jwancia

Thats funny, cause you see I would feed my dog and cat purely dry food (with the occational bone etc). Did we go to uni for years and years as a nutritionist to know what our animals need? No? Well then what gives us the right to decide how much of what nutrient our animal needs. for example: dog food, eukanuba, hills, royal cannin etc. They have staff that did go to uni for years and years and all the food is scientifically made to include the right amounts of everything for our animals!. I understand that companies will do the wrong thing for a buck (supermarket brand dog foods such as pal and chum etc). Others are genuine (hills eukanuba royal cannin etc). In the wild dogs would only live for aprox 5 years. Now they are living longer than ever (16 years for my cavalier king charles spaniel). Does this example not also apply to birds. If there is a pellet out there that is genuine, shouldnt we be feeding it to our birds. If they have done all the research of what they need and whats best for them, then shouldnt we feed it to them ?!? I also understand that there is not one pellet for every pellet, they have different needs! Hence the need for different pellets too. This is the pellet that I use: http://www.drmacs.com/ Thats my 2 cents. Hope i havent caused to much of a stir/

Not only others, but my vet told me to go onto pellets. How else do we stop fatty liver and other things like that in budgies?! I am paranoid about feeding my budgie seed except for training etc. The fact that im having trouble weaning my new boy onto pellets is causing me distress.

I have sooooo many different toys, and rotate them regularly. This keeps them entertained

Just like dog, birds love chewing and shreading things to pieces! Its totally natural and very good for body and mind. Its great if you can keep replacing branche for them to chew. Also try toys that stimulate their mind. Insight bird products have a few "thinking toys" but there are many out their on the market. It keeps them entertained and healthy!

My bird regularly regurgitates at nothing. He will sit on his perch and chirp away at nothing, and I look over and he is regurgitating to nothing!? Is this normal. He also does this while underneath the kitchen table (sneaky thing!)

Great topic! Very interesting read. There are many grits avaliable on the market. Silica sand is a very fine grit, canunda is very small shells, and then you have othe grit that ranges from fine to corse. On the bottom of my cages I used breeders choice cat litter (its a 100% recycled paper product). I sprinkle fine grit over the litter. If they need grit they will naurally forage around the bottom of the cage to find it.

Oh my KAZ, is that one of your birds?! I have never seen something so painful.

Ivermectin resistance is a BIG issue in stock (cattle, sheep, horses etc).

Ive had mine for about a month. And he seems to be warming up to us lately. He still very much prefers to be on his cage and loves to fly off to get under the table. Good Luck! Is yours flighted?

Keep me updated on his training. My guy sounds the same. Tottaly untame yet young enough to learn! Good Luck

id have to say 3-4 months as well. mines a similar age with his black beak just gone and a slight brown iris. Very cute bird!

Crazyness! I look forward to learning about it all.

WOW AV! Thats great to hear Warms my heart. Ivermectin is a wormer that they use in stock. Do you guys use it in birds too? Should i be doing it? What about the big resistance debate to ivermectins?

Okay so this is my set up. This is my breeding cabinet for my bushies. Brand new. And you can see the male popping his head out to have a peak at who is there. Fresh gum leaves to chew on and play with. (Ps. Should I put toys in with the bushies box? they have never seen toys before?). I have attatched a black sheet to the top to cover them at night. This box is on my desk in my room. This is by baby boys cage. With admitiedly too many branches in their at the moment. Heheh: Side view: Other side (with rook eating breakfast): With the top open: His cage is next to the couches in our lounge room. CommentS?

How can you tell the colours when they are soo tiny!?

Its a shame that half of these pictures no longer work :S Bumma! Ill take pictures of my cage tomoz morning for you. Im lucky enough to have a eucalypt in the back yard that I can steal leaves and branches from! Also someone mentioned way back in the thread about how people keep their bird in small cages, yet most people on this site do the right thing. I think its all about education and personal responsibility. 1) either people dont know that what they are doing is wrong or 2) they dont care that what they are doing is wrong. Most people on this site know to do the right thing because they have a personal responsibility for their animals and choose to find out all they can for them.... Seriously I think I wanna be an animal teacher or something like that! I WANNA EDUCATE THE WORLD! now.... If only I could spell....

I agree with the pie! All of the big boofy bugies are called "english budgies" but obviously not all english budgies are good enough to be "show" or "exhabition" budgies. "pet/aussie/normal" budgies are those that are not the big boofy english budgies. But they have been domesticated (hence different colours sizes etc). "bush/native" budgies are those that have been bred in the wild or are direct descendants of a pair that have been bred in the wild. They only come in the standard green colour. They are also ALOT smaller than the pet budgies. The have very fine features with large eyes.

Is this okay? its the same as mine.ALSO: you mention washing up leave branches? How and why. what happens if you dont. Also are all gums okay?Craig B: There are soooo many toys out there for birds. Its hard to go wrong. Go for toys that are made out of acrylic plastic rope or wood. Try and avoid metals cause some may be toxic to birds (yes i know, why do they sell them as bird toys then...? cause they dont care thats why!). Have fun buying toys! I know i do!

My boy was always slightly skinny too, but was very healthy. he was also alot smaller than most budgies. I think sometimes its just genetics

Its called calcivite plus and its a clear liquid.

Okay, so i have tried the sheet over the cage thing, but he jumps off us and runs underneith the table! How do you get your budgie to want to be with you?

Sorry I forgot to mention he is not my bird. A guy asked for my help but i didnt know for sure. So I dont have any other pics. I agree a really cute bird :hap:

As many of you may know, I have just perchased a pair of Bush Budgies (no names as yet, Suggestions?!). As this is my first time breeding attempt I figured I may as well journal it all for you for your amusement, and also so you can pull me up where needed. YAY! Okay so I have got my birds home in their breeding cabinet, with the box attatched to the outside. They have been there for about 5 days and are settling in well. Today I noticed that they are starting to make some cute soft little noises (Ohhh LOVE! :hap:). The first few days they didnt move around the cage too much but they are now exploring and my partner says that he saw the female exploring the nest box. Im feeding a quality seed, budgie starter (paswells), egg and biscuit mix and supplementing the water with a calcium, vit d and magnesium supplement (i forget the actual name of it), by the Dr.colin walker brand. Things are looking good. Ill keep you posted Love Jessie and the Bushies.

So should we not be feeding brocoli etc to laying hens?