I found this Perfect Polly ad while going through vids on youtube and it makes me laugh.. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ELrZRru0UbQ why couldnt they use an actual budgie voiceclip instead of a songbird (cardinal?)

I was on youtube in the first place to ask if my Barts walking was normal... he always has this creeping walk, with heartwings 1:20. Ive never seen him walk with wings closed in the time hes been here-about a year. Hes also got a lot of bowing/twitchy head movements, its not as pronounced in the video but you can baaarely see it 1:57, 2:20, 2:48 but its very noticeable irl. Is this a boy thing or just him? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J1ixN-bkd0k&list=UUng8EmjxLgLwCRSvXxXLqaA&index=1 Also a year~ and still no primaries.

Had the birds out for a cooked meal (trying out higgins worldly cuisine) in celebration of Pichus unofficial birthday. Dont know her hatchdate sadly but I got her at 7wks old and just kinda estimated. Happy 3 years old frumpy girl...
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I have had a pair of cockatiels for ~7 years now. They have been caged together the entire time and are mates. Unfortunately over the years the female has resorted to feather plucking because the male is very aggressive and chases/bites her constantly. I have now separated them in different cages that are placed right next to each other to help her cope better, but he is still aggressive when they are out of the cage together. How can I stop the aggressive behavior in and out of the cage so they can be together again? They don't like being apart. Thanks for any help.

x-posted to cockatiels

hello all!

we are proudly owned by 6 budgies, separated by same sex pairs into 3 cages (2 per cage). none of them are hand tame, but with all the birdie company they have (cages all next to each other, so it's more like a flock) i don't think this is necessary for their emotional well-being. we just love to watch them and listen to all the noise they make.

my question is that though we give them fresh fruit and veggies cut up into very small pieces they never seem to eat any of it. one pair tosses it out of the food dish, the others eat around it. we have tried a huge variety of things, all with the same result. we want them to be as healthy as possible, so if anyone has any suggestions please let us know.

jamie

Any advice on a noisy bird? I have a GCC, and as cool as he is, I dont think I can keep him for too much longer due to the noise level... I chose a pyrrhura since they arent as loud, and decibelwise..he isnt compared to other parrots, but its ongoing and family members are getting fed up. :( Ever since my BF moved in, I feel really really bad because he complains about the birds and hates em and blahblahblah and I dont know how to quiet the bird down. The rest of my family isnt too happy about it either but they've put up with it longer. I'm starting to feel a lot of resentment (and guilt about that...) towards Cody because even though I dont blame him or hate him, theres a lot of negative emotions when people are about and forced to put up with him.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Opqlz6uCg2k&list=UUng8EmjxLgLwCRSvXxXLqaA&index=1
heres what it sounds like... today it was a few hours in the morning..with a break and now its been going for a few hours in the afternoon as well.

I've never reinforced it by paying attention to him when he is noisy. Nobody else does either. I only take him out if he is quiet. I HAVE tried calling back to him though, hes right outside my room but that doesnt seem to work. When the birds get noisy at night, I cover them up (usually when I get home around work... midnightish..earlier if Im not closing) and they go to sleep. In the morning, noise will start up whether covered or not by some sound..for example, BF alarm was set to 8am.. they went on for a few hours which is bad because everyone else in the house is still sleeping.

It doesn't matter if theres people in the room or if theyre gone... or if theyre talking or quiet. Seems to be louder when people are talking or the tv is on. If I let cody out of the cage, he'll still act the same...the only time when he is NOT noisy is when on me or close to me. Then its super purring cuddly mode. Once I put him back, it starts up again. Its my fault that he is super bonded to me, can that be the cause of it? He does play with toys in his cage, I rotate stuff in the cage constantly along with varying foods. He just wants to be out though, but once he is- he is not as independent. Hes afraid of things and wants to get to me asap. I can keep him busy with treats/food but otherwise he is not interested at all in exploring or playing. I can put him on other people and he'll take millet from them but otherwise, he is not interested in other people at all.

Hey, P-L! Long time no post!

Kai and I have been through some crazy changes these last 18 months. If I'm being completely honest, she's handled it a lot better than I have. As long as she has food in her dish and access to her manzanita tree, she couldn't care less what's going on in the rest of the world. We should all be so lucky.

In any case, I'm getting ready to move cross-country. I'm relocating from St. Louis to Huntsville, Alabama. Kai's not really a fan of the car...she gets motion sick and is generally miserable after about twenty minutes. I'll also be moving with my two cats, to make matters even more complex.

Any advice on moving with parrots? I'll take whatever ya got.

I could watch parrot videos all day.

Hey parrot lovers,

I'll soon be in a position that makes carrying a bird on my finger to a sink impractical (with a very excitable cat roaming around), so since I'll have my own office/bedroom for the birds, I was wondering what experience people had with those drinking fountains for dogs and cats. My boyfriend stole my idea and got this for his cat and said if he hated it, I could wash it out and give it to the birds. Turns out he likes it, and now I'm wondering which would be best for the birds, if this idea flies at all.

I have three lovebirds - one likes to bathe in a stream of running water like a tap as well as in my cupped hands. One likes to dunk while staying perched on the ledge. One likes to dunk and will sometimes wade around in the water if she feels it's safe.

I like the ones I'm seeing on Petsmart, but I'm unsure of the stream of water since most of them don't free fall, but have a slope right under the water dispenser that I don't want my birds to bonk themselves on in the excitement of bathing. Would prefer to avoid wasting money and space on one with a reservoir. Quiet, fairly shallow, free falling stream, affordability, and sustainability (the one my boyfriend got apparently has a reputation of burning out its motor after a few months, but hey, it was $35 - I won't keep mine plugged in 24/7 though) would be ideal.

Thanks!

Originally posted by calzephyr77 at Tender, Playful Expressions Of Birds Captured In ‘Human-Like’ Photographs

Hi there I'm Jenni a first time posting but long time lurker. I need some advice about moving out.

So my situation is that I finally want to move out of my parent's home now that I have had a stable job for a while and two people I trust very closely to move out with. We've been looking into getting a house an a lot of them have been pet friendly so I'd imagine we can find a place that would allow for a bird.

My baby is a 4 year old free flight quaker named Andreas. I've been trying very hard to make a decision on what to do with him since I'm moving out. I either bring him or leave him at the family home.



My housemates are all rather animal orientated and have been very supportive asking about the dos and don'ts of birds, so I have complete confidence in them to be very careful and also enjoy having Andreas around.

However it will still a big change from his current living situation now. He is out of his cage 6 of 7 days(mum works from home except one day) and while he's not really buddies with our other birds they are there and he does like to be around them when I'm not home.

I only work 4 days a week and I'm not really really a party animal and neither are any of my housemates so he can be out for the days I'm home. Possibly also if my housemates are home of days I'm now as well.

I was thinking I might bring him on a trial kind of thing to see how he copes? Or would that even be too much? He's very much a one person bird and wants to be around me all the time when I'm at home. This is pretty much the hardest decision of my life because he's pretty much my child ):

Another related thing is that I want to buy him a much bigger cage, but I'm having trouble finding a cage in Sydney/ships to Sydney with bar spacing appropriate for a quaker as they mostly seem to cater to cockatoos. Would anyone know where I could find one?

Hello, my fellow parrot people! Yesterday was a Very Special Day -- it was the day that I got to bring home my baby crimson-bellied conure! :D

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The breeder had him surgically sexed and he's a boy (which was exactly what I wanted). He's a few days shy of 4 months old. Since he got home late last night, he's been really active and clambering around his cage, checking out his toys, chirping cutely, and eating and drinking normally. I'm sure he's pretty stressed out and confused, though, so I'm giving him plenty of space for a while before I start trying to handle and train him. His cage is positioned right next to my computer desk so in the meantime I'm spending lots of time sitting next to him, talking to him, and watching him. He's interested in me and comes over to stare at me frequently, but won't let me touch him. Getting him from his carrier to his cage was kind of tricky. I'm hoping this is just a normal response to me being a stranger? Does anyone have any advice for ways that I can show him I'm his friend and that my hands are not things to be feared? His breeder handled him a lot so I know he's hand tame, but he definitely doesn't act like it with me. This is my first conure (I've always had cockatiels) and I'm a little nervous about this and feeling kind of overwhelmed, so I'd appreciate any advice or feedback you guys could offer (particularly if you own conures).

Also, just out of curiosity (and for help coming up with interesting ideas), what are some of your birds' favorite treats?

Thanks guys! :)

Ah...the trouble they get into!

http://compass.ups.com/pet-bird-mistakenly-shipped/

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Just thought this photo was amusing and wanted to share...I have TONS more bird pics if anyone wants to see them.

I have a pair of zebra finches. We were doing some furniture moving and the birds got moved to a new table, but in the same spot, thankfully. I'd decided to check to see how many eggs were in the nest, and I found a baby! It's so teeny! Both parents are very attentive and active, but I want to help them out. Is there anything good I can do for them? I wanted to give them a bit of egg now and then, and I know I could add in some veggies for them to munch on (so far they haven't been big veg eaters). Any other tips? Mum has 2 cuttle bones now, just in case, too.

Thank you for everyone who helped with my post yesterday about my budgie, Winter, with liver disease. The vet told us that his xanthomas weren't infected, that it was just the natural progression of things. He said the yellow crusty stuff was because of "the kind of tissue that was forming," but I didn't understand his explanation... my mind was just spinning so fast. He said Baytril would do nothing. A collar would stop him from picking at them, but they'd get worse anyway. His newer xanthoma doubled in size in a matter of days - that would continue. He was spending his entire day sleeping, eating, or tearing his wing open, constantly uncomfortable, and that wouldn't change.

He said our only options were amputating his wings or euthanasia. Not only is surgery on such a small bird normally risky, but the liver disease preventing his blood from clotting made it extremely high risk... and very much not worth it.

We didn't have much time to make the decision - the vet was already there 15 minutes after closing for us. My head was spinning and it was just... like the past 3 months, I felt like I had to make a decision blindly. I've felt this whole time like no matter how much I search, no matter who I ask, no matter where I go or what I do, I just haven't had enough information to base my decisions off of. And this is no different.

I've been second-guessing myself the entire night. I can't shake off this guilt. I ended a life, a life that was only two years old at that. What if I was wrong, what if I made the wrong decision. What if I could've done more, tried more, learned more, spent more, something, anything. Bah. I'm just rambling now, I'm sorry.
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For those not familiar with my story, my budgie Winter has liver disease. We've been doing our best to help him since we found out in January. (If our previous vet hadn't, err, messed a few things up - we would've known in October.) He has xanthomas - cholesterol deposits - on his wings. Our vet says he thinks one wing is xanthomas and the other wing is feather cysts, but he's not sure.

Fair warning - do not view the March 14th picture if you just ate, or if you have an appetite that you want to keep. It's not pretty.

This is what his right wing looked like before they became infected: [February 23rd] [February 24th]
This is what his right wing looks like infected: [March 14th]

The upper lump is getting bigger. He picked both it and the huge lump open. There's blood on his beak, all over his wing, the cage. The bleeding is stopped now... but I don't know how long it'll be until he picks it open again. Our vet gave us Baytril to give him twice a day for 10 days. He's gotten 5 doses so far, and 2 of those doses... I'm not sure how much actually got in him. So I know I need to give it more time before I expect results.

But I feel like I should be doing more than just Baytril. What are your thoughts on this? Is there anything topical that I can put on his xanthomas - a pain killer, an itch reliever, an antibiotic, SOMEthing safe? What would you be doing right now if you were me?

Edit: He has a vet appointment tonight (3/19) at 7:30pm. He'll be getting a collar to stop him from picking at them. The tech said she'll look into topical options, and they're gonna see what they can do about giving us some advice on holding him/getting the baytril into him without hurting his wings.

Can anyone recommend healthy bread recipes for birds (specifically budgies)? I occasionally buy Harrison's Bird Bread mix, but they'll only eat it fresh out of the oven and most of the muffins end up wasted.