Burdies

That raises another issue. I have tried all sorts of vegies - carrot, celery, brocoli, banana etc. both as small individual pieces, and also as a pureed mix. they have never touched anything other than their seed (which they eat heaps of going by the mess they make over the floor...) I even tried to take away the seed for a day and only have a couple of dishes of different vegies and fruit. They didn't seem to have touched any any when I put the seed dish in the next day - they both dived in head first and didn't even seem to come up for breath. Advice on that too would be helpful...

Hi It's been a while since I've been on here - not enough time to juggle work & kids... Anyway, I have been trying to give Benny & Charlie a "Natural" environment with gum tree branches & Grevillea branches. However, they don't seem to like them. I have them pegges to the sides of the cage & hanging from the roof, I thought they might use them like a swing. All they seem to want to do is sit on the perch and go out of their way to avoid the branches by climbing around the outside of the cages rather than fly across from perch to perch. I have the brances at varying heights high & low, but still make sure there is enough room to fly across the cage around the middle. I thought when I first got them, that maybe as they had been pet shop birds, they might not know what they were and were scared of them, but after a couple of months, nothing has changed. I will try to capture a photo and post it, but until then, any ideas??? Thanks ps... other than that, Benny and Charlie are doing well. Charlie still seems to be the tamer one, with Benny being more flighty. Their wings have just about grown back and are both flying quite well around the house.

Hi I have mentioned my boys Charlie & Benny really seem to love each other. I am just curious about some of the behavious they are displaying. They are nearly always sitting side by side - even though they have a huge cage with a variety of perches and branches - and seem to be constantly preening each other. If I take one out without the other - they seem to call out for each other. It is a loud single chirp, then the other replies with a single chirp and the first chirps again etc. I am trying to give them seperate time out of the cage as I am trying to bond them individually to Danielle & me, but when I seperate them, they are nowhere near as placid or willing to interact with us. When I have them out together, they follow each other around (mainly Benny following Charlie) but are also happy to both sit on our shoulders, so long as they are together. Tonight, just as I was settling down for the night, Benny was beside Charlie with his head bowed and nuzzled into Charlies chest. Charlie wasn't preening, but just had his beak resting on Benny's head. I stood and watched them for several minutes, and neither moved. On the assumption that they are both boys - and at the risk of being politically incorrect - does this seem a little homosexual? Could they just be comforting each other as they are still new in our home. Thanks

They are sooooooo cute.. look like a punk rocker budgie having a bad hair day...

Hi Further to Lilysbudgie's topic on mites... When I got my 2 budgies last weekend, I did buy a pack of "essentials" from the pet shop. It was only $25 all up, so I figure if it was not great waste if it was useless, but it did seem okay value if it was good to use. I hope photo comes out okay... Anyway, I have read info on the packets, but some questions still remain unanswered. re worm stuff - says to administer 2 doses, 14 days apart, but doesn't say how often they should need dosing (would it be every 3months like dogs & cats?) Re mite & lice spray - again packaging explains how to use, but not when. Should it be a regular thing, or just when (if) I notice lice. (had a wicked time with headlice at kindy - don't want to go through it with birds too.....) Is the vitamin & mineral supplement a good idea? I have it, figure may as well use it - but value your opinions. Cage cleaner - again figure may as well use it, but also value your opinions. Cheers Deb ps. Michelle, how's Jack going? was it pretty easy to spot those little mite things?

Hi Kristy You have the same cage as me, and I just have the 2 budgies in mine (like you - I may get more one day) I am lucky enough to have lots of trees at home - gums, grevillias, banksias etc -and I grab some fresh foliage each day and fix it to the roof. My boys love to hang from the leaves, like a natural swing I guess. Also I hide little treats like bits of corn cob, broccoli, grated carrot etc around different places. Gives them a little treasure hunt.

Maybe I am the long lost quad everyone forgot about.... I admit I treat myself once every 4 to 6 weeks and go to one of those little foot spa places to get my feet de-scaled. (would be the worst place on earth to work). **** I know, off topic.... Anyway - back to the topic.... thanks for the opinions - I did give my boys a nice little filtered sunny spot under a gum tree. They didn't actually get off the perch to touch the grass. Will try to make it a regular thing for them so they get used to it. One day, I might end up with more budgies and decide to put them outside for good. I figure best they experience both worlds. re fleas.. we have a dog & cat too, and fleas aren't a problem. Keep up the spot on stuff. We also have tiles inside, so makes for easy cleaning and no soft cosy flea breeding environment. Deb

Hi NickNack - Sounds like you live in Willy Wonka's Chocolate factory. Do you have a chocolate river too??? Maesie - yes, I had just meant the tray and I pull the smaller leaves out through the wire. Will take birds inside later and give cage a proper clean down.

Thanks maesie & all for clarifying. Sorry to have repeated question on age, but there were a few conflicting opinions previously. (starting with the pet shop saying they should be between 6 to 14 WEEKS) Doesn't really bother me so much as they are both really settled in, even Benny - although he is much more settled when with Charlie. Deb

I thought I would let my indoor boys see what life is like outside. I wheeled the whole cage out - figured it was also an easier way to clean out all the old branches and tray etc without making such a mess inside. Anyway, the boys seem to be quite enjoying the fresh air and sunshine and listening to all the other wild birds around. (hope they don't get jealous and not like being indoor budgies anymore) I was just wondering whether it would be okay to take the cage off the stand and sit it on the grass? Would they eat the grass, is it good or harmful to them - you can hardly see Charlie in the photo, he blends in quite well with the gum tree branch...he is sitting on the bottom right side water container .. http://i249.photobucket.com/albums/gg219/b...es/IMG_3879.jpg Deb

Hi Michelle,Great to find fellow Brisbane-ite. Seems to be too few of us around. Love my boys - only had them 6 days (last Sunday) and am still learning so much about them. Deb. Thanks Kaz. Both budgies actually have green tags (2007 sometime). Just wondered if any way of knowing if he may be nearer end of 2007 (4-5mths old) or early 2007 (13 -14 mths old)Will take up your advice on "scaly face". What it is/what causes it??? is there a specific type of oil that is best to use?Thanks

Hi again, I am hoping I have a clear enough photo now of Benny for someone to confirm if he is a he and not a she. Hopefully it is scaled down enough but still clear enough. Also any idea of age would be great. I know Charlie is older but again don't know how much older. Opinions would be appreciated. Photo again of Charlie http://i249.photobucket.com/albums/gg219/b...ies/Charlie.jpg Thanks heaps Deb

I have been experimenting a bit with out of cage time for Charlie and Benny. My kids toy room is usually scattered with blocks & leggo. Mine seem to love just hopping onto things and climbing things. I made a little stairway out of leggo and Charlie was pretty quick to climb to the top. "I'm the king of the castle" type thing. Also I find if I take them out separately, they seem to call out for each other, and not really interested in anything. If I have them both out together, they seem to play a lot more.

Sounds so much like the same conversations I have with my 2 yo (human child) boys speech therapist. He was a very late talker - at 2 yrs only had 5 or so words. I learnt so much about word construction - "Early developing" (easy) sounds (b,k,t,d), more difficult "later developing sounds" (s, z, sh, j, ch, th, v). I guess if you apply the same principals to budgies and start with single words first then expand on it. It has worked wonders with my son. In six months his talking has progressed from only a couple of words to short sentences. Try simple words - bikky was one of his early words, then expanded to bikky please, more bikky etc. Instead of "it's time for bed" try just "bed time" - "night-night" I will follow my own advice on my budgies and see if I have same success as on my son. I am still not sure if Benny is a boy or girl - hoping to get a clearer photo soon. Deb

Charlie & Benny take turns talking / whistling to each other - mostly when they are out of the cage. I let them out in the kids play room where there is always lots of toys and blocks scattered. Just like having 2 more kids really. I thought this morning they were having a real game of "Hide & seek". They were sitting on the back of the lounge for a while, then Charlie flew off and hopped behind a box & let out a couple of chirps. Benny chirped back, then Charlie, then Benny. Could almost imagine them saying "Come find me" "Where are you" "Here I am" .

Will post pics again. I have fiddled with photobucket a bit, so maybe have changed links??? http://i249.photobucket.com/albums/gg219/b...arlieBenny2.jpg "Charlie" (green) & "Benny" (blue) http://i249.photobucket.com/albums/gg219/b...arlieBenny1.jpg Here's a photo of the new cage setup... Tried to make it a bit more homely. Benny and Charlie are like siamese twins. Happily watching TV together on the lounge... Am hoping this might be a clearer photo of Benny's cere - any ideas if boy or girl? Love my babies. I can't help just watching them potter around. I let them out of the cage as often as I can and encourage them onto my hand or shoulder. I just worry a bit i might be overdoing it. Should I give them a bit more space and time?

Missy ... I loved Wizz-Fizz's too. Although I have to admit, I had one a couple of months ago (out of a lolly bag my daughter got at a birthday party) and I was really disappointed. I hadn't had one for quite a few years and seem to remember they were a lot tangier back then. Anyway, back to the subject, Danielle had originally come up with a name "tinkerbelle-rainbow-sky" - I convinced her it was not a great name for a boy bird (assuming Benny is...) so she decided on Benny after Benjamin who is a boy in her class at school she has a little crush on (She is 5 years old...) The other bird "Charlie" was named after Charlie & Chocolate factory - one of Danielle's favourite movies. She must think he scored a "golden ticket" coming to live with us....

Thanks Birdluv, They do seem a little silly when they try to fly off - tend to tip sideways and almost crash-land. I was told the clipped feathers grow back in a couple of weeks. Is that true? If so - is it better just to leave them be birds and let them fly? I'm not much in favour if snipping or clipping anything that's not broken - unless there is a valid reason for it. Thanks. ps... someone said this website it addictive - that would have to be the UNDERSTATEMENT of the year!!!! I gotta go pick up Danielle from school - I could almost get carried away here and let time get away from me.

Hi Phoebe I must have still been editing my post when you were looking. Hopefully I have it right now. I'm still working out this photo-bucket thing. I edited & resized my pics and saved, but when I copied the link, the original ones still came up. Might size down in windows before uploading to photobucket next time. Deb.

Hi again, Benny & Charlie had a very good night. They seem to really get along well. I'm glad I ended up getting 2 - even if they bond with each other more than us. I have had both out again today. Charlie was happy to sit perched on Danielle's shoulder again. Benny is still a bit unsure, but doesn't fight if I hold him firmly and scratch behind his head. He flies away pretty quickly though once I let him go. Both birds have 1 wing clipped. Is it better to let them grow back, or keep clipping? Regarding their rings. Both birds have green. From what I can make out (they weren't very co-operative in staying still to let me get a good look) Charlie's reads WRB 07 690 and Benny's is WRB 07 1670. I would be very interested to know their origin. Especially if Benny ends up a Bonny, I'd like to know if they were from the same blood line or if they could be bred. Again the petshop people had no idea. I have added a few Gumtree branches and leaves to the cage to make it more homely. They seem to like hiding amongst the leaves. By the way, my dog Jezabel has made it her place to "guard" the cage. She comes in when I am home and heads straight for the cage and lies down in front. hasn't once barked or startled birds - I think she just assumes it is her job to protect them. She did the same when I brought home my kitten and also when I had each of the 2 kids. Birds don't seem to even notice her there. More pics.. The whole crew - Jezabelle (the dog) keeping guard, and Paprika (the cat) on the stairs - who knows what she is thinking Charlie whispering sweet nothings into Danielle's ear

Hi Liv, Charlie's markings do seem to be more brown than black. I also have another question. I have a big black sheet to drape over the cage. Should I completely cover the whole cage, or leave a little gap for some light to come in? Do birds normally go to sleep on the perch, or on the bottom of the cage. Should there be anything solid on the bottom of the cage (ours just has the wires, then the tray under the wires). Also, we have a variety of native bushes in our garden. Gum trees, banksias, etc. I was going to put some natural branches in the cage. Is there any plants or species of tree that is best, or that I should avoid? Thanks

Thanks for all your feedback. Missy.. re cage set up. I have 1 water and 1 seed bowl on the floor at the back of the cage, as they both seem to spend more time there than on perches. I also have 1 seed and 1 water on the front of the cage, I will move the perches a bit closer to the feeders on the front of the cage. The cage was my Hubby's idea. I was originally going to get one around 50cm squarish, but Hubby said bigger the better. It was actually on special too ($150 incl stand), which helped. Maesie.. When we were at the petshop, we originally picked out Benny. He definately looked younger (especially with the fluffier feathers at the front of his head). We then decided to get a 2nd bird (thanks to hubby) and saw Charlie. I mentioned to the sales girl he seemed bigger and older, and she agreed. The cage they were in were for "Hand reared" budgies and she said up to around 16weeks old. She admitted to not being too knowledgable on budgies, but the owner (not in on Sundays) had specifically placed these birds in that cage as they had been handled privately prior. It didn't really bother me if he was a bit older, as you said, as he is already quite tame. He has taken to Danielle really well. Liv... I haven't had a good look at the details on the leg rings. I will check tomorrow what they say and let you know. Will go tuck little boys in to bed now. I have still left the shoebox they came home in at the bottom of the cage. They seem to like to go hide in there a bit. Is that okay, or should I take it out? Deb

I would like to introduce my (Boys??) Benny & Charlie. Benny is the bluey colour, & Charlie is the Green one. I wanted to make sure they were both easily identified so my kids don't argue which is which... They are hopefully both boys - neither I or the shop assistants were confident in picking, but at least the shop assistants were honest about it. Charlie is very tame already. We have only had him home a couple of hours and he is very comfortable being handled, and Danielle has had him perched on her shoulder for the last half an hour watching tv. Benny seems a bit unsure still. We are took him out for 10 mins, but he seemed to be fretting a bit, so thought we would leave him alone to settle in and try again tomorrow. http://i249.photobucket.com/albums/gg219/burdies/Cage.jpg http://i249.photobucket.com/albums/gg219/b...arlieBenny2.jpg http://i249.photobucket.com/albums/gg219/b...arlieBenny1.jpg http://i249.photobucket.com/albums/gg219/burdies/Benny.jpg Don't know if I am adding pics right??? will see how it goes... Any feedback on age / sex etc would be greatly appreciate. Thanks

Great news - Birds now have a name... Charlie & Benny. (I hope they are both boys...). They have come happily out of their box and are hopping around exploring their new home. I will take some pics and post shortly (once I work out how) in the "Your Flock" section. ... Going back to the First pet shop I visited.... Firstly, even though I am no expert, I thought a few of the birds were not well. A couple had poopy bottoms and others just didn't look well. Probably not happy either as there were heaps in each cage. There were around 10 separate cages, probably 8 marked as babies. I finally got a sales man to assist and explained our situation. He said they were all babies - up to 12mths. Also asked about boys or girls and the guy replied it is impossible to tell when they are young as the birds can change sexes. Well, I hadn't heard that before.... any trans-gender birds out there?

I am proud to announce I am Grandmother to 2 new babies. After weeks of looking and reading up on the subject - and thanks to all your helpful tips and advice - my daughter and I went out this morning and adopted 2 little boys (I think...). We had a bit of compromising to do, to win hubby's approval. When it came to a cage, I had read up on cage sizes and styles etc and was set to get one rectangle cage around 50cm wide (almost square). Hubby thought it too small, he said bigger the better (I think I read that in Kaz's cage guide too...) so we ended up getting a bigger one 80cm wide x 45cm deep x 85cm high. I was going to get just 1 bird to start, but hubby thought it would get too lonely during the day. I am in and out a bit, kids at school / day care most days, so he may have had a valid point. Anyway, we got 2 just to keep him happy. Also means we technically have 1 for Danielle (5yrs) and 1 for Matty (nearly 3). I don't think we will be letting Matty handle his for a while though. I was very weary about buying from a pet shop, I was planning to see what they had, but still thought I would end up going to a breeder. The first shop I went to I quickly left empty handed (will talk about that later). Next shop were completely different. No heavy sales talk. The sales girl readily acknowledged her lack of confidence in confirming sex of birds, and checked with another - who was still undecided - especially with one of the 2 we had picked. The cages were clean and spacious. They had separate "hand reared babies" to "older" birds. Even though the sales girls weren't budgie experts, they were very friendly, let Danielle handle a couple of the "hand reared babies" and choose. They were not pushy or impatient at all. Anyway, we fell in love and took 2 home. They were packed in a big shoe box with airholes and cut out flap on the lid. Now we have them home and the cage set up, we have placed the shoebox in the cage to let them come out in their own time (or should I just take them out the box) I don't want to overwhelm them on their first day. We are still to pick names, but once they become more comfortable, I will take some photos and post an update. I am so excited about our new family members. It is going to be hard getting Danielle to give them some space to start, but I guess the birds will get used to her (and Matty) pretty quickly if she is with them lots. Anyway, I have rambled enough. Will go check what little boys are up to....