Douglas or Deirdrie?

[reajen01]

Hi all,

I am brand new to the forum since discovering this great site last night. A little bit about me, I used to keep budgies in my youth, supported by a breeder in my village and brought home my first baby bud in about 15 years yesterday!

I had been to a pet shop with a friend for her children to look at rabbits and of course I was immediately drawn to the budgies. As soon as I approached the aviary, little Douglas approached me, chattering, head bobbing and winking - it was love at first sight! I had no intentions of getting a bud, I have no other pets but as I work from home I have plenty of time to spend with a pet. So the following day, after getting the approval of my OH, we trotted off to see if Douglas was still there, and he sure was. The pet shop owner was present and explained he buys from a local breeder, all the birds were active and healthy so I felt reasonably confident buying from a shop rather than breeder, even though it's not ideal.

He kindly set me up with the basics at a good price but I already have the Piano 6 on order, along with branch perches and various toys.

So baby bud arrived yesterday lunchtime and after a few hours calm and quiet I started the taming process, and by teatime he was feeding from my hand, letting me scratch his neck and almost stepping up (the old one leg holding on for dear life, not really knowing where to put the other one caused a few giggles). He is still very quiet but also very calm, we had a few tunes yesterday after he got over the shock of his journey but nothing since.

He was sold to me as male and 14 weeks old but as this was never an area I was interested in as a child, I have had great difficulty confirming this using web resources, I am not used to doing it on sight of a bird.

So what do we think? I hope the pics upload ok.

www.flickr.com/photos/132260824@N08/with/16951832141/

[Marianne Marlow]

Welcome to the forum!
I would guess that Douglas is a male.
When you say we had a few tunes, I guess you mean that he sang a bit?
Was he tuneful or was it tiny squawks and whistles?

[suesbird]

What a lovely little guy(?). I can see why you could not resist him. Amazing how we get permission from the oh, as if they have anything to say in the matter

[Marianne Marlow]

Well ya know. Gotta keep the OH happy

[samwiseg]

Hi and welcome! I think your bud maybe a female as the base part of the cere looks to be a tad flaky or crusty which in turn means she would be coming into breeding condition but would need a clearer picture to determine

[reajen01]

We were treated to some lovely tunes and chattering. He had a relatively peaceful night, only one night fright which he recovered from very quickly (erm, yes I did sleep downstairs with him!). After 20 minutes taming time just now, he is already coming to sit on my hand to eat millet, he seems so bold with everything, cautious but confident. I am so in love!

And yes, like the OH had much of a choice, I do think he saw my face and knew I just had to have him 

[reajen01]

www.flickr.com/photos/132260824@N08/?

I have added two more photos, unfortunately it is a really dark day, I shall post again with some sunnier photos, although this little bud is already making my day sunny!

[lemonade]

Hi, I'd say he's a Douglas! And a beautiful budgie too!

[jellybean]

Hi, welcome to the forum, you have a lovely little bud.

[reajen01]

I am hoping he is a boy as I am planning on putting a lot of work in to see if I can get him talking. Any ideas on his type and age? His base colour appears to be a very pale mauve and when looking closely you can still see the colour bands very close to his cere.

[Marianne Marlow]

I'm not sure on age or mutation..

But Girls can talk too you know!

[milliej]

s/he is a beauty but I'm no expert however......female?

[reajen01]

More pictures, the sun managed to come out earlier so I rushed to get pics. I know all budgies can talk and I guess personality plays a big part, had a mixture when I was younger, I suppose I have been conditioned by the old advice that single boys are more likely to bond closely and talk but you are right - and I certainly don't mind if Douglas is a girl, after 24 hours he is my world. I am so glad the OH is away this weekend because he would be feeling decidedly left out!

We have now mastered a few step ups and more hand feeding. I do remember my old budgies going through a naughty phase a few weeks from them arriving home and suddenly not wanting to step up or hand feed, as a kid this was so dis-heartening and I didn't continue the taming and training process but now I am all grown up I hope to power on through that phase.

I am just about to post on the cage thread for comments and advice too.

Hopefully in these pics his cere is more visible and you can see the bars on his forehead. Any advice or comments much appreciated

www.flickr.com/photos/132260824@N08/sets/72157651600053822/

[skysmum]

Beautiful bud and welcome from me . Im leaning more to a boy

[reajen01]

Thank you everyone for making me feel so welcome, I work from home and you can be sure that this site will be running in the background 12 hours a day from now on! It's so lovely to be able to connect with like minded folks and 'shout from the rooftops' how wonderful these little creatures are. I spent 10 years in social work and saw many budgies kept in squalid conditions, alone and unloved. I also saw many other animals and even rehomed some but I always had to focus on the children rather than the animals. Now I am chatting with all you lovely people, I am so glad there are people out there who value the intelligence and personality of these animals