lil_fuzzy

Ummm.. Jelena is eating poo and feathers at the bottom of the cage.. is this normal? Should I stop her? (she might not be eating it, but she's definitely tasting it by putting it in her mouth)

Yep

I suggested Jelena as a name for her to my partner today, but he exclaimed 'it's a male, I already told you!' but I told him everyone in here says she's prolly female and he went 'why would you even ask when I've already told you it's a male?!'

I went to Chermside as well a few weeks ago to ask for ivermectin, and was told they don't stock it because it's toxic. And was also told a health check, which they recommend for all new budgies, is $115. Fair enough that they're experts etc, but why do they need to charge that much when other bird vets only charge $50, or less? Sounds like a rip off to me. So if anyone knows any other reasonably priced and good bird vets on the northside of Brisbane, I'd be interested too. Be good to know for when it's needed, bit late to start asking around if there's an emergency.

Nope not yet, it's up to my partner, because I named our other one.

Hehe that picture is funny:) So hens are actually the quiet ones eh? Try telling Poppy that...

Yes, it's cute:) No, no name yet. I named Poppy, so my partner gets to name this one, but he's taking his time deciding on a name:)

Right. Well only reason I wanted a male was because they're a bit quieter, but this new one has turned out to be very quiet anyway. Even when it hears my other budgie screaming at the neighbours budgies it won't care, it will just sit there and look around. It will occasionally scream back, but that's rare. Thanks everyone:)

My partner is convinced it's a male, and that's what we wanted, but the person at the pet store said it was too young to sex. I wouldn't have clue, because I've never sexed babies. So any opinions?

Thanks:) It really doesn't look comfortable at all, but I guess their idea of a comfy place to sleep is different from mine:)

Hmm, fascinating. Well good to know it seems like a normal thing to do:)

We bought a new budgie today, as our female's (Poppy) male companion died a couple weeks ago, and she's been lonely (the new bird is quarantined for now of course). But it's doing this weird thing that Poppy used to do as well when she first moved in. Every night, she would go to one of the top corners of the cage and hang off the side wall with both feet and her beak. Never during the day, but every night for about a week after I got them, and would refuse to move and not react to anything outside the cage (such as me walking past, which was normally very scary). I just noticed the new budgie doing the same thing. Is this some sort of budgie speak that I should know of?

Yes, me too, it's finally taken care of:)

Oh good:) The towel method worked quite well, but I may try the fish net method next time. I already have a couple of them as I have 5 aquariums:) Thanks:)

Yeah, I moved the feathers out of the way and put a drop of it on her neck, but because she was twisting and biting the whole time it turns out I got it in a spot where she can easily reach it and try to get it off. Is that gonna harm her?

I did it:) I removed everything and then just cornered her with a towel. But what happens if she can turn around and get to the ivermectin? I'm not sure how far she'll be able to turn, but I didn't get it exactly where I wanted it because she tried to bite me the whole time.

The ivermectin finally arrived, but now I have to catch the bird. And I don't thin it can be done. I put my hand in the cage and it flies around in a complete panic, doesn't sit still for a second. I also tried with a small towel to see if I could wrap it around it, but its claws need trimming and it got caught on the towel and it looked rather dangerous to continue to try... Any clever tips for catching it?

That sounds about right:)

Yes, I know, but I was hoping to avoid that, as the bird will not let me near her and I'd rather not have to catch it every single day. That's not it, it was moxitoxin or something very similar. 2 x'es, but I can't remember the exact name.

I don't remember the name of it, moxi something? But she said to put it in water, but because they don't normally drink it it was better to use a crop needle. It can't be used spot on, at least the bottle said nothing about it.

Yes, I've seen the ones for dogs and horses as well, and I would assume those would be much higher dosage than the one for birds. But surely it won't be toxic if it's your bird vet who gives it to you and tell you how to use it? To just not sell it at all because it's toxic doesn't make sense.

The dewormer they tried to sell me they said the birds usually won't drink it (it's the kind you mix with water which somehow also treats scaley face) so they recommended using a crop needle to give it to her, which there's no way I'm gonna do. I wouldn't trust myself sticking a sharp metal object into her throat, so they said to come in for the health check and they could do it then, but it was gonna cost extra. As if that's gonna happen.. I think it's really bad that they would charge that much. Fair enough that some people would pay that much to have their bird checked, but a lot of people wouldn't, and so you end up with a lot of birds which need medical attention but aren't getting it because their owners won't or can't afford to pay for it.

Kaz kindly sent me some ivermectin early in December, which still hasn't gotten here because Australia Post keeps thinking it's flammable and refuses to deliver it. I went to several vets in my immediate area, none of them had it. Today we went through the trouble of going all the way to see a bird vet, cuz we thought they MUST have it. But no, they don't carry ivermectin at all because 'it's toxic', and they tried to sell me some $30 dewormer instead. They also 'recommended' I take the bird in for a $115 health check. I could have all 5 cats treated for parasites for that amount! I don't know what to do, the bird needs to be treated for scaly face, but I can't get the stuff to treat it with.

I did clean him off, but the poo which was stuck to him never seemed to cause any problems anyway. How much can I expect to pay at the vet's?

We're taking the female to the vet either today or tomorrow. She seems fine, but overnight she's had something happen to her cere, it's all messed up and bloody? (I don't know if it's blood, but her cere seems to be dented and there's black stuff on it??)