Radien

Well then, as requested, here's another video of Qwerty. I have another one that's more amusing, but I have a problem with it so I'll have to try again next time. I also tried getting the head-scratching on film, but Qwerty wasn't in the mood when I had someone in the room to hold the camera. Oh, I wish I had three arms. You should at least watch the entire opening. But bring some tissues.

Yes, you should ask him specifically. Your little budgie may be named after this creature. :rip: I think I vaguely remember that other quote, but for some reason I've never seen A Fish Called Wanda uninterrupted from start to finish.

The image below that line, silly, not in the middle of it. :what: Essentially Qwerty's initiating it, though she tends to rub her head on lots of things (guess it's just itchy). Yes, perhaps holding your finger still will work. Whatever gets the budgie to treat your finger like another bird's beak. My first budgie (a male) would bill with my finger through the cage bars when I wiggled it around. Edit: Your bird's name makes me think of the movie "Up"...

Okay, good to hear. Yep, gold rush indeed. I just wasn't sure how universal Applachian language would be, and I don't particularly want to be mistaken for one. About the head-scratch...well, this may not work for you, given each bird's peculiarities, but I'll tell you what I did: Qwerty can be quite moody, but often affectionate at the same time. If I hold my finger out in front of her beak, she'll start to complain and chew on it. When the finger doesn't move, she'll typically quiet down and start rubbing her head on it (she does this to my nose sometimes, too). When that happens, I attempt to move my finger around and start actively scratching her neck. Often, Qwerty accepts, and leans into it. It must feel pretty good since I'm usually allowed to do it for awhile. But it only ever works when I allow Qwerty to initiate it (this is starting to become a trend with Qwerty). Oh, I've started saying "she." This is because Qwerty is exhibiting what looks like a pink cere with white rings. Female still seems like a good bet. Thank you! I tried that with the playground, but only left it there for a day or two. Qwerty is curious, yes, but also very fearful... she won't go near any untested perch, and keeps running back to me after encountering something unfamiliar...even more so than when she first came home. Today Qwerty flew away in a panic from a gum wrapper ... :what: No worries... I was joking too. Okay, I'll try to get some video this weekend. In the meantime, here's a small image: ...and here's a bigger one: http://i49.tinypic.com/k9jx4.jpg

I think I was too eager to introduce Qwerty to the playground when I first got it. Then Qwerty was all " " Anyway, thanks, I'll keep trying. Curiosity and food are working slowly. It may take a few more days, but Qwerty knows that there's millet in them thar hills, and has gone far enough to retrieve it from the bottom of the box tray and run back to my hand. Oh, a fun development: I have managed to convince Qwerty to willingly accept head scratches. It's extremely cute, and if didn't take both hands to do it (one to provide a perch), I'd have a video of it by now. (P.S. - A disclaimer: "them thar hills" is just a joke. No, I don't actually talk like that.)

Thank you! I just got back from a three day trip, and Qwerty seems to be doing well. Lots of little warbling chirps and attempts to feed seed to people and toys alike. I'm having trouble conving Qwerty that the birdie playground I got for Christmas is not, in fact, a giant death machine, but I'm sure curiosity will win in the end.

I certainly hope I didn't! Glad you two liked the video. :rofl: Does Romeo like to play with a ball? Ahh, right on the coast. That makes a big difference. I'm in the Willamette Valley, about 2-3 hours from the coast. It rains fairly often, and sometimes it freezes in winter. Our winter weather isn't very harsh, but it's pretty dreary until March or so.

Hi there! Glad you enjoyed the video. Yes, violet factored seems to be very similar to cobalt blue. I am slightly disappointed that there's not a vibrant shade of purple in the budgie color spectrum, but it's no big deal. After all, color has nothing to do with personality (as far as I know). No, I am not at all sure Qwerty is a boy. In fact, I'm leaning toward female. I'm just trying not to waffle too much. My family got used to using male pronouns, so I don't want to correct them until I'm sure. So, do you think Qwerty's cere looks white? Don't worry about it... I often like to make jokes that only some people get. My theory is the more obscure a joke is, the more priceless it is for the people who get it. Of course, "qwerty" is pretty easy to explain.

Well then, thank you much. I guess I'll just boil it down to two questions: 1. Qwerty likes to jump down on the keyboard and bite my fingers if I start typing. Any idea what might be the birdy reasoning behind this? Is Qwerty jealous that I'm paying attention to the computer screen? 2. Are recordings an effective way to teach a budgie to talk (or mimic other noises)? I try to use falsetto when I teach my bird phrases, but it's sort of tough on the voice. For that matter, will recorded budgie noises discourage a bird from learning human speech? I see what you're getting at about the book. Do you think maybe it'll help me ask the right questions, though? I guess I'm in the minority among Americans. You see, when I was about 8, I asked my parents for a parakeet. They showed concern that I'd be responsible enough to take care of one. Secretly, I started feeding the cat to show them I was responsible. After they realized what I was doing, they bought me a book on budgies to test me. I read it from cover to cover. Shortly thereafter I got my first budgie. So anyway, I've been calling them budgies since I was a little kid, so I can't comprehend owning one and not knowing its proper name. I did forget a lot over the years, though, which is why I'm here. Thanks for the welcome! Yes, what you're saying about Qwerty's coloring sounds very likely. If you're in BC, you know all about grey skies in winter, eh? That's the only thing I don't like about the Pacific Northwest. Is it pretty frozen up in BC right now? Yes, curious birds are fun to watch. Would you like to watch too? I just uploaded a YouTube video of Qwerty.

Well, looks like my topics got merged. That's probably for the best. Thanks for the words of encouragement. True, grumpy and curious is better than unfriendly and withdrawn. Qwerty has already decided that my head his a comfy, safe little tree topped with hair. So I guess Qwerty trusts me, even if s/he doesn't trust the cuttlebone. Hey, I just got a book on budgies. It's titled "The Parakeet Handbook," so I guess I have to admit I was overly optimistic; more people in America term them "parakeets" than I originally thought. Anyway, hopefully it'll take care of some of the boring neophyte questions I was asking.

Well, we are all prisoners of the language we speak; my only goal is to be understood. If you call them something else, just tell me and I'd be happy to use your terminology, regardless. I hadn't heard the term "English budgie" until a few weeks ago. I just thought it would be helpful to the breeders here if I tried to be a little more specific. Sorry it didn't help. :/ Most budgie owners I've met in America know they're called budgies. It's the non-bird-lovers who just call them "parakeets," much like they'd see a macaw and simply call it a "parrot." You don't exactly see tropical birds in the wild here (at least, not in Oregon), so I don't really blame them. It's not really incorrect, it's merely vague... like saying "I just got a bird!" :laughter: I guess it's possible my bird won't gain a violet hue, but even if it does, it'll be pretty subtle. Perhaps if I wanted an interesting color I should have gotten the white/grey one. Oh well. I mostly just want a friendly, playful bird. I'll get you more pictures once we have a day when the sky isn't a uniform shade of grey. What's the weather like down in Australia? Isn't it summer for you guys? Jealous. :rofl: I'm glad you all like the name "Qwerty." Most people who actually get the joke seem to like it.

Oh, I certainly noticed the mother's name. Love the egg puns. I'd make more, but you seem to have mentioned all the good ones.

I can see myself doing this if I bred budgies... and that's why I never wanted to become a veterinarian even though I love animals. I just don't think I could stand the heartbreak. Speaking from an uneducated consumer standpoint, I really think budgies are worth more than they sell for, at least in the U.S. Compared to the cost of food, cage, toys, etc., the price of the bird is negligible compared to everything else. That's why I didn't blink at paying US$25 for a tame, hand-fed budgie. Especially since it took me several months to find a local breeder with budgies in stock, thanks to the U.S. economy, which is understandably scaring off the people who breed budgies as a hobby.

Thanks! :rofl: Well, lavender isn't a breed, just the color that was described to me. See below. By "American" I meant to differentiate it from the English Budgie. English Budgies are larger than what we normally see here, and since they were first popularized in Britain (if that's actually true), I simply assumed that they were bred smaller here in America. If the size we typically have here is also found beyond the Americas, well... I guess I'd be interested to know that. Oh, and when I say "lavender," I mean that s/he is supposed to become more purplish eventually. But right now the plumage is basically just blue. You can detect some faint violet/lavender if you look really closely (though it might be hard with the pictures). I agree with your suspicions. I've had a female non-hand-fed budgie before (wasn't a good experience), and a male hand-fed budgie, and this one does seem to have some female traits. Sorry about the picture quality. Those are both without a flash, but my room has horrible natural lighting this time of year. It's very cloudy throughout winter in Oregon, so it's hard to get a good picture without color distortion. Looking at my budgie up close, I see white with a little bit of pink and a little bit of blue. But... curse this winter lighting. Here's the best one I've managed to take; the photo still has a little bit of a blue tint to it, though. http://i48.tinypic.com/mvjali.jpg And... thank you! Thank you from me and my budgie! :laughter:

While I'm fond of the name "Pixel," I was just discussing it with my sister, and considering this bird has an obsession with my keyboard, I might want to go with another one of my possible names that I had on my list: Qwerty.

Wow... I'm no expert, but I love that plumage. It certainly helps me appreciate the bird to see it grow up in pictures. And "Quiche" is a pretty clever name, ha.

Well, there's a few bits of information I haven't heard before. Thanks, I'll read up on that FAQ. By the way, I spend a lot of time with this little guy out of his cage, although there are times when he is in his cage alone. I'd better not start a whole discussion about it here, though, because I just started a topic in Bringing Home a New Budgie. By the way, I am probably going to name my budgie "Pixel." I've delayed because I've wanted to name him for his personality, but I'm not sure that's going to work due to the transition process.

Hey there, I have a new budgie that I've been introducing to my home. It's been a little rough, and I was hoping to get some advice. I've read various FAQs on the subject, but they don't seem to help much because my new budgie (yet unnamed) is perfectly tame; he's just having trouble with the transition. I got my presumed-male lavender from a breeder who seems very knowledgeable; he runs the local bird rescue and cares a lot about birds. He also spends a lot of time with new birds to make sure they can bond with humans. My budgie came completely hand-tamed, and he isn't afraid of humans at all. In fact, he preferred to stay OUT of his cage at first. My problem involves getting him accustomed to his cage and me. The first difficult is he chews...everything. Including me. He'll bite my thumbnail when he's on my hand, and investigates my face and clothing by chewing on it. Unsurprisingly, the first toy he took to was a grooming toy I made by attaching cotton fabric strips to a plastic chain (with the breeder's advice). But he still chews on everything else, too. Is this a stage, or am I going to have to do something about it? Secondly, he's just generally moody. I try never to force him to do anything he doesn't want to, but he "complains" all the time, even while eating. It's strange because he seems content to perch on my finger and likes being talked to. Lastly, a really weird problem: he's claimed my computer keyboard. I have a slide-out keyboard rack, and he likes to jump onto it, then hide behind the keyboard and chew on the keys. Cute as heck. The problem is that he pecks at my fingers are complains whenever I type or move the mouse. And he keeps flying back to it every time I move him. Augh!! I suspect he's decided there are budgies living down there, since it's very close to the speakers and I play budgie noises for him when he's bored. But moving the speakers didn't help. I think I've blabbed enough. Does anybody have any recommendations for an eager new owner? Ha, I'm pretty new here, and already sponging for advice. I hope you don't mind.

Hi there. I'm a new budgie owner, and I wanted to find some like-minded bird lovers to talk with. I'm from the state of Oregon, USA. This seemed like the most reliable large site I could find, and since budgies are Australian, I figured "hey, why not?" I'm a pet owner rather than a breeder; I have an American lavender budgie. He's about 8 weeks old, I believe, and was hand-fed and tamed by a good breeder. One reason I'm here is because I'd like to get some advice about making friends with him. Anyway, good to see you all, and I hope my company is tolerable or better. Oh, and I might as well post some pictures of the little guy.