Michelle

You know, my friend just asked me when I'll be able to give him one birdie I just realized I'm not quite sure I know when baby birds are ready to go to new homes... When? O_o

Bud never did it with me... She did do it with Pat though when he was coming near the nest too late in the night. She kept very firm visit hours. ...The babies did it later too, when I put the blanket over the cage for nighties. <_< The last 2 in the box still do it, and they even do it afterwards if they hear the parents moving outside the box.

Oh har. Look, it makes my hair so shiny! Right now things look okay.. The parents lurk on that cage a lot, and the babies beg at them for food... But when I let them in, I realize that all they want are their toys and food! Poor kids.

My birds often did the same thing. I don't think they're doing fiddles in there, but they often stayed in the nesting box for long times before the eggs even came. They're seriously planning on using it, that's for sure.

Ah! But these budgie vitamins are so good though. They remind me of pixie sticks! Well I went ahead and bought that new cage... It was NOT easy to drag that huge box in a bus I can tell you that folks. 1 through 3 are now in the cage. It's not a humongous cage (26x13x21 inches) but it will do juuust fine. I really like these vision cages that you build up yourself, they are so handy and cheap. They're a bit lost right now... Not moving at all and trying to get out and stuff, but I guess it's normal. I just hope they'll start eating soon...

Oats? you mean oatmeal? Like I got for breakfast? And veggies... I read on a sheet at the petstore that celery is bad for birds cuz they can choke on the little fibres in 'em. Is that true? My birds actually like celery... ...And just to drift offtopic a bit, budgie vitamins taste great... I um really have to stop licking my fingers when I give 'em some...

Gotcha, I'll go ahead and buy a new cage. Whew, won't be easy. But I'll live. (I have to go to the mall anyway. It's my friend's birthday soon and I didn't buy anything. ) Soft food... you mean egg food and the such??

I did nothing. It was too late for me to do anything. Now I ponder if I go ahead and struggle to go get a cage with the bus, mother be damned. The problem is I can't remove dad with the babies. He tried to bite Godzilla and #3's head off yesterday out of the blue. I dunno if it was just him getting fed up with Bud, but yeesh. Godzilla can eat on his own just fine... He's just a squatter that won't leave the nest cuz it's cuddly. Even #3 can eat seeds when I leave her with spray millet. (I never checked with #2, she'd rather bite my head off in the most violent way possible... Aaah, she's just like her mother back when she was a baby. ) Would it be okay to take the first three and put them together without mommy or daddy?

Bud and Pat haven't lost one bit of what they were before they started breeding. Bud fighting with Pat is something regular, now it's just over the babies instead of over millet. There's just new birds in the way. And I know they will just think of them as another bird. Sorry I'm a bit upset right now, but I'm starting to be fed up with this whole story. Nono, not because of you guys. But because my mother is actually against me buying a new cage. Sure it doesn't matter much since I'm very much of an adult, but see, she has the car. I don't have a license. I wanted to build a little temporary containment cage around the gym (and a bit wider) but she said I wasn't thinking one bit and that it was PLEASE BAN ME!!. It would be the less costly and easy to get rid of in the end. She says I should just shove all the babies in that other cage I have. As much as I say that's cruel, she thinks it doesn't matter since it will be for just "a week or two". If I have to I'll get rid of all 5 babies in the end instead of keeping Godzilla like I wanted to. That's a shame, he's really loveable and cuddly. But it seems the odds are sorta against me right now. But it's okay. If I have to get rid of him I'll give him to my best friend. She wanted one of my chicks and he's the friendliest of the clutch.

And then who I put in there? I can't put pat, but I just checked... Godzilla seems to know how to feed now...

I know, I did try to fix up everything I could the best I can. I wanted to go buy material to build a new spot but looks like I have a new problem! Man, I can't believe it, Pat started attacking the babies! Godzilla and #3 were out, I let Pat out of the main cage to go see them and he started a fight with Godzilla and threw #3 down on the floor and even pecked at her. I don't get it. I thought he liked her a lot. All day he followed me around whenever I held her and now he pecks her down? What is going on? Now I'm in big doo doo.

My big problem with "removing the babies with daddy" is that... well, the smaller cages are REALLY SMALL! The biggest is (inches) 14x10x16... And the other one is a shameful 10x8x14! I'm not sure I could fit dad in there too... Or even Mom! I can't believe my sister had a budgie in the smallest cage... It's such a mess to even reach in there. (She let me borrow it when I was having a problem with bud and pat many months ago.) I wonder if I looked around the house if I could find SOMETHING to fit the folks in....

Oh heck no, I'm not allowing another clutch. I thought just removing the nest when the last one was out would stop that... But I know Bud would be miserable out of the big cage... Both of 'em would be.

Ack... All the extra I have are two small cages... I guess they'll have to do. I wanted to keep most of the babies in the big cage... I'll go ahead and prepare them. It'll be tight but I can use them to put the 3 birds out at least. I locked Pat in one of them for a few minutes because it was literally impossible for Bud to go feed the babies now. He was always in the way, sitting on the top of the nest, staring at her. Sometimes he'd be below and she would stare at him and squeal a warning at the slightest move he made... #5 is starving. I think I'll give it a little food myself if Bud doesn't go feed it soon.

Okay. Okay okay okay. I didn't post news of my little birds in a while because of very very busy times around here and me being on vacation and everything... But now this is really really something and I'm confused and at loss. My first four baby birds are nearly all fully fledged. They still go back to the nest but they venture out pretty often or at least stay perched at the entrance of the nest... And one of 'em doing that is the pretty pretty extremely lovely birdie #3. Which I assume by behavior and current events is a gorgeous girl. I didn't quite know why in the last days Pat and Bud started fighting, but then my mom noticed something and I did afterwards too... Whenever #3 ventures out of the nest, Pat immediately goes up to the nest to see her. Bud gets very mad, and a wild fight breaks out between the two parents. If I hold #3, Pat will puff himself all pretty and come see his hum... lover daughter. And it's not rare that Bud will then jump in and fight Pat wildly again. Sometimes, it's the other way around. I have Bud and happen to have #3 on the same hand and pat will crazily jump at Bud to get her away. And I know it's a bad idea to hold Bud and #3 close to one another. She obviously doesn't like her daughter... But it's okay, most of the time Bud is busy with my face and not her baby gnawing at her feet. Now what can I do? There's fights breaking up whenever one gets close to the nest to feed the babies! The fifth one is way too young for this, and #4 is not even 100% feathered either...

Well Godzilla does come out to feed now. Or at least TRY to. But he always returns in the nest... (especially when mommy goes to feed the others.) They still feed him here and then when he's outside but he knows that he can score more in the nest. Guess he's not totally secure yet.

Today I tried to put Godzilla out of the nest ._. It didn't go well. I put it at the bottom of the cage, only to find it go right back up to the nest. Well, he did make a few pit stops. it climbed to the top of the nest first to beg Pat for food. When he realized that didn't quite work, he sulked there for a couple minutes before dropping down the nest hole. I did try to put it back down there with the food, but nope... What a sneaky little fellow. And worst thing is that it DOES try to get out of the nest. It hangs out at the opening of the nest all the time, climbed on it, trying to push itself out of it. When I put food near the entrance it streeeeeeeeeeeetches and tries to grab it. It won't even COME OUT to get the food! What a lazy little bum. <_<

Well, the parents WILL keep feeding it, right? That's the bit I'm worried about....well, that's the bit my mother is. She keeps saying that if I force him out of the nest the parents will attack it or not feed it. I think that's a bit farfetched (Well not the attacking part, that can happen I know)... But if I put it down there and they never go feed it, what do I do? (There'll be water and food and Godzilla TRIES eating seeds sometimes when I give them to him but still.)

Godzilla and #2 are getting pretty old... Godzilla sometimes perches on the entrance of the nestbox and stays there gnawing at the perch, but never really COMES OUT. So I wonder, should I put it at the bottom of the cage by myself or that's a baaaaaaaad idea?

I hear weird noises coming from the nest... I bet it's normal but my mom keeps asking me if there's one dying in there. And I'm not surprised she asks, it's so strange and we never heard baby birds before! It sounds like some sort of gurgling wail... Or maybe more like a woopee cushion that is being sloooooooooowly pushed on. Well, maybe not. I never tried that with a whoopee cushion. I tried to get a sound of it but yay, just as I neared the nest it quieted down. I did peek earlier and I'm pretty sure it was the 2nd baby that was making that sound in its sleep but I could be wrong... Do you guys think it's normal? It does it pretty often.

It reminds me of the two chicks I lost. they were much younger... They died at 4 days old. Mine looked fed very well, but never grew! When they died they still looked as if they were just born. In my opinion, it is sick. :\ If it isn't growing it's doomed already.

I've been wondering (in case you don't know yet, I often wonder stuff. ) can I handfeed my chicks here and then? Not because they need my help (they're doing great!), but just for the fun of adding up another bond? Or will mommy birdie not like that?

Wow. There must be SOMETHING in the air at least.

Then Bud is a smart girl. That or she got bored.

Replace the box and move it?? I thought you weren't supposed to do that or she would not recognize it as her nest anymore.... Anyway, I'll remove the egg now. Nest cleanup will be tomorrow, like usual. Thanks!! EDIT: I just candled it. There never was anything in there. It was infertile!