Budgietalk - Budgie Information and More

slow but sure progress! by sticking my hand in the cage many times a day my little green guy eventually let me touch his perch while he was setting on it. every few times i would slide my hand just a little closer to him. today, he let me touch his toe for a few seconds before flying off! i'm so freaking happy! i may be able to handle him some day if i can keep gaining his trust a little at a time.

Yay I'm getting a budgie.. eventually. I've been trying to read up on them as much as I can before hand, because I've never owned a bird. My boyfriend and I are pretty experienced pet owners though, birds are probably the only kind of pet neither of us have owned. His dad breeds budgies and after reading up on them out of curiosity I thought one would be a perfect pet for us. We are planning on getting one male (I read that males talk more?), and we are waiting on new eggs to hatch instead of taking an older one. I only had a few questions to ask..

1. I read that chemicals are bad for budgies. They are for chinchillas too (I have two chinchillas). For the chinchilla cage I use cage cleaner that they sell at pet stores, would this be okay for bird cages?

2. If weather is nice outside, can I move the cage outside for a bit during the day just so it can have some fresh air? I figured if it's out of reach of predators and direct sunlight, that would be nice for the bird?

3. Are you supposed to cover the cage every night? If so what time do you usually cover it? Do they sleep all night long?

4. There is a possibility we could take an albino, but we probably wont. Let's say we did... How do you tell what sex the albino is?

I was wondering if any of you knew what could be done about this... if anything?

A few weeks ago, I wanted a new parakeet, so I went to a lot of different places because I wanted to watch them and find one that seemed really tough, to put up with my bitchy one always being a bully. I found the perfect one btw, she stands her ground against my bitchy one and yet doesn't bite ME!

But anyway, while I was looking, I had the saddest experiences ever. My bird store I usually go to has happy and healthy birds that they really take care of, but when I looked around at the pet stores around my house AND in a whole other county around my Mom's house, so many of the mainstream ones like Petco, SuperPets, Petsmart, etc had parakeet aviaries full of fluffed up, sleepy parakeets. :(

The only times two of mine have ever been constantly fluffed up and sleepy were when they had gotten sick, and even though I took them to the vet and did whatever I could, they both had passed away... so I was just so sad, wondering if they were sick.

One of the places definitely had sick ones because there were 3 or 4 on the very bottom with poor feet that were too weak to move around.... I got furious and went to the manager and said those birds were sick and they HAVE to get them to a vet, and they said okay and went and got a cage to put them in to send to the vet, but what the hell... why did *I* have to tell them, don't they care?

Is there anything you can do if you see a mainstream pet store like this with sick birds that they are obviously not taking proper care of? I can't stand to see them do that.

Have any of you ever reported a pet store for this, or is there a way to report them... or is it just the horrible truth that they can do whatever they want?

I obviously will stick strictly to my bird stores that I know have very happy, bouncy, healthy, hearty birds, but I still can't stand to see another pet store doing this to their birds and not getting in any trouble.

how have everyone's budgie-flocks been doing?

i was wondering if people would mind posting photos of their out-of-cage play areas. i just rearranged my bedroom, and i am looking for some ideas on how to re-set up the budgie play area. extra bonus points if your set-up is in your bed room!

thank you :)

Robin tried her very first vegetable! I haven't been able to even get her near the slightest slivers of veggies, but my guinea pig Spike managed to get her to eat cucumber! :P

She spies on/plays with Spike all day as I leave her cage door open and I've seen her trying to steal his veggies once in a while. I put a little piece of cucumber on her regular perch (log hut tunnel for spike) and she actually walked up to it and tried it! I'm very happy about it :)

Since she can fly now, she has expanded her play area to include my desk, my laundry hamper, and her storage cart. :)

Ok... I've had my bird for about 4 years now, and I've noticed something odd. Wherever I go, people tell me he's a male. His cere color is a purple-blue color. But, during mating season, he gets into the female pose for mating. He never wiggles his but on anything, he just throws his head back and lifts his tail. Can anyone help me on knowing his gender once and for all?

His cere is mostly a light purple with spots of white and sky blue around the nostrils if that helps any lol.

Robin is molting and getting her flight feathers back! I'm excited for this and I hope it doesn't become a problem, I want her to be able to fly. :)

Here's some Christmas photos!

Took Duckie to see the specialists today. He did an utlra sound and the promblem is not a tumor (THANK GOD) but a heart condition. It can be treated with medication which he gave me. We'll go back in two weeks for a follow up and possibly do an x-ray then. I am SO happy it is not a tumor! If it was he said that surgery would not have been an option.

Duckie is two years old and has been breathing heavy for the past few days and acting  lethargic. I took him to the vets today and she said his abdomen was distended and that it could be a tumor. She wanted to do an x-ray and said if he needed surgery I'd have to take him to a specialist. I did not let her do the x-ray, I am taking him to the specliast for a second opinion and if it's recommended I'll think I'll let them do the x-ray.

What I am wondering about is if anyone has been down this road before and what are his chances?

So I got a couple third-hand birdies the summer before last. I had one male and one female (I think...) which was kind of a confusing issue because I always referred to the female as the male and vice versa. Anyway, Foxtrot (the male (i think) which I will generally refer to with a feminine pronoun) died last week. She appeared to be in good health, so I'm not sure what the cause was. Possibly just old age (though she didn't seem to deteriorate at all. Just here today and gone tomorrow.)
:(

Anyway, I'm wondering if I need to get a new companion for my remaining bird. The remaining bird never bonded with me. Neither were finger tamed when I got them, but I managed to win over Foxtrot. However, Shredder, the one who is still alive, never progressed much. Once in a while I could get him (or, erm, this is hard. Actually *her* (I think)) to eat out of my hand, but only if it was something he really wanted/hadn't had for a while, and only if I tried for a really long time. I basically gave up after some time. The fact that he hasn't bonded with me makes me think that he's probably wanting a buddy/social interaction even *more*. On the other hand, he was always the more aggressive and less friendly of the two, so maybe he's just a grump that wants to be alone?
I would actually prefer to get another one since, honestly, it isn't all that fun owning one untamed, grumpie parakeet and I'd like to try to find another tamed/hand raised one who could bond with me.

I'm kind of a novice parakeet owner. What do you guys think?

Also, if I do get another one, how do you think I should go about it? I was going to just post an ad on Craigslist asking if anybody didn't want theirs anymore or if anybody could put me in touch with a good/reputable breeder. Are there that many good parakeet breeders? How much should I expect to pay for one from a breeder? What should I check for before giving them my business?

Here are a few pictures of them if anybody wants to take a stab at their genders (though the pictures might not be good enough to make a good judgement.)

The first two are of the deceased parakeet, Foxtrot who I think is MAYBE a male? Its cere was almost pink and blue at the same time. I can't describe it. The last is Shredder, the still living, who I think is a female, but I thought was a male when I got it (the woman I got them from called this one "Mr. Meany" Haha. She didn't really like him... at all.)

If you click on the photos you can go to high-res versions for a slightly better look at them, but they're still not the greatest photos.

I am firmly against backyard breeding and the production of pet animals for profit in a world already heavily overpopulated with pet dogs, cats, psittacines and reptiles. I have said this many times on many threads. I also have a flock of three male and two female budgies that live together and have lived together for three-plus years without incident. Their ages range from 4 to 7 years old. I regularly change up their quarters, add and remove toys, limit their light exposure and make darn sure there is nothing nest-like in their cage to get them going.

Then I went back to school this fall and had to open the windows in the bird room two hours before I normally do. I figured out, in retrospect, that this was the trigger. What happened was three weeks later, all of the sudden, both my girls started spending every moment of out-time fighting and digging under things trying to find somewhere to nest. Again, this was only realized in retrospect. It was in fact realized when I noticed Kelp looking chunky and felt her abdomen. Yep. Full of egg.

Cue me being a complete softy and hypocrit. As much and as well I know the plight of birds, ESPECIALLY budgies, I couldn't kill eggs I knew were probably fertile (though I hoped that they weren't). So I let them nest and incubate the eggs, which they did without difficulty, thank whateverpowersyoulike. Turns out they make good parents. I have several homes lined up, though there are still a few babies that will need them. If they don't find homes, they'll just be staying with me.

I plan on buying some FS lighting and a timer so that we never go through this again.

But, there is a bright side: Cute baby bird pictures for all! This is the oldest, 10 days old.



Pair One: Mamma Kelp


Poppa Salt


They both go into the box and feed the babies. They laid six eggs, only three of which were fertile, so I gave them two more of Sun's eggs, so they'll have five total if the last two hatch.




Pair Two: Mamma Sun


Poppa Sand


They laid eight! fertile eggs... I moved two to the other box, hopefully they'll be able to raise the remaining six, but I'm ready and able to handfeed if I must. Babies will of course be weaned to a varied diet, fledged and very used to handling.




The babies are very cute and cheepy and now the boys have taken to yelling at me if I take too long to bring their wet/fresh food meals. They know they've got a job to do and want me to hurry it up!


Xposted to parrot_lovers and my own journal

After several hugely unsuccessful attempts to convert my budgies to pellets, I've come to grips with the fact that they're gonna remain stubborn seed-eaters to the end. I'm ok with that since they have a good diet otherwise: they get daily fruits + veg as well as Avian Prime supplement in their water. But I want to make sure that they also get the best, most complete seed mix possible.

What brand, o budgie owners, do you think is the best commercially available budgie mix in the USA? What are the most important ingredients? What should I avoid?

Right now two of the four budgies eat Sunscription Vita Plus, and the other two eat Kaytee Forti-Diet Pro Health. Both sets of birds nibble on the pellets in the diets as well as the seeds. To be honest, I like the looks of the Sunscription mix more, if only because of the pieces of fruit and the small pellet fragments in it. But from an ingredient comparison, I don't know if there's a huge difference between the two. I'm not thrilled with the added color, but I've never seen a mix without it.

Are there any other better mixes out there? Thoughts? Personal preferences?

x-posted to budgerigars

I wrote this post a couple weeks ago about how my budgie was not calming down or getting used to anything.

He is in a high traffic area. We do talk to him. We are in the same room as he is a lot.
But if anything, he is even more terrified than he was two weeks ago. He always looks thin and tall and startled; as though his little heart is going to fly right out of his chest. He still throws himself around the cage if I so much as reach to take the food and water cups out.

I can put my hand in the cage and eventually he calms down SLIGHTY, but he will still always look like he's terrified. Always.

He doesn't sing or play. He eats and sleeps - that's it. Occasionally he might give a loud chirp... but it's usually one or two chirps at most and he'll only do that maybe once a day. Sometimes, he doesn't make any noise at all all day long.

I am at a complete loss as to what to do. If I had my way, I would give him to someone with a nice, big aviary so he could be taken care of, with other birds, and able to fly around for the rest of his life... without a whole lot of human interaction. He's afraid of everyone (I'd thought it might just be us, but a friend of hours was unable to get anywhere near the cage as well).

I hate giving an animal up, but it literally brings me to tears to see him look terrified, all of the time. I don't think I'll be getting another animal for a very long time.

I do appreciate everyone's help in here - I tried anything you all suggested that I haven't done already.

Hey guys! I have two budgies, they're both about 3 y/o, one male and one female.

Recently, the female has been hanging out in the seed bowl. I've had to put in fresh seed every day as she'll get into the seed bowl, hang on to the right side with her right foot, and the kick/dig the seeds out with her left foot until there's little or no food left in it. I don't think it has anything to do with the seed brand as she's been doing this for two weeks and through two different brands now (that they've had no problems with before). Is she trying to nest or mate?? Or is she simply being a little brat (haha)?

I've had our little budgie for over a month now and he is just as terrified of my husband and I as he was the day we bought him.

He is healthy - he eats and sleeps and his poops are completely normal.

However, he doesn't sing, he doesn't play, and every day he acts like he's never seen my husband or I before. I cry when I clean his cage because he gets so scared (he throws himself around and then mashes himself into a corner trying to get away from us).

We have tried to get him used to our hands, but it's way too much for him... even after five weeks. He still throws himself around the cage most times that we try to put a hand in. I have never, ever seen anything like this before. I know that it can take time for a bird to get used to a new environment, but it's been a good deal of time and he's just not... not doing anything. We're both home and in other rooms during the day sometimes and still: not a peep. I know he can sing because he was at the pet store. He was also very playful and vibrant.

I have a friend that's a vet and she's looked him over but says he's physically healthy. She said she has heard of birds having 'mental' issues. She doesn't think there is much I can do for him besides leave him be in a gigantic cage somewhere quiet so he can relax... or put him down (she can clearly see that he's in constant trauma - he's like one big birdie panic attack). I don't have room for a huge cage (he has a good size one, but not so big that I wouldn't feel guilty leaving him in there for the rest of his life) and I absolutely do not want to put him down.

I've owned budgies before... I do know how to care for and tame and train one. The last budgie I owned lived to be 14 years old - the vet said it was the oldest budgie she'd ever heard of. But this little bird has something wrong that I've never seen and cannot even find any information on. If anyone knows anything or can point me in some direction that doesn't involve killing the bird or ignoring him in a cage, I'm all ears. I physically cannot accommodate one of the four or five foot tall cages that he would need to be comfortable contained in... I expect to need space for a bird, but I got a budgie because that's always been what I love and what FITS into my life. I don't have a macaw or a cockatoo because I don't have the room... not because I wouldn't love one to death.

I will never get another bird from a big pet store. Ever. This is the second bird in two months... the first one had a respiratory infection and the only reason we got a second bird from the same place was because they replaced the first one for us.

Thanks in advance...

I posted a news story on this a few weeks ago and now have discovered a couple of online slide shows now that the exhibit is open.

New aviary opens at Zoo Atlanta

Zoo Atlanta's new aviary

And speaking of budgies, I'll mention Pell, my budgie, who's about 8. She was making all kinds of crazy sounds today, no doubt responding to the birds outside her window. Springtime brings excitement!

Here in Atlanta, the local zoo is opening up a huge aviary, 100% budgies! It opens April 3.

New aviary set to take off at Zoo Atlanta

If my budgie Pell knew this was only a couple of miles away, she'd be trying to bust out of here!

For those who for whatever reason can't access the news item at the link, I've put the story under a cut.

New aviary set to take off at Zoo Atlanta

By LEON STAFFORD

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Wednesday, March 18, 2009

In the wild, parakeets whose coloring stray from the predominant green are easy prey for predators.

But at Zoo Atlanta’s new aviary, having yellow, blue, white and mauve feathers isn’t a detriment — it’s a celebration for the eyes.

The Grant Park attraction will open its new parakeet exhibit April 3 with 500 birds in what officials said will be one of the biggest aviaries in the country.

And one of the most interactive. The zoo will encourage visitors to use feed sticks to encourage the birds to eat while clinging to a guest’s arm or sitting on his shoulder. The birds’ food includes basic bird seed, spray millet and various fruits and vegetables such as apples, broccoli and kale.

“What’s cool about these birds is they are so active,” James Ballance, the zoo’s curator of birds, said during a recent tour of the 2,200-square-foot aviary. “They are so acrobatic. They are so fun to watch.”

The aviary will open at a time when attractions across the country are looking for more ways to lure guests, whose discretionary income has been severely reduced by the recession. Some attractions have cut entry fees, while others are joining discount programs like CityPass, which gets visitors into the zoo, Georgia Aquarium, World of Coca-Cola and other destinations.

“We’re expecting a very big day,” Ballance said.

Swooping from limb to limb, hanging upside down in a show of skill and creating rainbows of quick movement, the zoo’s parakeets squawked in a continuous, loud chatter. Weighing only 1.5 ounces and just 7 inches in length, the parakeets will be hard to ignore.

“They are never silent,” Ballance said. “They are very social birds. Their chattering is simply interactions.”

Hailing from central Australia, the parakeets can be found in flocks of up to 10,000 birds, he said. They follow the rains in search of food in grassy areas.

They are generally green but have been bred in America to offer more variety.

The zoo’s aviary will include trees (placed strategically to avoid bird droppings on visitors) on which the birds can perch, a waterfall, a babbling brook running through its center and small grassy areas. All will be under a 20-foot-high net enclosure.

Visitors can walk throughout the aviary, which has generous concrete walk areas. The entire area is made of material that is easy to scrub down daily given the high volume of birds, Ballance said.

“This is built from scratch,” he said. “This is designed for that 25 years from now it should be in great shape.”

So I have had Pookie and Blue Bird for over a year.

I assumed Pookie was a boy because his cere has always been blue. When we brought Blue Bird home as a young bird his cere was a purple color but now is bright blue. Pookies immediatly changed to a dark pink color.
It has been like this for over a year.



Well today when I went to refill food/water and clean the bottom of the cage I found an EGG! A tiny (pnut M&M) sized egg on the cage floor. Neither bird seemed to care that I took it. I freaked out and shouted to both the birds and cats "ITS A F*ING EGG! BUT YOUR BOYS!!!!".
Apparently I was wrong.

I dont have any pictures of Blue Bird , he is a mean little thing who likes to be talked to but prefers to have his space respected.
Pookie likes to be touched, kissed and loved on so I have many pictures.
This picture shows Pookie's (his/her?) cere best.

So I am assuming that this means Pookie is a girl? Why did they wait so long to lay? I wanted two boys so I wouldnt have to worry about egg issues. Now what?

Hi! I'm new here, and I have a little budgie...his name is Hermes, and I'm having a little bit of trouble with his nails...he's my first bird, and I've had him for about...2 years now, and this is first community I've heard of for this..

The troubles I'm having are his nails are too long, and if someone grabs him, he freaks out. Every time I try and file them down, he freaks out and wriggles away from me, and bites me. Is there a way I can file his nails?

I REALLY NEED HELP!!! There is something wrong with my bird's eye! Five minutes ago she was fine, and now her eye looks brown around it on the skin, and there are no feathers and she keeps scratching at it! I don't have the money to take her to a vet, so please help me!!!!

heres a cute picture of Pita with his girlfriends, the minnie twins