moglet

After two weeks in a small cage together trying to bond these two I gave up. Sparkles just kept laying into the poor boy whenever he even passed her by.. so yesterday I put them back in the flight aviary. Poor Cosmo was terrified of her. I just noticed this afternoon he is actively courting her and she's accepting it. He's head bopping, chattering at her and coughing up icky food for her. She seems to be interested and is certainly letting him sidled up to her without chewing chunks off him like she was. I'm flabbergasted as she acted like she just hated the sight of him... maybe she was just too upset about being in a small cage? Next time I will just leave them be to get on with their stuff!

Thanks, that's exactly what I was worried about. Butcher birds and maggies are all around here. I like them with me in the office too, though it is very easy to be distracted by wanting to watch them!!!!

Bill paying over budgie talk! What was the man thinking... Yes, I am a constant source of embarrassment to my kids... but isn't that why we have them?? Then Whizz and Cosmo must be verrry happy with life as they are always at it. They all seem happy, just lots of different personalities. Tink is a shy sweetie who plays by herself while Whizzbang the Terrible terrorises us all enjoying himself in every way possible. He's such a card. The aviary is in my office at the moment (more aviary in there than office) and he looooves it as he has me as a captive audience as I work from home. He comes over and fluffs his head up and serenades me for ages. I was thinking of moving them onto the verandah as I have to move to another room when talking to clients on the phone, but I'm a bit worried about them being outside even if it is just the verandah right next to where they are now.

That is so funny. My mum had a parrot years ago that could laugh EXACTLY like my Dad. She'd think he was home from work early and go look for him. We had a budgie that was hand raised next to a baby cockatiel. She would be singing away and suddenly come out with a perfect cockatiel whistle. She had a heap of sounds she made that we'd not taught her but she'd learned from us. If she thought you were cross with her for doing something she'd sidle up to you and make big smoochy kissing sounds at you and preen you. Very sweet. She only died recently and we miss her a lot. You guys would probably enjoy the book "Alex and Me' about the African Grey that did amazing things in avian cognition and speech. It was totally amazing the things he did and the context he could put things in.

I let my birds have some grass every other day. They really like it and fly over to me as soon as they see me coming. I'm just wondering about the grass seed heads, which is testament to my mowing regime!! I know that's probably their food in the wild, but I just want to be really sure. Also, what about dandelions and the purple and yellow flowers that pop up in the lawn on long stems. I'm in Brisbane. My birds have a a dish of pellets, mixed budgie seed, and I always give them some kind of fresh vegie or fruit daily which they adore (I have a good and bad list I check regularly when I have a new thing). They have a calcium bell, and reddish grey bell which I think is idodine and charcoal (??) and cuttlebone. Is there anything else they need I am not providing??

Yeah, we had a hen with a wonky foot as a kid and she had babies with wonky feet. She was given to us and we were also told it was an accident that caused it. After the first clutch we took her out and didn't let her breed again. It's not fair on the babies.... sorry. They really are lovely birds, I love that green colour.

Well now I'm worried as Cosmo and Whizz head dip at each other, or by themselves to a toy or a bell, or at their own reflections in the water dish!!!!!!! That's funny. Budgie narcism! I had a human (he thought) budgie as a kid named Hickory. He was a gorgeous light blue, almost pale powder blue. He used to come in from the aviary to hang out with me. He'd run all over the table stealing food before Mum evicted him from that, then he'd just settle for flying from curtain rod to curtain rod and skimming our heads on the way for fun. We had some quails in the aviary too, and the little horror would land on the back of Gertie, the female quail, and peck her on the back of the head to make her run with him on her back like a jockey. Was hilarious to watch, though we had to keep an eye on it as he made a baldy patch on her. Then he would have to come inside in the naughty cage and be with me for a while while her feathers grew back. It was probably his objective to get to come inside with us. We had about 50 birds at one point and Hickory never paired up. I think he enjoyed being with us too much. I agree with your Dad about the caged birds thing. When my daughter was desperate for a budgie I bought a big aviary on ebay as I was determined the birds should be able to fly and be birds. I'm glad I did, though getting the dratted thing home is a whole other tale!! Single mum, never driven with a trailer.... at one point my best friend and I dropped the thing in the middle of the road when we picked it up, with the biggest almighty crash on a quiet suburban street. The whole street was peering out their curtains at these two women lying on the grass laughing hysterically. My then 10 year old daughter just quietly got back in the car and hoped for a meteorite to kill her then and there.... I never knew you could jackknife a box trailer either until we got home and had to back it into the drive way. OMG it was a comedy of errors.

Oh they are!! My babies are now lanky and taller than me at 11 and 13... so the budgies are biiiig time wasters. Watching them is hilarious. I will try to get a photo of Whizzbang the Terrible and Cosmo deep in 'man talk'. It is a crack up. They spend ages deep in conversation. Then Whizzbang will sidle up to Possum and chat her up for a while to keep in the good books. I hope I find a new mate for Cosmo soon. It was so sad when Gizmo died. He was on the floor with her talking to her for ages. I waited until he left before I took her away. We were all bawling by then. He just adored her. She was hand raised and loved to climb all over us. He is tame but not like she was so I would leave the door open for him when she was with us. He come and fly on and off our shoulders to keep an eye on his girl. She was only a little thing and he is so big and boofy, but if she got up him.... I love the way they get into a D&M with something like a bell or their reflection in the water dish. It gets very intense. Can anyone tell me what the head bobbing thing is?? They seem to do it when they are in the zone!

Just thought I'd put a link over to where the photos are, for whoever might read this. topic with photos Thank you! I'm a bit of a gumby with this I think. I looove looking at all the pictures. They are all such gorgeous little souls. Since I gave up trying to pair Cosmo with Sparkles (she was sooooo mean to him!) I put him back in the aviary and he's been non stop hanging out with his best mate Whizzbang. They were little babies together and are really good friends. My son reckons they were going off to have a manly chat and a bbq last night to catch up. Idiot!!! I think Sparkles might be a bit nicer to Gilbert, she sure is a bossy boots!!!! Possum is the sweetheart of the aviary. She is so big and soft looking and playful, I can see why Whizzbang adores her. Come spring I will set them up with a breeding cage as she will be over a year by then. Whizzy is 14months now, so they should be all ready to start a little family. Awwww. Cosmo lost his beloved Lutino mate, Gizmo, this month. It was very sad. She just died so suddenly, the breeder thinks she may have had a heart attack. I will have to see if I can find him a girl other than the dictator Sparkles. She was bought for him, but that's life I guess. I am saving Tinkerbell to see if I can find her an albino male which I know may be a bit hard. But I would love to pair her with one. She is very quiet and keeps to herself a lot. Plays by herself and doesn't seem to join in the usual riot going on in there. Of course Whizzbang is the darn ringleader. He is ALWAYS up to something with Cosmo backing him up.

Cool! Who would you recommend pairing with who? Or what would suggest I look for to pair with these ones. I tried to bond Cosmo with Sparkles but she was soooo mean to him I couldn't stand it. Poor boy!

Thank You!!! Thank you!! Yes, Cosmo is a gorgeous boy, a huge big gentle sweetheart about 14 months old. He had a lovely Lutino mate that died recently so he's a bit lost. Tinkerbell's eyes look much redder because of the flash, in reality they look black. Is that unusual?

Hey I worked out how to upload my photos.... if anyone can help identify what types my gorgeous birds are i will be very grateful. Thanks.

I would love to know for sure what kind of budgies I have. Possum and Whizzbang have paired up so far. Thanks.

They sure are. I had forgotten how much I adore them. I will try to get some good pics of them in the next day or two. Do I post them in the pics forum section? My white hen, Tinkerbell, is really stunning. She is snowy pure white and has big dark eyes with no white. I would love to find a suitable mate for her, but I have heard white males are really hard to find?? She is only young, so I have time to hunt for him I guess. She's still settling in and seems very playful now she has decided I am not an axe murderer!!! Oh she wont get away with that.... evil laugh She adores them too, though I think I am the addicted nutter. I spend ages cracking up watching them. It's like the Bold and the Beautiful with all the goings on in there some days!!!

Hey everyone. My sister and I had a large aviary of budgies as kids and I loved every single one of them. They used to colony breed. Now my 11 year old daughter has fallen in love with them too and I have been bitten by the budgie bug again. I have six beautiful birds. If they pair up I am happy to build some separate breeding cages for them as I don't want any fighting like I have seen occur in colony breeding. Two of them seem to have paired up, but she is too young to breed just yet. I have a fairly large flight aviary and find myself losing far to much time enjoying watching their antics! I have recently acquired a stunning DEC white hen. I am keen to pair her up with a mate to produce more white budgies if I can. White males are a rarity though I know. If anyone can point me to a breeder in Brisbane with a white male for sale I would be very interested. Her name is Tinkerbell and she is under a year old, so no breeding for her just yet!! I have the world's most obnoxiously happy boy. His name is Whizzbang the Terrible and he is a noisebox from the moment he opens his eyes. He comes over to serenade me whenever I am close by. Being a novice at this, I am really not sure of what the other birds I have are. I know one hen is an opaline recessive as she has a white chest and mask and a sky blue belly and tail area, and another huge big green and gold pied boy. I also have a pure grey and white pied hen, and Whizzy is a very dark olive green merging to dark purple blue on his lower belly with yellow mask. The last boy I have is a lacewing with yellow mask - he is irridescent greeny blue (more greeny than blue) on his chest merging to a brilliant sky blue on his lower belly and tail area. He's a real sweetie, only quite small but full of yippee beans. If anyone can help me with what kinds of mutations they are from my lame descriptions I am very interested. I love them so much!