Buddybudgie

lol, the store I am talking about WAS that ***** store. ...and I applied for the job at the Ipswich one before it opened, and was told I was over qualified (now working as a domestic cleaner ). I have a bachelor of animal science, have worked for WIRES for years, have been handraising baby parrots and am a licensed horse trainer... as well as owning dogs, cats, birds, turtles and peacocks. They obviously wanted someone who has no idea which end of an animal to feed.

Missy, the sales staff were both in their early 20's at a guess. BudgiesRCool, you are on the money. I also saw at the same chain but different store, a young couple looking at $900 puppies, they were advertised as "designer dogs" AKA cross-breeds... (these were some kind of bulldog X possibly sharpai) and the one they were interested in had a massive umbilical hernia, bigger than a 50cent piece and raised about 15mm, almost certainly would need surgery in the future. I heard them question the lump and the girl laughed at them like they were fools and said all puppies have a belly button... unfortunately I didn't say anything to them but I'm sure they bought a problem that day.

here's a front shot of the yellow faced blue

I just thought it was pathetic that these two women ganged up on this lady. I wonder how many sales they make working this way. I called the manager again, no luck... so I called the head office to make a formal complaint about the pushy sales tactics used, the misinformation provided, and the deceit. Nobody who had half a clue would suggest that the bird offered was a baby. I have a couple of young girls I was trying to sell for $10, the boys went fast but nobody is really interested in girls as pets... never in a million years would I lie about what they are to make a sale. They are getting a little too old to make good pets now anyway so we might need to get a hold of a new aviary to house them in.

okay, so Blackie is definitely a double factor spangle, she has a white ring around her eyes

KAZ, does that mean they are not pied? Dad is isn't he? They have solid coloured bodies so I was surprised that they were classed as pied anyway

I just checked, mum has black eyes, I thought she was albino but apparently not. The yellow face blue pied has a new home, see my thread in the pet shop section

Last weekend we were out browsing at a local shopping centre. As always we wandered into the pet store (well known chain store), only to overhear two staff convincing a lady to buy a budgie rather than a couple of zebs. I stopped nearby to eavesdrop, and I am completely disgusted a what ensued. The lady was quite elderly, and was looking for a companion bird. They advised that zebs were too independent and she should get a budgie (fair enough comment) The lady then told them she was scared of getting bitten, and therefore woud go home and consider it further with the help of her family. These two sales women we very pushy, and proceeded to tell the poor lady that the pretty blue budgie she'd liked probably would be sold that day, and they don't hold birds for people... that blue budgies were rare and usually much dearer than this ones $40 price tag, that it was just a baby and babies don't bite, and if she handled it every day for 10 minutes it would never bite. They emphasized not to handle it for more than 10 minutes a day. The budgie in question was definitely a female, with a dark brown cere and a big white cap on her head. The lady was bullied into taking it and they caught it with a huge glove on as it ground its beak into the material they dropped it into the box, then shook it roughly to get it to let go. At the counter they told the lady she'd need a cage, and promptly picked up a large black one with a hefty price tag. The lady told them she had cage at home that wasn't quite as big, and they told her that it wasn't suitable (they didn't ask exactly how much smaller her cage was, but the one on the counter was sufficient to house a couple of cockatiels.) One lady then went around the store adding various other accessories, toys, seed, medications, a book... none of which were requested, and then announced the total. It came to $270... for one old budgie and a heap of junk. The shock on this poor womans face as she handed her card over. Horrified, I stepped in, tapping the woman on the shoulder and asking for a word. The woman on the other side of the counter glared at me as she waited for the lady to proceed through eftpos, but thankfully the lady stepped away to see what I wanted. I told her she was being taken for a ride, she could get everything for less than $50, and that I had some babies at home that were tame that she could have for free if she walked away, I also told her that the bird she was buying was an adult and would not get tame. She agreed, I went back to a barrage of abuse as I collected the ladies card and cancelled the sale (the lady was too scared to say anything) then I was banned from the store as I walked out... ummm GOOD!!! The ladies name is Heather, we sat down for a coffee and was shocked when she told us that the money she was about to spend was her grocery money, but she was too intimidated to say no. She hadn't even gone in to buy a bird, just look. She will be the proud new owner to a little bub that came out of the nest yesterday, once weaned. (see the budgie pictures thread, she's chosen the bright blue one) The cage she already owns is more than sufficiant and we've set up a pack for her including wormer, seed, millet, cuttlebone and toys so her new addition is well looked after. Not only have we made a lovely new friend, we've saved a poor old lady from being taken for a ride by these unscrupulous pet stores. I tried to call to speak to the manager of this store but was told he was not in... not sure if he'd do anything anyway

Blackie and Harley have finally raised their first family after a few hiccups. They had 2 infertile clutches and were about to go back into the aviary but we discovered a lonely egg in their box and gave them one last go. 4 eggs resulted, and two were fertile We have spent a lot of time handling these little kids... and they came out of their box on their own yesterday. They are having a nibble at the potted grass we rotate amongst the cages, as well as the millet sprays but mum and dad are still keeping their bellies full This is mum, Blackie This is Harley Kids, unnamed as yet Any advice on the genetics of our birds would be appreciated, we are just starting out with the breeding but would love to know what we could expect from our pairs

Freebie is a Boy, the flash made those white rings unfortunately, I just had to run out and recheck... (Laughing out loud) I'll get a daylight shot of Whiskey, including her back tomorrow and see if that helps

We figured we would only get greens and greys from these two, but this is their first brood and they did really well as first time parents and they are checking out the box again so we'll leave them to it

This little budgie is known as Whiskey, I think she is a girl, she's not very old but I recently had to handraise quite a few very young budgies after a breeder contacted me because his birds wouldn't feed their young. I bought Whiskey from the same breeder as a "hot water bottle" for the younger ones ( I have a brooder By The Way) and Whiskey also assisted with feeding them which was a bit of a surprise, but great when I was weaning them as Whiskey showed them all what to do and topped up the ones who were struggling.... 7 babies and they all survived! Can anyone tel me what colour she is? This next one is called Freebie, because he was... well... free Not sure what you call his colouring either I know this little girl is Albino, her name is Blackie

Hi, I'd like to introduce our latest additions, courtesy of Mash and McGyver who have been our pets for a little over a year and who fueled our budgie passion. This is mum and dad, McGyver is the grey and was supposed to be a boy but we love her all the same, she scored her name because she is forever playing with whatever she can find (paper clips, bits of thread, rubber bands etc) We bought Mash because he is the brightest green budgie I have ever seen, although the flash does make him look even brighter. He is extremely friendly now, and lands on whoever is around, but when we first got him it was a different story, I have a permanent scar on my knuckle thanks to him... (Laughing out loud) This is Mash and and his daughter Milly Milly again, I'm not really clued in on what you call the different patterns/colours etc so I don't know what Milly is except grey (maybe opaline???) This is Marsha, I suppose she's olive? Marsha again, she's a beautiful little bird, she is very relaxed when handled and turns herself inside out for scratches. Milly is the older of the two and a bit flighty, and bites on occasion. That's all folks, by the way, Milly and Marsha are the two bubs in my siggy

1. How old was your budgie (s) when you purchased him/her McGyver - Hand-raised from 12 days old Mash - Purchased when he was about 6 months old 2. If you tamed your budgie right out of the nest, when did you start taming and handling the chick? McGyver was handled constantly from 12 days 3. Was your budgie tame a little or not at all? McGyver has always been extremely tame, flies to you and always looking for attention Mash was extremely flighty and bitey when we got him, the type that would latch on and then chew..ouch! 4. When you tamed your budgie was he the only budgie, or did you buy them in pairs, or was he an addition? Did your first budgie stay tame, and how did the taming go for the additional budgie (s) McGyver was an only budgie, but she did have a lorikeet she snuggled with in the early days before we decided they were exploring with their beaks too much and separated them, they still play together when both indoors and supervised. Mash was eventually tamed because he was getting jealous that McGyver was getting all the attention and treats. I was feeding her nuts one day and he flew down right beside me and grabbed a nut and flew off again. Now he's almost as tame as McGyver. 5. What is your best tip you can give (don't say everyone else gave good tips (Laughing out loud)) what did YOU find worked well for you and WHY? McGyver was hand-raised to save her life, and I don't really advocate hand-raising for the sake of a tame budgie, as I have had plenty of babies just as tame straight from the nest if handled often. I guess the best tip would be a lot of early intervention is the simplest method. And for the more difficult customers such as Mash, a lot of patience, re-assurance, perseverance and band-aides might do the trick. Now he's a wonderful bird, he's a proud daddy, the first to land on you when you enter his aviary, and his biting has been toned down to gentle nibbles and kissing thankfully.

I checked and there is definitely no pin feathers yet, but since the scabs only fell off last weekend, I am probably just being impatient. Just a quick question about how to resize the pics, when I uploaded them they were the right size, but when I linked them from photobucket they were too big. How do I check what size they are going to be before I link them from photobucket. Thanks

okay, here are some pics, they look much dirtier in the photos than they are really, but you can see where to damage is... http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z319/ch...brandy/bald.jpg http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z319/ch...randy/bald2.jpg I think they are nearly 4 weeks old, they have started flapping but not taking off yet Images changed to links due to size. All posted images should be no larger than 450x450 pixels. :ausb: - Bea

I am raising a few rescued chicks from a breeder down the road. 2 of them are albino and were pecked very badly while in the nest when they were around 1 1/2 to 2 weeks old (1 had pin feathers but the other didn't) When I picked them up you couldn't see their heads for the blood and I gave them little chance of surviving. I bathed them daily with saline and managed to stop the bleeding, they scabbed up well and now the scabs have fallen off and surprisingly, I cant see any actual disfigurement in the shape of their heads. They are both now fully feathered (except their bald heads) but not flying yet... they are rolling seeds in their beaks, haven't seen any hulls yet though but they like the boiled egg and grated carrot and spinach so they should be eating on their own soon. (I still feed them myself 3 times a day as they are so demanding) I've been hoping to see pin feathers reappear on their heads but so far they just have pink skin... I raised a lorikeet who was badly pecked and all his feathers grew back, so I was wondering, am I just being impatient or will they be little vulture cross budgies for the rest of their lives. I'll try to take some pictures soon. Thanks

oops, sorry, I just had to read how to find out what size it is... So, is this any better...

McGyver got his name because I used to lock his cage with a paperclip and he used to pull it apart and escape... it was a running joke that one day he would blow the door off so the name fitted. Then we found out our little boy was a little girl... so we got her a partner, Mash, named after an equally old school tv series, (Laughing out loud). They are currently raising their first clutch and doing extremely well I named my first budgie PK, because he was very chewy. And Whiskey got his name after dive bombing into an open glass of scotch on his maiden flight.

What a wonderful site I stumbled across it a few nights ago after googling for some advice on how to save a chick whose crop wouldn't empty and discovered a wealth of information. I'd like to thank those that helped me with sign-up, everyone I have come across so far have been lovely. A bit about myself, I am a race horse trainer with a passion for all animals, I was a wildlife carer for a few years but with a young daughter now, unfortunately I don't have the time to dedicate to very sick animals. More recently, I have been hand-raising parrots of all shapes and sizes (last year I even had the pleasure of raising a blue and gold macaw). Last year I also hand-raised my first budgie. At the time I'd said it would be my last, however, being unable to turn away sick babies, I have just taken on 4 more. The baby I raised last year is now 14 months old and has 3 gorgeous babies of her own (see siggy if it worked). She's a normal grey(McGyver), dad is a normal green(Mash) I also have 2 other young pairs which have yet to breed, although I wont let them till they are a bit older. There is also Whiskey, who is a pale cinnamon colour, and a young blue bird who is due out of quarantine next week. Of the ones I am hand-raising, I have 2 albinos who were rescued at 2 and a half weeks old after being pecked badly by mum. Both have bald heads at the moment but their scabs have healed and they have the friendliest little personalities. Also there is a little yellow one with the brightest aqua back I have ever seen on a budgie, I think I'll be keeping her, and a pure yellow lutino who is the youngest out of all of them, but also the biggest and the one that is hardest to feed, go figure.... He's beautiful though and destined to be my inside pet, since McGyver decided to start a family of her own. Oh, and all the photos in my siggy are of my current birds, although a few are missing. :ausb: