Rochelle

Hi guys, I live in cairns. Here we have these awful green ants. They are large, white/clear bodies with light green bums. They are do hard to get rid of and they are aggressive. They are now taking the water from my budgies in the aviary! They come running at me to attack me if I go out there. Anyone have any tips??? Hosing they off doesn't exactly work. They are incredibly strong ants and can withhold a lot of pressure from the house and when blasted off they just come right back. I haven't been giving my budgies fruits lately due to these bloody ants! We have been away for about 5 months, so a friend had them. Now we are back and I got my babies back and the ants are back again within days!! I couldn't get rid of them before. I was hoping I wouldn't have this issue again! What do you suggest? Thanks!

Hey guys! Anyone selling Budgies in Cairns, or near Cairns? If not, then i am thinking about freighting some to me here in Cairns. id like to get my hands on some english budgies preferably. All the selling posts are old. If you are selling any, could you please let me know prices etc also pics would be great. Thank you!

Hi A'shaar, How much did it end up costing to freight the birds?

Pictures coming soon! My iPhone HATES taking photos. It's randomly turns off. Been a bit busy here with boyfriends parents. But they left this morning at 4:30AM.... Yep... Thanks Jenny! I didn't know that. I love tips and tricks and helpful little things like that. thank you! Hahahaha!! Thanks Robyn! I don't know about ANYTHING though! Lol Notes!? Uh oh!! My Korea are liking a little... Blank.. Just a little bit... Lol She really did do a good job at plucking them! Especially seei g little pinky now. They were so naked! I really hope their feathers will come through perfect and normal. So far, so good though!! One if the ladies at work obviously has never seem baby birds before and said "I'm pretty sure your nirds are sick. Something's not right with them." I asked her what does she mean and she said their feathers aren't right! I said what do you mean and she was talking about their pun feathers!! Lol I had to explain it to her. She cracked up laughing. Lol Was pretty funny.

Thanks bird love! They really have grown so much since I first got them! Every day they are different. I'm so glad they are growing. I have been worrying that they may not be getting enough of what they need and things like that. I can be a bit paranoid though. Lol ;p They are mentally older now too. The older one is going to be lovely it seems. He hops on my hand to have his feed, knows to stay on the paper towel for his feed then he's happy to snuggle in my hand, have a pat and go back in with the others. When im feeding the first chick, The second chick climbs up onto the side of the new container they are in and perches on it calling out for her turn to have a feed! Lol Impatient little one. Lol I think it's a hen. She bites harder then the others and its bossy and her cere looks lighter than the first chicks, who I'm thinking is a cock. I will have to put new photos up this arvo.

Thank you Nadene!! That really means a lot to me. They really are getting big aren't they?? I just can't get over how fast they grow. How different do they look from that first photo I showed you? Pretty incredible. I'm glad I did a fair bit if research before getting them and I'm really glad I had this site and the help of you and everyone else. It really is a big learning experience! My boyfriend likes them and seeing them grow and change, but he hates having a time limit on us going out and doing things. Lol The older two are going to be an olive green by the looks. I'd say the little guy is too.

Hwy guys! Some of you may have seen this inside another post, but I have finally gotten around to making my own thread! Lol Well, on Monday I bought a pair of budgies and their 3 chicks. Mum had completely plucked them and the older two had pun feathers and mum was trying to pull them too. I saw her trying to pull them out and ended up throwing one of he chicks across the nest box. I quickly snatched them up and he had a little blood on his wings. I started hand rearing them with roudybush formula that I had already bought, know the likelihood that something was going to go down. They are doing well! Growing so much. The older two are starting to perch and will climb onto my hand now when I pop it in there to grab them do their feed. I can't get over how quickly they grow. It's crazy! I will keep posting in this thread updating you guys and posting pictures of them. Sooty this thread isn't too detailed, this is the 246853787431378825th time I've written it out! Every time I have I with the pictures and ready to post, SOMETHING has to happen. Luke my phone tuning off or suddenly wiping it clean and so on. For the time being th chicks nick names are currently B1, B2 and B3. Lol It goes in order from oldest to youngest. Well I gave B1 a good look over today, to see how much he has changed and to see what's coming from his pins. The pins on his belly have the feathers poking out! Now I know for certain what colour he will be! Here are all some pictures of the babies. Here is what they looked like just before I took them out.. And here is B2 B3 leaning on her sibling and fell asleep in the mide of her stretch. Lol The 3 again B1 growing some more! B2. Getting some more fluff on those little wings. Little pinkie got the start if his pins today!!! They weren't there in the morning then they were suddenly there!! B1. Look at all those pins! B2 My little hand reared baby I bought last weekend, checking out where that noise is coming from. Lol B1 looking so grown up. Can you see what colour is coming through the ends of his pins now? I know that from these pics, I sure cant!! Lol Well. That's all the spam for now. Lol What do you think? In glad they are doing well. I noticed that the little ones crop didn't empty as low as it usually does when it's due for its next feed. In fairly sure that's from the lady at my work telling me what to do with them and feeding him the formula so thick and pretty cold. When she left the room he kept spitting it out and I was able to add more hot water to it. I fixed him up by doing what I read, giving him a sip of warm water and a gentle crop massage. He's doing well again now. They are all growing and putting on weight. This is my first time hand raising. It's so rewarding!

Aww thanks Nadene I have mine at 40 or a few degrees warmer. There is another forum and a breeder on there uses the roudybush formula aswell and she says to keep it between 40 and 45. The eldest chick was pretty picky to begin with. He would polish it off if it was 42 but anything else he would have a little and then he'd shake it out, where as the others would like it at the temp he didn't! Lol He's not so picky now. I have been jotting down their weights.... But on different pieces if paper. Lol I will have to start getting better with it! If they aren't putting on much weight, would that mean its a tiny bit too runny? I thi k runny is good for the youngest one ( he just got his pin feathers today!! ) but a tiny bit thicker for the big babies. I can't wait to go nuts with all their photos. Lol But they just don't sit still!! Haha Is the box okay with a lid? I have them in an ice cream container and a kid with holes in the lid. (I worry someone may turn in the fan or aircon, and the older baby is getting rather tall! He can pop his head over the edge!) They are getting so strong! Chick 1 and 2 both perched on my finger today! Without me supporting them. ....I'm like a proud mum! Lol I had better get onto making my OWN post and quit hijacking this one! Lol

i too am very glad its going well! i work in child care and my little baby budgies came with me today. we are going to be doing an on-going learning story with the little guys. the children will get to watch the babies grow and everything. a lady at my work has raised birds and she breeds her birds. the whole time i was feeding them she was telling me, its too hot (was even 40 degrees celsius ), too runny, you shouldnt use this formula, its okay to feed it to them cold, you dont need to have them in a box they can be in a cage etc etc. it was very frustrating... :/ i appreciate help and everything, but when i have done my research and someone wont listen to me and is telling me to do the 'big no's no's' it really gets to me. the whole time i was feeding them she was just going on and on and what ever i said shed say "oh no. no, no, no" it really got to me. its certainly not nice having to hand rear in these situations, but it is very rewarding and a great experience. i hope he will be good with a new hen! he is a great looking boy! i hope she looks after the chicks! its very scary having to hand feed for the first time! the amount of googling, youtubing etc it pretty crazy. lol its great doing research though, i would watch some youtube videos and be able to see what they are doing wrong. thankfully! i wonder what these babies will look like.. where exactly should i make a new thread on these guys? im not really sure..

Thanks Kaz. you know how you are pretty sure youve got it right, but you just need to hear it from someone else? yeah. lol i will have to make a new thread tonight and upload pics from last night and this morning, they are growing fast! the older one is good with his feeds now, he just likes it about 2 degrees hotter than the other two. lol they are doing very well, its a big relief. thank you heaps!

sorry i have been neglecting this thread guys, i have had some problems with my budgie pair with chicks, i am now hand rearing them. yeah i just wish he didnt see me as a predator! i didnt see your thread before i clipped him. i just clipped it the same as his other wing. so much better! can definitely see the difference. glad i know better now. thanks Kaz, i might be a little bias, but i totally agree!

well guys. i actually pulled them basically when i posted that comment. i couldnt take it anymore and by the way she was going i just didnt believe she was going to stop and didnt want to risk anymore harm to them. they are doing quite well now! beautiful little babies. they are feeding pretty well. its just the older one that doesnt seem to eat as much. hes pretty loud too. i think he might miss his mum.. well, they will be coming to work with me. i have checked with my boss and shes fine with it. it really is a shame about the dad. :/ you have very good points there KAZ. yep, i wont be breeding from her! but i do have a very lovely show budgie i have found in mind for the dad. just wish he was a better dad! at least he helped by feeding mum.. i am feeding the chicks roudybush formula 3. how hick/runny would you say it should be for these guys? i have been giving it to them fairly runny. especially when i feed the younger one. im pretty dissapointed with the lady i got them from. its obvious she has been plucking all of the babies for a while. sad. they are strong babies. very curious too.

Thank you Nadene. well, it looks like im going to have to give that a go. this morning she has started to get pretty severe with all 3. i have just weighed them. oldest is 22g our little guy i took out yesterday is 18.6g, and the youngest bub is 13g. mum has pulled pin feathers from both the wings and drawn blood on the chick i took out yesterday. she has been feeding them but then she goes crazy at them all. chases them all over the box and even sits on them to pluck them and the babies are running scared and screaming when she plucks them. poor little babies.

one thing to consider about the warmth is that i live in cairns. its hot here. i dont want to overheat him either. the father has nothing at all to do with the chicks. he doesnt go in the box at all, doesnt feed any chicks, nothing. otherwise i have read that people in this situation remove the hen and the cock will care for them. i did a little bit of googling hens plucking.... i didnt find a very nice one. one lady had a mother eventually kill her chick. the only good stories are because their cock would care for them or that the hen was just plucking their down. but my hen is now pulling his pin feathers and drawing blood. i thinki will pop him in over night and take him out early morning. i just spoke to my boyfriend and he said that his dad will love this. he used to breed pigeons. he will like seeing a little baby.... not as in he will love that its being hurt etc. his poor little wing is red from the blood. i can see a very loose pin feather and spots where pin feathers have been plucked. he is very sweet. he is sleeping in my hand now. a sweet little warm ball. hopefully he will be okay in there tonight. i dont know about rubbing stuff on them. what do you think? birds are so delicate, especially ones so young.

well guys. i heard peeping from one chick again and it wouldnt stop. i went to go have a look and mum was in the box, so i felt better thinking maybe shes about to feed him or something. then i heard lots of movement in there and could see mum going back and forth, she then come a little closer to the hole and i could then see her better, then i saw her grab a chicks wing or pin feather and basically flung him across the box!! i opened the box straight away and took him out. i looked him over and he has a bit of blood on his right wing. i think its from her pulling his pin feathers out. im really worrying about the other chicks now. but i feel bad taking him too. she was searching for him everywhere and called out to him. will she pull the other chicks too? or hurt them because ive taken this chick? im so glad i have tomorrow off! i can care for him tonight and tomorrow and figure out if i can do it myself or if i can find someone close by or take him to the lady i got my baby from. ....but i dont know how im going to give him to someone else. will the chick get cold being on his own? i will be keeping a very close eye on the other chicks tonight. i will be sleeping in their room too as my boyfriends parents arrive early tomorrow morning and they will be staying in our room. im really worrying. well, atleast i was prepared for this happening! Here are some pics That was yesterday^ The above photo is now. You can't see the blood or anything on his wing in the photo. He is in a small ice cream container with parry peels on the bottom and some thickly shredded paper towel to snuggle and keep warm. He is sleeping in there at the moment. Lets hope it all works out! Also, Should I wait until he tells me when he is hungry tonight? He called out to mum for a feed, so he should let's know. His crop is full right now. If I'm right he will want a feed at around 4am ish. That's a very rough estimate though.

thanks Jenny i thought they should have more down on them. the second oldest chick is huge and has barely any down, he mostly just has his pin feathers on his wings and a little bit of a tail, the oldest has more on his wngs and tail and has more down too. well, last night i could hear the chicks calling out from my bed room and was worying that she may not be feeding them, when i was peeking around the corner watching last night before bed they were calling out to mum but she just snuggled up with dad on the perch and went to sleep... but this morning mum heard them screaming out and hoped down, had a big feed and then went in the box with them! yes! they sounded very hungry! i will put a millet spray in there for her to nibble at instead of plucking the chicks. have heard this really helps and it helps the chicks learn to eat seed. they seem really quite tame. the male just sits there and stares at you. he even hoped on the wire infront of me. well im about to leave for work, lets hope they have a good day and all is well when i get back home!! woops! i closed my laptop before my post had finished going through! well, i have just gotten home and mum was in the box feeding the babies! i fixed up their food and water and mum knew i was there and after a little bit she popped her head out and just watched me. lol the lady just had their nest box sitting on the floor of the cage, so thats where i have them.. is that okay? its really quite big and i dont know how i would get it to be on the outside or anything. is it okay if i check on the chicks? i just dont want everything to go south, they are doing well! though i havent actually seen the chicks yet. mum has been in the box each time ive gone to look. i can hear peeping, but only one of them at a time, no clue if its the same chick or different ones. the little one is really really small.. i kind of worry about him. oh sorry! didnt see your post Robyn! unfortunately when i went to the atm to get the money out, my boyfrined did the talking and had already had everything ready to leave... i barely got to talk to her! i will send her a text and find out what she had been giving them. so it is okay if i peek to check their crops and to make sure they are clean etc? i just checked them. she has fed them very well! all crops very full! the babies feel lovely and warm. all looks good, such a relief to see it going well. she is indeed a good mum! i would like to thank everyone that has helped me out with this. i wpuld have been very confused, scared and stuck with out all of you! pics coming up shorlty! (and this time i mean it! lol)

It makes sense. I will try to cut his other wing tonight. He keeps on trying to fly away from us. Is this normal when they are in a new home, because he doesn't know me? It really does scare me that he will hurt himself.. He also keep hidining under the little papertowel that I put on the bottom.... I don't know why he does this.. I walked in and thought he had found a way out some how or my boyfriend had lost him or something!! Then I noticed the towel was moving! Lol

Hey guys! well, i have picked up the pair and their chicks. i have 3 chicks, the 4th was the oldest and was a fair bit older than them. the mum was apparently plucking him so the lady took him to be hand raised. well, so far the pair actually seem pretty calm and happy. they are eating and drinking. i have taken a quick snap of the chicks in the nest box. i dont want to disturb them, but i want to make sure they are being fed and that they are okay etc. im really worrying about tomorrow. i will leave the house by 8:30 and wont be home until after 5:30, probably 6pm. my boyfriend would have been home by 12 tomorrow but he is being sent away on a course and wont be home until thursday afternoon/night by the looks of things. also, his parents fly in on wednesday and will be here for around 1 week. and to add to all of this there is apparently a cyclone warning. yep. not even kidding. i doubt we will get the cyclone. i had a quick look and it looks like the chicks have a fair bit of crop milk in their crops. hopefully when i have a look in the morning they will have been fed. is it okay that i check them? the mother was watching me as i lifted the lid and looked in, she then hoped in the box and had a look at the chicks and then looked like she was about to feed one, then hoped out. she didnt really seem too bothered. but just then i heard one of the babies calling out for a feed and the parents were just sitting on their perch. didnt move at all or anything. i think it could have been one of the babies move and bump another and it thought it could have been mum... what do you think? hopefully all is well when i peek tomorrow morning. keep all your fingers and toes crossed everyone!!

I know right!!! He pretends to be this big tough guy, then whimps out when a tiny baby budgie gives him a tiny little pinch! Doesn't even hurt when he bites! It's funny because he was biting me and I didn't flinch or anything then he gave David the tiniest bite and he just about hit the roof! It's very sweet seeing the together though. My boyfriend tries to say he doesn't like babies or animals. But he always caves in to them. Lol The baby was falling asleep on his perch and he was like "look. He's sleeping. " Haha and thing he did my boyfriend had to let me know. Lol So cute.

I was always told that you shouldn't clip both wings.... :/ He likes to perch on my finger, but if I sit him down or sit him on my shoulder he tries to fly away. But it's more a long jump then flying or anything. Just to roam around the house. Tonight I will let him go for a little walk like he wanted to last night. Hopefully he will warm up some more tonight. He bites a fair bit! Trouble is my boyfriend can be a big baby! So if he bites my boyfriend pulls away quickly, so our little guy will continue biting if my man keeps that up. I tried telling him but then he's like "we'll he's biting me! Of course I'm going to do that!!" Then I explained it to him and he was like hmmmmm. Time to man up, I think. Hahaha!! Oh! And thanks guys! I think he's a good looking little guy too! It's a shame you can't see his colours well! We have awful lighting in the bed room and the blue is hard to see. He has blue around his bum and legs.

Well, today I got to bring home my new little baby! He is very cute! My boyfriend had tried to talk me out of getting him, he's not as much of an animal person as I am. When we got home I took him out for a little hold to see how he'd go. Straight away my boyfriend said to put the baby on him. So much for not liking him! Haha! My boyfriend had the budgie on his knee but then straightened his legs out on the bed, the budgie then decided to climb his foot and stand on top of his big toe! The whole time my boyfriend is squirming and laughing from all the tickling! It was pretty funny. And after that he decided to sit on his head... Lol Well the little guy seems very happy and relaxed now. I'm just not very happy that the lady clipped his wing and didn't me toon it to me.. Well I suppose it just means we can get him used to us etc and then he will have his moult and we will leave him with his wings Well, here come all the pictures!! Well, there he is! Currently no name. I'm really pretty certain he's a boy. He has quite the little personality!

Wow!! That's a lot of chicks!! And yes, I am confused! Lol You certainly seem to have your hands full! Those tiny ones really are tiny! Any idea why they are so little? Or are they just not growing as fast? Hmmmm Living the pics! Can't wait to see them all feathered up! Do you have any leg rings or anything you could use to keep track and identify the different clutches? Keep your updates and pics coming! Love them.

Thank you, I thought it was a pretty cute little shot, one of the little ones snuggled under mum. Yes, you do feed them when their crop entries or they beg for food, but you also have to let their crop entry at night. Yeah I have read up on it lots of times, but I just worry with their age difference. I don't want to starve any chicks. Are you able to use baby rice cereal like farex etc in emergencies? I never heard that. Handy! We will be doing the exchange at the petstore car park, so I will be picking up the chick rearing formula then. And then if there is anything else I may need I can grab it all then. My friend that is breeding her budgies got an egg the day before yesterday. I wish they laid them earlier! Then I could have popped my babies in there! Oh well. I'm really hoping that it all goes smoothly.. We shall see! I just got back from Adelaide today and have been finishing up my new aviary..... Put the tv on tonight and the news popped up saying there is a possibility of a cyclone. And my boyfriends parents arrive here in cairns on Wednesday ( the date it is expected to hit us) Should be fun.... Well I will let you know how everything pans out! Thanks

Oh also, With the feelings, would I have to feed the chicks at different times? Because of their ages. Or would I feed them all at the same time? Thanks

Thank nadene. I think I will put them in the spare room. I'm quite worried though that I will be taking them home Monday afternoon and then the next day I won't be home until 5:30pm. I hope if anything were to happen, it would be when I was home. With tha attacking, I was meaning from the stress of the move or anything like that. They would harm their chicks would they? Just stop caring for them? Yes I have read about food and poo getting stuck to them and then they can start become deformed and such. That's a good idea about the towel. I wasn't sure if I could keep them covered or anything. Thank you. Hopefully it all goes well.