melbournebudgies

I prefer to feed silverbeet rather than the softer greens, it lasts longer and I actually put it upright as whole stalks into a container of water and that way it will stay fresh all day if they don;t eat it sraight away

I take one side off and swing it to the side and that way if I need to take the box off for any reason I can easily just clip th door over the hole. I have been putting mine straight in with the boxes and if they don't show interest within a week I remove the box for a few days and then re-attach it I'm only quite new to it all myself so my thoughts are only things that I have discovered in the past year basically by trial and error and listening to those wiser than myself. I've studied botany and zoology including genetics at uni so it makes it easy I think, because when someone expains something to me I find I pick concepts up pretty quickly and I have a fairly good basis for understanding nutrition, etc and then you just adapt it to suit the species (I keep a number of other parrot species as well)

I empty the trays once a week and I find that is sufficient. I always use two perches, it's better for the male to display, etc duing the early stages of breeding

Nope my birds get so much other stuff anyway so I've never tried it, I do sometimes give them herbs such as parsley and coriander to nibble on as a treat though

It really depends how many you want to get. If you were up for a holiday to Brisbane and could bring them back for free why not Mst of the weight is the box so it's a little bit more cost effective if you are buying lots and also the main thing is to get a box made that is strong but as light weight as possible

Yeah that's what I'm going to do I just can't be bothered this season when I know It'll all be easier next year as I'll be able to set it up properly. It is important to still check your seed every day as I have hoppers too but I find that some of them won't dig the old husks out to allow the fresh seed to flow into the bowl. I use plastic backed absorbant sheets in my cages because I got a whole bunch free, when they run out I'll be forced to go back to newspaper.

It goes by weight, we looked at freighting budgies from Perth and to send about 8 not including buying a box was going to cost about $80, it is done through Australian Air Express. If they are going via the east coast airports they can be carried as part of your free luggage allowance so if it's going to be expensive to freight them it might be just as cheap to fly up and collect tem yourself and take a holiday at the same time From other non east coast air ports they can't be carried as luggage so you have to pay even if you are a plane passenger

Greens aren't a problem is greens with a high water content, especially ones which taste yummy because they eat too much! The wet mix is my own concoction which I find they like, I soak the soup mix atleast overnight (until soft) or itf short for time I boil it although prefer not as I thinbk it looses nutrients this way maybe. I also add soaked seedto this mix for birds which haven't had it before as I find it gets them interested. Apple cider vinegar is a natural internal cleanser, it needs to be the proper one from the health food shop which is cloudy not the junk from the supermarket. Yes you can cut branches directy from trees as long as you know they haven't been sprayed with chemicals. I have large bottlebrush trees and lemon scented tea-tree in my yard so I often cut branches from these, the tea-tree is a all time favorite with my birds. I also go to a local bushland areas which they don't spray and gets Eucalypt and Acacia branches, be careful with Acacias though if you can't identify them as some species aren't suitable.

I have those larger ones with the dividers too but I found them troublesome as I founf birds from the wrong pair would flirt through the divider For then time being I have taken the divider out and I'm using them as one large breeding cage, I too hang them off the side door on these ones. If you are careful about how you buy your boxes you can get ones with the door on opposite ends and that way you can have the doors all facing the front of the breeding cages and you won't have any trouble with access then. I plan to make some timber divider for the cages so they can't see the birds in the adjoining cage Mine are on wheels and I guess from Kaz's photos that hers are too

I change my water every day,two days a week they get a multivite in it, two days calcium and the other three days apple cider vinegar. I haven't tried the Livermol but mine get a fair bit of protien from their wet mix anyway, I sprinkle the wet mix (soup mix, chicken crumble and Neocare) over their vegies for the aviary birds

I use them but I've never had to unclip the breeding box to change the seed? My cages have a large door in the middle plus two small doors, one on each side. I have the nest box located at one side door and change seed and water through the large door. If you find the box hangs at a slant screw an eyelet into each corner at the door end of the box and attach a piece of wire bent into a hook to it, then hook the door end onto a higher part of the cagefront to help hold it straight and steady.

I use a basic multivite and a calcium/D3 supplement. I supply a lot of natural nourishment to my birds in the lead up to breeding and while in the breeding cages so I dont like to overdose them on too much stuff. As they say supplements can only be of assistance if the dietary intake is inadequate. Forgot to add also that all my birds get fresh grass seedheads atleast a few times a week too and when in the large aviary they have natural branches inclusing eucalypt, acacia, callistemon and Melaleuca most days

Maybe not fast enough though, the show is in four days! We shall see though

Are they still worth showing at that stage or best to wait until they grow into them?

Its a recessive pied and won't get visible iris rings ever and the cere will stay pale, sounds like he's a he Interesting wing markings!

I was just wondering if others find their birds go through a stage where they look long in the flights and then they kinda grow inot them? I have been looking at one of my chicks today thinking what a shame she was so lon in the flights but then I just looked at the picture of xnannax's baby in that thread and at the same age it also has quite long flights. Is this common or will she be like that when she grows up too?

MY birds get in addition to their standard seed mix and vit/mineral supplements, twice a week vegies consisting of a mix of silverbeet, brocolli, carrot, apple, celery, beetroot and anything else that happens to be in the fridge, plus on three other days a week(when they don't have vegies)I supply tea tree branches which helps as a natural remedy for internal parasites and they love it. Every day they get a wet mix which I make up myself, it is a mix of soaked soup mix(lentils, split peas and barley), chicken crumble and a sprinkling of Neocare rearing formula. I also supply powdered eggshells and I will be adding whole egg powder to the wet food for the second round.

It's very easy when you upload to photobucket you select the little thing in the drop down box under the upload nbutton that says the 640 x 480 size and then click upload, that way every photo you load will automatically be the right size

But your bird doesn't have a CLEAR BODY. By definition a clearbody has no blue or green colour on their body, they have only their base colour of white or yellow

Agreywing may not have totally even colour on the wings

A texas clearbody would have a white body

Sorry up above I meant ClearFLIGHT not clearwing

Unfortunately my best cock killed himself in the breeding cage this season but I did manage to get two promising looking daughters out of him who are just fledged so I am looking forward to breeding them next season now. I have just put my birds down for a second round before wrapping it up for this year. I may bring one of two pairs inside to breed over winter but I haven't decided yet

She's dom pied clearwing, as to greywing or dilute what colour are her tail feathers?

Looks about right to me