juleslou

Thanks so much for the help everyone, I might try the spray bottle thing I haven't tried that yet, so will give that a go, thanks elly, not sure how well it will work though like I said before when I blow on him when he does it, it stops him for a split second and then he just looks at me as if to say "i"ll show you" and bites harder NickNack I really don't think nibbler is biting me out of fear I think he just thinks of me as a chew thing, everyone for that matter, he does it to my 5yr old daughter and my husband, its almost like he is teething hahahaha

howdy, I have tried ignoring the biting, I don't react when he does it, and sometimes believe me it is really hard not to react, but I have done all of that, I have even tried blowing a little on his face when he does it, (I read somewhere that is sometimes effective) but he just gets this look on his face like I'll show you, and bites me harder. I think he may just be a biter and there is nothing I can do about it

Hey NickNack Nibbler is doing well, still has a thing about my head but doesn't attempt to get there as much as he used to, still likes to bite though, dunno what to do about that. but other than that he is as adorable as ever :-D

he is about 4 or 5 months old, his cere is very pink and when you look closely it almost has a ring of light blue around the nostrils

Thanks so much everyone its really helpfull, he is slowly getting the idea my head is not a perch. one more question my nibbler looks very very much like thk's maxie with a pink cere I have assumed he is a boy, am I correct?

thanks for the help all, makes sense, as I type nibbler and I are in the middle of fighting over my head...... hehehehe he has been sitting on my hand and ever now and then he takes of and tries to land on my head again, but I have been putting my hand in the way so he has to land on that, seems to be slowly working, for the last 5 minutes he hasn't tried to land on my head he is to busy fighting with my finger's over the keys on the keyboard. maybe he will finally get the idea if I keep stopping him from landing on my head. any idea's on how to encourage him onto my shoulder because he really doesn't seem that interested in it, he would much rather be on my head or hands

okay nibbler is starting to drive me a little crazy......... he is still doing the biting, maybe a tiny bit less but now when he comes out of the cage he sits mostly on my head goodness only knows why, but then he will fly from my head to my hand and he kinda tries to get to my face well not kinda he does try to get at my face, he has some sort of fascination with my eyes, what is with that????? if he is sitting on my finger and I am talkin to him he looks at my face and fly's at it, he will then land on my head, use my hair as a rope and make his way down to my eyes and my nose, maybe he thinks my nose is my beek but as for the eyes i really have no idea what he is doing any help would be much appreciated

thanks for the help all. Liv nibbler isn't with my other birds at all, my other birds are in a large cage outside and nibbler is a inside bird, and if that is flirting thank god I'm not a bird coz thats rather painful flirting, I thought he might have been doing that but I thought they tended to talk and chirp and all that stuff when they flirted? because he really doesn't make any noise at all when he does it

Howdy all, haven't been here for a while, been really busy, started working and all that stuff. anyway on with the question I have. I have a new budgie he is about 4 months old and a biter, now when I put my hand in the cage he is happy to jump on my hand but he goes a little crazy and I am not really sure what he is trying to achieve. he will first bite the tip on my finger as it is coming towards him but not hard it is more a nibble, hence why he has been named nibbler, anyway he will jump on my hand and he starts of just nibbling my hand and progressively bite harder to the point he is flapping his wings and biting me, almost like he is trying to fly off with my hand, he also bashes his head against my hand like a wood pecker. then he will walk up my arm a little and nibble at my arm, then make his way back to my hand and then starts all over again, he isn't really makin any noise when he does it. he is on his own in the cage so at first I thought he was playing, but he kinda bites a little hard to be playing and the flapping of the wings and bashing his beek against my hand like a wood pecker kinda changed my mind about that one. also if I talk to him he will fly over to the side of the cage closest to my face and look at me almost like he wants to get at my face, I have tried puting my face close to his to see if thats what he wanted but he didn't do anything he just looked at me as if to say "what" I thought maybe he was being territorial if anyone might have some idea's on what he might be doing that would be really helpfull and also any idea's on how to stop it :sad:

:ausb: @ blinkie doing it to everything and everyone. my stormy does it to winter all the time but she is just not interested, she looks at him as if to say "pffffft in your dreams"

Thanks all, i'm guessing she is in breeding condition at the moment then because today it looks really brown and crusty. its usually a little lighter than it is right now

Hi all I'm not really sure where to post this question so if its not the right place.....sorry. I have a female budgie (winter) she is white all over with dark eyes, but here cere seems to look like she is in breeding condition all the time, she is approx 12months old, she could be older but I was told she was 6 months old when I got her which would make her about 12 months now, when I say it looks like she is breeding condition all the time I mean her cere seems to be brown all the time, sometimes it goes a really dark brown, but generally it is dark brown all the time. is this normal or does it mean she could be older than I think or is something wrong?? thanks in advance

Just wanted to say THANKS HEAPS EVERYONE!!!!! for all your help, I will try and keep you all updated

Thanks Elly, and I just wanted to say to you, I haven't been on here for so long, I only just read the post about pretty, I am so so so sorry for your loss, I was shocked to read it (((hugs))) I hope these 2 birds are okay 2 maybe if I just keep at her about them things might change

While I agree with all of you, I am in a very very difficult position for reason's I would rather not talk about. and I do have to say its not 100% her fault but she is not really helping, it was her husband that wanted the birds and he is one of these people that get these things thinking they are a good idea at the time and then he loses interest, and she is now left with a responsibility that she didn't want, I have offered to take the birds but for some reason she wont give them up, to me anyway. feather's I did remove the eggs because I candled them and they were empty and I was told she had been sitting on them a while, one of them even had a small hole in it. Pheobe I really don't think the male is doing it as the female is really dominant and wouldn't let him, while I understand what you have said please try not to be to frustrated and harsh, as this is a really difficult situation for me, one I would rather not advertise in a forum, if you are really interested I am happy to give you some idea personally but not on the forum that everyone can read, I hope you understand. she has never lost her feather's before when she has laid. I really appreciate everyone tryin to help, I am just glad she actually asked me to look at it and didn't just leave it. THANKS!!!!

Thanks all for your reply's, the bird is a budgie, sorry it was so vague I hadn't seen the bird yet, I went to see it today. The bird is female, not sure on age as it was given to her by another friend who didn't want it. it is in a small cage with a male budgie, the cage is not regularly cleaned and the female often lays eggs in the bottom of the cage in newspaper she has chewed up. pheobe I have said something to this person about it, but there is only so much I can do, and if I can find out some how what might be wrong with it and give her some idea's how to fix it herself that is better than doing nothing, as much as I might say it needs a vet it wont get taken as money is an issue and its seen as sort of a "throw away" pet. I can't take a photo of her, but I went there today and the budgie was sitting on some eggs in the bottom of the cage, I asked if she had seen her plucking her own feather's and I was assured she is not doing that, I hope this description helps..... she has lost most of her feather's on her front her front looks kinda like a plucked chicken, and her skin is pink looks a little like crape paper, I took her out and had a good look at her its hard though as she is really hard to handle she is really aggressive and thats probably made worse by the fact she had eggs in there, so today we took her out of that cage as it was filthy and I put her and her friend in a clean cage I candled the eggs, and as usual they were empty. some idea's if anyone has any would be really helpfull I would rather do this than nothing at all and let the little thing suffer.

Hi all!, just wanted to ask a quick question, not about my birds they are all doing well, my 2 little friends that were flightless are now both flighted the question I have is, a friend of mine just asked me to come and have a look at her bird, she said she is not looking to well, when I asked what was wrong she said "lost her feather's on front and looks pink and scaly" now this bird will probably not be taken to the vet coz its kinda seen as a goldfish, so I was hoping someone would be able to maybe give me some idea of what might be wrong so I can give her some idea how to treat rather than just leaving it to suffer.. thanking in advance

Firstly I want to say HI AGAIN!!! haven't been on for a while, been really busy with work and looking after my little friends , oh and the kids hehe :hap: Anyway I have a couple of questions, firstly why does my indoor budgie Dora feel the need to eat, rip or chew the paper that lines the bottom of her cage even with heaps of food in there?? secondly why does my outdoor boy budgie feel the need to act like a chook hehe he scratches with his feet in the sand on the bottom of there cage and he kicks all his food out of his dish and scratches in it? lastly I was wondering is it okay to have chooks in a cage with budgies, the reason I ask is, someone I know has a big avary out the back of his property with budgies in it and I have just noticed he has put some chooks in there with them? Some help or idea's would be very much appreciated

OH I soooooooooooo LOVE calico!! he/she is so adorable your all making me terribly jealous I would love some more budgies but I not aloud I have been told not till we get into our own place...... which is I suppose logical ................ but I want more now but I don't have room. I could fit one more in (calico ) but I know if I got one more like everyone else it would end up just one more just one more till I had them living freely in my house hehehe

I think I'll stick with you on that one feather's I have dropped hints doesn't seem to be working though

OH I want calico tooooooo!!!!! :budgiedance: hehehe he/she is a very popular little birdie if you ever change your mind karen just let me know :ausb: hehe

thanks terri, when they are out of the cage they usually just sit on top of it, unless they have jumped of my hand away from the cage then they will walk around the lounge room a little bit until they find the cage again and get on top of it or go back inside, I usually put something on the top for them to eat usually a treat of some kind. Its hard because they are so skittish I don't want to make them more afraid of me. I would love it if they wanted to spend time with me and had fun out of the cage but like I said they are very skittish probably because they can't fly and they just seem more afraid than anything so if they go back I just leave them there. is there anything I can do so they would be less afraid of me? in saying that though they aren't terrified of me because they will step up with a little encouragement but if I put them down near me they just run back to the cage ??

Thanks!! :sad:

Hi and thanks armchairangel, these 2 budgies are runner's which means they can't fly due to having pulpitis when they were chicks they never grew in there flight feather's. I think they are more affraid of my hand because they know they can't get away as easily as a bird that can fly. that being said they are getting alot better, I no longer have to use the face washer to get them out of the cage providing the cage is on the floor (they are funny little things) if the cage is up where it usually is of the ground and I put my hand in they run like mad, but if I put there cage on the ground and put my hand in, with a little encouragement they will step onto my finger and let me put them on top of the cage but that is where they usually stay unless I go over and they will step up and spend a little time on my hand. I have slowly started getting them used to my kids as they are pretty used to me so when they are out of there cage I get them to step up to me then get the kids to sit still and get them to step up onto the kids, they are pretty reluctant to do it but they do eventually. they are very skittish birds but I think that comes from the fact that they can't fly, but I love them all the same as for the vegies we are having great success with that, they have decided they like them and even fight over them occassionally not very often though as these 2 are the best of friends (probably why there not that interested in me hehe) anyway I will finish this novel now, thanks for your interest and good luck with your 2 little birdies

<----- would like to see some more pics of calico if you have any