Finnie

I agree with this. Girls can get possessive of stuff. But they can still bond with each other and be the best of friends. You just have to make sure they have enough room, and at least two of EVERYTHING, so they don't have to share. Two water drinkers, two food cups, two favorite swings, etc..

Well, I'm looking forward to seeing photos. The one in your avatar is a nice looking bird. The reason I asked about genders was because some of my hens get bare around the vent when they are laying eggs. Was just a thought. Anyway, it sounds like it's the other one that might be a female. We have some good threads on here for learning how to tell genders. http://forums.budgiebreeders.asn.au/index.php?showtopic=19173&st=0

Not likely ........... the first signs would be loss of flights and tail...............however it may develop that way within a week or two so watch and see. Possible other causes might possibly be feather quill mites ( mites inside the feather quill in the bloodstream ). Well, French Molt was actually the first thing that jumped to my mind, along with the question about the parents. I'll definitely be watching to see what happens next. I guess the good thing about hand raising her is that I'll be checking on her several times a day, instead of just twice. I guess I'll be watching the rest of the chicks for signs, as well. It's probably a good thing they're not living in that wooden nest box, anymore.

Wow, that's too bad about how he died. You will read in budgie literature that they can die of a heart attack if they get stuck somewhere and panic. But I've not really heard of that actually happening. It sounds like your friend who clipped him is a breeder, as she was able to give you a replacement? I've clipped many a budgie's feathers, and I've not had any panic during the procedure. It makes me a little curious about her method. Or, like you said, maybe it was just that bird's time to go, and it wasn't really a panic/heart issue after all. It can be hard to tame multiple budgies. Patience is definitely a virtue. I do think it's harder when they are fully flighted, so you may still want to consider having your baby girl's feathers clipped. Just maybe have someone else do it, although it seems unlikely to me that such an accident would occur twice. But if that lady felt bad, she might not be willing to do it again. You could look into learning how to do it on your own. I wouldn't be surprised if there were Youtube videos demonstrating it. I was afraid the first time I did my birds wings, and I had my daughter hold it for me. After I was done, I was surprised at how easy it was. I've done them all by myself ever since.

Oh, I forgot you mentioned the pied parrot with one pink toe. I was going to say, that with the way pied genes remove pigment, maybe that toe was just a random pied out spot?

Oh dear, that would be terrible! Well, I guess I'll just have to keep my eye on it.

I agree with Fordmob, too. It seems that the blood only came from one or two feathers per side, and spread around, making me think that all the feathers were bleeding. I was able to get some better photos, that show where I think the damage occured: The thing is, if the mother (or yes, BJ, perhaps the father) didn't break those feathers, what would have? I suppose I have jumped the gun, removing the chicks from the nest. I guess I was afraid that this was the tip of the iceberg, and a major assault was likely to occur next. Although this hen has been a very diligent mother, very gentle, too. Whenever she wants my hand out of the nest box, she only bites me very lightly.

Hi James, welcome to the forum! I loved learning all about budgies on here when I got my first ones. Would love to see some photos of Pumpkin.

Oh my! I'm guessing you meant to say mm! (Now I have a picture of a giant bare budgie but to get out of my brain! :lol: )

I'm sorry, I disagree with some of what Bird Junky has said. My comments will be in red. Are you sure that both budgies are males? After 7 years, you probably would know, but I just wanted to double check. Also, longer hours of daylight could be contributing to their hormonal problems. You could try covering their cages for at least 12 to 14 hours per night. Sometimes that helps throw them out of the mood. I agree with Splat. Humping stuff in the cage is normal and nothing to be worried about. The aggression problem probably comes in as a result of them trying to protect their "mate" in the mirror from you, the competition, or from each other. (Another reason mirrors are bad.) It will probably take a long period of no mirrors and long nights to get them past this stage. I don't know if they will ever be safe to live together again. That may just be a compatability issue that has worsened with age.

I sympathise with you. It can be a hard decision to tell whether their suffering is bad enough to warrant euthanasia. It seems as though you've gone the extra mile with vet care, trying to diagnose this. What medications and treatments has the vet already done? Because even if the vet can't make a firm diagnosis, it seems like they would at least try antibiotics or whatever other medications they have in their arsenal before just giving up and euthanizing. Also, you don't mention seeds in her diet. I know a lot of people, including vets, think that seeds are bad for birds, and they should be on a pellet only diet. Is that the case here? Because I would suggest that it might just make her a little bit happier if she can have some seeds in her diet. (That's not meant as a cure, just a way of perhaps lowering her stress, and providing nutrients that can only be found in seeds, that pellets cannot duplicate, no matter how carefully formulated they are.) ( It is obvious that I fall in the seed camp, not the pellet camp. I think they make an okay supplement, but not a proper mainstay.) It's not likely that people here can diagnose over the internet what the vet on hand has failed to find. But perhaps someone who has had success with the symptoms you mention can give you some ideas. Good luck, I hope you are able to help your bird. Oh, and welcome to the forum.

As previously stated, that red is from rubbing on something. For instance, whatever they are eating here:

This is the chick in question, about 17 days old. Actually, the previous day, I had found a different chick in that nest with one small drip of dried blood that looked like it had come from the tip of a wing feather. But I wasn't alarmed, just watchful. Then the next morning, this chick had what appears to be bleeding from both wings. There is dried blood on the body beneath where the wing tips lie, but no injury there. I checked her over very thoroughly, and all I can figure is that the ends of her newly forming primary flight feathers are a little chewed, and that must be where the bleeding came from. There's no sign of plucking, the shafts of all the blood feathers look good, to my eye. I think that either the mother or a sibling just got to nibbling a little roughly. After a lot of considering my options, I didn't trust leaving them with the mother, and I felt that the youngest chick, an immature 13 day old, was too young to be raised by the father. Since I am already hand feeding their oldest three siblings, I decided to pull these remaining three chicks and hand feed them as well. So I've split up the parents and taken the nest box away. I just want to know what you more experienced breeders think of the chick. Here are more photos.

She's from India, GB. That red colour is probably that red food dye powder that they use there all the time. Look to the left under profile, Vikaas Mehra is a male.

It looks like this thread is going a bit off topic. Lets get back to Freestyle Rainbow's original question, which was about transporting his budgie home safely. Freestyle, I agree with Splat. It probably wasn't the trip home that caused your budgie to die. I've bought quite a few budgies and brought them home in small cardboard boxes, sometimes over a drive of a couple of hours. I've also sold a lot of baby chicks who went home in boxes or in cages their buyers brought with them. The trip home doesn't really seem to be an issue.

Hi Bruce, welcome to the forum! I've moved your topic out of "In Memorium" to "Budgie Behavior" as it is more about the behavior of your female than about the one who died. (I am sorry for your loss, though.) I'm sure people will come on and give you some training tips for your female. Keep in mind, though, that as a general rule, budgies don't like to be petted on their backs. You might have better luck if you concentrate on teaching her to let you scratch her neck area with one finger, if she will allow it.

In the second photo, the green bird looks like a male. Sometimes a photo will overexpose the cere, making it look partly white, especially if flash is used or there is a really bright window nearby. Is that first photo really what your bird looks like in real life? With white on the top half of the cere? Or is it really an all over pinkish color, with just a little bit of a pale area? Also, is it a recessive pied? And hey, welcome to the forum!

Whoever sold you these as 8 to 9 weeks old was misprepresenting them, as they both seem to be much older than that. If a little iodine resolves it, that would be great. But I hope the seller hasn't saddled you with expensive health problems to deal with. They are sweet looking birds. By the way, I forgot to write this on your other thread: Welcome to the forum! (And I love Dalmatians, too! )

Your budgie seems to be a skyblue greywing Am I seeing opaline there, too, or is it just my eyes? There seems to be blue on the mantle and head bars.

Here is a topic from the breeding tips section about baby weights. I must say, though, that my pet types never seem to get much bigger than 30g, even when fully weaned. I have some 3 1/2 week olds right now that weigh between 25 and 32g. I've also noticed that once they reach this stage, they get more developed, but they don't necessarily gain in weight. I think maybe they just get less "dense", if that makes sense? http://forums.budgiebreeders.asn.au/index.php?showtopic=22625

I noticed something interesting about a baby I have in a nest right now. I thought about making a new topic for these photos, but then I thought it would fit right into a topic about pink feet. This is the first pinky I've ever had that I can see noticeable blue/grey color to the feet at an early age. (8 days old) Above, I had mentioned that my spangles seem to have more blueish/greyish feet than my other birds, and this chick has a spangle dad, so I wonder if that might have anything to do with it? If any other breeders read this, could you tell me at what age you first notice your babies feet color changing? It's not something I've ever paid attention to before.

I'm glad to see someone else that was interested in foot color. No one else ever commented on that thread, so I figured I was the only person who thinks about those things. I have something new to add to it.

Your first two ever? How exciting! Got photos?

Great photos, Dave. You have bred some really nice looking birds.

There's no getting away from those birthdays! Hope you had a good one!