Molly_Cule

Our Pippin used to be forever trying to drink from glasses, and occasionally bathing in them too. He once tried to get to the water at the bottom of a glass with a slightly conical type shape (wide at the top, narrow at the bottom), and tipped himself too far. He became wedged! Thankfully, I was holding the glass at the time and he was no where near the water line, but the hilarious thing was he got straight back on the glass and did it again! But we would never leave glasses of water unattended and he was usually discouraged from drinking from our glasses anyway (never stopped him trying, though!) (Pip also ended up covered in chocolate cake mix at one stage, but that's another story for another time )

I've been looking at getting a second budgie, and the new little guy will be a 'runner' budgie. He will be caged during the day, so I'm just wondering what an appropriate cage will be for him. I spent the weekend looking around, and found a nice great big, long cage that I rather liked the look of (plenty of space to clamber around), and there were also some nice tall ones as well. What are your thoughts on appropriate cages for runner budgies?

Our Bobby, my first budgie, hated being in his cage. It was always an effort to get him back in even though he was relatively tame. Sometimes he would get on his favourite ladder and we'd put him in, but he was often more difficult than that. We used to trap him into the hallway, close all the doors, get him on our shoulder, and then turn out the light and quickly pick him up. He sussed it out after a while, but he loved me so much he'd come whenever I called him anyway. :devil: Sometimes, if he was being really naughty, Mum would drop a teatowel on him! Another trick we learnt was to wait when he had gone back in to eat, and then walk BACKWARDS towards the cage. If you walked forwards he would know you were trying to shut the door and fly out quickly, but walking backwards seemed to really confuse him. With Pippin, he had a favourite toy we called his "baby" (a little plastic bird house with a wobbly budgie head on it). He would dutifully feed and talk to the baby, so if we wanted him back in (a must around human mealtimes) we would 'wobble' the baby and he would get upset and rush in to see what was going on and we'd shut the door behind him. So far with Beaker he always goes back to his cage by himself, but we're teaching him to stand on a big long ladder so we can put him back in. He really doesn't seem to like people at the moment, so the ladder provides enough distance from us that he doesn't freak out and fly away. I'm not sure if you could try something like that?

Thanks for your comments - a second budgie is definitely sounding like a good idea. Unfortunately my camera is broken and because my phone isn't compatible with my computer I can't transfer the photos I have on there. I'll see if I can borrow my housemate's camera and get some happy snaps next time they're being cute. Does anyone know anything about 'runner budgies'? My friend sent me some photos and they're sweet little things so it does look like the way to go. My main concern is any extra health problems or dangers in having a bird that can't fly.

Our Pippin used to love the sound of washing dishes. He would go crazy as soon as he heard you fill the sink, and especially loved it when you washed cutlery. In fact, he loved the cutlery so much, he would throw spoons and knives back on the floor as soon as you put them in the dishrack so you'd have to wash them all over again! ;-)

Hi everyone, I'm a some-time lurker, first-time poster. I've glanced over the forums here in the past, but I've finally decided to join up as we have a little behavioural problem with our Beaker which is something I've never come across before, so I apologise if this is a bit longwinded! Last year my beloved Pippin of eight years passed away due to cancer, and I got a new budgie from a friend in November. His name is Beaker, and he's a gorgeous little thing - not too friendly with people, but he does chirp and chatter when you talk to him. He flies around the lounge room quite happily and always goes back to his cage when he's tired or hungry. So far so good, except in his second week of life in our flat, one of our two bonded house-bunnies passed away suddenly. Since Kyoko died, Beaker has really taken to Rubi, our other rabbit. At first we thought this was really sweet and amazing, as if he was looking after his furred companion in his greiving period, but now, two months later, Beaker appears to have bonded with Rubi. He follows him around everywhere, spends a lot of time in the rabbit's hutch, grooms him around the face, and yesterday I caught him regurgitating for him. He even tries to sleep snuggled up to the rabbit. There's no denying it, it is really cute to watch, but the poor rabbit really doesn't like the extra attention. Beaker chews his whiskers (ouch), nibbles his nose (ouch), pulls food out of his mouth when he's trying to eat (hey!), and pecks him around the face and the rump when he doesn't like where the rabbit is sitting. Beaker has free run in the lounge, but Rubi only is allowed out when my housemate and I are home to supervise, and Beaker will even run on the floor and chase Rubi when he is out of the hutch. Rubi is such a shy, quiet little bunny, he doesn't thump, growl, nip or get upset but does appear to be quiet harrassed and tries to get away from the bird as much as he can. We are thinking of getting another budgie in the hope that Beaker will turn his attention to a more appropriate companion (since he doesn't appear interested in bonding with people - my last two budgies were bonded with me). I've never kept two budgies at a time, and I'm not sure about introducing another bird and how one goes about it. My friend has offered me a 'runner budgie' (born with wing defects), who would be about the same age, or a little younger than Beaker. Does anyone have any experience with budgies who have bonded inappropriately? Or with 'runner budgies'? Would introducing another bird be a benefit or cause chaos? Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated!!