Drew

Thanks for all the kind words for our new budgie - below are a few pics of his new cage (Sol is sitting on top so you get a perspective of the size) A few questions - he's doing a good job of bonding with everything but us humans (mirror, that hanging toy you see in the first cage picture, his millet container) We play him sounds of budgies from youtube and he just about chirps out of his feathers (we've stopped, as it's a bit like torture, methinks) We're considering getting him a buddy. 1. Is this cage big enough for two? (assuming we get separate sources of food for each of them) 2. If we do get a second budgie, obviously we would slowly allow them to get acclimated to each other (separate cages far apart, slowly moving them together over time and then in one cage) but if the new one is not hand tame, will Sol pick up bad habits from the newcomer? (i.e., bite, etc) 3. How concerned should we be with getting a second budgie checked by the Vet? We were led to believe that we HAD to get the first budgie to the vet for a Psittacosis test, only to find out there hasn't been a case in our state in 25 years. $129 is quite a bit to spend. Thanks! -Drew

First off, we never intended to own a bird.. but at noonish on July 4th, I found this little guy sitting on our car in the driveway - he was so hungry, he was licking pollen off the windshield. After about an hour and a half we were able to catch him and bring him inside. Since we had no 'facilities' in which to house the bird, I had to run out and buy a cage and seed. My wife and I have generally been averse to the idea of keeping a bird caged, this guy INSTANTLY took to the cage and felt very safe within. After burying his head in seed and getting his fill, he snoozed for quite a while (completely understanding, no telling how long he was outside) We spent about a week trying to find his owner - exhausting all attempts.. The idea of keeping him as a pet began to sink in, and we decided to take him to the vet.. Unfortunately during all this time, he was in his cage as there was concern regarding psiticosis (we have two young children) - I would talk with him, but felt bad about cooping him up. We took him to the vet and $129 of tests later, we brought him home for another 5 days of cage-quarantine while we waited for the psiticosis blood test - which of course, came back negative. He's generally hand-tame, but much prefers my shoulder or handing out inside/on top of the cage. Now that everything looks good, we bought him a bigger cage, named him Sol and I'm trying to wean him from an all seed diet to Zeem fruit pellets.. (a very slow process, as he's picking through the zeem and eating the seeds.) We have no idea of what his age is - here's a picture from today of him sitting on my monitor: A few things: * He doesn't like bird baths (although I haven't tried the misting method, I'll try that) * He doesn't talk a whole lot - occasional chattering. * I took out a mirror I had left in the cage while he was quarantined so he wouldn't be lonely - he doesn't appear to be interested in bonding with humans as a result, I'm considering getting a second budgie to keep him company * Initially I didn't use a cage cover, now I do... from about 9pm until 8am - he seems to get a better rest as a result. * When he gets stressed, he appears to pant, and then gradually calms down. * His wings are clipped, but I like to allow him to explore (as long as my kids aren't trying to chase him down, thereby freaking him out, which is an on-going challenge) otherwise while I'm home, I like to have him on my shoulder. Any suggestions beyond what I mentioned for this little guy? we are BRAND-NEW to keeping birds.. but I've definitely been absorbing as much as I can about the budgerigar species. I'll post pics of his current cage soon, I'd like to get opinions on it (is it too small, etc) Thanks much!