krosp

Thanks GB... you know I'm starting to get this feeling that maybe you really can tell the future :what: or are at least able to channel some kind of worldy wisdom. Some of your made up horoscopes are coming true already

Nah she wants to tame it I think that's why

Aww that sucks I hope it kicks in soon too!

Maybe it was on the ground because it tried to explore. Ours used to come out of their nest too early, but at least if you have them in cages now they'll land safely and should still be able to get fed. Good work- again! Can't believe how successful it's been so far

I suppose the other one is more likely to be a boy if it was snuggling with a girl, but it could still be a girl, would have to see its cere. Girls can still be tamed, a lot of members on here have wonderful girls as pets, but in general boys are a little easier to tame and are much more likely to talk.

Without a doubt- girl

Yes he is a sweet looking little boy

Personally I'd start with it just being you until he's more tame.

I'm not sure I would hold him at that age if he freaks out about it too much, it could get really hard. Depends what he is like. I would try step up and sitting on shoulder first. I think that maybe you should just try taming him yourself first, but let him go to them once he's a bit more comfortable with you. It should be fine if they talk to him through the bars, make a lot of noise, poke their fingers in, etc. Interested to hear what others have to say.

Welcome! He is very pretty. How long have you had him for?

Cosmo has one of those seed trays that are clear plastic, which have a lid over the top that has a hole big enough for his head to go in. There are two really funny things that he has been doing lately 1. He picks up an oat, and then stands upright when eating it, such that the shells of all the oats end up in an enormous pile on the top of the lid of his food tray. Clearly oats are his favourite. (at least I think they're oats-- whatever those longer skinny pale coloured seeds are) 2. He has learned that his little voice echoes whenever he has his head inside the seed dish, and apparently he loves the sound of his own voice. Now, all day long, every time he goes down for a munch or even sometimes for no apparent reason, he will go and have a little chatter inside his seed dish. I started hearing these really weird noises coming from his cage, and realised he was just talking inside his dish and it sounded all muffled on the outside. He's treating it like a microphone haha

I am friends with a family who homeschools, and their budgie is a significant part of their school day. He sits out with them while they work, and I think he loves being part of it all. Budgies are very social, so unlike some other pets, they seem to like being around a lot of activity and noise. If it won't be too distracting for you and your siblings, I would have him inside in a cage just around you for a few days, so he can watch what's going on and get used to you all.

Whoa that's scary!

Rainbow budgie, anyone?

I don't grab Cosmo-- he was freaked out by it at the start, and is freaked out by it even more now. He screeches if he even gets a hint that my hand is coming towards him from behind sometimes. I am not looking forward to the next time I have to clip his wings. Whereas budgies I had as a child let me hold them - they'd wriggle and try to get free, but not get distressed. Maybe I handled those ones a lot more- I'm sure there is something in what Liv suggested. If I get another one down the track I will try to get it a lot younger when it's still okay wtih being handled, and handle it a lot more. Cosmo was hard to tame but he tamed extremely quickly. We just used a transitional object before using my finger.... in our case, a chopstick. He was happy to step up on a chopstick and be walked around on it... and it took a week or so before he would get onto our finger instead. Eventually he preferred the finger and now he doesn't even like the chopstick anymore. He easily sits on our finger and shoulder and talks, but as I said- will NOT be held!

No doubt about it that she is a hen!

Make sure you come back and tell us what you decide! She's beautiful

Normal refers to the kind of markings she has on her head and wings. This is a great site for seeing a picture to go with all those names: http://www.budgieplace.com/colorsguide.html

You could be able to take a guess from now, but does anyone know if TCB and albinos are harder to sex than other types? It helps having more than one - if you can see them next to each other and one cere looks really pink and the other looks white, then the white one is probably a girl at least. I'm not sure what age you can tell with absolute certainty... some are easy from young and some are more ambiguous for longer.

Bubblegum

But its cap is still soft and babyish.... adult cap feathers seem to be really bright and kind of waxy/stiffer feathers if that makes sense Cosmo didn't have stripes all the way down to his cere when we got him which made me think he was older than he was. Now he is actually moulting and has a real cap I can tell the difference.

I had never seen a budgie do that before until we got Cosmo. On our first few days or so, he tapped his feet alternatingly whenever we played music to him. Not sure why, but he has stopped now. Maybe it's a self-soothing thing? Or maybe getting used to balancing on the new type of branch/perch? I have no idea! (PS- i know alternatingly isn't a word )

Wow, you are so brave... I would be so scared cutting a beak! You're doing an amazing thing for those birds and we are all very proud of you!

I'm sorry to hear that. It is quite common for budgies to get tumours as they get older. My mum has had quite a few that have, and she currently has one who is almost 12 years old who has had a tumour above one of her legs for several years already! She is very elderly though and can't get around much anymore, tumour aside. Some of my mum's budgies with tumours have lived longer than others, but it depends where it is and how fast it is growing. Ones in the brain are nasty because they have seizures, where as some slower growing ones in more fatty tissue areas, as far as I can tell, don't seem to cause as much bother. But an avian vet would probably know a lot more about what to expect from the type of tumour Tilly has. I hope that you get a lot more time with Tilly and that she is not in too much discomfort. And I hope you get to find out a little more soon about what is going on and what to expect. :hi:

Could it have blown away in the wind?