Bea

You got me! :fear: They both sound so full of personality! Can't wait to see more photos/videos.

Frankie's grown a lot! Poor baby, and poor Sunny too! You've had a busy day!

I want them....i'm so coming to steal them.

Are talking about Blinkie here?? : :(Laughing out loud):

Urgh! There are so many LARGE parrots for sale, i garantee they are up for sale due to behavioural problems and will be shifted from home to home because the buyers won't know what they're getting into. So sad!

I would say it depends entirely on the bird. Even with my 'wild' aviary hens i have a couple that are evil witches and some that are the friendliest birds ever. I've also had different experiences handling hen chicks in the nest. Some are evil biting machines and others are little snuggle pies. As whoever wrote this has had lots of aggressive hens dumped at her door she probably hasn't had the opportunity to meet the friendly ones.

It's a good idea to cover them with a light sheet at night so they can get a good night sleep.

I wouldn't do that! :angel1: It just occured to me that those are the nicknames he'll have....i mean, unless you wanna call him Car.

Aww! He's gorgeous! Do you shorten his name to Ozzie or Oz?

He's a yellowface type 2. Goldenface really looks green, like Ozzie: http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e346/bli...020-1Custom.jpg

You cup them in your hand so they're sitting. Although the time i had to feed a 1 day old baby i gently held him on his back in my fingers...so i think i depends on the age.

I like the second photo too, i think it makes Blinkie look like an angel.

I'm not sure that such a budgie exists...and if it did it would be a lot more expensive than $100.

He'd be a type 2, which would be why it covers a lot more of his body.

Why would hand rearing a female be different to a male? I always thought that the result was super socialized, friendly budgies.

No, i'm going to though. Hopefully it'll increase our bond so that by the time he can fly he won't go beserk on me.

Ooohh! Oscar is super cute! Is he friendly?

Just remember that you can always add another budgie later on. So it's not like your birdie would just be stuck on it's own permanently. I wouldn't use the shell grit mainly because though it would necessarily cause problems it can. I think it can cause something called crop impaction (i *think*), which i believe makes it difficult for food to get past the crop. If it's not that then there is something that can be caused by grit, i just can't remember the name...

That's a handy excuse!

Welcome to the forums! It's great that you're researching before buying. Now, i'll try to answer yuor questions in order. ~No, shell grit is not necessary. As budgies dehull their seeds they don't need the grit to help grind down their food. ~A small emtpy cardboard box is perfect for transporting budgies. Just put lots of air holes and that should do the trick. If you're having to transport them a long way also put a little bit of millet or something in the box for the budgie/s to munch on. ~Some people use sandpaper on the floor of the cage and some people get sandpaper covers for perches. Neither are necessary and neither are particularly good for budgies. Varied perches (rope, natural, cholla, dowel, cement) are much better than just covering dowel perches in sandpaper and for the floor of the cage plain white paper towels are great or even just newspaper. I prefer paper towels cause it makes it really easy to monitor change in your budgies poops. ~You can just use hot soapy water to scrub out the cage, just make sure you rinse it well so there are no suds left. You can also get pet safe disenfectants from pet stores if you would prefer to use that. Make sure whatever you use isn't highly scented as budgies have very sensitive lungs and strong scents can be harmful. ~Here's a photo of a male baby compared to a female baby: The female is on the left, you can see that her cere is more of a bluey purple colour has a whitish tinge to it. Males will generally just have a completely pink cere, no white at all. ~If i were you i would start with one young male. As a pet for your daughter you want it to become tame so she can play with it. If you're worried about it getting bored/lonely during the day you can leave the TV or radio on for him when everyone's out. I had Blinkie on his own for a year before getting him a friend and he never showed any sign to hint that he might be unhappy. Then I recently added Ozzie, i tamed Oz in the quarantine period so he spent over a month alone (he got sick) with just me for company and he never really stressed over the isolation either. I think you'll find that a single male will be very happy on his own (even if just until he's tame and happy in the family) if you keep him in a room where people spend a lot of time (living room). Hope this has helped clear up a few things. Can't wait to hear more about your feathered friend when you get him!

*ahem* I thought Heidi was to be your last addition? Hehe, Elsie is really cute, kinda looks male from what i can see...

He's such a chatter box!! :(Laughing out loud):

How funny!! I love dancing around when no-one else is home too....Blinkie, Ozzie and Mickey all look at me like i'm strange.

I can't wait to get pictures too! Dad's stolen the camera and taken it to Sydney for the week!