krosp

Sounds like it might be easier to get more budgies if we want to down the track. Later in the year we might start to consider more seriously whether we want to get any more or just keep Cosmo as an only budgie. He will definitely be the only one for at least 6 months more though, and after that we will review the situation

We were a bit scared when we went to sign the lease, and it had "Pets: NO" written on it. We had mentioned Cosmo in our application. Tempting thoughts went through my mind, like "we can just keep him there and if they find out we can argue that we assumed they knew since we put him on our application" and I almost went through with that plan. But I decided to be brave and good, and asked about the budgie. I know lots of people do it but I am just not someone who can keep secrets from the landlord. She added Cosmo to our lease! So now it says "Pets: budgie" We don't even have all those ridiculous terms and conditions like our current place (e.g. not allowed to replace him if he dies :fear) When we got the keys and went to the place... even though it had been properly cleaned.... we discovered A BUDGIE FEATHER inside!!!! Then on further inspection, we noticed that the screen door was plastered with budgie feathers from the outside. Had a mini aviary been here before, perhaps? Things look promising that we will have a long budgie filled life in our new rental property

Good to see you again! LOL!!! You still have a Christmas avatar :fear

She obviously doesn't like hands. Cosmo is very tame, but still has a little fear of hands, sometimes he screeches when hands come at him from behind. I tamed him using a chopstick. Is there anything else you can use to bond with her without getting your hands near her? With Cosmo, I taught him to step up on the chopstick, and I held the thick end, so eventually as he got more trusting, he walked up to the thicker end and ended up on my hand. He also let me scratch him under the head with the chopstick as you can see in my signature! He was happy on my shoulder or arm way before he was happy on my finger or hand.

This is disgraceful. I bet nobody would even consider banning cats or dogs in a whole district, because they're widely known to be such beloved pets that they are part of the family and everyone would be outraged. Why don't people view birds in the same way? Plus, it's an entire class of animals - not even just specific species of birds that can't be kept. That is crazy!

No, we are still using the same box we have been for a while, so it couldn't have changed that recently.

Does anyone have any specific names of products that would be good? Cosmo lost HEAPS of feathers over the weekend. He was having his first moult recently, and I didn't think it was totally over because he still looked a bit patchy, but I think the massive feather loss was slowed down recently because he was regrowing his tail feathers instead. So now they're grown back maybe he's just continuing his moult. Just a guess? Or, it could be stress related, but I do think he's just still moulting normally.

I think you should listen carefully to everybody's advice and offers on here. It is a great thing you are doing, but imagine how sad you would be if you did everything you could for the duckling and it died anyway. It is really not easy to raise a wild baby animal on your own if you've never done it before.

Fantastic, thanks

There is a lot of changes and stress going on around here lately, although we are still attending to him, keeping him clean, changing water frequently, etc. He doesn't seem to ever poo in his water (thankfully). Is there any precautionary thing I can do just give him a little "health boost" that may be good in kicking off something if he is sick or preventing him from getting sick during stress? Cosmo (and us!) is moving house in 3 weeks time.

The vent is clean. I think those two runny poos when he was out of the cage were the only ones today that were runny.Just thought of one other thing-- we have a guest staying with us as of yesterday... so there is a new person in the house. I don't expect him to be like a cat or dog though who would really notice or care about things like that.

I seem to remember in the past some of my budgies just doing a runny poo randomly here and there and not ending up being sick, so I was hoping some of you would say that it's normal occasionally! But I definitely agree it's better to be cautious and will be keeping a watchful eye.

It was quite hot today, he may have just drunk water.... I hadn't given him any greens yet today though so it wouldn't be likely to be anything he ate.

Cosmo did a few runny poos today, but there is no other evidence that anything is wrong with him. He has a good posture and spends his time just chattering away as usual. When he did them, it was when we got him out of the cage. The only thing that was different from usual was that we took him into our bedroom and lay down on the bed. We occasionally do this, but mostly when he's out of the cage he's in the study or living room. We also had the fan going in the bedroom but again there's nothing too unusual about this. Wondered if it's possible that he was just a little nervy about being in a less familiar room? I will keep an eye on him, but if there's nothing else but a few runny poos here and there, is there cause to worry? There's currently no runny ones on the floor of his cage but I will keep an eye out.

Moving in 3 weeks!

They can't have missed it... We wrote "1 budgie" under the part that says pets, and we had a whole paragraph about him in our cover letter about how we will ensure he doesn't cause damage or disturbance.

For those who were following my other thread... we got approved for a townhouse we really wanted today! To rent. It's not the house I fell in love with through photos in January, but this is a better location anyway, and is amazing for the price. So happy!!! And we put on our application that we had a budgie, and they've accepted it, so I am guessing that means it's okay to have him there? They didn't say anything like "you've been approved but you can't keep the bird there" so... I'm assuming we can!

*UPDATE* Well.... we didn't get this place We didn't even get the chance. I rang back and emailed a number of times and was always told "We have a LOT of interest and a very long list" -- basically implying- don't bother. They did say they'd call me when an inspection happens- but they didn't. There was only so much following up I could do, and I guess they just left me out because I was at the bottom of the long list. That is exactly what I was afraid would happen. I guess we missed out because today is the day that the lease was meant to start on that place. I am okay about it though, because in the meantime we have been to heaps of other inspections and although most places in our price range are disgusting, we have found a really perfect townhouse and applied for it. We were the first application, but it has still been over a week since we applied and they haven't made their decision. I am getting SO fed up with waiting, but if this is the one, it will be totally worth it. The website does say "no pets" but we told them about the budgie on the application and they did say they were taking our application to the owner so I'm guessing it should be okay. I suppose I just wouldn't get any more just yet if we do get it and are allowed to keep Cosmo. Can't wait until I have signed a lease the stress of waiting is really starting to get to me physically now.

Haha wow, that was amazing and unbelievable... although some of those tricks seem very unlike things budgies would enjoy (being spun around, sliding down, putting a ring over the neck and pulling something along etc). I loved seeing the tiny hints of them just being normal budgies too.. like you can hear them chirping along with the music here and there... and at the end, two of them were kissing

Oh man that sucks... I hope it is all just a big game and that they won't do anything This is not the sort of publicity I need as I'm trying to apply for rental properties with my budgie, either

Oh wow! I have been very busy lately, glad I came back to see this thread

My motto applies here.... When in doubt..... hen!

I don't do anything for Cosmo because we live in a fairly noisy area, there is always the sound of birds, kids playing in the nearby schools, traffic, trains... and I also know that he just plays with his toys all day long whether I'm home or not. But if you think that his cage and environment is not very stimulating then definitely go with all the advice given here so far.

Even if you returned her and she was sick, she could have passed it on to the boy. So you probably need more specific advice once you have found out what is wrong with her (if anything). I am not sure what you should do- it depends on how you feel about it and how much money you are willing to part with if she requires expensive treatment.

That is scary and sad :cake: I do this to a certain extent, but since I only have one budgie, I am pretty sure he is getting enough seed... plus there is more of his favourites underneath the husks if he was willing to dig deeper, so when I blow the seeds off the top I don't think that only the ones he doesn't eat are left. Thanks for the warning though-- I will keep a closer eye on it