Emma

Awesome photos :hug:

Reposting this here since it probably got lost in my post of newbies. Figured I should put it in the right place.. not only to try to solve the question but also to help future people looking for answers on ino sexing NB: the picture makes the eyes look dark but they are definitely red. Is this bird a hen? I'm fairly sure it is, but need the pros to help

Protein powder.. I never thought of that, how dumb. I actually have a tub of it sitting here (I have it in my breakfast shake!). Interesting stuff.

My mum said the same kind of thing to me yesterday.. "I don't believe in that quarantine rubbish." That's nice mum.. they're still going into quarantine Not in a nasty way or anything, she just didn't think it was necessary at all. When I told her that not quarantining could actually end up killing Maurie, she changed her mind. I can understand that it might seem unnecessary to some people - it kinda looks like sticking your new birds in a different cage and just having them sit there for weeks while nothing happens, hmm.. doesn't seem all that beneficial, right? But outsiders probably think that the worst the new birds can pass on would be parasites or a cold.

I don't think they're brown, I think it's just shadow (see the second picture)

Please share when you do! Information on supplements, meds, and aids like this is VERY helpful for those of us just starting out. Newbies like myself don't know what products are good and which ones are "fluff" (like a lot of the pet store stuff). I want to make sure I'm giving them everything they need (while also being sure I'm not giving them something unnecessary or even something that may be given with good intentions in mind but end up being harmful). With so many products available, I find myself asking "do I really need that, or is it overkill?". The FAQs are awesome, but I also like to hear anecdotes and personal experience to get a more balanced view of what's good, what's necessary, and what's just preying on pet owners who don't know any better.

They are 07 birds - green rings. Lutino and grey only; the white and clearbody don't have rings. Is that what you guys meant? The Lutino only has CBS and 006 - but no breeder code. What does that mean? Thanks Pearce for the info about the iris - I just always assumed it was all red. I suppose it was only because I had her in fairly bright light..? Heathrow: my first thought when I saw that white bird was OMGDFSPANGLE but then I saw the red eye Both the white and yellow birds definitely have red eyes. Looks like I'll have to examine them a bit more closely in the natural light tomorrow.

I just had a look at the member lacewings section actually I don't think she has brown markings, I have looked but she seems to be entirely white. But now that the sun has gone down I can't really get a good look. Might have to check tomorrow. But I'm super confused about her eye now. Look: You'll have to take my word for it that the pupil is red - honest! When she is resting (as she is now, next to the lutino), they appear completely red. But with a bit of light on the eye (and the pupil smaller than normal), it has a coloured iris? Now I'm really confused. Liv: they grey boy and the lutino girl are 07 birds; the other two don't have rings (which surprises me in the case of the white bird).

Definitely red eyes, I just checked to be sure! I'm leaning towards hen but I am still very new so I didn't want to jump to any conclusions. The cere does have that tan-ish tinge to it, but it's also very smooth, so I was confused. Looking at her(?) sleeping on the perch right now, such a most gorgeous shape, such a nice face. I have absolutely NO idea what to put with an albino, but I couldn't pass this one up, she(?) was just so good looking. I can't stop looking at this bird actually, so beautiful, I love its head. I would prefer a cock at this point, but hey, how often do I see a hen around here that looks so good? So I'll be happy either way! As for Mr Grey there.. I know nothing about show birds, but as soon as I saw him I knew I had to take him. I think he is wonderful.. his mask is so long and his main throat spots are perfect circles. I think I'm in love with those two Edit: Darnit Pearce, I'm going to have to go check again and get a photo, or I'll keep second guessing myself Edit2: the only problem with Mr Grey is that he has dropped his tail, so he is all short and stubby! That's why I didn't take a full length photo of him - I didn't want to embarrass him by showing you him looking less than perfect. Here we go.. terrible photo but I had to do it with the flash to make sure the red showed up. She has a more obvious iris ring than the lutino though. When I hold her she just feels like she's all feathers. Well, mostly feathers plus BEAK, ouch. She just feels so silky and soft, beautiful. That photo also shows the bright green in the clearbody's chest that isn't visible in daylight. Who's a pretty boy then?

Would love to see a picture if you have one

Today I went on an expedition to Gladstone, which is about an hour or so away. I wanted to check out their pet stores and see how good they were, and the types of birds they had, and hopefully find some nice boys for my two lovely girls. I accidentally came home with four newbies First off, is this a hen? I'm terrible with inos (unless it's a hen in breeding condition heh). Bites like a hen I don't know why, but white (albino, splat's DF spangle) always remind me of anime/cartoony characters. They're all or something Little lutino girl Excuse the blood, she's moulting and the albino pulled out one of her feathers on the way home, I think (another reason I think the albino is a crabby hen!). YF grey boy - this was a classic case of love at first sight, he is so handsome. This picture doesn't do him justice, he looks gorgeous. He looks like a gentleman, I'll have to think of a nice upper-class name for him. And finally, this little guy was hiding away with his back to me so I didn't realise he was a clearbody! His back is light green so he looks pretty ordinary from the back, but when he turned around.. I had to grab him Bites like a hen though, my finger has taken a real battering today. As I said, his back is bright green (blue tail), and some green through the wings. Very pretty colour, but I suppose that makes him a "bad" clearbody... but I think he looks nice. To be honest I just went to try to find two cocks for my current hens, but things didn't quite go to plan, and I just took the birds that appealed to me so much at the time. If they don't "fit" (colour wise) with my hens, I'll have to adjust my plans Apparently this particular store is popular with a couple of big breeders here in CQ - they don't like to take their birds to Rockhampton because they don't want their competitors picking them up easily! The store is Gladstone Pets and Ponds if anyone is interested. Very big and spacious, and the birds are outside in big aviaries on either side of "hallways", with security screen doors at the ends so you can go inside to look. The staff are chatty and the lady who served me spent a while talking about the birds and the local breeder, and urged me to give them a call if I have babies later in the year. An hour is quite a drive, so I wouldn't do it often, but it was worth it this time around Love to know what that albino is. If it's a hen, I still need to find another good boy. Plus I need to work out pairs according to the best matches in the birds I have. (this is still not happening for months yet though - not rushing!) Edit: spelling

Can you hear me whining from QLD?

The grey and the blue are gorgeous.. ugh, so jealous.

My sister as a feather phobia.. she would probably have a fit if she saw these!!

Those are quite refreshing.

okay, I'll do that later - although she already has a big bald spot from the trimming I have already done - it's quite bare. But I can finish the job. The last one was actually sticking to the skin, not to the feathers. Well, not really stuck, just sitting there on the vent rather than dropping to the ground. PS I don't think she likes me much now

The names make me giggle - do they have stories attached?

No, I'll spare you all photos There's nothing unusual to see, anyway - it's the normal colour/consistency (sorry if that's tmi ).. just that it is getting stuck. I checked her last night - it was starting to stick and dry again. Removed it all and trimmed away some more feathers (I really need to get some nail scissors or something). Checked again this morning and some had stuck to her again but this time not to the feathers, like it is just sitting there and not dropping, grr. Clench, you silly bird, clench! Is there anything I can do (other than trimming away the feathers) to stop it happening? Or do I just keep checking her and cleaning her up? Will it stop? She does look much better and brighter though, which is good. Much more active, not as droopy or miserable looking. So at the moment it's just the frustration of having to keep checking to make sure the problem isn't happening all over again. Tips appreciated

Oh, I realise the *intent* :rofl: Unfortunately many people would see that and think it's an awesome idea for a real cage (especially the top where a bird can be up "inside" the bowl) I also hate fishbowls.

Thanks I called my vet and found out that their avian vet moved to Brisbane >_< So I am going to make some calls today to see if there is an actual avian vet in town. Very good point about them sitting in the box on the way home and making a mess of their feathers etc. I will put some paper towels down when I get home so I can keep a better eye on things. I know she had done some normal droppings this morning (which was a huge relief), but I'll keep watching. I'm not sure if they've had anything to drink yet, but it's not saying much really, the cage isn't sitting in my line of sight and I keep it mostly covered anyway. When I cover them entirely I hear them moving around - I take that as "phew, she's gone, now we can relax!" I'm still ready to take her to the vet if she is still poorly this afternoon. Just want to minimise the stress if possible.

I checked her first thing this morning, she is MUCH brighter, and she's not blocked up again. Her droppings were fresh, which was a big relief, and they looked good (well, as good as they can!). That made me feel much better, to know that things are working again and she isn't blocked up anymore. Normally I take my animals to the vet anytime I have the slightest idea they might be ill, for a while there I was starting to wear a groove between my place and the surgery. But in this case I have only just brought her home and apparently stressed her out a lot doing that. It would be around about a 2 hour round trip and it's still stupidly hot up here, so I want to avoid putting her in the car if I can, I don't want to stress her out even more. To be honest when I lifted the cover this morning I half expected her to be belly up from all the stress last night. But I will check her again when I get home and take her if she has started to look bad again. I'm really glad I followed my instincts, it was acting like a cork on the poor thing.. apart from feeling wretched I can only imagine she would have lasted for a couple more days (if that) before being seriously ill They (either one or both of the girls) had messy, wet droppings at first when I brought them home (I assumed stress) but I didn't think to check them in the next couple of days to make sure those wet droppings didn't cling to them and start blocking things up. I'm not familiar with "spark" - what is that? Also, I'd like to drop into my vet on Friday (hopefully I won't need to go sooner, touch wood) to load up on any necessary medications. What are the "must-haves" that I should try to keep on hand (other than the basics like Ivermectin)? Which of them are easily obtained "over the counter", and which ones will likely need an actual consultation? I have an excellent relationship with my vet/s, they came to trust my knowledge with my rats and would happily decant Baytril and Ivermectin for me, and hand over tubes of Doxy etc. I have some of the basics but I want to make sure that I have a well-stocked medicine cabinet BEFORE my flock grows any more. If you were writing a shopping list of "standby meds" for a brand new budgie owner, what would it be? Thanks Edit: oh, thanks Liv, you replied while I was writing. I actually trimmed some of the feathers away last night, I think it helped a lot. I will check her again as soon as I get home and then go from there. I have a spare lamp, I'll grab some 25watt bulbs. Edit2: I just phoned my mum and got her to go check (heh). She is moving around and chirping and seems animated. I've asked her to check her a few times today and keep me updated. Mums are great! Will keep checking and if she starts looking sad again, I will take her in. She wasn't fluffed up by the way - just sitting, which makes it very hard to tell the difference between "I'm confused and scared about this new place and I'm going to sit in one spot for 2 days" and "I'm sick and I'm going to sit in one spot in 2 days". She didn't look unhealthy really, not puffed up or anything - I just had a hunch that something was up.

My camera is a few years old now I think, but I have used several powershots over time and they are all excellent. I don't know what model is the current one, but they keep getting better over time, judging by the later models I have used at work. My mother has one that is a year ahead of mine, and then the camera I have here at work is from last year, and all three have been excellent. Oops, y'know what, come to think of it, I think I took some or all of the budgie pics on my mother's camera because mine was out of batteries! But the other wildlife photos are from my own. My camera is due for an upgrade soon, I think. When I get home I will pull out some of the details of both for you - I'm not sure of the specs off the top of my head

I read this as "out of a clearbody hen", so assumed the TCB is the hen and the normal is the cock. TCB hen x normal cock = 50% normal/clearbody cocks (look normal but split clearbody) 50% normal hens (so any girls are definitely normal, and any boys are definitely split) OR if he is hiding something, the shifty fellow - TCB hen x normal/clearbody cock= 25% normal/clearbody cocks (look normal but split clearbody) 25% clearbody cocks 25% clearbody hens 25% normal hens (so clearbodies are clearbodies, normal looking girls are normal, and normal looking boys are definitely split - no straight normal boys)

Quick update, I covered them and left them alone, just had a peek inside now and she is sitting up much taller, doesn't seem so miserable. She's also sitting next to the water, which is good (nice to know she knows where it is, even if I'm not sure if they have had anything to drink yet). Should I ditch the veges? Increase them? Stick to plain seed? etc to try to regulate her a bit..? Obviously I will go to the vet if necessary (note: my rats and I practically paid for half of my vet hospital - I'm no stranger!) but I live out of town and don't want to put her through the stress of another trip unless it's definitely necessary.

My new blue hen has been dropping her head a lot and just seemed to be off-colour. I know I'm really new at this, but I just had a feeling something was up. While I would prefer to disturb them as little as possible in the first few days, it was worrying me. I noticed a bit of green under her and wanted to see if she was messy. I pulled her out of the cage and had a look, and there was a big ball of caked/solid droppings, about the size of a large pea - the vent was completely blocked by this big solid lump, tangled up in her feathers. It was pretty difficult to shift it (mostly because she was scared, not because it was stuck to her skin or anything - once I could get her kicking legs out of the way, I could get the mass off). I cleaned her up as best I could with a bit of warm water and I can actually see the vent now. She is still a bit messy but it worries me to feel their little hearts beating so fast, I didn't want her to keel over from stress (not to mention the indignity of it all!) She definitely seems brighter already, she is chattering, grinding her beak and seems less morose.. but she is still sitting with her head a little low, a bit hunched (not sure if some budgies rest this way). Is this something that happens commonly? Is it caused by the stress of moving around (from store to home, possibly a change in diet), or a symptom of something more sinister? Is there something else I should do, or just keep an eye on her for now? Do some budgies rest with their heads forward, looking hunched? That's probably a really stupid question but I don't mind looking dumb. I just want to be able to recognise what a budgie looks like when it's starting to get sick (rather than when it's REALLY sick). Thanks again.