Hi Guys,

 

Firstly what a great forum and so much great information here too.

 

I did some searching and didn't come across exactly the information I was after, so here it goes.

 

We Picked up a 6 Week old budgie yesterday around 3:30 in the afternoon (along with the feed he was having at the Budgie suppliers) and brought him home. Got up this morning and he still hadn't touched his feed or water.

 

I took him out of the cage and brought the feed right up to him and he started eating, he even seemed relaxed enough for me to let him go and he just kept eating away. After a couple of minutes of this I put him back in his cage and he hasn't touched his food.

 

Do I have anything to be concerned about or do I have ants in my pants and I'm expecting too much too quickly?

 

Thanks

Paul

Hey Paul.

 

Just make sure there is plenty of seed scattered on the floor of his cage. He'll forage there and eventually work out there is more seed in the container. They are all individuals, some birds take longer to work out the obvious than others.

 

Cheers,

KathyW.

Thanks Kathy,

 

The floor is like the Cage the same material as the walls of the cage (Wire like the rest of the cage), with the plastic catch for waste below it etc. So if I scattered the seed he wouldn't be able to get to it. Should I remove this floor and put a flat floor instead?

 

Cheers

Paul

Line the floor cage with paper and either scatter the seed or use a flat shallow tray for his seed. Some baby budgies are sold to bird places too young, and this little one needs watching to make sure he eats. Most youngsters will try vegies, like some fine sliced dark green vegies ( bokchoy or spinach ) and grated carrot...if you mix some seed through that he may well get stuck into it. Keep his drinker low until he works out where everything is. Best of luck...Karen

A lot of time we think they don't eat but if you blow lightly on the seed you will see the empty hulls of the seed blow off. You have great advice above. Welcome

Thanks for all the advice guys, its nice to have some guidance and reassurance

 

We tried some and it seemed to work. Took him into my son's bedroom and he seems reasonably relaxed. Put some seed on his bed and he started eating away. I will take the cage floor off (the wired one) and move things to the floor and see how he goes.

 

I also tried what you said Elly and I think you're right . . Looks like our budgie might have to start training us!

 

Here is a picture of the little guy

 

Cheers

Paul

Gorgeous colour Hard to say from that angle but possible female ?

he is gorgeous, good to hear the trick worked

As for water you usually won't see them drink until they are very comfortable so if you don't and he is healthy don't worry about it much he is getting what he needs .

 

Make sure once he settles in nicely you start introducing him to a variety diet of pellets, seeds, veggies, fruits etc... We have a nice FAQ section about nutrition that you can read up on and how to help them start eating a variety of foods.

Hi KAZ, I'm not sure if its male or female. When my son picked him (I keep calling it a him), the guy at the store said it was female, Then when he got it out of the cage, he said it could in fact be a male.

 

The area at the top of the beak has a slight bluish tint to it. So I think it could be a male . . then again that's based on my 20 hours of experience with one budgie

 

I guess in time we will be able to tell. The only issue its created is it doesn't have a name yet.

 

My son is over the moon about his new pet!

By The Way: My son lost a tooth yesterday!

 

The reason we got a budgie is I was at a friends place fixing up their PC and his daughter came in to see what we were doing and had their pet budgie on her arm. She puts it on the table and he climbs on the keyboard while I'm working! I push him off and he pecks me. I couldn't believe this little bird had so much character. He didn't mind the kids or anything. It was the funniest thing I had seen. After about and hour or so he flies back to his cage and goes inside ?? Smart little bird!

Edited July 10, 200717 yr by BMS

Either way, he/she is absolutely gorgeous and I would love to have a little budgie like him/her.

It is a very strange pied, what kind of pied would you say it is (Nerwen Kaz, Daz, Feathers........etc)?

 

Just about the wing clip, if he only has one wing clipped, when he flies he will be very off balance and will spiral and crash probably. I would get both his wings clipped to even him up, so he can steer somewhat should he fall. You can get an experienced vet or pet-shop staff member to do this. However they must be experienced, because if a blood feather is clipped they can bleed a lot.

Edited July 10, 200717 yr by Sailorwolf

Thanks for the info Sailorwolf. We purchased him from a place called BirdCity and the sales person said if we were going to train him, he should be wing clipped. We were concerned but he assured us he wouldn't feel any pain and the feathers would be replaced in 6 months.

 

In any case when he did it, he only did the one wing. I asked about the other wing and he said they only do one to off balance the bird?? He said you don't do both because it will still be able to fly and you want to discourage flying while training in the first few months.

 

I have no idea if this is correct or not? Having said that when in my son's room (picture above), he didn't try to fly at all and was very approachable, not sure it this had anything to do with wing clipping or not.

 

Hey Elly,

 

He is eating in his CAGE!!!!! We just caught him munching away.

 

Thank you

Edited July 10, 200717 yr by BMS

Hmmm ... I'm thinking girl, but hard to say for sure. They can fool the best of us sometimes. Whichever, s/he is a cutie!

 

Cheers,

KathyW.

When he did it, he only did the one wing. I asked about the other wing and he said they only do one to off balance the bird?? He said you don't do both because it will still be able to fly and you want to discourage flying while training in the first few months.

 

I have no idea if this is correct or not?

Thank you

Clipping one wing is wrong...and in saying that....we all know how NOT knowledgable petshop employees mostly are. Takes no training to work in a petshop. You will get the best advice ever on this forum from very experienced budgie owners and breeders. Best of luck with your little gal.

 

PS...the grin on your sons face is....priceless !! Thats one happy boy

Edited July 10, 200717 yr by **KAZ**

A one wing clip is what was *thought* to be correct in past years now more believe a two wing clip is best, for as Saliorwolf stated so the bird isn't unbalanced but still unable to fly. (Flight feathers are called that for a reason ) Also the wings could start growing back earlier or later than 6 months the time depends on when s/he has his/her next moult.

 

You have a very young budgie (some pet shops sell ALL their budgies as 'young') and heaps if hand training and involvement now will help with a friendly budgie like the other cheeky one that wanted to take over the keyboard.

 

A young male budgie has a very even and bright pink cere. A young hen will have a mixed cere of pinky-purple, blue and white or even tan. Paler rings around the nares are a sign of a hen as well.

 

With these pictures I'm undecided as to gender.

what kind of pied would you say it is

Again hard with the pictures. Any chance of a front on shot? The full wings is a touch confusing but I'm leaning towards a dutch dominant pied. The can have fully marked wings and most of the body colour as a normal too.

He/she is very pretty . The color is gorgeous, I've never seen pied like this - really pretty

. . .Any chance of a front on shot?

I will take a couple of pictures of him tomorrow and post them. Sorry I can't be of more help, as you can see by my post, I'm a Major Newbie at this stuff.

 

By The Way: He is well and truely eating now

He reminds me of Cheeta's Goofy who is a recessive pied remember Kaz...I am not saying he is just saying he reminds me because Goofy's wing patterns are very similar

My initial thought was recessive pied with strong and heavy wing markings...like my Calico and also my showbird Franna.

 

Calico as a baby

and older

Edited July 10, 200717 yr by **KAZ**

that is what Goofy? Chase? I think it was Chase now that I am thinking and he ended up being recessive too....

she has some georgeous colours. Im thinking female

that is what Goofy? Chase? I think it was Chase now that I am thinking and he ended up being recessive too....

Chase was always recessive as both parents were recessive Elly Goofy was the cobalt son of Bubblegum. And the photo above is my Calico.

Edited July 10, 200717 yr by **KAZ**

But remember Chase everyone though he was dominant because of his wing markings..I remember the huge debate . This is what this reminds me of.

But remember Chase everyone though he was dominant because of his wing markings..I remember the huge debate . This is what this reminds me of.

Yep, I know. And since I bred Chase and knew his parents were both recessives....noone at the time was listening to that...the debate went on about him maybe being dominant when he could not possibly be.

Anyway, we await new photos of this little cutie

your son's budgie is a cutie and so is your son

Hi Guys,

 

As promised, here is the front on picture of him. Took them while he sat on my son's shoulder. He seemed extremely comfortable. So far things are looking good.

 

Edited July 11, 200717 yr by BMS