clipping wings.

recently I decided I was going to clip my budgies wings, after a lot of consideration and researching how to clip the wings I finally decided it was the best way to go.
The reasons I decided to do this was because when I got Charlie I was having trouble socialising them both and wanted them to be able to socialise out of the cage, but with them both being fully flighted I couldn't do this. I also had a time where kirby had flew into the wall and then fell under the bed and nearly hurt herself. And I didn't feel comfortable that Charlie was tame enough yet to be trusted flying around. Recently Kirby started going into condition, and she became extremely grumpy and irritated and more aggressive than normal.
once the wings were clipped now they can both come out and play together. So far they really don't seem to notice the difference and are loving being able to come out of their cages :)


I only clipped the first six or so flight feathers. so they are still able to glide to the ground.

here's Kirby and Charlie sitting on top of the travel cage

Kirby on the play gym

checking out the play gym

and a shot of what their wings look like now- kirby's look a little shorter I think this is just because of her last molt, she was also was over preening and pulled a few out but overall her flying ability's don't seem different to Charlie's.

put Kirby and Charlie in the same cage for a while today, they preened each other and gave kisses. Charlie got a bit annoyed though because when he moved away Kirby would chase after him and  he would push her away with his feet. So don't think they are ready to be together unsupervised yet!
But things are looking good :)

Kirby has one day left of her antibiotics, so far all good, she hasn't gotten worse I don't think. Came home this afternoon to find Kirby had lost a feather though which I'm not sure if it was from her last molt and she was just ready to lose it, because she has been preening a lot lately so I hope she didn't pull it out herself! I think she has been bored, as her old toys have been taking out of the cage when she got sick because they were getting pretty wrecked so there is only 3 plastic ones in there she is probably sick of! just put a new swing in there though and its seems to be entertaining her :)


Charlie is doing the cutest little love chirps to Kirby, well I guess that's what he is doing haha!
The poor guy has been running up and down his perch desperately trying to find a way out of the cage to get to her! I really hope when they get to be together that Kirby likes him as much as he likes her! haha he is used to being with a flock, where as she has been alone for a few months now! 


So Kirby has one more day left of medicine and then hopefully she will put some weight back on! I think the sooner I can move Charlie closer the better so the can communicate better :)

Kirby seems a fair bit better today :) she eating and I put the antibiotics in her water today, so far all good, she drank a little not sure she liked it though! it turns the water yellow!
Took a few pics today of Kirby and then of Charlie, Charlie is being very active today so was hard to get a still picture of him! glad he is settling in now! I can't wait till they get to be closer together!
Kirby is difficult to get pictures of because she try's to eat the camera! so I have to let her on my hand to distract her! hehe.

Put some food in a plastic container on the floor as well as her normal food, she had this container when she was a baby until she got used to the food being up high. Hopefully she puts some weight on (:

Being her usual silly self, she always goes to the corner and try's to turn upside down!

here's Charlie preening, he seems more comfortable now moves around, chirps and preens... compared to before when he would just sit staring at you (:

                                                 pretty boy Charlie <3

he loves his rope perch 

Wednesday

Been a busy day today, took Kirby to the vet this afternoon and she got her nails trimmed and the vet said the diarrhoea is probably due to stress, although just in case she is on antibiotics for 5 days, and I'm going to monitor her faeces and her weight as well. The vet suggested that Charlie and Kirby won't get along and to introduce them gradually, they may fight... But I said how they were calling to each other while they were in different rooms and now they have both settled down as they are in the same room but apart... then she said maybe they will then. I think they will get along fine though (:

Quaratine

When I first got Kirby I really had no idea about how much there was to know about birds, and how much care they needed! I started researching read a book then went online. I found www.talkbudgies.com and found it extremely helpful!
I didn't have to worry about quarantine because Kirby was my first and only bird. But as I was working in a pet store I found it very interesting to read about quarantine and was concerned that no one seems to tell people buying birds that you should do this :(
You never know whether a new bird you are bringing home is ill or not, and without quarantine you could make your new bird ill! 
When I got Charlie he was put in a brand new cage in a seperate room to Kirby, there food and toys weren't shared either. 


Unfortunately I noticed Kirby was having diarrhea, her poop looked very abnormal to me, and it concerned me. I asked online on talk budgies and everyone said take her to a avian vet, but sadly I cant get her to one. I asked a lady I know who looks after injured wildlife including birds, she said it sounded like Kirby wasn't eating probably due to stress of being able to hear the new bird.
So I put millet in her cage, and the poo goes back to normal for a few days. Monday morning I wake to find more diarrhoea so I clean her cage up then place fresh towel in her tray. She hardly poops or eats all day which makes me very concerned. All day long she chirps to Charlie would not be quiet AT ALL. 
I'd had a conversation with my mum about having to bring Charlie into my room, they needed the room he was in for something else. Also with the amount of noise he was making calling to Kirby I was worried this was what was causing her not to eat and stressing her further.
So yes I broke Quarantine. Charlie is now in my bedroom, although he is on the opposite side to Kirby and haven't gone close to each other. I made this choice because keeping them apart seemed to be harming Kirby's health.
Today they happily Chirp all morning, Kirby was active during the day and doesn't appear to be a sick bird, although she is still not interested in her food. Im wondering if its something about the food she doesn't like. 
Charlie is still eating fine. 
Kirby will be going to the vets tomorrow and hopefully they can give some advice, I really didn't know what to do with Charlie putting him in my room seemed like the only option to calm Kirby down. The vets said most likely no disease would be spread if they aren't right next to each other and drinking the same water etc. 
Charlie's attitude has changed SO MUCH. usually he just sits, and chirps loudly to Kirby, he generally sits in the one place unless you put your hand in the cage and he moves to get away from you. Once he was in the same room as Kirby he has been chirping (not calling) just normal chirping, running around on his perches, flying to the front of the cage and preening too :)


So they both seem happy. Lets just hope Kirby isn't badly sick and will improve soon :)
she is eating right now (:  I will update tomorrow after the Vet visit in the afternoon. For now just have to keep them warm and have lots of fresh food and water :)

Charlie

I'd considered when getting Kirby that she would be lonely, I said this at the pet store and they all told me she would be fine and bond better to me alone. I did agree she would bond to me easier alone but I still wanted her to have a friend. So long before Charlie came along I knew I'd be getting another Budgie at some time, but not until I had time for him/her. 

I've nearly finished my tafe course and the placement too, so having a bit more time I decided it was time for the new bird. I got so excited and looked at all the pictures of everyone's birds on www.talkbudgies.com which is a fantastic website for information and advice and everything to do with budgies :)

I came across two colours I liked, a light yellowish colour or fully white with bits of grey/blue.

From working at the pet store I had seen many different colours of budgies, I thought most of them were adorable, But I didn't really like the white and blue ones for some reason.

My boyfriend took me to go "budgie shopping" we ended up going to a different pet store not the one I got Kirby from, just because we knew it would be open. as it was getting late and the ones in the mall closed earlier. The pet store had 3 cages of budgies one english budgies (which had some very pretty colours but I didn't want a english budgie.) The other two cages were full of yellow and blue which I didn't want because that is Kirby's colouring.  Then there were green and yellow, and white and blue. I desperately wanted a light yellow budgie, or a white one. I didn't want just any budgie, and didn't want to rush the decision, I honestly thought I'd go home without one. I looked at the budgies for a long time and then my boyfriend pointed out a white and blue budgie he thought was cute, it was preening another budgie, and then I just had this want for that budgie! It was so cute preening the other one, and I so much wanted a friendly budgie to be Kirby's friend. So it was picked, it annoyed me they put the poor thing in a cardboard box, usually at pet stores they use a small box just a bit bigger than the budgie so it doesn't have room to freak out.  Because of the big box I couldn't just put the box in the cage and let it come out in its own time, and I ended up being bitten! Kirby has never ever bitten me that hard! I was shocked how much a little budgie beak could hurt! so I ended up picking it up with a cloth to protect my hand.

I felt very anxious and nervous. I was scared, what if the bird wont like me? what if its sick? what if it doesn't get along with Kirby?

We thought it was female, as it had such a pink cere in the shop. I left him to calm down over night and the next morning I look at the cere and think... hey its a bit purpleish... maybe your a boy??

After consulting talkbudgies, It was decided she was actually a he! and he was named Charlie.

Charlie was much different from Kirby, he took longer to get used to me, and sat very still when I came in the room. He would get this look on his face like he was thinking "here comes the human, quick sit up straight and look tough she wont come near me" his little eyes seemed to get so big in his head! hehe

Eventually I put my hand in the cage and he didn't try to bite me, (still hasn't) and I learned that he loves millet and will come near the scary human hand if there's millet there, his face kind of goes blank as if all he sees is millet! *giggles*

I hadn't heard him chirp a single chirp, until one day I was sitting there and suddenly a very loud CHIRP. Soon enough Kirby realised there was another bird in the house and they could hear each other chirping so they started calling out to each other....non stop pretty much.

I have a feeling they are going to be great friends!

some pictures of Charlie:

heres charlie when I first got him, he was very fluffed up as I think he was scared.

Charlie likes to shut his eyes when i bring the camera out hehehe. thought it was super cute :) 

he tends to get this look on his face as soon as he is perching on me like he is thinking "what am I meant to do now??"

Kirby

I decided I needed something to do, and since my budgies are my one obsession a blog about them would be much fun!
So for starters a bit about me, and how I came to have my budgies.
I'm 18 years old and graduated year 12 last year (2010). I didn't really know for sure what it was I wanted to do with myself, but I loved animals, and found a course to study companion animals meaning dogs, cats, horses, birds, rabbits, guinea pigs, rats, mice and reptiles.
The course required me to be there studying on tuesdays and wednesdays for theory and prac lessons, we also had to complete 160 hours work placement where ever we wanted as long as we did 60 hours at RSPCA (the royal society prevention of cruelty to animals).I found the whole course interesting and learned a lot about animals I'd never owned before, when we came to the bird topic I became really interested in them. I'd never owned a bird before, and hadn't considered how much effort people put into them.

At the time the only pets I had were two cats, Mink and Mitsie and my Lop eared rabbit Snowy. I had asked my Mum a few months back if I could get a pet budgie but she said no that I didn't have the time or the space. I agreed and was happy to start studying and be able to handle more animals.
I started my first placement at a local pet store in my town half way through march.
I was nervous to handle the birds as I never had before and was a little afraid of being bitten, throughout my placement I came to admire how cute and colourful budgies were. I learned a fair bit about them, and got to handle a few briefly. 
One day I was wiping the front of the bird cages, when I got to the budgies I noticed a little baby bird sitting at the front, she would come up the the wire at the front of the cage and grip on with her little feet and do a flip! I thought she was so adorable, I continued to watch her, there were about 15 budgies in the cage... FAR too small. But that's how many pet stores are. She didn't seem to get along well with the other budgies, she would try and join in their little chats but they didn't let her in.
I went home that night, and told my Mum about her, I didn't even have to convince my mum she just agreed I could get her.  The next day (Friday the 25th march) I went and got a cage, some toys and then finally picked up my little bird!


Basically she sat in the same spot of the cage for 3-4 hours, after that she climbed onto a ladder and sat there for another few hours! this was completely normal. Her cage is in my bedroom, so over the time of a week she got used to me coming in and out and she got to trust me. I then started putting my hand in her cage to see if she would come near me. She was named Kirby within that week, The pet store told me she was male, But once I did more research it was decided she was female. Kirby wasn't hard to hand tame, she started biting me but not hard, and she still does this, I think its just her personality and a way of playing. Once you have their trust its easy from there, let them choose to come to you. Being that Kirby was so young (only about 2 months old) when I got her and I had her by herself she bonded with me easily. within about a month she would come to me when ever I came to the cage. :)
these are some pictures of Kirby when I first got her, she ended up loving this mirror toy and would sit on it for hours, I removed it from her cage and then used it to help gain her trust in me by holding it inside the cage and she would get on it while I was holding it and then climb on me too.

 the second picture is one my friend took with her iPhone her cere looked a light blue colour here ( which was why we thought she was a he), but now days its white with a bit of brown tint.