melbournebudgies

Hi guys, sorry I know this post is pretty depressing but I feellike I should keep adding updates as they appear for those that might not have such easy access to the news here. Current toll is confirmed at 35 and expected to rise. For comparison the Ash Wednesday fires lost 47 in Vic and 28 in SA from recollection.

Current numbers sitting at 25 but still predicted to reach 40 6 in one car at Kinglake, 6 at kinglake west, 4 at St Andrews(just near kinglake), 3 at humevale, I'll update when I can add the others. Don't know details from other hospitals but The Alfred alone is treating 18 people for severe burns.

Powder coated!! Holy ***, I wish they would just stick with a format, I can't afford to change things every time someone gets a whim. Glad I haven't invested in lots of show cages yet

The reports aren't saying yet where the deaths are but I would say probably in the areas where most houses were lost, Bendigo, Kilmore, Coleraine, Horsham Here's the link to the story: http://au.news.yahoo.com/a/-/mp/5305664/14...oria-bushfires/

Slate is a sex linked gene which is really only bred mainly in the UK now and it is not related to grey genes at all. Yes crested can be hard (and frustrating) to breed well. I've never heard of a Japanese helicopter crest unless that is simply a funky name for the Japanese crested which has a forward/upward pointing tuft of feathers at the base of the front of the neck as well as a head crest.

The latest tragic update on the victorian bushfire crisis is that atleast 14 people have sadly lost their lives and grave fears are held for atleast another 25 missing. Over 100 homes have been lost. My thoughts go out to all those who have lost loved ones and property

The thing is with most of those rarer colours you have to have a certain amount of the basic genetics there to start with, it's not always a matter of putting the right birds together for a few generations and there you go.

Blackface only occured as a result of a point mutation which was bred in to subsequent generations so can't actually be 'bred for'. Halfsider is commonly considered to be two birds in one, where two embryos fuse in the early stages of development so also can't be bred for. Rainbow is just a matter of putting together the right colour combinations. It's pretty hard to breed a nice show crested, the genetics are all over the place and add to that size issues and it's a bit of a struggle. Same goes for many of the recessive colourings which can also struggle with size.

I agree that it's a nice pairing and I actually would say there was a reasonable chance the cock was cinnamon given how clean he is in the feathers. What colour eyes does your chick have?

Sounds mostly what I do, pretty good advise in all. Personally though I do spray my birds as I have good airflow through my avairies and have found they really appreciate it. Also I do go out quite a few times a day to check on my birds but they are all very used to my presence so it doesn't upset them, those that are still at ground stay there and those feeding or drinking continue to do so but I can see the sense in it if your birds aren't as used to your presence.

Have heard via PM Av that it was the petshop and poor Nove actually paid extra for the 'service'.

Oh wow that wing clip is AWFUL! I see you are in Melbourne, if I'm not too far away for you I'd be happy o look him over for you and fix the wings and give him a mite treatment I'm in Yallambie which is near Heidelberg. Also if you don't mind PM me the name of the store, I'd love to know who in Melbourne is doing such a poor job things

I will try and take a photo of her today, need to do a bit more time with her in the training cage anyway

So is a bird put from UBC into young bird as soon as they start to break their cap, etc? I have a hen who I would like to shoe in a few weeks. Her cap has mostly moulted through, she has a couple of pin feathers left which I hope will be finished by then. My main question though is because she has only partially moulted her spots. She has three large spots through on each cheek but the rest are still those teeny boomerang baby spots, is it still okay to show her in young bird like that? I have been spraying her daily with water (she's had a few a day the last few days because of the heat) and that has really made her feathers sit nicely so it would be great if I could get her n the bench this time around.

Also lorikeets are loud, obnoxious, VERY messy and can get pretty bossy too. They are a bird 'not for the faint hearted'

To put it into perspective for you there are a number of different temperaments in the birds you have picked budgies - aggresive cockateils - fairly quite , princess parrots - quiet indian ringnecks- quite aggresive grass parrots- depends on the species but can be aggresive in breeding season regent parrots, - not sure sorry Kakariki - quiet galahs - depends on the bird, often quiet but may be aggresive and are MUCH larger than the other species you have listed. Your best bet might be to seek out a forum which caters to general parrots rather than a single species and ask for a community aviary recomendation from them Doves and finches, canaries, etc shouldn't be housed with parrots as the hooked bea of a parrot can do alot of damage

They can eat seed but they really shouldn't as it can damage their tongues. That being said my eight year old lori has always had seed in her diet to some degree as she has often lived with seed eating species (and she's a sucker for sunflower seeds ) and it hasn't harmed her yet, but she always has her nectar food available.

Budgies really aren't good in a mixed aviary as Kaz said. I have a tiel in my budgie aviary and she's pretty okay but they do harrass her sometimes

I got a phone call just then from the admissions officer herself to tell me she's made a special offer to me for a dip ed this year!!!! I'm so excited but also freaking out at the same time. The course is done mostly by distance and I have to go to Shepparton for two weeks in the middle of February so now I'm running around like a headless chook trying to organise childcare and accomodation up there as well as woring out what I'll do with my animals here. Oh and for anyone curious it's a dip ed for middle years which basically means that we mostly focus on years 5-10 but I'll be accredited to teach prep to 12 for some subjects :sad:

I had some suspicions for many months (my brother actually had the same problem when little so it was something that was 'in my awareness') and it was only when he stayed with my mum for a week when hubby and I went on our honeymoon that we decided to act. My mum handed him back to me and said "I think he's having trouble hearing". At that point I suddenly realised it wasn't just mothers paranoia, so I asked the kinder teacher and she said that she had noticed it but wasn't sure whether he was having trouble or just not listening. ANyway that was enough for me so I had an argument with hubby who still thought I was just being overprotectiveand I made the appointment. Now I get to say "Ner ner I told you so"

I have lost count of the number of times I've been out to check on the birds today. The temp at my house is currently reading as 46 degrees on my thermometer near the back door and also on the one in my car so that's a pretty accurate reading. I have hosed the birds 4 or 5 times already, no need to worry about wet aviaries, they are dry again within half an hour, they really seem to apreciate the hosing though, they chat happily for about an hour after and then gradually start to look bothered again. I have two corellas, two lorikeets and my yellow rosella in small cages in the entrance hall as their aviaries have no shelter from the sun and I didn't fancy having to go all the way to the back of the yard all the time to hose them. My poor rosella dropped all his tail feathers when I caught him this morning :sad: The majority of the budgies are in the large flight in the garage which is still hot but atleast gets no radiant heat from the sun and they haven't gone to ground at all in there so I think we are coping alright. Meanwhile I'm hot and bothered from all the running around hosing birds and checking on birds, made worse by the fact that I'm starting to get morning sickness so feeling pretty (< wish that was happening here though) ANyway, that's my vent, how's everyone else coping with the heat?

Way back in September after suspecting a hearing problem in ALex (4) we spoke to our doctor who referred us to the children's hospital for testing. Well he FINALLY had his test today and has been diagnosed with mild hearing loss on the right and mild to moderate on the left. Luckily it is only due to 'congestion behind the ear drum' (read excess fluid) and it should be a simple fix with grommits. We have to go back in four weeks for a second test to confirm that the problem is ongoing (she is sure it will be but it's 'protocol') and to see the ear, nose, throat specialist who will schedule the operation for us. On one hand it's sad that my poor baby will have to go through another day surgery (he's also had a hernia repaired) but at the same time we should see good improvement within days so we are looking forward to that

They look awesome AV, I have a nice grey boy here that I'll swap for any other colour if you like :thumbs_up:

Don't stress Jodie, there is no reason to allow her to raise a clutch, she will simply lay them off the perch and that should be the end of it. Budgies aren't always the brainiest of critters and they have no idea who their siblings are but she may still do it even if the male wasn't in the cage. It's only inbreeding if you allow her to raise the eggs :thumbs_up:

According to our weather report (which is amateur weatherman DH's preferred one) weather for Melbourne as follows: Tomorrow- 42 Friday-43 Saturday-37 Sunday- 32 Monday- 35 Tuesday - 30 Wednesday - 30 His long range forecast is to expect a cool change around the 9th of the month. Here's hoping the weather does cool a little next week as expected.