SarahC

Hi - I am planning on building some new breeding cages. Normally I use pine sheets from bunnings, but this gets really expensive after a while. (I want to make a 9 cage cabinet (3x3) with dimensions (in mm HxWxD) 450x500x500 (nice and deep as these will be used for bourkes too and as housing for finches in the budgie/parrot non-breeding season). I was thinking of making this as one cabinet, not 3 rows. What does everyone else use? I have ruled out chipboard as it will get wet when I hose the aviary - I could use the waterproof stuff but I'm not sure what chemicals are in it. I live in Brisbane - does anyone know of a place that sells used plywood or cheap offcuts etc? Thanks heaps

I have had 2 budgies die now from something that I am not sure of. It happened years apart with birds of the same lineage. The original budgie Kali was lying in the bottom of her cage and had no strength. We put food and water in the bottom of her cage and after about 4 days she recovered. She was really really weak and looked dizzy. Anyhow - a few years later after putting her in the aviary, she bred, that daughter (Fidget) bred and her daughter (Bullet) bred and (Snowflake) bred to get (Bandy). This great, great, great grandson died at less than a year old from the same symptoms - found him on the bottom of the aviary and he just walked up to my hand for a snuggle, we brought him up to the house and he couldn't sit on my finger anymore and he also looked dizzy...he died the next day, about 6 years after Kali was sick. Mixie (Fidget's brother) also developed the same symptoms and died. These occurrences are far enough apart I'm convinced it wasn't a contagion but I was wondering if anyone has had this before - and if it may be genetic?

An update: Kami is still backflipping but it is now more refined...he gains more height and can complete the flip in mid air and land squarely on his feet - he doesn't need his wings to balance any more. I have been away but my parents are now reporting that he has developed an interest in crocheting. My mother is trying to make a blanket and by the sounds of things Kami would like to be woven into it as he climbs through mums hands and stands on the hook. I shall try and get a video to post... After less than 3 weeks in the house he is occasionally mimicking some whistles and flies to us when we call him. I haven't ever had a budgie that learns this fast, even ones that I have bred.

Thanks!

My grandfather had numerous budgies, peachface lovebirds and 2 cockatiels in the same aviary for years while I was growing up and there were never any problems, they kind of kept to themselves. A bit off topic but for those interested... I have 11 bourkes, 2 scarlets and 2 elegants with my 20 or so budgies and there have not been any problems, I have 2 large feeding areas though. They keep to themselves (it is funny to watch actually because there is like a 'bourke' feeding time which doesn't overlap with the 'budgie' food time). I bought all the other parrots as I needed to put my house-tamed bourkes into the aviary. When it was 2 versus 40 budgies there were issues so sold half of my budgies and increased my grass parrot population. Even with nest boxes in there there have been so serious fights, just the hissing at each other when near another's nest box

Just a warning for anyone thinking of constructing an aviary. We built one using corrugated iron (the / \____/ \____/ \____/ \ pattern not the / \ / \ / \ stuff) thinking it would be mouse/snake and rat proof (used the thick 12mm gauge wire too). I went to all the trouble of making plugs for the V's in the iron but as it turns out - missed one that is near ground level. The aviary was fine for 2 years but then 3 budgies were found dead over a week, thought they might have been pecked by birds (as they sleep on the wire). We set up a video camera and found that a rat was getting in! (and just to be clear, it was getting in a gap about the width of 2 fingers). This is now fixed and we have had no more problems. My old aviary (a refitted tree house) had a rat living in the bottom that refused to enter the humane rat trap for about a month (I didn't want to use baits) - then we finally caught the thing but he/she never caused any problems during her 'stay'. Another thing - I have also had a small python (diameter the size of my thumb) get into the aviary and attack my birdies. Moral of the story - if your thumb fits in any gap in the aviary - the hole is too big. Mice can still get through the 12mm gauge wire (I've seen it) but generally these are just pesky and not deadly to the birds. My aviary is in 2 parts an upper section made only of wire and shadecloth and the second, an iron and wire sleeping house where the food is stored. We have never had a mouse (well, never noticed any droppings) using this design as they cannot climb up the iron, but also there is no food exposed. Unfortunately I have lost a few good birds learning the hard way about what exactly defines 'rodent proof' but I am hoping that you can learn from some of my mistakes. One other thing - I tried to plant some of the grass that grows to about a metre high - the one that sprouts nice grass seeds for my budgies and parrots (bourkes, scarlets and elegants) and one of my budgies got himself dug up the roots and got caught in them (we got him out but he was stressed and died in my hands). Another example of an unfortunate, unpredictable incident. You can be so careful but things can still go wrong

I have uploaded a video to youtube...

I have a baby budgie that I removed from his parents a week ago. He is the most friendly bird that I have ever had in the house (already flies around the room and lands on me when I call, instead of the furniture). However...when in his cage, he looks up as far as he can and does a backflip...not just one, but several in a row. He can now do it from hanging on the cage wire, off a perch or just jumping from the floor. He does a backflip in such a small area...not just that, but he sometimes decides that he wants to lie on his back in the cage and nibble at the newspaper. Anyone seen a backflipping budgie before?? He gets lots of attention and has toys so I don't think he is bored.