* Pet Bird Chat * NEW

[leiawolfe]

@Greenleaf - probably a dumb question, but worth asking I guess: are you sure he's a he? o,o[/center]

Yeah, I was wondering this too?? I mean it might be that Spring is a male and his cere turned brown because he is overweight, like you said, but a brown cere is the female colour?? Though I'm not sure about the blue to brown thing, not pink (a baby) to brown/blue. So.. Okay, I thought it might just be worth ,asking on behalf of Greenleaf,, can a budgie change genders? This is quite unlikely but it could happen I guess.

[BudgieLover5000]

On budgie changing cere color....
What color was the blue? Light blue or royal blue? If it was light blue, then it was a female in the first place. If it turns brown it just means she's getting hormonal.
My budgie's cere constantly changed from light blue to brown, but it finally settled at light blue for a while, and then slowly turned brown again, and it will probably turn back to light blue soon. I didn't realize light blue could mean female until like, last week lol
I thought she was sick too or changing genders until I realized this

On getting birds to try pellets.....
Have you tried Zupreem's fruity pellet mix? https://www.zupreem.com/products/birds/ ... all-birds/
Many people use this when switching their birds from seed to pellet. It's very popular, birds really like the fruit flavor. I would suggest getting the one for very small birds, same nutritional value, just different size. It'll be easier for them to eat.
As for getting them to change in general, here is a trick I've heard but never tried:
Take the pellets and put them in hot water, and then press them down on the seed. They will work hard at the pellet to get to the seed, but then also get a taste of the pellets! Don't give it to them hot though but I think you know that. Start small at first with this trick, then slowly increase the pellets.

[Luzien]

that what the other bevor me did say is really good
, and try t mix the pellets in with egg when they like to eat this, apple sauce, and cut up apple that you make warm...some birds who are dificult with fruit and vegi, can start to eat them when they are a little bit warm or cooked^^

and do make a training plan...like let them out more and more , let them fly to there cage or to a playtree perch first 3times then 5times and so on 2-4times a day...the bir should get more fit and lose weight soon... (you also Need to get the weight of the bird every other day to Keep the weight under cotrol!!! you can use a bird scale, or a good normal one where you set the bird on a small Standing perch)

and mostlikely you Need to get a bigger, cage where they need to move around more, most birds who are to fat are in a way to tiny cage to even Stretch out there wings and hope from perch to perch or fly around a little as they need...and become lazy...
also let them work for there food...hide the seeds and food parts, or use foraging toys...then they can not eat it all in one go but bite for bite and over the day..
good luck hope you tell how your bird is

[Greenleaf]

Thank you all so much for the advice! I appreciate it so much, beyond words.

I'll definitely try reincorporating veggies into their diet, along with fruits. I actually used to feed them Zupreem pellets in the past but haven't tried the smaller version yet, so I'll see what I can do with that. The pellets in hot water trick sounds promising so I think I'll try that out as well.

I'd heard of foraging but haven't tried it as of yet! I was worried that it might interfere with their diet change, but in the meantime I have visited a few pet shops to find more bowls and foraging toys. Haven't been too successful yet in finding many, but I'll definitely continue to look and do more research into it!

It's true that Spring's cere has always been light blue. I knew that females had brown ceres but had never considered that Spring could actually have been female all along. I've had him for four years without any colour change and the vet also seemed to think that he was male, but since my budgies' diet was unhealthy in the first place I think I'll focus on trying to change that before anything else.

Again, thank you all so, so much for the help!!

[MoonfallTheFox]

Hey greenleaf, another thing you might consider trying would be lafeber's nutriberries. They tend to be more palatable to birds accustomed to seed diets because they are more seed-ey but they have all the nutrition of a pellet diet. I fed it to my last lovebird. My current one might end up on them too. I'm having a heck of a time getting the little guy to take his pellets.

Lafeber is considered one of the best on the market so you can't go wrong using them, and hopefully your birds will be more apt to eat them than "normal" pellets.

[Lexi.]

Spring is for sure a male. I don't doubt it.

Colour changing happens to their ceres, whe something is wrong.

[leiawolfe]

So, my dad's made a decision. We go to this Terry-the-budgie-breeder this afternoon, most likely bringing one home (a boy). Personally I'd like to wait a tad bit longer, but he said that then they'll just keep getting older so we shoukd get one pretty soon.
Also, my nan (who is the one who knows Terry and told us about him) said that Terry is really proud of this green-and-yellow-feathered red-eyed budgie?! I mean, I guess a green and yellow budgie was bred with an albino and the outcome was a true representation of both!! My parents don't really want a red eyed budgie though XD

We're also stuck on names. Maybe it'll depend on what he looks like and his personality?
I'm thinking about Indy. I wonder what my family will say - I know my sister will disagree XD

[leiawolfe]

Hi there!!! Soooo we went to the breeder and after a while, we got a 4-6 week old budgie! We just brought him home and we're just inspecting him right now, my dad noticed that his feet (his toes) are actually all facing forward, instead of two forward, two back and so he can't stand on the perch!! (At the breeder's he and his sibling (sister?) were sitting on the ground and their parents on a perch). My dad is thinking he should like tape a pole or something onto his foot? Hopefully the bones have not gotten used to all toes facing forward...

But other than that we're pretty sure he's healthy? He's really tiny XD and he's blue and white. Still haven't got a name.

[Luzien]

@ LeiaWolfe

could you please not double post

to the bird...
did you got the breeding feed from the breeder, as he most likely still needs this when im not wrong with this birds age...or are small birds already ready to eat seed andd such with his age?

and to the feet...please for the love of animal, dont do things on the bird when you dont know what is wrong with it, and what you can do wrong... it could be something from way to much inbreeding, as some small backyard breeder do with tiny and small birds.... i dont know the guy where you got the bird and if they are legal breeder or not..but when you say the feet look wrong then go to vet.....you need a VET for this, they can do x-ray or blood test, do something that the feet or the right way... or simply have a look at the bird if it can life with this or not....

also when the bird was only on the ground...ask the vet if the bird is ready to even stand on a perch...baby birds need to learn this...first it is a perch over the ground of the baby cage that they get when they are old enough for this,..so that when they are tirred or fall they dont get hurt.... with time and when bird can stand longer times on it you can add a second and third perch a bit higher till one day you have them all up where they should be in the cage..

...what did the former owners vet say, to the birds health, what is in the contract you have for the bird, does it say that the bird is not fully healthy

[ryukrem]

Hi guys.

My girlfriend is really interested in getting a bird. We are animal lovers and currently have six geckos, five rats, and three cats, as well as my horse. We are perfectly capable of adding more to the list of pets to love.

Suggestions for a first pet bird? Breed, gender, tips and tricks? We will be doing heavy research once we figure out which kind we are going with.