Posted April 11, 200916 yr Decided it was best to set up a thread that I could keep adding to, rather than posting new ones all the time. The 4 newbies moved into a new cage today. Still another few weeks before I can put my original two girls in with them, though. They love it so far! Especially the branch that I made semi-vertical, they seem to like walking up and down on that. The palace (note: forgot to put the large ladder in that runs from right to left at the back): The girls (note Winnie's wide stance and pigeon toes): My Winnie: Motley bunch: I'm so happy seeing them in such a big cage.. watching them actually fly instead of just hopping.
April 11, 200916 yr Looks great! It is nice to see them fly, I have a branch set up just like that and my birds love it, its like if they were hiking lol Nice pictures :sad:
April 11, 200916 yr Author He's a darling.. I wish I had time to tame all of them at the same time, I would love to have these guys out. For now though I can watch them moving around in a mini-aviary, which makes me happy. They have much more space. I'm watching Jin exploring the branches, while the other ones decide he must have something down there that they all want, so they all pile on there together while he chatters indignantly. I think he also has a crush on the lutino girl, he's talking to her and she is ignoring him. It's just so lovely that they have so much space! I also treated Maurie to a slightly bigger cage. The cage he had before was too small to be permanent - it wasn't too bad for a little while because he does spend a lot of time out with me, but I wanted to get him something larger, especially if one day I will get him a cage companion (which is the plan). He is confused by the new space, but I think it's great - he has space to fly from side to side, a nice branch to walk along, and space for his toys to hang without getting in his way all the time. Now I just have to wait out the quarantine to let my other two hens into the aviary cage.. I can't wait to see them all in together
April 11, 200916 yr Wow Emma theyre gorgeous! The albino and the YF grey are my favourites theyre stunning!!
April 11, 200916 yr awesome pictures , love your set-up. The last picture would be an awesome picture to submit for Budgie of the Month
April 18, 200916 yr Author A few weeks ago I was doing my usual pet store rounds (I just love looking at all of the birds) and i noticed this tiny little baby in a cage of much bigger budgies. It was a gorgeous little pied. Despite being about half the size of the others, it was trying to be the boss, which was really cute. I wanted to get it as a future friend for Maurie, because I worry sometimes that Maurie gets bored while I'm at work. Unfortunately though it looked to be a hen - bit hard to tell in the light in the store, but I thought I saw white on its cere, and I didn't really want a hen, I prefer boys as pets. So after a lot of soul searching I walked away. Fast forward 2 or 3 weeks and I went back to get some water bottles - and the little budgie with the huge attitude was still there. I thought the cere was more blue this time.. but as it turned its head I couldn't see whether it was iridescent blue, or white. Frustrating. In the end though, I decided that I was meant to take this budgie home, hen or not. When the guy at the store pulled it out of the cage and into the natural light though, I was pretty sure it was a boy (plus it didn't rend flesh from the bone, so...). Meet Max - short for "Maximum Attitude!" He is an incredibly bright yellow, so pretty. He inherited Maurie's first little cage as a cozy quarantine cabin. I pulled him out briefly to handle him after a couple of days and thought he had a caked up vent like my violet hen had (from stress) because I could feel a hard lump underneath him. But when I felt further I realised IT WAS HIS BONES. The poor little thing was sooooooo skinny But it didn't take long for him to work out where the seed was, and to voraciously attack a millet spray. I'm hoping he will put on some weight for me. He's adorable.. I think he and Maurie will make a cheeky little team. Maurie has just learned how to let himself out of the cage, ugh. I shudder to think what will happen if he gets a sidekick
April 18, 200916 yr Your photography is just amazing!!! Your cage is awesome too... A few suggestions if I may. I wouldn't put any branches running the full length of the cage... it can encourage them to 'walk' across instead of fly... Your natural branches are awesome too... I'd suggest putting in a few bigger ones sitting in the bottom with their leaves etc... they'll love them. Like a 'mini tree' in their aviary!!! Also rope perches are excellent... just something different for their little feet to grip. Your birds are great too... and Max is a stunner!!! Offer him plenty of veggies to fatten him up... millet is great too... Edited April 18, 200916 yr by maesie
May 1, 200916 yr Author I found my blue boys. I've been looking for two blue boys to round out my pairs for later in the year. I found these two today; they had only just come into the store along with a gorgeous little DF spangle that I really couldn't justify taking, but I know he will be picked up fast because he was gorgeous and friendly (he was actually nibbling my finger!). I'm pretty sure they are both sky violet(?) - the plain opaline especially has a lot of violet up around his head and shoulders. They're really docile, happy to be held, and were straight into the food when I put them into the quarantine cage. About 15 minutes later they were happily chatting away! They've definitely made themselves at home. Sky blue opaline: Sky blue dominant pied opaline spangle (what a mouthful): At first glance I thought this guy was just spangle/opaline (obviously) but then I realised he had a pied spot on his head, and then it dawned on me that he had white flights etc (I was distracted by his colour!). What a dope! But I don't mind the mistake, because it's like they took my favourite colour and mashed it together with my 3 favourite mutations! So happy! But now I have to rethink my pairs again!!!!!! But I need to stop thinking that all the pairs have to go down at the same time so every bird has to have a perfect match - I don't know why I keep thinking that way. I need to remember that I can have different rounds, it's not the end of the world if I don't put a particular pair down the first round. I'm silly. My obvious first choice is my violet dom pied opaline girl x this new dom pied spangle opaline, for colour and pieds. But I think I will have to sit down and have a good think.
May 1, 200916 yr Oh, wow! the sky blue dominant pied opaline spangle is stunning! I love Max and the YF aswell, they are gorgeous!
May 3, 200916 yr Dont think the dom pied spangle is opaline. Perhaps split for it, but certainly not opaline by any standard. And as far as finding them in the pet shop goes, you certainly do have a good breeders culls there. The only show culls i see in the pet shop are normal greys. Edited May 3, 200916 yr by Dean_NZ
May 3, 200916 yr Author Dont think the dom pied spangle is opaline. Perhaps split for it, but certainly not opaline by any standard. And as far as finding them in the pet shop goes, you certainly do have a good breeders culls there. The only show culls i see in the pet shop are normal greys. Ah, I think I see now. I see a bit of colour through the wings and think opaline, but I took another squiz at Dumb & Dumber and I see there is a stark difference. Opaline gives me trouble! But I see it now, thanks :raincloud:
May 4, 200916 yr Author I think I know why I was confused about the opaline/spangle combo. I looked at him this morning - the top part of his wing has lots of colour on each feather (so they're mostly blue rather than mostly white with a bit of colour). That's probably what I was looking at. It doesn't look like much, it's a bigger area of colour when he is perching. The other side is more pronounced but he wouldn't sit nicely and it's rather hard to take photos with a bird in one hand and camera in the other :rofl: So the top ones look like Dave's Dumb & Dumber's feathers.. but the bottom ones are obviously plain grey markings. I can see why I was confused.. but I get it now
June 6, 200915 yr Author Jake and Julie sitting in a tree.. K I S S I N G. Well, not yet.. but they will! And a shot showing the "aviary cage" with fresh new branches today: I love giving them branches, and they love them so much. They hide in them, bounce on the thin branches, chew on the bark.. and it just gives them a much nicer cage to sit in, rather than just plain branches and perches. Recently the council cleared a lot of land to build a road, but haven't gone ahead with it. So all of the stumps they cut down have burst into life, with lots of really fresh young branches and juicy leaves for chewing. The kids go nuts over them, especially Maurie - he loves his leaves. Plus there are probably about 5 or 6 different gum species out there, so I always bring them home something different, never the same thing. Cheap entertainment for the birds, beautiful to look at, and the smell is great too!
June 6, 200915 yr What a wonderful setup! The fresh branches look wonderful. Do you worry about introducing a parasite or fungus or something? Is it safe because it's eucalyptus? Your pictures are just amazing!
June 6, 200915 yr Author I choose the gum species because I know they are native and something that budgies would be safe nibbling on in the wild - I wouldn't give them a type of branch that I wasn't sure of. I just wish we had other natives around here (the smaller types) for a bit more variety. I choose the healthiest branches I can find - these ones are basically fresh suckers from cut stumps, so they're nice and new, fresh, and young. Then I trim off any leaves or small branches that look unhealthy for any reason, sometimes you find grubs or spiders etc, so I make sure they don't have any webs or eggs. I give them a really good shake on the walk back to the house to make sure I dislodge any bugs, give them a good wash with (fairly) hot water, and set them out in the sun to dry for a while. I know there are no chemicals on them (because they're not from someone's garden), but I'm not certain if there is something else I should be adding to the water to be absolutely sure there are no small creepies in them.. ? Being young and small I doubt there would be any birds in them (they're not really even trees or bushes, just small suckers coming up from the ground to about waist height most of the time) but you can never be too safe I suppose - if there's something else I should be washing them in, I would happily add to the routine. They love their branches, and I love seeing them in amongst all the green.
June 8, 200915 yr Wow, l can not believe l just found this thread. You have a nice set up and such beautiful budgies. Edited June 8, 200915 yr by birdluv spelling error
June 8, 200915 yr Author Thank you My sister came to visit the other day. She has a problem with feathers - not quite a phobia, but she really hates them. So I was surprised that she was really keen to see the birds. When she saw the big cage she was very surprised, I think - very impressed by how large and roomy it was for them. She probably thought I had an average sized cage for them. She asked me if it was one of the old rat cages!!! Of course not... but they would make pretty awesome cages for ratties. Have ot keep that in mind for the future I love that they have so much space and variety in their cage. ...And I've just looked over to see Max lying almost horizontally on a branch, sleeping, while Maurie is resting his head on Max... and Jin is sleeping balanced precariously on the edge of the seed feeder.. they're so funny to watch
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