Birdlove

Oh, yeah!

I'm clueless whenb it comes to budgie colors, but he's a beautiful boy!!

I got a couple of silly pictures of my sweet boy Allen today! Budgies driving cars?! And riding dragons!!??!! D:

Okay, a couple toys I've made with the new stuff (and some stuff I already had):

Hello, welcome to the forum Yes, budgie babies don't come out of the nest until they fledge, and then they'll be flying so its all fine

That's a lovely boy you have there

Hello and welcome to the forum Yes there is lots of excellent info on here! We love pictures, so feel free to post some (and we'll help with sexing steph )

Definitely!

I ordered a bunch of stuff for toy-making, and it arrived today! I got it from My Safe Bird Store, and I must say their customer service is wonderful, and great prices too . Here're pictures of the stuff, and I'll post some more pictures of toys I make out of them: some coconut rope and GIANT leather strips palm leaf flowers tubes of chewing fun lol palm links braided palm and little nibbley balls Leather hearts and butterflies linking stars and hearts plastic links tube beads Letter beads peanut beads linking thingies plastic rope plastic wheel beads.

Okay, thanks Finnie About t he mites, I was thinking that too, that I would've noticed if it were mites and it'd be spread over his other feathers too. It's just really weird and I'd like to know what's up thanks, anyway

Oh wow I've never seen a hen with a cere that dark lol

Hi do you know how old it is? And what color was the cere when you got it? thanks

Actually hilly, the feathers look more 'nibbled' up (towards the head) the back than around the preen gland. Anyway, I'll have a look at the preen gland. I've never actually seen the preen gland on a budgie so I'm not sure I'd know what to look for, but I have seen the gland on chickens. So yeah, I'll have a look. I think I 'll just keep an eye on him because it hasn't got any worse than when I first noticed the 'nibbled' look and otherwise he's perfectly healthy.

robyn - Yes the feathers do grow back looking the same way. The only reason I think it's something other than an induviual quirk is because the feathers weren't like that when I first got him (as a baby). He had already molted into his adult feathers (which were normal at first) before I noticed the strange appearance. :/ I don't know. I guess there's a good chance I'm just super paranoid; I'm like that lol thanks

Okay. So, around the beginning of November 2012 I noticed that the feathers on my budgie's back looked 'nibbled' (for lack of a better word). I asked for advice and if it might be feather mites here: http://forums.budgiebreeders.asn.au/index.php?showtopic=32277 The replies I got weren't very helpful (no offense ). Apparantly, it did look kind of like feather mite damage but if it was feather mites I should've been able to see signs of them (mites, mite poop) on his white flight feathers; but his feathers looked perfectly clean. It was also suggested that he might have been over-preening or nibbling on his back feathers. If he is, he does it when I'm not looking. Finnie also pointed out that it was unlikely he would catch feather mites unless he had been in contact with other birds. Unless my chickens have feather mites (which I'm pretty darn sure they don't), he hasn't been in contact with any birds. I'd like to know if feather mites can survive off their host for any length of time, because I think I had purchased a natural-wood perch from a petshop and put it in his cage without cleaning it in any way (bad me) sometime before I noticed the damage on his back feathers. He's molted a couple times since I first noticed the 'nibbles', and his back feathers (mind you, only the back feathers) still have the 'nibbled' appearance. His flights still look clean, and he doesn't seem to preen his back feathers any more than his other feathers, and doesn't act like his back is itchy. What is going on? Here're some pics: Hopefully you can see how the feathers looked 'nibbled back' in this picture; tips look 'ragged' and you can see stripes of lighter color where the down is showing. This picture shows an undamaged feather compared with three 'nibbled' feathers. Am I just being really worried? He acts perfectly healthy; but the feathers just don't look right! Help ease my mind, please. Thanks

Did you get the budgies back? ----just curious

He looks so beautiful How is he doing?

Hmmm... boys, maybe? If they have whitish rings around the nostrils they're more likely to be hens. If the cere is more of just an even shade of pinky-purple, more likely boys.

Oh no, I'm so sorry big hugs, and I hope you can soon get over your grief. I haven't lost a beloved pet yet, but once my budgie got out and I was so sure he wouldn't come back (luckily, thank goodness he did) so I might be able to imagine somewhat of what you're going through. I'm so sorry. <3 <3 RIP little Ollie RIP Star

Oh, okay, just wondering

Oh dear, poor baby Could we see pics of the new bird?

I don't know the mutations (not good at that sort of thing) but your birds are beautiful! And I think your english is fine

Welcome to the forum and hello Good luck with getting your budgies to breed

Welcome to the forum Flip Sounds like you're really doing good!

What kind of perches do you have? If they are sliperry maybe it'd be easier for her if you got a rougher material? Just guessing lol