stimulus - I'll stop putting my finger/hand in without a treat of some sort. I guess I was just used to it because Milly loves it when I wiggle my finger at her, (Laughing out loud). If she does bite, I'll turn away. Thanks all, again.

Is it true diarrhea, as in there is no formed stool at all (all liquid), or is there more urine in the poop than normal (watery, but with solid matter)? I agree, find an avian vet immediately. A normal vet might not be qualified enough but try anyway. They might be able to refer you to one. Someone here might point you to one as well. Have you fed it something different lately? Are they eating any lettuce?

What a simply precious photo. That photo and what you have said/done really touched my heart. Thank you for sharing. I was so scared when I read the first posts, and I'm sooo glad things are looking up! Happy new year!

I love my Squee, she is an outgoing and confident little character. As such, she has absolutely no fear of humans. She will perch on my hand when I offer her food or toys, and sometimes just for fun. Her fearlessness has made it a different challenge to tame her - usually we try to get them to overcome fear. Sometimes when I walk past the cage, especially when it is getting dark outside, she will make "angry dolphin noise." At other times, when I put my hand near the cage, she will rush over excitedly and bite. Here is a video of it: http://s8.photobucket.com/albums/a14/Chrys...rent=biting.flv Please have a look and post your opinion. Is it play, dominance or territorial aggression? (There is no sound in the video because my family were having a loud discussion, (Laughing out loud). She doesn't really make any noise while she is biting - sometimes an excited squawk). I would also like some advice on how to get her to stop/decrease this behaviour. If it is a dominance thing, should I give her a gentle push back to show her I'm bigger and stronger? Or, if it is territory issues, should I just ignore it (like I did in that video - it's not much fun for me! Ouch! ) to show that biting has no consequences so she should just give up? A negative consequence like covering the cage? Or something else altogether? Help is appreciated. Thanks in advance

Squee continues to practise for her dream of being a gymnast or acrobat http://s8.photobucket.com/albums/a14/Chrys...t=squeeplay.flv I couldn't be bothered uploading a whole bunch of videos so I cut them together. Badly. (And I don't know why the quality is so bad sorry.) Otherwise, enjoy!

Thanks everyone We both had fun. She's naturally photogenic Epilogue - Squee eventually learnt that there is a hole that turns the world inside out again so she can return to the comfort of her home by herself. In reply to a question Rainbow asked in an earlier post I got Squee in the middle of September, so she's about 4-5 months old.

Milly used to do that before I got her a bigger cage and started letting her out more. Most of the time she'll be gripping the perch though. I agree, it's for the extra exercise. My old budgie, Nibbler, was my blue hummingbird He used to hover around the walls trying to figure out how to land on it! Whereas Squee just picks a direction and flaps her wings at it, still holding the perch, until she gets enough lift to go there, then she just jumps :(Laughing out loud):

I got home and decided that it's the day for Squee's first time out. Here are the results: Where we going today Mum? Whoa! It's a big place out here. But still the same. Only, inside out. What's that? Is that a bribe? Are you seriously bribing m-- What do you mean I have food on my face? Hey, there's other stuff besides food out here! Yarr. Like this nasty purple thing. Attached to this person thing. *gnaws* Oh! You have the camera! *pose* How about this angle? *supercute* This is fun!!! I don't wanna go back in, you can't make me!!

Hello Tony, and welcome to the forums! Kudos to you for asking first instead of just guessing. I always learn something new here, I'm sure you will too. There are many helpful experienced people I will try to help with your questions: I don't know much about cage sizes (or inches, (Laughing out loud)) but someone else will. They should have enough room to fly from perch to perch without hitting anything. A picture would probably be useful. 1. Sand for the cage - I wouldn't know. I don't use anything at all. I tried paper but the birds kept eating it. So the bottom of my birds' cages are plain plastic, which is easy enough to clean. The only thing I know is never use sand paper because contrary to marketing it does not help their feet, quite the opposite, it is very bad for them. 2. Millet spray is only a treat - it is fattening and as you know, they absolutely love it. I would say feed in moderation - mine get a small bit of it every few days. Fruit and especially veggies should be a part of their daily diet. Mine adore brocolli, carrots and corn. Keep trying with your budgies, there are many tricks you can try like sprinkling seed on the veggies. The patience pays off :ausb: 3. Wing clipping. This is a much discussed subject. There is no set answer to that question - it is your own opinion. A whole list of facts is pinned here: http://forums.budgiebreeders.asn.au/index.php?showtopic=6412 The rest is up to you. Personally, I don't clip my birds, but I don't object to having it done because it does not hurt them, does not completely stop them flying, is temporary, and there are good reasons for it. It depends on the situation. 4. Misting your birds - I don't think it is absolutely necessary health wise, but they have so much fun with water. I give my birds baths when they try to bathe in their water container. I mist them on hot days to cool them down. In moderate weather I do it once a week because the spray from me cleaning the cage makes them want to play in it, (Laughing out loud). I don't think there are any ill consequences of not bathing your birds. But they really enjoy it so I do it, especially during an itchy moult. 5. Taking the budgies to the vet when you get them is a good idea, just to ensure they are in good health. I think at least yearly checkups are suggested when they don't look sick. This is just to be sure. Birds are well known for hiding their illnesses really well so that by the time an untrained eye notices they are well into more serious stages. I hope this helps. I'm sure someone else will fill in the gaps or correct me if I'm wrong Make sure to post pictures - we love them around here

Milly makes blackbird noises too! She loves sparrows though she calls to them and they just stare at her. I think she just wants the company - humans are great but there's nothing like a fellow feathered being. I can't wait til it's time for her to meet Squee :ausb: