summer

I've noticed Pretty has a bit of a sway back. Is this a normal variation or does it mean she's lacking something. She had a resp virus but seems recovered. You can see her legs more than Shelfie and Dave too. Pretty stands up to Shelfie. After two weeks on twice daily meds Pretty is no longer tame and trusting but she's starting to come around a little. She had a rough start. Summer

Oh...he's so cute! What a brillant play gym! You guys did an amazing job. He looks so happy.

What a cutie!

When good budgie love goes bad...I hope birds find good homes. Summer

Interesting. I was so caught up in out crazy weather and Pretty's illness I forgot to check this post. I did separate them for the day. Really it's not like that. I mean Dave totally gives her space. She gets most peckish around food or attention. She doesn't want to share with Dave. I have to feed them with separate hands far apart or she will get him. I haven't seen anymore feathers plucked since then. I moved the food cups far apart as possible and am looking for a bigger cage. Shelfie is probably 9 months to a year. Here cere is just starting to get really tan and a little flaky. She's a very aggressive bird he plays really rough. Rough bites. Dave is so gentle. You barely feel his nibbles. They seem really in love despite her personality difficulties.

She's doing great. I'm so glad that husband has undertaken giving her the medicine. I think she's starting to get used to it. The point's probably mute now but I keep Dave and Shelfie downstairs and she stays upstairs. It's crazy snowing here, in Oregon. Doesn't usually snow that much. Summer

Thank's for the well wishes. Pretty's on her way home. My husband's driving her back now. She spent the night an at 24 emergency hospital. She has an upper respiratory infection and is coming home with 2 weeks of 2 different medications. How do you get medicine in them with a syringe? I'll have to check the health section. She's going in strict quarantine though. So far Dave and Shelfie show no signs of illness. Unfortunately their avian vet is out of town for the holidays but I plan on taking them to a clinic across town that only treats birds. Shelfie heard Pretty chirp over the speaker phone and started calling back excitedly. I could barely hear Pretty and I was across the room. Good ears! Summer

l agree about the quarantine, it is not great that you did not do the full 30 days. You guys are totally right. I suppose it would help had read the quarantine rules first. My stupidity never fails to amaze me. Poor Pretty is sick. The pet store has her back to take to their vet. I'm a little nervous about this. Is it going to be quality care? I'm sure it's only a matter of time before Dave and Shelfie come down with it too. I plan to call the the pet store for an update in a few hours. If they haven't got her in to a vet yet I think I'll just take her back and take her to one out of my own pocket. I watched an awful video about an animal breeding company that supplies the big brand pet stores. It was from Peta. It was just unbelievable. I'll never buy from a large chain again even if I have to drive an hour to the one independent (awesome) pet store from now on. I just don't want to contribute to those horrible animal practices and I already have. 3 times. Ugh. Summer

I wrote she did this to Pretty yesterday. Today she took a whole handful of feathers out of Dave's head. She kind of warned him but he didn't want to move and she just ripped them out. What do I do?

Interesting Dave and Shelfie love to nibble their feathers but they are both still pretty young. I wonder if that will stop when they get older. Their fascination with feathers was actually a breakthrough in hand taming them. It gave me another way to interact with them without millet. summer

Turns out that Pretty is very sweet and already stepping up and riding on my shoulder sometimes. She's so different than Shelfie or Dave. She's desperate to get out of her cage. She will forage endlessly on the floor or my table. The other birds always stay on their play-gym or their cage or mantle above their cage. Pretty runs everywhere. She jumped off the play-gym while I was eating and ran across my food. I was washing the dishes thinking Pretty was playing on the the play-gym (I mean I did put some millet there even) and I feel some tiny little feet run over my toes. She's very curious. This is typical behavior right? The other birds saw her do this and now they are starting to run amok too! How do I get order in my house? Shelfie and Dave have grown out their feathers and love to swoop about the dining room and living room. We cover all the windows and they are pretty safe I think. But it's getting to feel like a zoo. And Shelfie pulled 3 feathers off Pretty's head when Pretty was eating on the play-gym. I broke quarantine and let them play out together. It's been a week. I've never seen Shelfie actually pull feathers. I've mentioned before she gets peckish. How should I introduce them to not have her do this? Shelfie seems to like Pretty as long as she's not eating any food. Thanks for reading. I'm beginning to understand how little I understand these guys.

Really, I was hoping for a more mellow friend for Dave. But I don't want Dave and Shelfie to get more wild. But my daughter seems to be getting attached to Pretty. She sleeps in my daughters room as they both have early bedtimes. I think she wants her to be tame. It doesn't really matter to me. I was reading more last night about budgie behavior and a bigger cage is definitely necessary. Dave and Shelfie spend a lot of time out so I wasn't too worried but I bet they will bicker less inside. And of course when pretty joins them (assuming they all get along) they need it. I guess I should have thought it out a little better. Bottom line is healthy happy birds though. Summer

Unfortunately Shelfie is getting really worked up calling back to Pretty. She'll attack for sweet Dave. Pretty gets frantic too. I end up having to have Pretty up in my bedroom (although they can still each other it's not so bad). I don't know how to tame her if I'm always away from her. I feel really bad moving Shelfie and Dave up to the bedroom because I leave their cage open and they play on a little mantel by their cage. How do you guys do it? Once Pretty was in the room next store and got out while I was cleaning her cage. Before I knew it she made it into the dining room where the other birds are. Right away Shelfie flew down to meet her. I them apart quickly. Do you think that was enough to transfer sickness. So far Pretty seems healthy. Any advice appreciated Thanks, Summer

Very cute! Shelfie loved the music to it.

Because my husband is threatening to start a website "Parakeet ***" if I show him anymore pictures! Shelfie is looking so pretty since her last molt. Dave's got a lot pin feathers going on.

I go back and forth too!

Are most hens kinda nasty? Shelfie is such a pill. She attacks Dave if he tries to interact with me. She always pecks at him when he gets food. I feel bad for him and was hoping to get a more mellow bird so he could have a nice friend too. Don't get me wrong, I love Shelfie and so does Dave. She's just a handful. Is that typical of hens? Will having two hens and one male be troublesome? I can't exchange Pretty (I mean I could but I wouldn't) but I could get a fourth bird, male. Also Shelfie is crazy nervous. Her feet are always grasping things tightly. I think her feet hurt worse than her bites. She only bites me when being playful. Summer

Is skyblue the coloring? I was looking at this site: http://www.budgieplace.com/colorsguide.html If you look at the combination link, she looks most like either the cobalt, yellowface (type II) or cobalt, yellowface (type II), opaline. Remember I know very little here. But she does have some white spots on her back and her flight wings have white in them.

Here's some more pictures. It's hard to capture the light bars on her forhead and get the darker purplishness of her cere. The first one is most like her actual coloring.

I don't still have the packaging so I don't know who made it. It's a cylinder of birdseeds stuck over a small stick. A thin piece of metal covered in orange plastic like material is over it. I didn't think anything of it until I used a picked clean one to attach a plastic ball. They chew on the twist tie and tear pieces off. I'm worried about them eating it. But it was bird treat made for birds so you think they would use safe material. Any thoughts about this? Thanks, Summer

Has anyone ever been given advice not to get more birds? we're addicts here summer Of course you should get more birds Yes...I think I have the makings for one too! There was a super cute grey parakeet that I tried to talk my daughter into getting. I'm guessing pretty is a girl. Opaline with clear wing? Her cheep is like a little sneeze. It's cute. She seems to be doing okay. She hears the other birds and wants to join them. Summer

She/He looks so much like my sweet sweet Dave.

My daughter picked out Pretty and named him/her. Any idea about the gender? I know the photo is not the best. It is natural light. Pretty has soft grey bars. Pretty's feet are grey too. Pretty has a pastel tone yellow on head, blue/green on body. After the quarantine period is up any suggestions for introduction? Would it be better to get a 4th bird so they could each have a partner? Thanks! Summer

Ah, that's good to know. I did spend a lot of time with her by herself during the first two months. I guess it meant something afterall. I really love my little guys. They are so sweet and funny. Thanks for the perspective. Summer

This picture was when I first got her. Can you see the suspicion in her eye? Hello all. It's been a while since I've posted but some of you might remember my questions about my yellow budgie, Shelfie. I've had her about 6 months now. After 2 months I got her a friend because she was unhappy. They get along pretty well. At first they were inseparable. Then Shelfie molted and turned into a vicious keet. She starting pecking at Dave when he was interacting with me. After a time she got kinda cranky in general and would peck at Dave out of blue or to fight over food. He stands up to her now and she mellows out. They are still close. My question is about Shelfie's interaction with me. She eventually stopped biting at me. Then she started again but this time it was different. If I would hold up a feather for her to nibble (she seems to enjoy this) she would nibble it for a moment then JUMP on my hand and start biting me really fast. Jerking all over my hand in quick bites and nibbles. Some are gentle like preening behavior but it's mixed with some really hard bites. She never breaks skins and it's not too painful. I just letter do it until she tired out. Then she'll sit on my fingers for a minute or two before hopping back to the cage. I can't tell if she is attacking me or playing with or aggressively preening me. She never preens Dave like this. I do see her get frisky in the cage sometimes and jump around quickly. Recently she's started coming up to me when I talk to her when she's on top of the cage. Really close. I would back away because I worried she'd attack my face. Finally I stayed still and she just gently preened my hair and my nose and my lips. Is she just a crazy mixed up keet? She's very moody. Sometimes she'll crouch in the corner looking very suspicious and bite if you ask her to step up. Other times she jumping on the door banging the food cups squawking to get out. Then she jump on my hand before going to the top of her cage. She's also mischievous and lots to knock things off the shelf. Dave her friend is much more calm and predictable. He's gentle and will usually step up. He usually wants to come out and play. But he's less interested in interacting with me. Can anyone explain Shelfie's behavior? They are happy birds and spend a lot time out of there cage. They are semi-tame. When it suits them they step up. But they don't like to linger on my finger. Unless Shelfie is going nuts on it. I need to video tape it. Thanks for reading. Summer