CYCLEPRO101

He is long gone,when he took off it was windy and I suspect he got caught up in the wind. We live very close to the bush so I guess he could be there. But if he landed in a yard I think a cat or dog would of got him, as he was very tame/dumb, anywone could of walked up and picked him up. Anyway these two little monkeys are very funny, getting the second one, Geoge, was a great idea, they are both so friendly. When we take em out of the cage we try to separate them just to give them a break from each other, as they are always kissing a scratching and feeding each other, even falling asleep on each other.

A yellow faced mauve, I would of thought Grey? At this young age would you guess they are both male, as the breeder said? Even though Jasper cere is not blue like Georges, but I have seen some cock birds with very ....non blue ceres

I lost Buddie on the weekend. After 5 years he was too tame for his own good. His wings were not clipped but he still liked to walk around on the grass out the back often. So Sunday I went out to clean his cage and he jumped up on my finger and when he got out instead of jumping up on my shoulder or just jumping down into the grass he took flight. He has never flown more than a few metres in his life. I was so shocked when he flew over the back fence. But I was still not that worried, I got the kids to jump the fence and get him. But my son did not grab him he jsu had him on his finger and when he passed him back over the fence he took flight. He went way way up in the air and out into the bush. So after we all shed many tears I bought a bigger cage and got these two 6 week old little monkeys. So tame after 2 days they are not afraid of anything. What type are they? Is jasper a Yellow faced Mauve? and George ?????

I clipped the wings on my boy. I even take him outside and let him climb around in a small tree outside. Also he loves scrtching around in the grass too. Be very careful if u r going to do this though, other birds would love to take a swipe at a tame house budgie. Moderator’s Message do not use unapproved short cuts, when using U spell out the whole word out YOU, thank you for understanding as we have many people from different countries

well I put his old style water feeder back in and the kids said they saw him using it. He appears to be a lot better this morning so maybe he was de-hydrated?

Please Help! The kids got Buddie Boy out of the cage the other day and his head was hanging down low and bent over to the right, like he was looking down at the bottom of the cage with his right eye. He is only young and just gone through his first moult. He is still eating well, and about 2 months ago I took his water feeder out and put one of those Hamster water feeder things with the steel ball in the end of the tube. I must say I have never seen him drink out of this so I put his old one back in today. He just seems a bit slow and a bit unstable on his feet. His head is still kinked over looking at the ground. Even when we scratch the right hand side of his face he does not seem to bend his head back like they do. Its like he slept bad on his neck and has a kink in it. Can anyone help? Steve

Thats great news. Its good to know he is relaxed on my shoulder. It takes a bit to get him out of the cage these days as I wont grab him to get him out, I always get him on my finger and pull him out quick before he gets a chance to jump off onto a pearch. Steve

Buddie has not had his first moult yet but what I have noticed him doing a lot is sneezing. I know it's sneezing because when he is on my shoulder and does t he blows bird snot all over my face. Also he snaps his beak together alot like some nervous twitch, but he loves being out of the cage and he is in good health otherwase, I guess. He is eating heaps and drinking. I have been utting some bottlebrush branches in his cage lately and he loves them. Is there anything to worry about. Steve

I live in Newcastle and in a month or so I will be after some birds, up to 20, to stock my new aviary. Where will be the best place to get em? I imagine paying $35 each at a pet shop would not be the way to go as those birds do not always appear to be the best and it would be very expensive. Also any tips on what type to buy? I dont want to breed just to have a good mix of budgies. Steve

Well me and the kids have finally badgered the Mrs into giving us the big GO AHEAD for the aviary. So I will be ordering it from Col Western tomorrow. I am getting the 2.340m x 1.7m deep x 1.8m high in thick wire. It will be all mesh front and half mesh sides and full steel roof. It will be sited facing due east so it will pick up the morning sun and be protected from the westerly sun/wind. I am putting it on 200 high x 100 wide treted pine sleepers for extra hight and laying a concrete floor inside with one of those grated drains you see in the end of driveways at one end. It will be piped underground to the stormwater and the slab will have a slight fall on it (inside the sleepers) to the drain. Also I will be painting the mesh black to show off the birds better. Check back as I will post photos of the construction in progress. Steve

No, even if I was working for Maitland Council I doubt we would care about bird aviaries unless neighboughs were jumping up and down. Steve

I am a Council Compliance Officer with a lower Hunter Council and U are dead right. As long as u are not upsetting neighbours we wont be upsetting you! Steve

I told my son this too, but will he listen to Dad....NO..... So thanks for the input. When he gets up in the morning I will make sure he reads your coments. Steve

My budgie doesn't want to come out of it's cage late in the day. He starts snapping at my finger before it even gets anywhere near him. What should i do. Nicholas (cyclepro101's son)

Just trying to work out the best spot in the yard to put the Aviary. These's a great spot in one corner but it would face west, and in summer in Cameron Park (Newcastle) it gets HOT!. But its a great elevated spot..... Other than that on the opposite side of the yard up against a 8 foot fence the aviary would face east and get all that nice early sun and no hot afternoon sun. What are your thoughts. Steve

Just wondering what type of feeder u you use in your aviary for seed and water and where u you have them located? I just about have the Mrs sold on the aviary now so I need to start planning. I was thinking of those round bulk type feeders that u you fill in the middle and did not know if I should hang it high or put it on the ground? Steve

I would not be breeding for showing, so if I am going to colony breed I guess who ever gets to gether......get's together...... and ends up being a lucky dip. Probably the way nature intended. Either way you would end up with cute birds. Steve

Is there any info on choosing birds to pair, in relation to what colours should be paired together? I am just trying to gather as much info as possible and this just got me thinking. So what would you get if you paired a blue with a green? and is there any rules that should be adheared when pairing? Steve

Just use a metal grated drain, they wont get through that. My problem is I can't justify the $200+ to lay a slab when I could lay some packing sand down and some concrete pavers for a fraction of the cost.

He's a good fella then. Who said all males were hopeless

Just wondering why the pair? what does the cock do?

I would love to have a concrete floor with a steel grated drain in the middle, but if I did not do this what else could I do. I could lay large concrete square pavers but what would I put on top of them? Would it be good to put a bit of saw dust or sand on top so its easy to sweep up all the mess? If I put nothing on the pavers I would think all the poo would stick like s**t to a blanket? Steve

Well she bought me a simple little homebrew kit a few years ago and now I have a 4 keg tap setup inside and a full micro brewery outside and a storeroom full of 25kg bags of barley. So as you can see I have obsessive compulsive tendencies and she new that I would not want to stop with a little cage and my little Buddie Bird. But the way I see it we are only here for a short time and dead for a long time so I say GO FOR IT! Also Kaz, is there a photo of your aviary on here somewhere? Steve

I just checked out those Col Western aviaries and they appear to be the best value for money. I can get one that is a flat roof, 1.7m deep and 3m long and 2m high with heavey guage black wire on the front and one side for about $600. The Mrs is slowly warming to the idea. Steve

So u would need to remove both the mum and dad (hen and cock) birds? I think he has removed the 3 other hens from the aviary and will just hope the hen (and cock if he does anything?) will look after the chicks. Steve