Silver

Thank you - I have read thru all the posts about the condition. I will try to help the little guy and will try to get the avian vet's advice. We have such a vet at the zoo. I will make an appointment on Monday. Only I am afraid to take such a small chick out of the nest for a long time... The other chicks seem to be a bit harsh to him - he cannot move with the vet wrap around his little paws. They do not sell the kind of sponge which is shown in the pics about splayed leg chicks around here. Therefore I took a cotton round piece - meant also for cosmetics. That one was somehow removed. All I want is to have him cured so that he doesn't suffer later in his life. Thank you again.

Hi My Bubble and her new husband Silver Top decided to have babies in early April. Their first attempt was not successful - all the eggs died. The reason - I do not know for sure. Her first babies were born in summer - all healthy, but the father was different. The second portion of eggs was alive but for two - all in all there were 5 eggs, but we discovered that two wouldn't hatch. We checked them and then destroyed. All the three babies were born one after another. My daughter took good care of them giving them supplementary vitamins and boiled eggs (I mean, she gave that to the parents). Yesterday I discovered that one of the babies has a splayed leg. I took to reading a lot in the net and decided to fix the leg. Yesterday I tried something like a cosmetics pad with two holes to hold the legs together. But in the morning I discovered that the "mini-skirt' was off and the baby was stretching one leg happily again. I made a hobble out of vet wrap which I cut in a narrow strip. So far the chick has been doing good. Only I do not think I tied the legs evenly enough. I wonder if I should attempt to straighten them up. Also, could somebody tell me for how long should I keep the wrap on and should I change the wrapping from time to time. I have read that the earlier the problem is detected, the better the result will be. Unfortunately, I noticed the problem only yesterday, and the chicks are about 3 weeks now, maybe a bit less, but they have their feathers already. The reason for the splayed leg might be the fact that this father used to spend a lot of time in the nest box which the previous father had not done at all. I wish I could help the little bird to recover!

Oh it sooo confusing... They are bigger now and I will try my best to make better pictures.

Thank you for replying! I will take your advice concerning the pictures. I tried to resize them in photobucket several times but failed.

Hi! Happy to share the pics of our lovely babies who were born in July 2008. We have only three - the fourth egg was empty - why does it happen? The proud parents are skyblue cinnamon yellowface Burbulis (mom) and yellow recessive pied Mango (dad). http://i240.photobucket.com/albums/ff267/M...ucket/mamma.jpg Mom Burbulis This image was turned to link, oversized for board regulations http://i240.photobucket.com/albums/ff267/M.../mango-ttis.jpg Dad Mango http://i240.photobucket.com/albums/ff267/M...t/pastaiga3.jpg[/url] The babies Image turned to link over the size board regulations.http://i240.photobucket.com/albums/ff267/Mirta_photos_bucket/kas3.jpg Emery - who am I? http://i240.photobucket.com/albums/ff267/M...bucket/kas2.jpg Diamond - that one looks and behaves like a girl.http://i240.photobucket.com/albums/ff267/Mirta_photos_bucket/kas1.jpg Beril - the youngest. Everyone says - a boy, but I doubt it. Will be very grateful for any hint. I will try to make better pics. Somehow I am not good at it

I dare say Red Ring is a boy... The rest MIGHT be little girls. The thing is I have the same question about my new chicks. I will be ready with the pics in a week. Ours are all different in colour and I think it's a bit easier than with this gentle group.

In this picture Mango's back is seen. The white bird is our lost Pika with red eyes - gone now...

They get their normal feed - high quality parakeet mix, plus spinach and fresh grass every day (I know, what's good for birds among the grasses we get here), also we started giving a small amount of minced hard boiled chicken egg from our home chickens. I am not so sure about the egg shell. I think we should grind that too and add to the mix.

Thank you all so much for the replies! Thanks to Neat for the specifications - I will pull myself together and take a closer look at the chicks as soon as i come back to the country. The parents are feeding them indeed since I did see that yellow throat that you are describing! The bird on the left in Melbournebudgies picture looks very much like the mother - Burbulis. She is a very good bird - she was very active and apprehensive when she first was brought to our house. Then she quickly became my friend and came to kiss me when I was next to the cage. Little by little the foundling Mango won her attention. She was also the first to learn to sit on a human hand. The other one from our flock who learned to do it fast was our splendid albino Pika with blueish wings, but alas! she is gone. I have asked around and advertised but to no avail. I will look for the pictures. http://i240.photobucket.com/albums/ff267/M...Year2008116.jpg Here's a picture of them half a year ago.

Hi all! I haven't been in town for quite a while and will be away the day after tomorrow too. In summer we move to the country and we have no Net connection there unfortunately. But this wild place is also a temporal home for my budgies. Our beautiful couple Burbulis(Bubble) and Mango have produced some chicks! They are very good and caring parents. Burbulis is about a year and a half, as to Mango - he's a foundling and we do not know his age. But he looks quite mature and self-confident. Burbulis is a very unusual color - I could not find her in the descriptions here. She is sort of 'normal' as to the markings, but her color is very light soft turquoise blue with a yellow face. The lines are very light grey. Mango is just yellow - not a lutino, with black eyes and some very light green markings on the tail and up. He has some faint black markings under his eyes which makes him look sad and funny at the same time. I really wonder what the babies will look like... But first, of course, they have to raise them. Not all the eggs hatched yet. Do we have to worry about the unhatched eggs - what if there's something wrong - should we remove it? The thing is we do not know the precise time when she laid the last egg. Nor do we know about the first one :mellow: I only glimpsed one tiny naked baby, but we can hear several squeak. There were probably four eggs. We are curious, but we do not want to disturb the parents, so we do not interfere and try to content our curiosity. How much time should pass till we see them come out of the house and what should we be prepared for? I will be grateful for any advice. I will make some pics later, can't do it now also because the Net is unaccessible where we keep the birds now.

Thank you all for the warm welcome! Sure, Burbule is a beauty - she is a very unusual colour, but to me they all are lovely. And the most treasured thing, I think you will agrree is the personality. Little Silvertip is the most inquisitive and bold, Pika is independent, Laima is calm and considerate, Mango is easy-going, Citruss is wise, and Burbule - oh, she is just talented. She was the first of the flock to try to kiss a human, and the first to sit on the hand. I hope she will teach the rest!

Hi! I am actually not new. I couldn't find the forum in the Net for a long time for some mysterious reason. And, one day I just tried my luck - and here I was - back again! I had a problem logging in as have forgotten all my data! It is good to be back! Some things have changed and now I have six birds of different ages. The youngest two - white Pika (Snowball) with red eyes and gentle Silvertip - Silver junior. Unfortunately, we lost our beloved courageous Silver senior to an accident. I do not help in determining the sex of the youngest two, but I will have to learn to make better pictures! Here is the whole family together: Citruss, Mango (a foundling), Burbule (Bubble), Pika (Snowball), Laima-the-quiet, Silvertip. What about Pika and Silvertip - boys or girls? http://i240.photobucket.com/albums/ff267/M...Year2008116.jpg Second picture changed to link as oversize for this forum.

That diefenbachia is absolutely poisonous to budgies. One of my friends lost a bird due to that plant. But it shouldn't be ugly, it can be quite decorative if healthy and many people would like to have it in their room. So cut the stem in parts if it is too big, place each piece in some water and give it away to those who have no birds (work in gloves!) I too have it, but keep it in the kitchen, away from the birds. I am thinking of getting rid of it anyway, as well as of euphorbia which is also very dangerous. As to aloe - it does have some thorns, doesn't it? I have it in the balcony, and am afraid to let the birds near it too.

Hi! I will go the the Zoo tomorrow and talk about it again. One of my other birds - Bubble has lost her tail. However, she is slowly regaining her other feathers - on her face and back. She is still very young, but quite strong in all respects - she wants to be the leader of the flock! Two other birds - our handsome Pirate Silver and his girlfriend Laima are doing just fine - they have all their feathers intact. The birds receive a lot of daily care and attention so I think we shall overcome everything, whatever it is. It is a pity that we cannot get a more or less definite diagnosis though. Nobody seems to know or care much about it here. Thank you all for your help!

Hi Nharvi! Since you are a lovely caring person, whatever your heart tells you to do in this situation will be correct. Budgies do perceive us as big budgies and do not feel lonely unless you are at work all day long. So that very reasonable Swedish law could be ignored here. Also, so many knowledgeable people report no problem of keeping two and more birds together with an infected one, so it is possible to abide by the law! I personally have 4 budgies, and one is worrying me too much with his feather conditions. The vets cannot tell me anything definite. The birds are happy and healthy otherwise. I had got them long before I could learn about this condition. And after all I cannot be 100% sure that my yellow one has a contageous disease. One of my other birds looks somewhat like Konrad colourwise. She lost her tail too by the way but it is slowly growing back.

I didn't say you didn't, I hope i miss read that I am taking it as though your having a go at me ... They should be fine, the travel will stress anyone out... Oh no-no, no 'goes' whatsoever! I am sorry I've made it sound like that. I was just trying to explain about the conditions they live in. I have been to that zoo and was told that it looked like plain moult to them. I will look for other opinions. Although Citruss does look better now, his wings are still broken. I was out of town again and my daughter was taking care of the birds. They all look healthy, happy and have good appetite. It is warm now and we give them a lot of grass and dadelions every day. Their noses are green! At least they receive vitamins. I put them out on the balcony every day. They seem to lose less feathers.

I have read the info I've found in the net on stress lines. I should say that I am a bit more confused because they say that the lines appear because of bad nutrition, which is hardly the case with my birds. Since I cannot find the time to run to the Zoo for a check up (it's far from where we live), I've phoned them to make sure they would be able to help me. Of course, they need to see it, but they also say it may just be the result of moulting itself which is stressful for birds. However only one of my birds seem to have this abnormality. Yet another one is developing something similar. They eat and fly the way they used to. Citruss kept falling a bit a couple of days ago. He is back to normal now again.

Dear Neat! I do clean the cage every day. And it was cleaned when I was away too. The stress was probably transportation in the car itself. Besides the air and temperature as well as the water is quite different there... Cleanliness is necessary for all birds sick or healthy, isn't it? But can it be so that they miss their accustomed 'maid' the person who takes care of them on a regular basis? I will check the net for those stress lines, Una, Thanks!

Oh well, I couldn't make it to the Zoo this weekend! I was just too busy. Dear Una! You are giving hope! It does have horizontal lines on some feathers, I have noticed similar ones on other birds' feathers too. We transported the birds to the country house a couple of times and they lived without my care for one week (people were taking care of them of course), so there certainly was stress. Is it just stress and nothing contageous? Then we'll cure them! Anyway, I am very optimistic. I want them all to be healthy. And I'll do my best. Thank you for your replies! Happy Mothers' day!

Thank you Una and Neat! I am trying to learn how to post pics. And at the end of the week I'll find time to run to the Zoo. Icannot use the Avian Vet look-up Elly, since it is only for USA and Canada as I understood. It is good that there is such a thing there! But I am sure those people at the Zoo are knowledgeable enough. Your stories and advice is also valuable, even if the birds do not have a virus! I loved the part about the scrudbbing and cleaning! You must have a large bird house, Neat! I wonder can feathers really break from rough play and/or other mechanical reasons? If it be so why the others do not have it? Maybe Citruss is special indeed.

Surely, I fully understand that nothing can be confirmed being based on just verbal description. And I do not expect any diagnosis either. I am really grateful for the information already given to me here indeed, because I would not even know what to think about and look for or ask about at the vet's. I have actually found some info about it on some other sites and some of them say that although there is no cure a bird can recover if properly cared for and receives good nutrition. I will hope for the better. I am almost sure that Citruss has it only in some milder form. I have already tried to mail pics through photobucket but I had no success. As soon as I make some pics of Citruss (I'll try tomorrow, it is too late now and I do not want to stress that bird out any more), I will attempt this photobucket one more time. I love all my birds, they are individuals. I wanted to have babies, but apparently it shouldn't be done and that's the saddest part of it. My male bird Pirate Silver used to be Citruss's best friend. But when we bought a new hen Laima he probably (eventually) realised that Citruss might be a boy (he is a lutino). Now he just LOVES Laima. We also have a vey young hen Bubble - she was supposed to be Citruss's pair...But Citruss is not interested, Bubbles also prefers to be on her own. We do not have an avian vet here, I am afraid. I might try the Zoo specialists. The diet is usual budgie mix, I try to buy the best available. It contains millet, canary seed, some other stuff that I do not remember the name of. But I supplement this with fruits (apples, some bannanas, some citruses), carrots, grass like dandelions, and other which is not toxic for them I just do not know the names. They get enough minerals with blocks and sepia. I also buy them vitamins and millet branches. Oh yes, all my birds are different! I am still hoping that this is just Citruss's individual trait and the rest will not be contaminated.

Thank you all, I am so scared now. I have checked the feathers and they look like clipped on tips. but not all of them. Is it fatal? The birds have been kept together for a long time now. The others look okay. I noticed one had some empty tip feather in the tail. But they all are cheerful. I do not know how to mail a picture< I've tried but nothing came out. I will try again.

Hi! I have four budgies. All healthy and happy young birds with good appetite always chirping and playing. All friendly with each other but for some occasional disputes... But I have noticed that Citruss, the lutino hasn't really stopped spring molting. His feathers have always looked sort of feeble. I got him with his wings clipped and waited till they grow to see if he could use his wings well. Now he can fly but it seems to me that there is a problem with his wing feathers. None of our other budgies are losing feathers and none have broken wing or tail feathers. Citruss looks healthy and content otherwise but compared to the lot one can noticethat something is wrong. If it were some parasite, the others would get it, wouldn't they? Has anyone noticed anything like that?

Let the prayers from all over the world reach the Target and help Lucas recover soon! Please, be strong and greet Lucas with a smile from all of us every time you see him! I have to add that I remember the time when I felt the same, and Hope and Prayers did help!

For never was a story of more woe...