melbournebudgies

Does anyone else have birds that have these? I have a couple of hens who have black feathers on their bellies.

As others have said thoug it can't be applied to sensitive skin areas so use the cotton bud method and only put it on new feathers as they come through.

Personally I think that you may find that this does deal with the original cause of the habit BUT at this point it is probably extremely ingrained. I do feel you will need to combine the changes Kaz has suggested with a physical discouragement in order to get the best result.

Wow have fun Chryso! I stayed with a racehorse vet one year during foaling season and it was an amazing time to be there, you'll have a ball!

No worries, guess that's going on their plate this arvo

We aren't talking about the stock standard round cabbage which I believe isn't great but the long curly one that kinda looks like a cos lettuce. Most commonly used in asian salads, etc or that salad you make with walnuts Anyone know if it's okay to feed? I have half of one in my fridge which needs to be used up.

We've got that covered AV Besides they shouldn't require you to hand her in now as she wasn't a 'lost bird in the wild'

To extend this concept out a little, what about cement?

I don't actually cover mine at night, the house is cosy so there isn't the need to.

I just think it would be cool to be able to watch what they get up to when they think you aren't looking

You could put a couple of hundred or more in an aviary that big!

Vetafarm is pretty comparable. Harmony is the supermarket one yeah? From recollection that's about $6 for 500g. Ibuy 2kg of Vetafarm for about $25. I also like Avione which is about the same price. Personally I found that we went through more of the Harmony brand, being a 'cheap' brand I think it has more fillers. I also have a bloke over my way who sells home made lorie mix for $10 a kg, it's great quality he actually supplies it to Healesville Sanctuary. Once I use up the stuff I have I will probably switch to his. I just bought the Vetafarm or the Avione from my local pet shop I missed the second question, my girl is called Fruit Tingle (Tingles for short)

That's true LIv, or by putting her in a room with no windows during her new 'night' such as a laundry, etc

Good point Elly, I can recommend Vetafarm golden lori mix. They love apples and other fruit like strawberries, peach, etc. I am also trying mine with natural enrichment bowls, things like odd shaped gumnuts and lily pily fruit.

It will be hard to break such an ingrained habit though. My problem bird would actually bite his leg until it bled and yet the pain wouldn't stop him from doing it, it was about 2 years of careful training until we were ble to take the collar off fulltime. We used the spray to discourage him but we wouldn't spray it on him we would put it on a cotton bud and gently wipe it on the new feathers as they poked through leaving s skin untouched

Also you could put that soft light on a timer so that it switches off at a better bed time for her. As far as the issue of not being able to preen I have had a bird with 'emotional issues' who self harmed and had to wear an elizabethan collar. He couldn't preen very well when he had it on but he was okay we used to take it off under supervision. I would give the spray a try personally as it will make it hard for her to preen for a little while but once she is out of the habit she will be better off in the long run

I generally check the nest box once a day until I start seeing eggs and then a couple of times a day after that.

I like that one AV, it's from Monsters Inc It's one of the 'Pixar shorts', made by the animators to test ideas and such, from the same series as the lamp that jumps on the I in PIXAR

That works okay for budgies Ikon, but my larger birds will actually abandon the nest box if I sticky beak, I would like to be able to get them to the age when I will take them for handrearing with little to no contact if possible.

I would be interested to hear the response to this as I have contemplated doing the same thing with my larger birds in the nest box itself (installed inside a little safety cage) so I can watch the babies without disturbing the hen.

She's not mine. Normal people go away and someone feeds their cat, she goes away and I feed her possums

Here is a picture of my 6 week old blue boy for you. See how the colour is even all over

I thought you might like to see this cute picture I got of one of the possums I care for while their owner is on holiday. She's looking so impressed because of that bit of muesli bar in her left paw

I think it would be okay. They don't recommend it for pregnant women but only because it can cause yellow discolouration of the teeth in the baby. Other than that I believe it is pretty safe. Her eggs may have a yellow tinge to them and other than that I can't see i causing problems

Lemon doesn't have it, AV was just going to treat her incase given she has been in the house with the rescue bird. She got away because she was stunned when the boys shook the box, so she flew into the bushes and was rescued by someone with a heart