ima.snowbird

Thanks Birdlove. Maybe I'll throw a couple pieces of Romaine in along with the millet. That will give him a little liquid if he wants it and will travel without spilling. We have snow forecast for over night. I've asked my boyfriend to be sure the car is warmed up when he picks us up. The cage will be covered with a heavy bath towel to hold in the heat as well. An interesting side note, when I bought my 2 birds in September, they were sold with a small cage. I had nothing with me to cover it. They were pretty freaked out as I was carrying them to the car, but I slowed down, and they settled right down. Once in the car, and the car started moving, they started chattering. They actually enjoyed riding.

okay thank you. I'll figure something out... Sounds like a chance for a neat new toy. Or something!

Tomorrow, I'm taking Twitter to the avian vet to find out what I can about his feather condition and legs/feet. I'm glad to be meeting her in non-emergency conditions. They have scheduled an hour for the appointment (and charged me accordingly! LOL) so I should have a chance to get to know her, and ask lots of questions. My first question to you... Should I take food and water with him in the small cage I'll use to transport him? I hate to see any animal without water, and budgies are so tiny, it just seems they could go downhill fast if they don't eat when they're hungry. It never occurred to me to ask when I made the appointment... Diana

That's good to know, thanks BJ. Tweet, my dom yellow pied is a cross, but I'm not sure what %. He's a tad larger than the others and his tail is a tad longer. The difference is barely noticeable, and I probably wouldn't have, had I not known he's a cross. I'm hoping he might throw some larger birds, but still retain the playful disposition of their daddy.

Good point, Flip-trainer. If I have a 6' cage and 4' light, I can put the light to one end and leave 2' on the other.. is that sufficient or should I provide some actual shade? Thanks!

Thank you, Jenny, that does help. We do have swiss chard, and it is high in oxalic acid. So could very well be the same thing. Celery is one thing I never buy; I don't eat enough and it goes to waste. Well, my boy friend bought some for soup, and gave me the tops. That's one food they don't seem to need an introduction to! Gracie latched onto a piece right away. I'll check the faq's, but maybe someone knows off the top of their head... if I dice the celery stalks can they eat them, too? I think they have come to know where the salad is, and anything in that dish is fair game. I saw them looking for it even before I'd had time to get today's salad out.

Thanks, Jenny, I hope I'm on the right track. I envy people who are able to have their birds outside, mostly because there is room for so many more! I'm not much of an outdoors person. I can't handle heat or cold and when the temps are good in spring and fall, pollen kills my allergies. Don't tell anyone, but I 'm allergic to feathers, too. One more reason I have to keep the numbers down. People who know me well know I'm crazy.

I think I can add 2 more to the cage and be okay. The cage is 6 feet (just under 2 meters) by 3 feet high by 18inches. I have 2 more cages available, 1 yard x 24 inches x 18 inches. The other slightly smaller. I plan to use the smaller cages as breeders and for babies. The large cage can also be divided so I can have 3 breeder cages . I'll have to check Grand Rapids, there is at least 1 bird store there, and probably some smaller pet stores. After that one in TN took advantage of me with Twitter I'm a bit reluctant. I'm not nearly as naive as I was a month ago though. What do you all think of crossing exhibition budgies with regular? Tweet is a cross, slightly larger than my others, playful, really nice personality. The breeder I 'm getting the albino from has spangle in her English budgies. Not sure about they yellow face though. The apartment rules allow for 2 cages - 1 for my canary and the big 1 for the budgies. But they will allow me to use more cages on a temporary basis. The key is that everyone that I keep must fit comfortably without crowding in the 2 cages they allow.

I'll have to look at the sex, but Pet Smart has multiple mutation birds all the time. They've always seemed healthy would I be insane to buy from them? And what if I end up with a hem? Did you recommend a cock just for the albino hen I'm getting or is it easier to pass mutations from the cock? I guess I'll start my search! Thanks for the input.

I should have clarified in my original post, this works for all leafy vegetables. BJ's comment got me thinking though that I should add other greens. But what? Spinach, collards, beet greens, swiss chard, and mustard greens contain oxalic acid that binds with calcium. In humans (ME) that creates kidney stones. Are birds not effected by them? I did see that someone said to avoid spinach when you are boosting calcium for breeding. But I'm nervous about it the rest of the time, too.

Romaine lettuce is high in vitamins a and c I think it is.

Thanks Robyn, I've been studying the pinned articles on mutations, as well as other sites. I am getting the basics, but I thought if I could add the right pair to my program, that it would help bring home some of what I've read. As you said, it gets very involved. For instance, I know that yellow base dominates white. so if I cross my greens or pieds with my greys, I'll get greens or pieds, and no white based birds, unless the parents are split. I have the pied dominance thing sort of figured out. I was able to confirm that the albino I'm getting will be a hen, because or her parentage... I guess part of my struggle is that I'm in an apartment, and can't have a lot of birds to experiment with.

I'm confused. Why/when are you saying I should cover part of the cage? I do put a sheet over 1 end of the cage at night. I've continued searching and studying since my original post, and I've found a very interesting article on the Parrot Island website. http://www.parrotislandinc.com/articles/alight.htm Unless someone has information to the contrary, I'm going with a 4 foot, 2 bulb fixture, but just 1 Full Spectrum Bulb in it. I won't be able to use it for all day lighting as I'd hoped. The article says 1 - 2 hours a day max for small birds. I'd welcome others thoughts on the article.

I live in Michigan, in the US. Days are already getting shorter, and gloomier. I'm finding I need a light on in the apartment even during the day, for my own comfort. I'm thinking of buying a florescent fixture, that I can lay on top of the bird cage and putting full spectrum lights in it. They'll replace the natural sunlight, right? And allow for Vitamin D production? The cage is 6 feet long, but I think a 4 foot fixture will be sufficient. Most come in 2 or 4 bulb sizes. Will 2 be enough? Since they're florescent, they won't give off heat, will they? Is there anything else I need to consider? I'm hoping that they will not only be good for the birds, but will give me sufficient light during the day.

I am green with jealousy, Sharky. That looks like a wonderful place to be a bird.

If you were just starting with budgies, with the goal of learning genetics, where would you start? I have 4 yellow based birds, 2 of them are pieds. Twitter is 1 of the pieds, and I doubt that I'll breed him. I have 2 white based, I think they'd be considered greys. I am buying an albino hen in early December. She'll complete the 3 pair. However, compared to some of the birds I've seen on the forum, they're pretty plain. I'd like to add a mutation that will dress up my lines a bit. I'm hoping to be able to sell them, what does the public want? My goal will be to offer hand tamed birds, so that is one thing in their favor, but some people will want specific colors. (I tend to be biased toward the white based birds, are other people as well?) I suppose part of the answer will depend on the community -- I'm in Michigan, in the US, if that makes a difference. The albino is the only 1 that I know the parentage for. Mom is a blue. Dad is an albino. I am going to ask about grandparents, to see if I can identify any recessive traits she might carry. Any traits that you might suggest combining with the albino?

Years ago, I learned a tip for keeping lettuce, and pretty much all produce, fresh, without spoiling, and thought as budgie owners you all might find it helpful. Thoroughly wet a paper towel, then wring out as much moisture as you can. Fold it flat, and place it in a seal-able bag with your lettuce. I have a salad spinner, and when I can get the energy, I tear up as much of my Romaine as I can fit in there, fill with water, and clean like you would fine washable clothing... then drain and spin dry. I just add the paper towel rignt on top, and put the whole thing in the fridge. The lettuce is all ready for salads - for the budgies or me! Makes it more likely that I'll have a salad, too!

I'm still learning, too. Check out this website. It's been very helpful to me. http://www.budgieplace.com/colors.html http://www.budgieplace.com/c_basecolor.html http://www.budgieplace.com/c_yellowface.html Hope this helps.

Did you read the article in the FAQ's on megabacteria? It suggests that Amphotericin B is the only recognized treatment, and that your pharmacist should be able to find an oral form. Hopefully he can help with the dosage as well. If you have more than 1 budgie, that article suggests you treat the entire flock. I'm curious if breeders test for megabacteria?

I'm fairly certain these are not colony bred, since she's told me what the mom and dad are. I'll certainly confirm before I bring my new baby home. I can't believe I referred to split for hen. I've wrestled with this at least a dozen times, and I KNOW that doesn't happen... and I know why... I just can't get it out of my head! Some days are just more blonde than others. Thanks for setting me straight. I have committed to getting this little girl. She should be ready in early December. Now to come up with a name, Snowy comes to mind, and figure out how to tell my boyfriend.

Welcome to BBC and to the amazing world of budgies. Are you trying to breed your birds? That's the only reason you need a nesting box. If you are trying to breed, your birds should be at least a year old, and in good breeding condition. The hen's cere will be brown and appear flakey, the males is usually a bright blue, depending on the mutation. They should have nutritional supplements before adding the nest box, so they're in good condition to raise a family. There is lots of great information here, check the FAQ's for breeding.

okay, I'm getting the hang of it! I don't like the results of the next step though. If I buy an albino hen, ZiW, and breed her with anything but an albino male, or at least a split male, I'd have no chance of getting albino babies. The best I could hope for would be albino split hens, and of course I'd not know, unless I kept them and bred them a few times. Right? I guess I can always hope that one or more of my current boys are split for ino.

He just says, "Hen chicks also seem to have more bulbous cere and larger nostrils. Boys have smaller nostrils usually."

I may be getting an albino to replace Twitter in my breeders, so I've been trying to wade through the genetics. As I read, ino is recessive sex linked, a male needs 2 ino to appear ino. The mother of these babies is a normal blue. The dad is albino. I came up with these squares for the babies. Hen: ZW Cock: ZiZi Zi Zi Z ZZi ZZi W ZiW ZiW Am I wrong in assuming that any of their offspring the appears ino would have to be female? My head is hurting from crunching throug this! LOL I'm looking forward to hearing back.

Oh, definitely. They get romaine daily, I'm still in the process of introducing new foods to get that variety. I'm glad you mentioned that, though. If someone only saw this post they might not realize carrots are only a part of a balanced diet.