babychat

Hi All, I bought a new male budgie at the Canberra Young Bird show nearly 2 weeks ago. He had one short wing which I presumed was because they had clipped his wing in case he got out (for sale, not a show bird). Since I have had him home, twice I have noticed dried blood on the wall of the aviary. His wing did seem to have some dried blood on it but then it was gone, then back again. A couple of questions:- 1 Should I take hime to the vet? It is not bleeding constantly, he is eating and chirping and active enough. I am guessing that he knocks it while trying to fly. He doesn't seem to be trying that much any more, he moves around the side of the aviary using his beak and claws until he is close enough and can then sort of flutter to the perch he wants. Food and water is accessible to him. 2 The clipping of the wing - I don't clip my budgies but can understand why some people do having lost one by accident. But from what I have been told, you leave 1 or 2 long feathers at the end to protect the wing, is this correct? 3 Do you think the seller clipped to close to a blood vessel or is it because there are no long feather to protect it when being knocked? Thanks in advance for your help, Tracey

Hi all, Well, the new pair seem to have bonded. Feeding and grooming each other but neither one is intersted in the nesting box. They will sit on top of it and the hen will chew it but they don't go inside. Should I take it out for a while? They are still in condition with a lovely nutty brown and bright blue ceres. Thanks

I'm pleased to hear that all is going well Steve. I am very new to breeding and can't wait until I get my first egg let alone a whole clutch of babies. Good luck and I'd love to see some more photos.

HI, I am located in Canberra and was wondering if there are any breeders from this area?

Hi all, I have an aviary set up with 6 males and 6 females. I have separate breeding cages ready to go when they are showing signs of wanting to breed. I do have boxes in the aviary but only so I can see if they are interested. Once they are showing an interest I was going to move them to a breeding cage with the box they have chosen. I have another pair that I have put into a breeding cage which are the only 2 that seem to be in condition. They have been together for a week but are not showing any signs of mating behaviour. They are not feeding each other, there is no interest in the nest box. How long do I leave them together for? A friend close by who breeds budgies seems to have a constant supply of eggs but I have had none. The hens ceres all seem to be a very dark brown or peeling (except the paired one) so I'm guessing they are out of condition but they have been like that for several months. How long does it take them to come back into condition? There is only one that is under 12 months. They have plenty of seed, fresh food and water. Why won't they come into condition? Thanks

Hi all, I have a pair of zebra finches who have layed 3 eggs. All was going well, sitting and nesting for 7 days then the past 2 days I haven't seen them in the nest during the day. They had pulled all the nesting material out of the nest but the eggs were still in there. Then this morning they have started rebuilding the nest and the hen is again sitting on the eggs. Question 1 - do you think the eggs will still be viable? Temps here between 17 -22 0c during the day. Question 2 - is this common for finches to leave the eggs for a short period? If not, any suggestions as to why? Plenty of food and water, and fresh food too. Thanks

I have just re-arranged everything. Paired up yellow and green and put the other 2 back into the aviary. I will let you know how it goes, thanks.

Hi all, I am new to breeding budgies and have been doing lots of reading. I have an aviary with 14 budgies in it. There were 2 pairs that were getting quite friendly and one of the females in particular was spending a lot of time in a nesting box. I have moved both pairs to 2 different breeding cages with the nest boxes they had picked. They have been in there for a week now and neither pair has gone anywhere near the nesting boxes. Have I disturbed their condition by moving them? How long should I give them before moving them back to the aviary? The breeding cages are quite big so they are able to stay there for a bit longer. I have posted photos of the pairs. Maybe they are not in condition. After looking at the photos below, maybe I should put cock 1 with hen 2. They look to be more in condition but they did choose the partners I have placed them with. Any thoughts? Pair 1 (This hen is a darker brown, maybe she is too late??) This cock looks to me to be in breeding condition Pair 2 (This hen looks to be in breeding condition to me) Not a good photo, but his cere is not as blue as the first one

THanks everyone for your help. I have taken her back to the pet shop today. I'm not sure if that was the right decision or not. I loved her colours and would have loved to have bred with her but she wasn't quite right from the beginning, adding her age I think I'm better off getting a younger healthy bird. Thanks again.

Hi, Thanks for your feedback. I will move the nesting box to the outside up higher. This is a larger cage I have split in half. The bottom half doesn't have a hole to be able to attach a nesting box outside. Should I put the box up on blocks or something to get it higher? Thanks

Hi all, Can anyone tell me if this behaviour is the beginning of a mating ritual? They were getting very friendly and several times I observed the male trying to mount the female, unsuccessfully (that I saw). I moved them from the aviary yesterday and put them together in a cage with a nesting box, then this morning they have started this backwards and forwards running and hopping. I'm hoping that this is some sort of a mating dance and that there will be a successful mating soon. Link to video below. http://s1337.photobu...zpsf67bbb04.mp4 Thanks, babychat

Thanks Robyn. I'm not sure what she is, I'm thinking she is a spangle and an opaline as she has the reverse head markings and the body color running through that and I'm really not sure what to say about her wings. (Photo below.) Would that make her a cobalt spangle/opaline? I'm still learning all these different mutations. :thankyou:

Thanks Nadene, that was very informative. Do you think she would be too old to try and breed?

I have just been back to the shop where I bought her. They have said the ring does not state the year, it is the colour. They also suggested she might be a bit dozy because we have just had a cold snap and she went from a warm shop to fluctuating temperatures outside. Does that seem reasonable to anyone? Robyn, I have removed her and will wait to see what happens in the next few days. Thanks for your help :-) Babychat

Thanks Nerwen, so does that mean she would have been a 2008 budgie? And if so, I'm guessing she's too old to breed? Thanks again.

Hi all, I am fairly new to budgies and have not seen a lot of different behaviours so am hoping someone here can help me. I purchased a new adult female last week from a pet shop but they could not tell me how old she was. She came from a show breeder but that was about all they could tell me. I loved her colouring and would like to breed from her. Since I have brought her home and put her into the aviary she seems to sleep most of the time. Even when the other birds are very active she just sits quietly or is asleep. Yesterday and today she seems to be spending more time at the bottom of the aviary. Sometimes on the floor, sometimes on a ladder that is in there. She can fly okay and is eating but just seems to have no energy. I am now wondering whether she is an old bird. She has a ring on with the following :- NSW gws x8 010 - Can anyone tell me what this means and if it says how old she is. I have attached a photo too, Thanks, babychat

Thank you everyone for your help. :thankyou:

Hi, I am new to this forum and to budgie rearing in general. I am hoping someone can tell me if this bird is a cock or a hen. The cere is a kind of grey/blue, but not a convincing blue. Age is around 6 months. And am I correct in saying it is a double-factor spangle? Its eyes are black not red so not an albino. Also, I know this is a budgie page but I have posted a picture of a finch too in hopes that someone can tell me what sex that one is. Thanks in advance for your help. Snowy at 3 months Snowy now at 6 months The finch, if anyone can help :-)