Nutty Pops

Promise ?

lol. okay KAZ, got that, i'm on on my own. Bet you also scared of Ratz I will keep this forum updated with my "cruel and selfish experiment", even if it means i'll be bombarded with "I told you so" Now back to my question to you KAZ quite a few posts back. Do Budgies lay eggs in winter? Well now there are 2eggs now. I don't know if they are futile and if they are, now what? I bet that has just opened me up to another round of verbal lashes.

Hi KAZ Glad to have you on board. I'm happy to hear your budgies are able to reach top speed. Nothing worse than seeing these little birds in a box cage. The way they sway to and fro reminds me the Russians Bears in a Baghdad Zoo. I have the great pleasure of being able to bird watch in my own Garden. The wild sparrows are very quick off the mark and reach top speed in a straight line in just a few flaps. Budgies are a little slower off the mark. They drop off in a long swoop to get to top speed. They remind me of a WW2 Spitfire. Same wing shape as well. With there perfectly painted body's, they do bring so much joy into our lives.

Mmmm hot topic on the Sunday. Didall of you put in a good word for me at Church this morning? lol And now I’m branded a thief bya bren and threatened with a slap in the face by Ratzy, the irresponsibleBirder. Just to let you Drama Queensknow, I did make an effort and asked my close neighbors if anyone knowsanything about an escaped budgie. There are just so many doorsone is able to knock on. Bren, our Spaniels go for awalk/run 3 times a week and this will shock you, without leashes bren, yes freeto run and run like a hunting dogs, which they are and should be able to do. I’d say that most of youhonorable members have never seen and never will see what I do. A Budgie inhigh speed “free flight” and I see it every day. Thank you for the support Squeak_Cand Finnie, however the Budgie was evolved by the Good Lord millions of yearsago and has remained unchanged. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Budgerigar Surely God never developed theBudgie to be locked up in a cage. If he did, why did he give them wings? Yes I did go ahead against goodadvice and successfully released a hand reared Budgie into my garden. However, all the advice wasbased on emotion and not fact. I’m pleased that it was, so far, successful andwill I do it again if Pretty Boy had to fly off. No. Will they ever be caught andcaged. NEVER. (only if a Avian Vet is required) I’ll stick my neck out and saymy birds are stronger than any of yours. They have “free flight” surely thecorrect muscles are developed for good health, not hopping legs. Mineral and calcium slabs areprovided for and an assortment of seeds, fruit and water are given daily.Budgies are social birds so 2 is better than 1. As long as I supply protectivehousing, fresh food and water, I can’t see any reason why they won’t have agood, happy and long life in my Garden

i suppose the fella who keeps pythons isn't a bunny hugger either will tree huggers do?

Meisie is Afrikaans for girl and Seun is boy. Maybe I can teach you some South African slang to surprise your "when we" friends living in your city.

maesie Luckily I'm 10 363 km from you otherwise I'm sure you'd come and donk me on my head. Another question, how did you land up with a Afrikaans name?

<br style="mso-special-character:line-break"><br style="mso-special-character:line-break"> Oh dear, you’vedone it again. Do they perhaps have a “let your Budgie go free day” in Englandto cause the over population and maybe those nasty “bird eating birds” or Chinesetourist aren’t eating them fast enough. Hezz I’mnot out to have an bun fight with you and I appreciate your activity on the threadI started and that applies to both KAZ and maesie. I and mywife have become very fond of Gladiator. I wantedto introduce a mate for her and would have to do it soon as winter was approaching.I contacted a few Breeders and this forum about how to do it. All andeven my wife said NO, but it is all based on their personal feelings and notfact. It seems there has never been a “Pop’s” do this “cruel”, selfishexperiment. Well the overnighttemp hit 2deg this morning and I’ve already seen them having there morning feed.As the will only max out at 12 today, I will leave the Snake Heater on. So far, sogood. So let’shave a debate on what kills the escaped Budgies. Unable tofind food (where there is a safe nesting and feeding, any Bird will stay) Gardencat. (I hate cats) Raptor(very few, if any, in built up areas and their main food source are Rodents) Rodents? Owls (nocturnal) Diseasesor falling ill (caused by eating the wrong food, i.e. pesticides, poison. Neitherare used in my Garden) MySpaniels (the good Lord has also equipped them with fright flight and therefore2 are better off than 1) What else?The way I see it is if I supply housing, food and water, there should be no reasonwhy both Gladiator and Pretty Boy won’t be around for a awhile. So say I lose them. Then I’m doneuntil the next fellow flies into my Garden, however until then, they’ll bothget all my care and a "free as abird" life and my fellow forum members now have a pioneer inthe escaped Budgie subject. they sure are Stace and this is a 1st for all our friends that see's the 2 whizzing around the garden. Because people think these little fellows look like a special "human breed" show bird and can't fend for them selves need to see how they handle them selves at the dinner table with the Sparrows, Doves and Pigeons. These fellows are tough and Im saying that if one of your little darlings makes a gap, think positive. Get a bird feeder out quick and believe that they have a great chance of making it. To the child who lost her Green Budgie in my neighborhood and wants Gladiator back. Sorry, no chance.

Why do youkeep budgies maesie. Are you a show breeder? What do you do with the unwantedbabies? Sell them to a pet shop where they could be given to a small child as apet, in a small 1ft/sq box cage with 1 perch, gets prodded with what ever forthe first week and then ignored for the next seven years. Do you grillthose humans? Gladiator has been free inmy Garden for the last 8 months. In that time she has had 2 clutchesof eggs. Pretty boy has been free now for 2 weeks as I write this is nowwarm and cosy in the Box. With European Swift and the Pin Tailed Wyder returning ever year, it all tells me, this is a happy bird house.

Hello maesa, I understand where you are coming from. My wifealso gave me the gears. Gladiator has now had 2 unfertile egg laying sessions and I feltsad for her and that's why I chose to take a "Male Cage Reared Budgie" and giveher a go at having a family. Sadly some of us humans get our kicks out ofcaptive creature's. I just choose not to have mine locked up in a cage. Hezz, you have made a good point but at the same timecontradicted yourself. These little fellows are tough and instinctively canfend for themselves. We are all on this forum because we are "Bunny Huggers" andthat makes us bat for the same team. Hezz has made me aware of the negative side of this exercise. 1. I'm wrong to release an feral creature into thearea as we all can't stand those Indian Minors, so any babies out of this willbe captured and given to the Zoo. 2. I will not cage Gladiator and Pretty boy and neitherwill I replace Pretty Boy if he decides the spread his wings. 3. I will add more natural breeding Logs into the treesto encourage the Barbets to come back into my Garden. Gladiator, who is halfthe size, sadly took over the Barbets nest in the early days. Gladiator has herown box now but the Barbet who is around has not moved back into the Log.

Yes maesie I got a big cage and put a identical breeding box in one corner inside it. I joined the 2 boxes together with a tunnel using the Cage Door as the trap door. I was going to keep him imprisoned for 4 weeks, but a could no longer stand Pretty Boy marching up and down his perch in the cage, so I opened the trap door after 2 weeks. I thought I'd lost him but the following day he was at the wild bird feeder. The trick I think was to allow the Bird to see where the wild birds feed.

Hello Kaz The new little fellow, "Pretty Boy" only cost 10 bucks. He has been free for 2 weeks now and gives Gladiator, my wife and I so much joy. How some people can keep little birds locked up in tiny little un-flyable cages beats me. What tempted me to make the move was when Gladiator laid 2 eggs. Poor bird guarded them with her life. I know she will be a good mother and I had to get a her a Mate. Will they breed in winter KAZ and say if little ones do hatch, what do I do?

Now there are two. I’ve successfully managed to introduce a mate for Gladiator and I’vesolved the cold winter problem with a Snake Heater. They are both doing well, showing off there superb aerial skills, flyingaround the garden in perfect formation and then landing in any of the manytrees, snuggling up and kissing each other before darting off, with a loud screech,to their nesting box. I can watch them for hours. If anybody else is interested in “How I done it”, I’ll gladly letyou know.

Morning Birdluv Thank you for asking. In January I purchases at least 5x10kg bags of "Wild Bird" seed from a Hardware Store, which were marked down by 50%. On Monday while showing off Gladiator to a friend who keeps parrots , he had a look at the bird seed which I've been using. Poor Gladiator, she's had to survive the last 2 months on Chicken Feed. Now I know why the feed was marked down 50%. I rushed off the the Pet Shop to get the most expensive Budgie Seed money could buy. Any other feeding tips to build up her strength for winter would be appreciated. I'm still on the hunt for decent camera for pics of her to post on this site. Stace, I like your work

My wife and I have discussed capturing her. The time she went missing and came back very weak, I had her in my hands. She screamed and fought with all her strength and at that moment I knew she wants to be free. We both know her days are numbered as Africa has other nasty bird eating birds. In Gladiators favour, my house is in a 70year old heavily wooded area and as I've said. It's been 5 months now. She's even seems to have survived our 3 Spaniels. Squeck_c, I love free birds. The European Switft family has been returning to our verander for the last 30 odd years. The Pin Tailed Wyder and his 6 wife's for the last 5 years. I'm not fond of pigeons and even less Indian Miners. Gladiator shares the feeder with weavers and sparrows and demands the wild bird feeder gets replenished 4 times a day starting a 5am. Kaz, I take note of all your wise words and at the first sign of sickness she will be wisked off to our Vet. I would think that with all her exercise, maybe she won't get egg bound. I believe budgies can survive zero temperatures. Is this true? I'll get a close up picture of her later so you fellow members can help me age her.