Bea

Well the grit isn't necessary and can actually be harmful so i would take that out. What's the charcoal for? I've never heard of feeding it to budgies! Variety is the key in a budgies diet. I feed my budgie 2 tsp high quality seed, 1/2 tsp egg and biscuit mix, 1/2 teaspoon of budgie crumbles (pellets) as well as at least one type of fresh fruit or veggie each day often more (depends on what he steals from me). He also has a mineral block, cuttle bone and iodine block which he doesn't always use but at least they're there if he wants to. To get your budgie to try veg just keep changing how you offer it and offer it every day. Maybe pick one veggie to try and keep offering that for as long as it takes for it to be tried? Something like spinach is usually a good starter. Also offer veggies in small sized portions....if i saw a peice of brocolli the size of my head i think i'd be terrified. Hope all this helps.

AGES ago i brought Blinkie a little plastic budgie on a wobbly ball and of course it was terrifying but for some reason today he decided it was alright.... Hey you! What d'ya think you're doing? This is my ground! DIE BIRD!! DIE!! :ausb: How....how'd you do that? Well then if i can't kill you i shall.........

You just want to see me dropping 'screwdrivers' and hurting myself.

This is what Una told me: "I use sisal rope as its natural and not synthetic, although it doesn't last as long as other ropes i feel natural is best as they do tend to want to nibble and preen it. As for the wood, i don't think i have used any dowel in anything i have made for the birds.. All the wood i use is mostly drift wood that i've picked up down the beach as i can find fairly large pieces and its light being drift wood, or just interesting pieces i find while driving out bush. I have a few perches that i have made in the aviary that are just odd and interesting lengths of wood (found on the beach so they are fairly soft) that i have screwed onto stainless steel chain with a few stainless screws, the screws make it easy for me to change the wood when either it rots or the budgies have ripped it apart. All other branches if not drift wood are either branches from the Mahogany tree or from many of its saplings that i have growing in the garden and a few gum tree branches etc.. Just a thought on your perch plan, if it was me id probably tend to make it out of natural branches with holes drilled through the ends and string and knot it together with some sisal rope. Its not a sturdy fixture, but then again what tree in the wild is rigid (Laughing out loud) and the natural branches i'm sure would excercise there feet more with the added bonus of some sisal to chew on and preen like this but on a larger scale, to get the angle you want just drape and fasten it onto some perches.. This probably didn't help you a great deal, My birds are fairly lucky that we are on the coast and surrounded by bush with not a great deal of shops or choices on how to do or make things.. Let me know how it goes and i look forward to seeing your creations, just keep in mind its not always about how great and neat it looks or how expensive it is to make it.. most of the things i make don't cost anything at all, and i think the birds enjoy them more than the the products i purchase. Oh and I NEVER use glue (just thought id add that) I always find a way to stainless screw it or tie it with rope, just make sure the screws are not sticking out so they can hurt the budgies."

The minimum size cage for a single budgie is 18"x18"x18" but the bigger the better. At yes, rust is deadly to birds so you'll need a new cage anyway for safety.

Trust me! Me attempting anything handy is hilarious. Last time me and my brother were doing something i asked him to pass me the screwdriver and i got a weird look.....i had called the spanner a screwdriver. I also have trouble managing nails....always seem to bruise my thumbs a lot and end up with countless bent nails.

I'd have trouble finding several 1.5m branches. Especially ones that will fit properly into my aviary without preventing me from moving around. I will still keep a few natural branches in there as well as hopefully rope plus i'm planning on adding some hooks for toys....all up i think big improvement. More perching space, variety and toys.

(Laughing out loud)! I think i need to lock the camera away for a while now. :grbud:

Thanks for that! Was interesting to read. Don't know if those particular screws will work for what i'm doing....i'll try to find an example: okay, just made: http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c72/Beli...ts/untitled.jpg That's what i plan to do before the end of the holidays. :grbud: Any tips on types of wood, how to join it together, etc? I'm hoping to get some different types of dowel (square, round, different widths) for variety. While i'm asking away what types of rope are safe for budgies? I would like to string some across the front half of the aviary like swingy rope perches.

I was cutting up veggies for dinner and Blinkie was on my shoulder and that seemed like the best place to put some for him. :grbud:

It was a big day for Pud... He tried (and loved) salad! Altogether now. The other babies were sitting it the box, just not realising what they were missing out on. The aviary budgies enjoyed a giant plate of spinach and snow pea sprouts. Greens vs blues...(Laughing out loud) Just thought i'd add this, it show the difference between normal and cinnamon wings really well. Another Trill giveaway, (Laughing out loud)! This time i got 2 instead of 1! And inside Blinkie was enjoy some lunch too.

Hi Daniel, welcome to the forums! That cage is perfect for probably even 3 or 4 budgies. I've been wanting one like it for quite some time.

I'm not sure if there's a treatment or not but i'm pretty certain that it's not uncommon and many budgies live for a long time after diagnosis and have very happy, normal live.

Until recently i've just used regular cages for breeding. Just make sure the cage is large enough for the family once they arrive.

Well female budgies have bluish white ceres when they're out of condition so some people could mistake that for changing sex. Males ceres can go brown sometimes to due to medical problems like testicular cancer.

A new cage! What a reward for being a brave birdy.

But i'll just add that i have one pair that is extremely loyal to each other and i think i would have a very hard time trying to put them with another mate.

That's a bit weird, how could it be wood if it's screw on? How does it attatch to the cage?

Thanks guys!! I need to take less photos.....did you know i have 3 cds and 3 photobucket acounts completely full of pet photos.

There's a problem with that?

There's practically no variety in perch brands here. I think there's Penn Plax and one other.

Oh. I only just got Blinkie one too and he loves sitting on it and nibbling. Then i thought, well i'll go get him a screw on natural branch to replace it but what's the point if that's got the same thing?

www.canberravets.com.au This is the vet i go to when i need to take a budgie. They're very good!

Awwwwwwwwwwww.

I swear....it's the latest fashion! Anything to make veggies more interesting for my darling Blinks. :(Laughing out loud):