Vicky

okay, feel free to tell me if I am completely off base... But I read somewhere that birds/budgies will see being "Higher" puts them above the other birds/people and that you shouldn't have your birds perch above your head. That their eye level should always be equal or lesser than yours. Have you guys heard of anything like that before? Is it something we should watch out for? The reason I ask, is that little Amadeus has found a lovely spot to sit up on our light fitting, he absolutely loves it up there and will sit up there chattering away. Fall asleep up there and generally when out of the cage, that is where he ends up. He does play around with us a lot, but always gravitates back up there. I've been kind of using it as a training when hubby isn't home - Telling him "No" when he goes up there, "Step up" on my finger, popping him back down with me. Then if he goes up there three times I pop him back in his cage. Hubby though keeps saying let him do what he wants to do, he's happy so let it be... so now when it's just me he gets down, but when hubby is home he pretty much jumps on a head then flies up to the light fitting and chirps at us or falls asleep. So.... vote? Is there anything bad about him staying up there? or is it okay?

Awwwwwe I love the baby picture, he's gorgeous

hehe - you weren't kidding when you said fluffed up a bit, he's like a little fluff ball I have no clue on the different types so I'll leave that to everyone else, but I think they look pretty, especially "Fluffy" haha

Haha that's awesome! Nothing like the "hurry up, my food should have been here 10 minutes ago"

I think they look gorgeous, really love those blue ones! Especially the "Sky Blue" ones, really pretty

Will do ! Thank you for the tips Now it better not pour with rain this weekend haha

Nice! You will have to post pics

Un-treated Eucalyptus AND Hibiscus for all Actually... call me a geek... but I'm kinda excited now... bring on the weekend!!!

Okay, sorry I'm such a pain, I'm terrified of picking something up that has been treated or for me not to clean it properly... I tend to have terrible luck so would probably pick the one bad one and feel guilty for forever So, I kept researching it last night and ended up on the National Parks website and clicking the "Report Bad People" link thinking they would know what I could get away with and what may or may not be sprayed... They possibly think I'm a nut case, but regardless she was great and emailed me back early this morning. Thought I would share it with you as the last sentence I thought was AWESOME! You can also legally remove branches from State Forest and be confident they will not have been sprayed. While the council parkland one is nice, she said "Most" and knowing my amazingly terrible luck, I would pick the one that is sprayed and have one sick lil Amadeus! On top of that I live in metro Sydney where people do nasty things to... well... pretty much everything... so who wants to come visit the state forest on the weekend Eucalyptus for ALL

But it's so cold! Winter sucks! I know he probably is fine, but he is just a baby and I'd like him to be more than just fine... and I think he likes it as he tends to prefer the perch on the side the heat mat is on so maybe it is a little nicer... I like to think so anyway

okay cool, thank you for those suggestions I'll see how I go Also - Those perches on the website look good! I will see if I can find some branches and clean them like above first, if that fails miserably I'll give the bought ones a go haha Thanks

He's indoor at the moment, can't wait till I can build a big aviary and have lots of little buddies for him, but until I own my own place he's just indoors. He did however come from an outdoor aviary but is still just a baby so I'm hoping the shock wasn't TOO much + we let him out to fly around most the day which he LOVES. As for the draft, no. Cage is out of drafts and we have a blanket over the back of his cage throughout the day + put it over to cover about 3/4 of the cage at night so he can still see out and doesn't get scared And I guess I'm the only one who thinks of budgies snuggling But I will stay strong, and insist he is warm and snuggled! Except when I do get my outdoor aviary he might prefer the warmth

Oooooh he's purty! congrats

My friend just moved in there about a month ago I'll give it a go though and do the vinegar trick. Will just need to dry over several days in the sun Thanks

Hello Art! He's a cutie! Have you named him yet?

okay cool, I'll see what I can find! I do have a friend who has a nice tree filled backyard... no clue on the types of trees though so I will have to ask To ensure there isn't any chemicals, is there a way to treat the wood before I put them in the cage? And I'll pick up one curly rainbow perch since they look so damn cool

He is a cutie isn't he, he's such a character too!!!! I absolutely adore him!!!!! Thank you for the verdicts, Amadeus it is!

Yeah, but they have other little budgies to snuggle up to! So I completely forgot that we have a small reptile heat mat and I found posts online saying "Not for babies" and to make sure they will not be in direct contact (although the internet is misguided!) For now we've turned the tray at the bottom of the cage upside down and put the heat mat on top of it. There is about a 1 cm gap between it and the bottom bars of the cage so he can't nibble through to it and so the metal bars at the bottom of the cage don't get hot. It's a little smaller than half of the cage so he has a choice as to "cool" side or "warm side" and it's not putting out too much heat. Also it's on the water dish side not the food side as wasn't sure if the added heat would effect the food. Monitoring it closely at the moment just in case though. Can you guys see any problems with that set up? or does it sound okay? I know you said Kaz that they are built to handle low and high temperatures, but this makes me feel a little less guilty for him having no snuggle buddy I just hope it wont make him sick or anything so please let me know!! Thanks

Thank you! I'm just really thankful for all the help you guys have been giving me I couldn't seem to get a good picture of the cere, so I took a video of it... I had to wait till he was tired though because he kept moving and taking it out of focus! I hope this works better! Budgie Cere! Just a word of warning - it's ended up sort of like a "Scary" video thing... it is very quiet until about half way through where my husband sneezes, so don't get fooled and turn your volume up or you may get a fright Also - I love how the budgie pretends to sleep then peeks at the camera (totally in love!) Sooooo what do you think now? >.< Can I name him/her yet ??? Thank you

Hi all, As you might be aware from my other posts, I am looking into getting better perches for my budgie as currently he/she is using the stock standard ones that come with the cage. Since I can no longer trust anyone who tries to sell me anything "Great for Budgies" I thought I would check with you guys and get your seal of approval! I know a few of you have said that the Eucalyptus branches were good, but apparently taking them is illegal... and I don't have my own sneaky stash. Also I'm very wary of just picking some up from the side of the road or bush as I wouldn't know what may have been sprayed on or near them which might hurt the budgie! Sooooo Here are two which I think may be okay, or any suggestions would be appreciated A perch designed to stimulate the leg muscles, trim the nails and promote healthy feet. The beak conditioner helps keep your bird's beak in a healthy state providing a place to groom and clean the beak. *Will keep your bird's feet and beak healthy and make your bird a healthier pet or breeder. *Natural thermal-lite design. *Different thicknesses along the perch provide leg exercise. *Will keep your birds happier and more secure. *Colour is throughout and not painted on. *Non-toxic and safe for birds. *No sanded surfaces to harm feet. *Cleans easily with soap and water. *Unique design with thick end piece designed as a beak conditioner. *Attaches easily to the cage bars with the hardware attached better picture Here Thank you

Awe she's really pretty! She even looks like a "Willow", a perfect name

Doh... I'm glad I checked on here... was about to get one of these because I don't want my little baby to get cold, all alone in his little cage I prefer him being a little cold more than dead

Hi again! I'll remember night frights for tonight (woops!) I ended up with him/her! just sitting on my shoulder dozing off for about an hour last night This morning he/shes been super chirpy and fluttering about, took him/her out of his/her cage for about 15-20 minutes, flying from blinds to lamp shades (turned off of course) and everywhere in between. She's getting a bit better with the step up command and even flew to me a little bit. Let me pick her up and pop her back in the cage once she looked like she was done flying and just wanted to nibble carpet which I'm not sure of it's nutritional value! She definitely takes me as the favourite so far (*cackle*), my husband tries to do step up and she screeches at him so he's going to do some serious "Love Vibes" today while I'm at work. We managed to get quite a few cere shots, sorry the light is bad, I didn't want to open the curtains and have her fly at a window so I hope these are okay! There is definitely white around the nose holes and the white bit on the bottom of the cere towards the middle of the beak looks almost caked on Let me know what you think Thanks Oh! Also - Firm but loving, I'm trying to be that with him while I teach him the step up, sometimes he just doesn't want to and kind of opens his beak at my finger (hasn't bit yet, just sort of faces toward my finger with his mouth open) so I change my voice to a "No, that's not nice, that would hurt!" and then chat to him a bit before I try again. I think he understands because when I do go back to try again he doesn't do the open beak/facing fleshy finger thing and tends to chatter back. I have tried the full hand thing but need to get used to the technique a bit better I think

Thanks Finnie! I definitely appreciate all the great advice I've received so far so please, BRING IT ON! To be honest - The breeder said that he eats seeds fine so I didn't really consider the different types! He is definitely husking them though and went through all the ones I had put down and ate them all. He didn't make much mess either which I was happy about... then he decided to fly up to a perch and spread all the husks everywhere! The breeder gave me some milk thistle weed (may have the name wrong?) but I have a sample and when I gave him a little earlier he grabbed a big bit and scurried away to chew on it so I'm pretty sure he recognized it. The breeder said he gives that to his birds once a week. I'll pick up some baby feed tomorrow just to help him out. Thanks for that With the Millet, I'm not sure if he actually recognized it, it took a little bit for him to take some, so I don't think he's "Used" to it and seemed to prefer the milk thistle more! I also think he may have been handled quite a bit - I find that he yawns and his eyelids starting to droop etc so I carefully put the blanket down over the cage so he can sleep but after maybe 2 minutes he gets restless, flaps about and squawks a bit so I put the blanket back up and he's clinging up against the cage wall closest to where I am sitting. Once the blanket is back up, he watches me for a bit then moves back to the perch and starts falling back to sleep. He got so flustered just before that he landed in his water dish (although to me that was a relief because now I KNOW he knows where it is). But is this just normal behaviour? should I just leave the blanket down until he does fall asleep or just let him stay up? I heard they need about 12 hours of sleep a day and I have a feeling he's just not going to get it! I think I will get sewing and make that type of casing... with his flying about he's spread husks everywhere already!! Also - that is 2 for boy and it is Pinkish like Kaz suggested so I guess Amadeus it is EDIT: Missed your post, sorry Kaz! it's whitish on top with pinkish towards the beak. I'll be able to get a better shot of it tomorrow! FYI: he/shes now trying to sleep on my hand, outside the cage o.0, have taken a picture but hard to use comp with only my left hand.... and he keeps nibbling my ring... I think he knows when I say no, he's trying to do it sneakily when I'm not looking

Hrm, he's preening himself at the moment and then it will be bed time so I'll start giving him various veges from tomorrow morning! As for a name.... We aren't sure if he's a boy or girl... As above though there's one vote for BOY! We're debating a bunch of names since we hate just calling him/her "it" or "Budgie"... So far "Amadeus" for a boy and ... we can't agree on a girls name haha But yeah he's now the life of the house and is currently sitting right beside me, falling asleep hopefully what he REALLY thinks is something nice hehe Thank you for all the great help by the way If you can think of anything else please let me know