Aquafroste

Okay, so recently I have been researching a lot about how budgies need a lot of different variety perches, but some pet stores offer many trash and possibly harmful products. I do think my budgies' nails are pretty long, but the problem is all of their nails are black, so I can't trim them myself without guessing where the quick is. I also have never trimmed them before, so I don't want to risk it. Are there any specific perches that you guys recommend I use? And can you tell me some perches that should be avoided? I am very confused because some people say "get this perch" and other people say that the perch is very dangerous... So I'm going to list some possible perches and see what you guys think: 1. http://www.amazon.com/Living-World-Pedi-Perch-Medium-Color/dp/B0002DGYZK/ref=lh_ni_t?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=A2701FG002WN6Z (Are pedicure perches good? Or are they bad?) 2. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000K8T6ZW/ref=ox_sc_act_title_2?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER 3. Sand perches...I've heard a lot of negative feedback on those, but I'm not sure if it's actually true...Are they harmful? 4. Do cement perches work? I want to add some things like a rope perch in there but I've heard that you need your budgies' nails to be trimmed first because they can easily get caught... So again, what should I do? Note: My budgies are not tamed, and I have 2 pairs of budgies in separate cages. Thanks, Aquafroste

I'm starting to get a little worried about their stools, because they don't seem quite normal... I'll post a photo of them tomorrow. But I saw today that the female was using the cuttlebone

She's doing a little better... She doesn't seemed to be puffed up all the time, the other day I checked and saw her looking a little stiff and scared for some reason, and I tried to make her feel comfortable by feeding her some seeds, but maybe she was being content. But the day when she consumed quite a large amount of the cuttlebone was possible a couple weeks ago...I'm not sure if she is still using the cuttlebone or not. The two chicks still have watery stools, and it's been a few months ever since they started eating seeds. Is this still normal?

Um... My female isn't really tame... So I tried looking at her again, and I noticed that her feathers are kind of unruffled near her vent, but it's not swollen. One day she consumed like one third of the cuttlebone... And lately I haven't observed her touching it that much since. Would not putting the nesting box in cause her to have egg bound because she doesn't have a place to lay her eggs? I'm confused, how do tumors form??? And I don't have any vitamin supplements, but I could try getting some if you know any specific ones that will help. I also know that puffing up can also be a sign of content? She is interacting with the male quite often. Still not sure whether or not I should put the nesting box back... Would it harm her if she laid too many eggs?

I've been breeding two budgies. There's another forum that talks about my experiences so far: http://forums.budgie...showtopic=33062 So at the moment, I have the mom and dad budgie in a cage together and I put the two baby budgies in a separate cage. I've noticed that the mom and dad are still in breeding condition months after they had their first round...About two months perhaps? The mother has been acting strangely, because she is puffed up sometimes and she is arching her back so that her back is quite flat and her tail is horizontal. I've noticed a lump near her bottom, and I don't know if that could be egg bound. She has calcium, as I have a cuttlebone in there. I don't know whether or not I should put her nesting box back in the cage...Because I don't want her to start another round because I researched online that it can be dangerous for her to lay too many eggs per year. Please tell me if I can avoid starting another round of chicks without causing her to be egg bound. Or tell me if I need to put the nesting box back so she has a place to lay her eggs I'm in need of help!

Oh no I'm scared... Okay so I took out the nesting box, and it's been a few weeks when the young budgies are on their own and the parents are together... But I've noticed that the female's cere is still crusty and the male's cere is still dark blue...I've researched and I found out that this means that they are still in breeding condition. Does that mean that the female has an egg in her? She's started to get puffy lately...And her tail tip twitches a little bit...She's not that active, but she was like that when she was caring for the babies...Is she egg bound? Should I put the nesting box back in so she can lay her eggs??? Please help!!! here are some photos: She hasn't touched her cuttlebone lately...

Is it okay to give my budgies cooked veggies? Like for example, sweet corn? (Well that's boiled not cooked)

Okay, So I will try giving the budgies different foods,but do you have any idea when I should take out the vegetables and fruit once I left them in the cage for a while? And for some reason the baby budgies are still occasionally wandering on the bottom of the cage...?

I have tried offering some carrot to the baby budgies, but so far they haven't touched anything yet. Is there any other veggies that you recommend? And thank for the tip about the watery droppings!

Thank you for explaining! Okay I have a new arrangement for the budgies: First I noticed that there was urine around some of the droppings in the cage where it contained the mother and the chicks. I did some research and found out that this could be due to the fact that the mother was stressed out, so I did try and grab the mother budgie with a washcloth to put the mother with the father. The mother was terrified and I could not grab her in the washcloth, because she was flying around the cage way too fast. I then decided that I shouldn’t put the mother budgie with the male. Later on, I realized that the mother was chasing one of the baby budgies (the one that was begging for food) and she was pecking at him pretty aggressively. I lined the two cages up (the other cage containing the father budgie) and opened up the cage doors. The mother flew into the other cage and that left the chicks on their own. The mother and father were happy for a few days, because the mother budgie was occasionally bobbing her head up and down. Then they settled back down into only (I like you but I won’t really interact with you) type of relationship again. The chicks were doing fine: I still had both of the cages lined up right next to each other, so the chicks learned how to eat from the seed bowls. (I put in some dispensers and they found that easier to reach so the chicks are eating from that now). The chicks were longing to get into the other cage, and the mother showed interest in the chicks, along with the father. I’m thinking of putting them all back together once I know what gender the chicks are. I’m thinking that the splayed leg chick is a male, because his cere is slightly blue. Still not sure about the other chick though. I’m still wondering about the urine with the droppings: The other day I found a small pool of urine on the cage floor, but it wasn’t as severe as the other day. (This is in the cage with the chicks). The splayed leg chick seemed to adjust to the perches so he can get around a little easier now

Okay thanks for letting me know!

So one day my male budgie's head had uneven feathers, and it seemed to me like a dark line on his head. At first I thought he just ruffled his feathers...But it's still there today and it was more noticeable today. After I looked at it, the line was kind of red. I'm confused is my budgie sick...? Here are some pictures: Is this normal?

Hi, I posted some pictures of the splayed leg chick above. It CAN perch, but it cannot move from side to side and the chick is unbalanced. I also noticed a really strange behavior coming from one of the chicks? (The other chick). I believe that they are both males, but I might be wrong. So what happened was that the non-crippled chick was chasing after the mother, and it was trying to nibble at the feet and feathers of the mom. The mom pecked at the chick because she clearly didn't like it, but I believe the chick wants to groom his mother, and I'm confused? The chick was bobbing its head up and down... It can't possibly be because the chick wants to...uh...mate? The chick is WAY too young, but I'm disturbed by this. I don't want the mom to like the chick more than the father, because I plan to put the mom back with the father in the separate cage. I tried carrying the cage that the father was in into the same room that contained the other cage, and the mom started bobbing her head and flying around the cage. I think that the mom misses the father. I'll see what happens once I put the mom with the father on Friday. (Oh, and the two chicks can eat, it's just that they only eat the seed when I bring it up to them. They can't go down to the seed bowl by themselves.) Can anyone tell me what's happening between the chick and the mom? Also if I should put the mom with the father and leave the chicks alone in a separate cage? Thanks, Aquafroste

Okay, I took the nesting box away from the mother so that she will not lay any more eggs. But the male budgie is in a separate cage, and Finnie wanted me to separate the parents for a week? Now there are two budgie chicks in the cage with the mom, and the dad in a separate cage. Should I put one of the chicks with the father? He does seem lonely...Also is it possible that the two parents can breed again next breeding season?

I think there's another issue. I have a splayed leg chick, and the splint doesn't seem to have worked... Here's some pics: And here's the other older budgie: THe splayed leg chick cannot stand on the perches! It keeps on falling off when I tried it when I took it outside of the nesting box. Any suggestions on what to do? ~Aquafroste

Oh you mean about the father budgie? I'm pretty sure that the mother budgie is eating, but it seems to only occur when the male budgie is right next to her cage. I'm taking off the splint of the splayed leg budgie today, I hope it works.

Uh... The chicks are being fed, because the Mother budgie is feeding them. And what do you mean by putting a stone in the funeral grounds...

Lol, not trying to give you flack, but I will say that you are lucky if you've never had a problem. I have. And once you witness the mother bleeding terribly from trying to keep the attacking father away from the chicks, and then when you remove the badly injured mother to a hospital cage, turn around, and see the father viciously attacking the chicks in the nest, you will realize that IF the parents are starting to fight, it is nothing to fool around with. Or ask other forum members who have had the mother turn on newly fledged chicks and outright kill them. And then you will realize that even though things usually go well, it is important to watch out for when they go bad. Aquafroste, one thing that should probably have been mentioned- when you take the father away, you should put him in a far away room where the parents can't hear each other. They will understandably be upset at being separated, and will frantically call to each other. Sometimes I can't do that though, and it's not the end of the world. Even if the mother is not feeding them or being much of a good example, they are old enough that they should learn to eat by themselves anyway. Yes I have made my mind after observing today, that I will not put the male budgie back in the cage. I tried this morning, but then immediately the father budgie started pecking at the baby budgies and the mother budgie was screeching. The father and mother started a quite violent fight, but then I immediately put the father budgie back in the other cage. Should I separate the parents in different rooms? Because the male seems lonely if I do separate them, but it may be for the best.

I have an all seed diet for my budgies. I'm in trouble right now because I'm really torn between putting the father budgie back in the cave with the mother budgie or not. If I don't put the male budgie in then the mom budgie will not really teach the young chicks to eat seeds. One of the chicks came out of the nesting box yesterday but then it went back in after I was gone for about thirty minutes. However, I observed when it was outside of the cage the father was going crazy in the other cage while the mother budgie kind of ignored the chick. It got me very worried so I was urged to out the father back in the cage so that he can do something. The mother budgie has not been eating seeds that much either, but the father budgie would eat the seeds before I separated them. So, maybe it would encourage the chicks if I did put the father budgie inside? If I do, there are might be some problems too: The father budgie might teach the younger chicks to peck at the mother budgie (he already did it once). The mother budgie also pecks at him. So if I put him inside the cage, then is there a chance that might attack the baby chicks? He wanted to go inside the nesting box before I separated him but the mother budgie would not allow it. He also may have a bad influence on the chicks because the mother fights with him all the time. Help I'm really torn on whether or not I should let the father budgie back inside the cage. ~Aquafroste

Okay, um well there seems to be a problem... One of the chicks came out of the nesting box but then it went back in the nesting box... Really why is this happening??? Is this normal? I'm so confused

And the chicks are too big too see the see through crops; So how can I know if their crop is full or not? There are feathers covering the crop, so I can't really tell. The chicks haven't really touched the millet or seeds...So I don't think that they can eat it yet. But the younger chick has nibbled at the seed, but it spit the seed right back out. (I'm currently in Canton, Michigan, but my family is moving really soon!)

The mother budgie doesn't seem to be feeding the baby budgies anymore after I separated the male budgie. She only feeds them when they chirp and so far only the greedy chick will chirp for food. The other baby chick will not chirp for food at all. I'm so confused and I don't have any baby cereal. I'm wondering if I should put back the male budgie?

The younger budgie is hogging all of the food! Whenever the mother budgie comes to feed them the younger budgie takes all of the food. The older budgie in the nesting box doesn't seem to be getting any food at all! What should I do? ~Aquafroste And these chicks were born about a month ago. Also the male budgie is separated, and when he wasn't separated I think he taught the young chicks to peck at the mom....

I moved the male budgie into the new cage. So I don't have to worry about them fighting anymore I do have another concern however, because there are two baby budgies in the nesting box, and one of them is a lot older than the other one (Which is the one that has the splayed legs). The older baby budgie is fully fledged I believe, but there is no sign of the budgie coming out, and there is signs of the splayed chick wanting to come out. Is this a problem? Or is it normal for one budgie to be late coming out of the nesting box? The older baby budgie also seems to be very timid and always hiding behind its sibling whenever I check the nesting box. Sorry if I seem to be asking too much questions :/ ~Aquafroste

Whenever the female budgie starts to go inside of the nesting box to feed the chicks, one of the chicks keep pecking at her! I don't know how to stop this! She then flies away and doesn't feed the chicks... Any suggestions on what I should do?