sootie

What a scare and an easy trap for birds! Thanks for the reminder.

Great :budgiedance: Thank you for settling my little worries.

Thanks Kaz He is a little bit downy at the moment so we'll keep a close watch. What happens to the feather shaft and follicle when cysts form? Currently that patch is a bit bare, no bumps on the skin. Here's another closeup, taken on 25 Feb this year. His tail feather had dropped just about then.

But... but...! Hope it stays as a display item.

Django has had this hole on his left wing for about three weeks, it started almost unnoticeable. Should I be worried? He preens normally, not excessively. He's been moulting small tufts of down since he came home with us, about five weeks ago.

Being a design lover, I can see how that could appeal to so many people aesthetically. However on a practical, even humane level that makes me angry to know people think that birds are just wallpaper... :rofl:

Hi everyone, just a short update and some pictures. (Is it okay to post pictures here or should I do it in in the Pictures forum? Just continuing the thread about Django...) We have millet spray! The stubborn boy, however, only eats it when it's been put in the cage. He's still not big on finger feeding. After about 4 weeks of consistent carrots, cucumber and a wee bit of spinach placed in his cage daily, he's begun (I hope) to nibble at his greens a little. I caught him once with an orangey face from rummaging around with the chopped carrot. He's learnt that flying to the top of the bookcase is unsafe -- we've put lots of unstable little cartons that don't hold his weight, so he flies straight to the play perch instead. Hand taming... still a little sporadic. He doesn't eat millet from our hands even if it's obviously a yummy treat. We will just have to persevere! One good sign is that he's begun to trust the BF more -- he's very flighty when I take him out but trusts the BF by staying in one place longer. Toys: I do daily 'lessons' where he gets put on top of the cage and I show him the lattice balls and the small preening toy by using one finger to peck at them and roll them about. On a good day he enthusiastically pecks once or twice at the toys when I offer them to him. I feel that he's still quite undecided about us, but he will just have to learn to warm up.

Aww so cute I love the side-lighting of the photo too!

Name: Jasmin Pets: 1 baby budgie Favorite Color: undecided Astrological Sign: Virgo Age: 23 Weakness: Procrastinating, saying 'yes' too easily (though I say 'no' easily as well) Strength: Perseverance Favorite Animal: small critters Favorite T.V. Show: Lost, Gossip Girl, Project Runway Live: Sydney, Australia How long have been a BBC member: Lurking 3 months, official member less than a week Anything else: I'm currently in the process of writing a thesis and it's taking far too long!

This is fun I was rather obsessed with the word "soot", which led to a website/online journal named Soot Columns. The website has since closed, but I use Soot or sootie as a forum name.

Thank you so much for the detailed advice, Elly. It really helps. Sailorwolf, he is quite used to sitting on the BF's hand, and he never flies out of the cage on his own so that's no problem. The cage is shut whenever we're not home to prevent accidents, too. Thanks for reaffirming that Django is a-okay! I'll probably post an update later on to give you guys an idea how things are.

Thanks for the welcome Jimmy: we're glad he's healthy and eating well (bit of seed, bit of carrots), and that's most important. I'd like to start clicker training soon, but Django's quite resistant to hand-feeding at the moment, I'll get some millet spray and see how he reacts Richo: Yes, the BF is a guitarist and named him because his tail feather fell off as soon as he came to live with us -- kind of like Django Reinhardt whose hand was disfigured. Glad to hear you think things are going fine. Maybe we are a bit too paranoid. One more question: should the companion budgie be of the same personality type as Django, or should we get a rowdier, more enthusiastic budgie to encourage him to open up? My main worry is Django being bullied if the other bird gets too aggressive. We're probably going to wait a few more weeks to see what happens, and get another budgie. We're not too fussed about absolutely hand taming the two, would rather have two happy birds who love each other than just one lonely bird.

Hi guys, this is my first time posting here. Before getting a budgie I was avidly reading this forum for tips, much to the amusement of my BF. Now I need some help with my first budgie (my BF's 7th!) who is especially unlike any budgie that has been described to me. I've read and googled articles on passive, extremely shy budgies but there aren't many because it seems to be an uncommon behavioural trait. In short, he is exhibiting "neophema behaviour" (more on that later.) Anyway, on to the facts: We got Django about 4 weeks ago when he was 10 weeks old, from a bird breeder here in Sydney. He likes to perch all day long on the same branch in his cage, preening frequently and chirping only to birds outside. The most animated I've seen him is when he calls to the other birds. He does not like his toys, neither is he active within the cage where there are about 5 different branches to jump to and from. I don't think that he was hand-reared as the BF's mum (who bought him for us) said he had been in an aviary with 20 other budgies when she picked him, sitting quietly away from the ruckus. The breeder also breeds lots of other birds and parrots so I assumed he didn't have time to hand-rear? His cage is in the living room where the BF and I work on our computers frequently and chat to each other. We stop by his cage several times a day to talk to him, and sometimes show and offer our hands very gently to him. He responds to "Up!" but will fly to the top of the bookcase as soon as the hand that he is on leaves the cage. We've built a little bird house with a perch balanced off our bookcase (not exactly on top) where he likes to sit all day long. I would say that he is 'sort of' bonded, knows how to jump onto a hand, etc. However his trust in his human friends is extremely low. He isn't curious about us at all and is extremely introverted -- a friend who has Bourke's parrots remarked that he is more like a neophema than a budgie. He's not talkative and likes to stay within the cage. He also has reservations about hands and refuses to be hand-fed -- he hops to the top branch as soon as hands get too close. On rare occasions he has allowed us to stroke the back of his neck -- he evidently enjoys it, but his fear overtakes all pleasure he derives from our company. On a good day, he'd perch on the BF's hand for more than five minutes, sit near but not too close to us on the bed and listen to our banter. The next day he'll go back to his old, fearful self. Solutions: - I've ordered a small bird's preening toy which will be less intimidating than the chew toy that is currently in his cage. Hopefully he will catch on to its function and fall in love with it. - I know it's only been 4 weeks, and he was a bit older than we'd have liked when we first got him. Perhaps that is why the training process is painfully slow. We have been showing him our hands in the cage at least once a day. - We have brought him out of his cage every day for at least an hour every day. There are improvements, but he still heads for the top of the bookcase as soon as he is brought out. - Starting this week we're leaving a radio playing softly in the background while we are gone to uni in the day, hopefully he will feel less lonely. - We are thinking about getting a companion but are afraid that a normal, playful budgie will bully him to bits. We have been advised to get a Bourke's parrot instead as they often serve as surrogate parents and are about the same size, not to mention they have exactly the same temperament as the one Django is exhibiting now. However, a playful budgie that is a little younger may encourage him and teach him how to be a real bird (I say this because I know real birds don't perch on the same spot all day long when they are this young!) Sorry for the long post, I've tried to be as detailed as I can. I think it's a matter of time before he warms up, but I wouldn't want to be too sure. Thanks in advance! Jaz