Hezz

Welcome, Moglet. Nothing like going in hard eh? I'm sure you and your daughter will have a lovely time together with your budgies. I love hearing stories like yours where the two generations are doing something together. Just make sure she doesn't leave you with all the dirty work!!! :D

With a little time you will remember the very good times with your budgie, not just the sadness of his passing. Give it those couple of weeks and see how you feel. My guess is that you may find you are ready to let another little ball of feathers into your life. Remember: "it is better to have loved and lost than to have never loved at all"

I go along with Dean, Splat, Nubbly etc, and suggest night-fright. Even a couple of budgies in a cage have the odd night-fright experience, just, luckly, not with the dire consequences of a lot of birds going off at once in an avairy. Do birds have nightmares?? Maybe she is re-living her bad experience? I agree with the night light idea. Ha Ha, a night light to ward off a night-fright. As for transporting, mine actually sit up in a small cage on the front passenger seat, and watch what is going on!!! Doesn't seem to faze them at all, but not to say all would take to travelling like this and it is never for more than 15-20 minutes either way. Good luck, Maddie

Amanda, you are really going tohave to sort things out with your mum. Why is Pebbles noisy? Is it just normal noisy or being a nuisance noisy? Does she have enough to occupy her or is she bored? Is she niosy when you are there or only when you are away from the house? Can she hear the other birds and is answering them? Lots of things to think about, and they are just what I can think of off the top of my head. Talk to your mum and try to answer those questions and then you may be able to see a solution. And as a ps, it wouldn't hurt to clean up after her regularly too - mums are big on that sort of thing (I know, I am one!!!) and if you show you are making an effort to keep your room clean and tidy, she may be more willing to let you keep her in your room. How about a simple thing like shutting the door to contain noise? Good luck!

Jabberwocky, sounds like Dalek has bonded with and is getting your toe all set up ready to mate with!!! :wub: Is he a young bird?? My first budgie started to do this with me around his first mating season, to the extent of rubbing himself on my foot and "protecting" my toe with his wing. He went the whole masturbation thing to leaving a little "puddle". What you are describing sound very like the same thing to me. It only happened the one season but after I realised what he was on about, I discouraged him from doing it (made my toes unavailable) and he left it at that. What you do is up to you but from the sounds of things you and DAlek have definitely bonded!!!! :D

Hi ali, hope you and Oscar are keeping warm over there in Scotland. How old is Oscar??

Very nice Georgie, looks like they're having a ton of fun. :)

Hi, Scott, welcome to the forum. I think your idea is a great way to get you and your kids together doing something different. Wish it had happened for me as a kid!! Can't help with the Newcastle area but hope you all enjoy your little birds when you get up and running. (Just make sure you aren't left to do all the dirty work lol ^_^

Pops, you have to do what you feel is right. She obviously isn't in her natural enviroment, so has been enclosed for some of her life. I have only pet budgies, used to being around people, and while they don't always squeak and cry out every time I hold them, they are sometimes more comfortable with being held than others. Other times they will put on a turn if being "made" to do something they aren't comfortable with. My point being - she has been on her own for some time; doesn't necessarily mean she would not accept you or a cage (aviary) easily just because the very first time you had contact (as a stranger and while she was Ill/run down) that she struggled and carried on. Of course the little darling is going to fight for her life - she probably thought she was!!! ...... ...Just another point of view that I feel needs to be considered. You and your wife are obviously concerned for the birds in your enviroment and no-one else is in the position you are - do what you feel is the right thing for this little bird, and we all thank you for your concern:wub: :wub:

Oops, that came out all wrong, didn't it???? Good on you Stace for taking in a rescue... It seems that he is really tame and bonded well with you. Does he tuck his head in under your nose??? Blue does that too, and give a kiss sound. I certainly wasn't trying to push the point of getting him a companion. Everyone's circumstances are different and what one person would do is not necessary the right thing for the other person. He sounds a total charmer.. have you named him?? Love to see a photo.

Stace, if you remove everything from the poor lad just be aware of nails as in fingernails and toenails. My male Bluey, used to get talking to my big toenail and then humping my foot. And yes, he's a talker too. Hello, gorgeous, give us a kiss, cute little good boy, come on etc etc. It really was quite hilarious but felt it probably wasn't appropriate behaviour to have my budgie jacking off on my foot. He grew out of it (maybe felt it was only a one-way relationship :)) I think, but he has stopped. Good luck, he really wants a girlfriend you know. Hezz

Oh, he certainly is a doer, unshun. So good to see he is soooo determined to look beautiful, the small matter of a gammy leg is NOT going to stop him. What a brave and beautiful little bird!!! Hezz

All a-chatter is great news:D . Now you just need a poop resolution!! Goodluck and keep up the TLC Cheers, Hezz

Hi Milton, can't help you with your questions, but welcome anyway! Hezz

Thanks, again, Nerwen. Yes amanda, Bluey is a cock but his cere has gradually changed colour over time (not sure how long). From info gleaned from here, vet etc, Bluey may have: 1. Iodine deficiency -easily treated. 2. Hormonal imbalance - not too sure how we go about treating that (haven't got that far) or 3. Testicular cancer - sounds horrible doesn't it? For the moment we are trying the iodine - it seems that the change back in colour of the cere can happen remarkably quickly once - over the course of a week or two. It's really just hypothyroidism, same as people get. So hence the updates on his story. Started the iodine last Friday so still have a while to go before we can say its one or the other. I am of course hoping for a change as the iodine is easy to give and easy to get hold of, if the poor little darling has to have it as a supplement for the rest of his life. If this doesn't work, we see the vet and find out the next course of action. Cheers, Hezz

Sounds to me as though the vet wasn't going to do anything to help find where he came from, or am I just being a cynic? Luckily he has found an advocat in you unshun, and we are all well and truely on your side. Poor little guy..... hope all resolves with the poop side of things, sounds as though the leg won't be his major problem. Hezz

Hey I know where you are coming from Amanda!! Bluey's grammer isn't the best either. I certainly never taught him to say he's a "cute little good boy gorgeous" Although he does put "give us a kiss", "hello" and "come on" to use with great affect!! :) Hezz

Thanks Nerwen, its really good to see. He used to come to the side of the cage and talkto me as well, but had stopped doing that gradually. I had put it down to moving into the new,much bigger cage, but the last couple of days he has been doing it again and gently nibbling my finger through the bars, like before. I love it!! Hezz

My point exactly Neville and Dave_McMinn. Guess who would scream the loudest?? Lets stick to "pet" and "show" varieties and we will all know where we stand. Hezz

Bravo, unshun I love good news stories. I always feel so sorry for both the people and their birds when they (the birds, not the people) go missing. Must be one of the worst feelings. One of the only things you can hope for, if that happens, is that the bird finds someone like you! The experienced members will give you wonderful advice; I'll give you wonderful encouragement!! Keep up the good work and hopefully you'll both get better. Sometimes someone/thing worse off than you can make you count your blessings, and rescuing a little bird from certain death would have to make you feel good. Updates on his progress please, Hezz

That is soooo funny!!! Did your daughter get the hint that the budgies thought singing should be left up to the birds???? Ours mimic the lorikeets passing through, and Bluey has taught Smudge to say "give us a kiss". Bluey has quite a number of phrases that he loves to repeat (mostly about him!!, and how he's cute, a little good boy, gorgeous etc) but his favourite is " give us a kiss" and now Smudge is doing it too. It's quite funny as she really isn't the "kissy" sort. I'm sure I;ve heard Bluey say "shut up" too - wouldn't have picked that up from my sons would he???? We had a situation here last year where the council were doing dog audits and people without dogs were given pay-up notices to register their dogs when theydidn't have dogs!! The "dogs" the council workers were hearing were the people's budgies!!! What a great trick to have especially if you don't have a dog yourself - don't have a guard dog, have a bird -dog! Hezz

In case there is anyone who had been following Bluey's story, Here is an up-date. He has been on the iodine for 4 days now and while I'm not going to comment on whether we can see any change in the colour of his cere (I'll leave that for a little while yet), I've certainly noticed a difference in the bird's behaviour. I had assumed he had moved into middle-age and was too "grown-up" for all those things that the "younger generation" get up to, but I have to say he is a much chirpier bird than before. Not just in voice either but he seems to be much more energetic and has even been almost acrobatic around the cage - in the way he used to when younger. I'm pleasantly surprised - if that's what a little iodine can do I'll keep him on it regardless of whether it resolves his brown cere. Many thanks for the tip Kaz. Will update again soon Hezz

I agree with the first part of your statement nubbly5, but for the rest as far as I'm concerned, budgies are bloody Australian!!! Don't know how any other country can begin to try to put their tag on our little birds. Thats like saying an "australian macaw" My beef, sorry!! Hezz

Oh Bren, I imagine you must feel so, so low. We all make mistakes but luckily most don't end so badly. I know I have made a few with mine and when you realise what might have happened it is that overwhelming feeling of relief. I get really mad with my family if they leave a door open a little or turn a ceiling fan on when the birds are out .... why can't they just THINK before they do that stuff? That's a lesson for us all to learn, as while I know I have heard of budgies drowning in a glass of water, I haven't really taken it on board. My heart goes out to you. Polly sounds like like he was a treasure - appreciate the time you shared, and in time you will be able to remember the happy times and be able to smile. Hezz

Thanks Kaz, Wow, what a difference a little iodine made!! Here's hoping for such a simple remedy for the Blue bird. I'll have to chase it up when I'm out and about tomorrow Thanks again Hezz