Hello everyone.

 

For the past couple of weeks, my 6 month old female budgie (Limonade) has been attacking the male budgie...They used to get along super nicely and now she can barely stand him. I had to put them in seperate cages. When he goes for the cuttle bone is when she gets the most agressive. Or when she is on the cuttlebone and he comes near, she gets really agressive and attacks him. Her cere is whitish rose so I don't think she's in breeding condition yet.

 

But the thing that bothers me is that she must have been a mason before because she can grind at that cuttlebone or iodine for an hour at a time...and several times a day and every day. I noticed in the past week or two that her olive face has now turned yellow. She was a olive colored bird until just recently and now her face is yellow. Could any of the instructions I gave you have something to do with it? She eats a mixture of Gourmet bird mix, a piece of spray millet and fruits and vegies...But she doesn't seem to care much for fruits and vegies but I offer them anyway.

 

Now the male budgie, when the female is finally in her own cage feels probably safer without her in there and begins knawing on his own calcium and iodine bone (probably just to show her that he can or something). At first I thought she might not have enough calcium or iodine but boy she already went through a third of the large cuttlebone I put in just a few days. She doesn't eat it all as most of it calls on the bottom but I'm still worried that it might harm her.

 

Comments would be greatly appreciated.

 

Marie

I am afraid I dont have a great deal of faith in cuttlebones as a total source of calcium. My belief is the birds play with it more than ingest it. I would suggest she is too and that she isnt taking it in and in no danger of overdosing on the calcium.

She is however using the cuttlebone as a source of something to be possessive over and bordering on a little obsessive compulsive. I would take it out for awhile and give her a chance to settle into a better emotional state that doesnt include being possessive over certain things in her cage.

Yellow face ? Anything of that colour in the cage ?

Hi again. I couldn't access my mail for awhile. Yes she does have a mirror and a little dish with grains (seashell grains like sand) that are yellow...The mirror and dish are both yellow.

Hi Marie, Just come across this post again. As to yellow face, I think Kaz meant if there was anything she could be eating to cause it. Maybe if she's only six months, old she may have moulted out and her new feathers are showing more yellow than before? Just a theory. Her being agro to the male and chewing etc could be she thinks she's ready to breed, they chew everything is sight around then, well some do. Hope this helps, if she's well and active she should be o.k. they say don't breed them before 12mths or so. If there's no nest box it won't matter.