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I'll get some pictures posted then. He's definitely not blind. I meant to suggest that he's not a baby anymore. As the breeder couldn't tell me the exact day he hatched, so I'm going by his behavior etc. His eyes are dark, not cloudy- def normal, I'll post pics soon. I did a little reading on Ricketts, I'm not sure if you're right though. He definitely doesn't grip strongly nor firmly. And when he's on the floor he doesn't walk in a perfectly straight line, but he doesn't woddle or go in circles either. That's what's got me so frusterated. Is this just his personality or is something actually askew with him?

He does have a cuttle fish/bone/rock - but he treats it like decoration. He feet look normal- though we did trim his nails because they were soooo long and it did seem to help a bit. To be honest, I've never heard of Rickets, but my parents probably have. What do I do if that is the case?

Hey all. I introduced Hemy last month, when I started to doubt his gender but was assured he was a male. I got Hemy back in December after Chevy passed away. We got Hemy from a breeder and picked the most active, good coloured bird. "Arlene" said that she's been breeding budgies for 20+ years and she definitely knew her stuff. However, when we got Hemy home he doesn't act like the typical budgie. He has terrible balance. Like he'll be preening himself, and he'll lean too far forward and fall. At first when I mentioned this here, it was suggested that maybe he wasn't yet used to having clipped wings, or I thought perhaps he still needed his full tail feathers to grow in. Now Hemy is around 5-6 months because his eyes aren't as dark as when we got him and he's beginning to start chattering occasionally. As well, he freaks out way too easily, like we'll come out to his cage. Sometimes he's fine, but other times no reason still approaching cage normally, he'll freak out and actually jump out of his cage. He doesn't seem to really grip- any thing at all; his perch, our shoulder, etc. The other thing he does, is he is CONSTANTLY eating! When he's not with us, he's at his food dish. And when he's not eating at his food dish, he just sits there. (It's the only place where he doesn't fall) We have used this to our advantage. Take the food dish away and instead he gets to eat out of our hand which is tremendous with hand taming him. We also have put millet spray and lettuce in his cage so that he actually has to sit on the perch to eat it. He seems off. and I know that it could be a sign of something much more serious. But he gets right back up when he falls and does climb around his cage. And he eats, and his poops are normal, vent clean and he preens= good health observably I've been so patient but he's made only a little improvement since we got him. Has anyone had anything similar or any ideas?

You could be right. Yes, he does climb around his cage and kinda bobs his head before he jumps to another perch but does make it more often than not. I also have an open concept for him (the cage is actually upside down so the top is completely open.) Chevy really liked it. He could fly to us whenever he wanted, which was a lot and I know this had to have helped tame him. I know I should stop comparing to chevy, but he was definitely unique. As for Hemy, I'll give it a few more weeks of devoted patience. I figured his lack of balance could have been contributed by his really long nails, which we clipped and apparently the cockatiels, that he was also with at the aviary/breeders, liked to pull out other birds tail feathers, which I think may have happened since Hemy had a reallly short tail- Which I know could have affected his balance. I really appreciate every one's advice and suggestions. I'll give it more time and hopefully Hemy will be tamed yet! And I'll go read that article too, may have some tips I've overlooked. ~Sarah

thank you everyone each day is easier. I had to get another bird as the house was too quiet without a feathered friend, but Chevy was one in a million. and I miss him. But if your caserole ever explodes, you can be even more cautious hugs

This is in memory of my beautiful baby boy Chevy He was the sweetest little thing. I don't know what you would call his colouring in breeding terms, but it was the most beautiful grey. Handsome little guy, but more smart than anything else. He would fly to us, just to sit on our shoulder. He would whistle when we came home. You know the "whoo whoo" whistle. And then when we would start to say 'thank you' in gratitude he learned that as well. He must of had a lexicon of 50-70 words. Chattering away all the time. He knew 4 different whistles. and.. budgie butt I love you I love pie I love you Sarah I love kiss Gimme a kiss mwah Gimme Pie mmmmm beer whatcha doin silly bird silly budgie pretty bird pretty boy Chevy Hello thank you budgie *purr *meow David Good boy Be a good boy *Shhhhhh .... Those were the main ones he said. As for how he died. He was 3 and a half, which is nothing at all. I post this topic with the hope that we can all learn from my mistake and prevention. On monday, dec 8th, our dinner was cooking in the oven, in a glass caserole, which we've done hundreds of times before and there must have been a crack or something, because it decided to crack and break in our oven. Which sounded like an explosion. Opening the oven door the smoke billowed out into the kitchen. We immediately put chevy in my brother's bedroom so he wouldn't breath in the fumes. Oven off, our dinner ruined, the house smelly and cloudy. We opened all the doors and windows and got the fans going to clear the fog. (bear in mind it's december, snow outside, very cold) anyway after everything seemed fine and we brought chevy and his cage back out to the living room. When we uncovered him on Wednesday he was all puffy and cuddled right up to our necks and tried to hide under our clothing. It was a very stressful day as I had an exam in the morning, work, and another exam at 7 that night. I only got to spend a brief time with him after my morning exam but at least I got to say good bye for he passed that evening. We figure it was stupid to leave him in the living room, the slight remnant of the stove fumes, and covered up. He was fine on Tuesday. My mom had a headache from the smell which should have been an indication. Freak accident, but in the end, please don't let this happen to you.

well it's been a little while and after more dark hours as suggested, the brown part of his cere has gone darker to a kind of purple. So yay! Def a boy. Thank goodness. Since I've had budgies before Hemy, I know that his age must be around 4 months. As if he were older, like 5 or 6 months, he would be far more chirpy than he is he still acts like a baby. Our last budgie, Chevy, started chattering at 6 months, and we got Chevy when he was just 3 months, though there was no gender issue with him. As for Hemy, I am concerned about him. He's VERY clumsy. Like, jump to the perch and miss kind of thing, or fall off. And he's really jumpy. Like even simple movements that I do while I have him on my shoulder freaks him out that he jumps off. His wings are clipped, but I worry about so many jumps to the ground -"falling with style". Hemy is proving way more difficult to train than our last bird. I know each one is different but still seems odd. I had a branch-like perch set up in his cage for him. If he did go on it, he would lose his balance and fall off. So it's been replaced by a straight perch across the length of his cage which he must enjoy when he's not at his food dish. I'm thinking because he was 'young' and from breeding conditions, maybe he was only used to his nest box. Which I figured would explain why he usually sits at his food dish (maybe he used to guard it at his old house) Any insight or advice on Hemy's behaviour would be much appreciated!!!!!! Though maybe I should move this thread as the topic has kinda shifted?

I'll try that! Thank you! (>^.^)>

so do you think I should worry about the little bit of brown at the bottom of his cere? Or about he fidgets all the time? He's only 4 months, so I don't think I should worry about hormone imbalance, but then again what IF he is going through withdrawl?

sorry, this picture is a little blurry.

Hi, I just signed up for this forum and I'm hoping you experts can help me out. My family have always been budgie lovers. We do not breed them but there has always been a bird in our lives. At the beginning of this month our little baby boy "chevy" passed away. It was very sudden. The shock of the quiet house was too much to bear and we hunted to find a breeder. When we did, we made it clear that we wanted a young male budgie. The one we got was almost 4 months old. I'm attaching a picture for you to see. My guess is that "Hemy" is now four months. But in the two weeks we've had 'him' his cere has changed from blue to blue with a bit of brown. My family really wants a male, as we devote all of our attention to the budgie and we like a good talker! We tried having a hen once and as soon as she got a year old, she got extremely moody, and would bite for no reason at all. She was an angry little thing, so we went back and managed to trade So... I need confirmation about the gender. As well, I think it's also worthy to note that we got this bird from a smoker's home. Now I trust that this lady didn't smoke around her birds, but I do wonder if it's at all possible if my Hemy could be going through withdrawl. Finally, I should probably start another topic for this, but Hemy is really jumpy, fidgety, full of energy. constantly looking around. Also, Hemy is definitely not skinny. Prefering to sit at the food dish when he is in his cage. I very thoroughly compared Kaz's post on ceres to Hemy's and none quite look right. Thanks in advance! ~Sarah