Bec Sta

I agree completely with Nerwen. For the well being of your feathered friend, it's best to have an avian vet show you how it's done. And also weigh up the pro's and con's of clipping before having it done. For example, I had my budgies clipped because I have three younger sisters who constantly "forget" that the budgies are having out-of-cage time and leave doors and windows wide open. However, I don't think there's any harm in learning the theory behind it. http://www.birdsnways.com/wisdom/ww19eii.htm - covers the basics, but is not particulary in depth.

The last day couple of days I have noticed that Skittles has lost a little bit of weight and his breastbone is protruding slightly. I have kept a very close eye on him and he seems to be his usual self, loud and active, normal faeces, a clean and clear vent, isn’t ‘fluffing up’ and he is eating normally, plus he is up to date on his worming. He moulting at the moment and I wondered if perhaps that could be attributing to it? Also, is there anything I could add to his diet to help him gain a bit of weight? I was thinking sunflower seeds as they have a higher fat content (though little nutritional value.) All my budgies are fed on a diet of seed & pellets, plus a vitamin & mineral seed mix when they’re moulting, fresh fruit and veg daily, seed sprouts and a treat of millet seed, honey seed stick or arrowroot biscuit occasionally. (And Skittles generally nicks whatever he can of my plate anyway!) Plus, they all have cuttlefish. If he doesn’t gain any weight over the course of the next few days, or if he starts to look off-colour, I think it will be off to the vet. Better to be safe than sorry. :fear

One of my newest additions to the flock, little Titch playing hide & seek behind the curtain rod... Wheres' Titchy gone?! Here I am, Peek-A-Boo Hey, mum! That's cheating! Playing hide & seek is exhausting work, time for a rest on mums' shoulder

Hi Guys, Thanks for the welcome's Yeah, Skittles is a cheeky, trouble-making little brat...but then he looks up at me like that and I just can't bring myself to tell him off...and he knows it too! (Laughing out loud)

Hi all, I'm new to this (awesome) forum, so I thought I'd introduce myself. My name's Bec, 18 and a mad animal lover (though I've been told on numerous occasions that 'obsessive-compulsive' is a more adequate term). I am owned by 7 budgies, 1 cockatiel (who thinks he's a budgie), 3 dogs, 2 rats, 1 betta splendor, 4 canaries, 13 zebra finches, 2 king quails (though mums nesting), hundreds of tropical & coldwater fish, soon to be a ferret and am nursing back to health a baby sparrow dad found at work, covered in some goo that had stuch his beak shut, the poor thing was starved and dehydrated, but is doing well. Now I'd like to introduce my babies (who are unquestionably more interesting) Firstly, Skittles a.k.a Mr Personality, he loves watching the simpsons & listening to Queen and has the most character out of any pet i've ever owned. He has, what I like to refer to as 'mood swings' eg, if I take his favourite ball (the most heinous of crimes!) he will give me the cold shoulder for the rest of the day (or until he wants kisses) WARNING: Don't be fooled by the 'but I'm oh-so-innocent' expression 3 months later, Bubbles came along and hasn't left Skittle's side since and the moment bubs does loose sight of him, we have a major temper tantrum on our hands. And my newest (as of yet unnamed) additions, have only a few more days of quarantine until they can join the "big birds". Violet spangle: Grey normal & YF2, sky blue spangle Dark Green Normal Then theres my little Opaline - not sure if s/he is a cobalt or skyblue but either way he has violet factor mixed in there. It was love at first sight with this little dude (not that it wasn't with all the others) a completely parent-raised bird hopped on my hand ran-up my arm, sat on my shoulder and hasn't really moved since (Skittles will not be impressed). I was stoked, and as he was a bit smaller than the others, there was a bit of "awww" factor, I had to have him, even though I was a little worried about his size, but I kept a close eye on him and nothing out of the ordinary appeared! And thats all (for now (Laughing out loud)) Last but not least, I'm still learning the correct terminology for the colouring & wing patterns, so if I've buggered it up, feel free to let me know, also if anyone can tell me the sex of my new babies that would be much appreciated (not to mention helpful with naming), there are much better pics of their cere's on my photobucket album: http://s243.photobucket.com/albums/ff181/bec__sta/ Cheers, Bec Bec, I changed the font size back to standard as it was very hard to read in size 1. Feathers.