stace

Maurice, is that an Aussie "potato-topped pie' on the end there? (Sorry, couldn't help myself!)

I'm no expert on this sort of thing. So take this with advice. But what about one of those bean-filled cloth bags you heat up in the microwave. You could pop it in the bottom of the cage wrapped in newspaper to warm up the air a bit when it's cold. You can get them at chemists or market stalls usually. I don't know about knitted jumpers. I'd imagine they might get caught up in the threads, or pick and unravel them. Might be a bit dangerous. If you were going to do something like that, wouldn't it be better and easier to use something like tight woven fleecey fabric you could just cut to shape like a jerkin and do it up with velcro or something?

Little Molly is cute as a button.

Hee hee. You're as bad as me with the lists! I'm a total worry wort. I was going to give my neighbour seed, a cucumber and a carrot and say, only feed my baby this. Just to be sure he doesn't feed him anything bad. If something ever happens (touch wood), I'm very lucky. Alex Rosenwax, one of Sydney's few avian vets lives only a few houses up the road from me. And you're very right. Death sucks. It sucks the big kumara, as they say in NZ!

Thanks too Kaz.

Thanks Maesie, That's what I was leaning towards. I feel like an anxious mum. Thank you for you kind words too. It's been quite a day.

Hi there, I have to leave town unexpectedly for a few days for a family funeral in NZ and need to leave my much doted upon little guy with neighbours. I think I have a choice of two neighbours. One has no budgie. And the other has a caged single pet budgie. Given he's not going to be out of his cage while I'm away (about four or five days), would he be better with the company of another budgie (first time that I know of, albeit in a separate cage), or alone? Is there too much risk of the other neighbour's budgie being ill without anyone knowing? What do you guys reckon?

Google Nori and salt or sodium content. Looks like it's one of the few sea vegetables that's low in sodium. I'd just chop it up like parsley, or crush and sprinkle in small amounts with their other veges once in a while. As well as minerals and vitamins, it also has iodine in it.

I was wondering the same thing and found this answer elsewhere to a similar question. (see below) I wonder if the Nori paper would have too much salt or not? I use seaweed meal in my hand raising mix for all birds. It is extremely high in trace elements and very good for most animals. It is only used in small quantities. I have used it for dogs and horses as well. Seaweed meal is sodium reduced. Don't know about whole seaweed though. I believe Kakarikis in the wild in New Zealand nibble on certain varieties of Kelp on the beaches where they are found. Kelp and Seaweed meal is a wonderful source of Iodine which is necessary to prevent problems with the thyroid, something that can be a big problem with budgies. They can develop goitre which is a swelling in the neck. Salt is also necessary for birds. The Chlorine in salt is needed to maintain the correct alkali acid and fluid balance as well as producing stomach acids. Deficiency causes upset in the balance of alkali acid, improper digestion and loss of body fluids. Sodium helps to regulate the bodies fluids and keep an alkali acid balance. Subnormal amounts causes dehydration and an upset in the alkali acid ratio. In the wild birds would visit a salt lick and get their salt that way.

I've got millet from one of the Bondi Junction pet stores on Oxford St. I don't know about Ryde. Sorry. Keep on trying to feed them by hand in the cage first. And rather than use the whole big spray, try just breaking off one of the millet flowers, so they have to get really close to eat it. Mine loves seeding fresh grasses even more than millet. If you've got any of that in your garden (free from doggie doo, chemicals and away from high car fumes from busy roads) grab a washed bunch and clip or tie it to the cage. Or try to feed by hand maybe. It's really good for them. Apparently it's really easy to grow millet. Just throw the seeds in a pot. Best to do late Spring/Summer I think. I haven't tried that yet. As for the taming, I agree with Michellet. Keep them near you in your living area where they can hear and be a part of all the activity. Plus it helps them get used to your voices. I leave the radio on for my little guy, especially when I'm out. ABC News Radio, as it's all just human voices. Silence scares them. And just be patient. They don't simply become tame overnight. It's not a case of days, but weeks. Gradually, if you keep on making them feel safe and keep on interacting with them, they'll start to see you as part of their crew. And as for the toys, I don't buy anything from the pet shops. I don't trust them to have bird safe toys and they have hardly anything for birds anyway. Since everything is made in China, you can't really tell if the coloured dyes or metals are okay. Certain metals and dyes are very poisonous to birds and some toys have bits that can come loose and harm them. Since they spend all their time chewing and tasting and pulling at things, it's not a good mix. Everything I've bought for my cage I got from these guys online at My Parrot Shop. They're in Victoria with an excellent postal service and really easy to use website. Lots of natural toys too (all made in Oz from eucalyptus) as well as wood and sisal perches etc. If you're crafty, they've also got toy parts. Way easier and better quality than messing around with pet shops. http://www.myparrotshop.com There's also this Australian site - run by the Parrot Rescue Centre. They also have toys, accessories and food. I liked the idea of using them too, but my shopping cart kept emptying if I left my computer for too long, so I gave up. Pity. http://www.parrotrescuecentre.com Good luck!

The home liquid plug-in zapper has Allethrin in it. I looked it up and it says low toxicity for birds. Still not sure though.

Does anyone know if those liquid plug in mozzie things for the home are okay for birds?

Make sure to position their seed, vege and water bowls so they can't poop in there while perched!

Hi there, He's so gorgeous! Same thing happened to me with the rescue budgie scenario. Now I just feel so responsible for his well-being. I found him, or rather he found me, around four months ago. First, read up all you can on finger taming. Try to get him used to your hand by feeding him by hand in the cage first, then getting him to step up on your finger in the cage with a treat. (millet is good) Say 'step-up' or 'up' when you do it. Do it a few times, every hour or so. And just be patient. Sometimes it seems like you're getting nowhere. But eventually he'll get the idea. This could be a few days, a couple of weeks or a month. The main thing is never do anything that will make him not trust you. No matter how frustrated you might get. Once he's got the basic idea, you can keep up the step up training outside the cage. Just a hint: don't do it as it's getting towards dusk. He'll probably want to roost and head off up somewhere high and safe where it's impossible to reach him. I found it was best not to have mine out of the cage at that time for the first couple of months. He'd always fly up out of reach on the chandelier. It required ladders, long sticks and all the lights turned off except a torch to fetch him down. There was a stage where getting him back in to his cage was sometimes a bit of a drama. Now he normally heads back to his cage by himself at that time if he's out, or he's hanging around somewhere near me so I can just pop him back in. (That time of night is also dinner time - and cooking and budgies does not mix. My friend's budgie came unstuck in a pot of spaghetti bolognese, poor baby.) Also, make him a little play gym on top of his cage. I made one with a bird-safe branch covered in all sorts of toys. It will give him a place to go when he's out where you can fetch him easily. Plus it stops him messing about with all those things in the house that you don't want him hanging around on. i've now got mine to come and fly to me on command when I call him. As I said, it just takes patience. As for the talking, one day mine just started yabbering away non stop. It might have been a month or two after I first found him. And just a word of caution: Make sure you don't have any clown around (boyfriend/husband for example) who thinks it might be funny to teach him a rude word. Mine now says: "Who's a little cutie? Rude word. Kiss, kiss. Kiss, kiss". I can never take my little toot out in polite society ever again! I've got a cute little video of him talking, but I can't show anyone because of the *%^$! rude word. I might have to start a topic on "unlearning'. As well as this forum, I found this site quite useful when starting out and full of questions and worry. http://www.budgieplace.com/advanced.html Good luck! If you treat him well, he'll be like your best buddy in no time.

Love the photo, Osman. It's great that you ask questions on here before you do something. It's important to make sure you are doing the right thing so your birds are happy and properly looked after. It must be cold where you are now. We've seen pictures of the snow on the news over the holidays.

Thanks Kaz, I checked the pack and TRill has iodine added. Sweet.

Hi there, A quick question on iodine. Do I need an iodine block or something similar for my pet budgie, Nelson? Is it necessary? Are those funny pink things from the pet stores okay? He already has a piece of cuttlebone, which he shows no interest in. And if I got an iodine block, would he even eat it? He's on a daily diet of Trill commercial seed, daily fresh vege mix, and one small bunch of fresh seeding grass every day or every other day, plus I stick a bunch of washed eucalyptus leaves in there for him a couple of times a week. By the way, he also has one of those calcium perches, which might possibly have iodine in it, but I'm not sure. Thanks for any advice. I've tried to look the information up, but I can't find anything definitive that I trust. It's not mentioned in your FAQs.

Hi Melave, I was an accidental budgie owner as well, much the same as you. Mine flew into the house as a baby and I never found his owner. I've had him for around four months now and he's a naughty little darling. If you can't find where she came from, the best advice I can give (having been there myself) is find a good cage. I'm in inner Sydney and the pet shops were absolutely hopeless - both for toys and cages. Get the right cage at the start and you're sweet. Look for something called a flight cage. They are wide, rather than tall. Budgies like to be up high and don't use the bottom part of the cage (think like a budgie and you'll figure stuff out). High feels safer. Get a cage that's as wide as you can, so they can get some flight room. Natural perches are great too. You can make one out of a eucalyptus branch. Find an interesting, knobbly branch and attach it to the side of the cage with a perch attachment - a screw thing, a couple of washers and a wingnut thingy. You'll also want three little food bowls. One for seed, one for water, and one for veges. Getting them to eat veges can be a pain. Mine would only eat them if I chopped them up into really miniscule little bits. Cucumber, red pepper and parsley seems to be the go for mine. And he only eats less than a teaspoon's worth. Just check out the FAQ's on what NOT to feed her, and give her go at everything else. And just persist. Eventually she'll give it a try. There's a great Australian online shop for parrots you can check out for toys as well as ready made perches. Reliable posting service and brilliant toys....myparrotshop.com I think. I tried the local pet stores, but they are filled with toys made in China with poisonous glues and dyes. My guy loves his sisal rope perch, his jingle washer hanging toy and this stainless steel bell hanging off eucalyptus knobs. (He like to chew the bark). I've spent a small fortune at that online store. It's seriously addictive. Don't get anything with a mirror on it. Mirrors make them act weird. If you've got seeding grasses around, grab her a bunch of that as well from time to time. They love it. I usually stick a small frond of eucalyptus leaf in his cage as well. Give it a good wash first so you don't pass on any diseases from the wild birds and possums who use the trees. (stick some cheap white vinegar in the water when you wash it, it's a natural antiseptic). Others on here a way more experienced than me, so read through all the advice about taming and feeding, and good cage setups. By the way, when my little guy first arrived he didn't fly very well either until he grew his proper tail flight feathers. Once he had his first moult his tail grew to be twice as long. Now he scoots around the house like a speedway racer.

Let's see if I can post a picture. Here's Nelson in September just before the moulting began. Sitting on hubby's head.

Thanks, Finnie. I also thought Nelson's biting might be because of the molt, but I'm not sure. Elly, I'm sure you're right about the flirting. But when he's definitely flirting he does that 'close talking' thing to my finger or thumb and sort of butts me with his beak, like he does to his toys sometimes. However, when he get bad bitey, it's more like an out of control, I just wanna bite everything on you, kind of thing. Like a crazy drunk trashing a hotel room. It's good to know I'm doing the right thing with the NO! and removing him. I'm hoping he'll learn, or grow out of it. I never physically punish him. I've only had him for a couple of months, so it's a learning process for both of us.

Hello budgie experts. I have an adorable little budgie called Nelson. At least he's mostly adorable until he get all bitey. He's just going through his first moult losing the stripes on his head, so I think that makes him around 3-4 months? Nelson is very tame, spends a lot of time out his cage, and I've even got him come to me when I call him (if he's in the mood). However, a couple of times a day he gets into a really bitey mood. It's not fear biting or territorial biting. I think it's either like a game for him, or just a kind a psycho mood he gets into, and he can't stop himself. Sometimes when he's on my shoulder, he'll start biting my ear or my neck. And youch, it hurts. And he'll often attack my fingers. Or if I'm holding him by my nose and he suddenly gets in this nippy mode, he'll bite at that too. As I said, he doesn't do it all the time. Up till now, I've been telling him firmly 'NO! No Biting!', holding my finger up at him as a hand signal to stop, and putting him down away from me. He'll then fly or jump straight back to sit on my head, then when I gently take him off he'll start with the bites again. (I don't let him sit on my head for long as I don't want a hair full of poop.) This might go on several times, then he'll usually fly up in a huff to his favourite spot up on the chandelier making goo goo to the fake candles. (He thinks they're girl budgies, the silly thing.) After being told off today, he headed back to his cage and began head butting his numerous toys. I know he's excited when he bites as he often does that 'happy and excited' head bobbing thing. Anyone got any advice on behaviour therapy for this type of biting?