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Post by mona on Dec 28, 2020 2:59:07 GMT
Reg the night frights, I never keep the window or the cage wall facing the window uncovered. They can be startled by any flashing light from outside and sometimes the weird view at night. I have seen mine face night frights when the window is uncovered (at times when they slept outside the cage, while training to go back to cage). I also cover my cage from all sides except one (opposite to the window) and keep a dim yellow night lamp below the cage. I would recommend something similar to you too.
Normally, they would need a bit brighter than digital clock light.. They wouldn't be able to see inside the cage with that light. They have no night vision at all.
Night frights are very dangerous. We could just try to avoid it as much as we can.
Reg posting the photos, if you are using Desktop or laptop, you can see a Add image to post button while posting a reply. When using the mobile version, scroll down to the bottom and you will see Desktop version . Click on it and you will see an Add image to post option. Clicking on it will redirect to another page. Add your photos there and click on Post Quick Reply.
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Nov 16, 2020 8:47:48 GMT
wocal
Brand New Budgie
Posts: 51
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Post by wocal on Dec 28, 2020 4:22:39 GMT
First off sorry for your loss. I just caught up on your story from the past year. I'm sorry they haven't bred yet in all this time, but it seems like they are getting great care. I see you are in no rush to breed and just enjoying their company, but if I can I'd like to share some tips for when/if you do want to start breeding the budgies you have. It is what has worked for me and few pairs of budgies and cockatiels I've bred. I got these tips from other breeders, books, and videos.
separate the pair you want to breed from the other budgies in their own cage. Have a lamp on in the room for minimum of 12 hours a day with a bright enough bulb to illuminate the whole room and for the same 12 hours each day. This is to make the budgies think it's spring and a good time to have babies. Don't let the temperature fluctuate too wide and have it set to like mid to high 70's it's like the spring thing with the lights. You're just trying to make a controlled environment to stimulate your hen into breeding condition. Put a box on the cage higher up if possible and try pine shavings inside (that is what has worked for me). I saw other people talk about the diet. so in advanced before you breed them you wanna "condition" them which is just giving them more proteins like with the eggs and calcium like from the mineral blocks. If your birds don't like touching them you can buy alternatives in drops or powders like calcium carbonate and mix it in with their veggies. other than that you shouldn't have much of a problem.
Happy new year to you and I hope everything goes well. Sorry again for your loss.
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Mar 18, 2018 21:15:47 GMT
moe
Brand New Budgie
Posts: 27
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Post by moe on Mar 31, 2021 16:20:46 GMT
Quick Update: Thanks everybody for the previous replies.
Not too much has changed in the past few months. I'm still not completely sure of the new white budgie's sex, although it acts like a cock. It's cere has remained pale blue. It hasn't turned bright blue like a normal cock's, nor has it turned brown & crusty like a normal hen's. It's a mostly white bird, with a small amount of very pale gray barring on its wings, and some pale blue shading on its lower breast. I'm told that on some white budgerigar cocks, the cere always remains pale blue, and never brightens up. I got it last November, and I think it's about a year or so old now.
It continues to approach the 2 older hens in a friendly manner with its head-bobbing, but they pay no attention to it. The older Yellow/Green Pied hen has always been a nervous bird. She appears to to want to respond to the new bird when it approaches her, but then she gets nervous and flies away. Her cere is light tan colored & crusty. The Yellowface Pastel hen doesn't want anything to do with the new parrakeet. When he approaches her, she either snaps at him, or flies away. I was surprised at this, as she was quite affectionate with the old cock who passed away last Fall. But she doesn't appear to care for the new bird. Her cere right now is dark & crusty, so she seems to be in breeding condition.
I'd taken the two nestboxes down during the winter, because the birds were ignoring them, and I didn't want them to take the nestboxes for granted. I put them back up at the beginning of March, when the days became longer, with more sunlight, hoping that they'd respond to them and check them out. But all 3 birds continue to ignore the boxes, and don't seem interested in them. I have a bit of clay kitty-litter on the bottom of the boxes.
The birds are getting a mostly seedmix diet right now, with some pellets mixed in. They have a mineral-block and a cuttlebone, which they gnaw on, and seem to enjoy. I give them a bit of apple, pear,orange, or carrot every so often, which they nibble at. They also get some greens a couple of times per week. I add vitamins to their water each day. I'm going to start giving them a bit of egg to increase the protein in their diet. Maybe that will help to get them interested in breeding. We'll just have to be patient, and give them some more time.
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Mar 18, 2018 21:15:47 GMT
moe
Brand New Budgie
Posts: 27
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Post by moe on Dec 31, 2022 21:45:51 GMT
Well. It's been a year and a half since my last post in this section. Thanks for the previous replies. I'll just provide an update for the year 2022.
But still no luck in getting my birds to breed. I still have the white cock I mentioned in my previous post. He's about two and a half years old now. He's a beautiful large slender bird, mostly white but with a little blue and pale gray shading. His cere never did color up, and has remained a pale blue, but I think this might be normal, and I think he may be a pied bird, so the pale-colored cere might be normal.
Sadly, both of the hens in my previous post have passed on. I noticed the yellow/green pied one being very quiet on her perch with her head tucked under her wing, which was the 1st time I'd ever seen her do that. The next day, I discovered her lying on the bottom of the flight cage, having passed away quietly during the night. She'd never previously shown any signs of being ill. She was a bit over 3 years old. The very next day, I noticed that my yellowface pastel-colored hen seemed unable to keep her balance on her perch, and she was clearly in distress. She died that same night. She was a little over two years old. I've no idea why both of these hens died, one the day after the other, and never having seemed ill at all until the day before each passed away.
About a month later, in November last year (2021) I bought a new young hen, a nice little blue one, from a local breeder. I put her in the flight cage with the white cock, and they quickly became friends. Over the next month, I observed her closely, and she was the most curious, active little bedgerigar I've ever had. She investigated every inch of the cage, and was curious about every nook and corner, and she did upside-down acrobatics on the tree branches I have in the cage. But I only had her for one month. I was away overnight on Christmas Eve. On Christmas morning, my brother, who was caring for my birds, found her wedged upside down between the side of the cage and a grit-container that I'd had affixed to the interior side of the cage. She must have been investigating the crevice between the container and the cage, and become trapped between them. I've removed the grit container, and will ensure that I never again have a corner or crevice in the cage where a bird could become trapped. I miss her, and I don't think I'll ever have another budgie with as curious and active a personality as hers.
In January 2022. I bought another young hen from a local petshop. The pandemic was still going on, and the petshop hadn't had any budgerigars for quite awhile, and so I bought her as soon as I saw her. She's a Whiteface Blue bird. She's a dumpy-looking little parrakeet, chunky and squat. It took a while for the White cock to bond make friends with her. She was pretty indifferent to the cock at first. In February I acquired a young Yellowface Blue hen from another local breeder. I hadn't planned on getting a second hen, but the breeder knew I was looking for a young hen, and intentionally saved her for me, so I took her.
The second hen (the Yellowface Blue one) seemed more interested in interacting with the cock. But he ignored her, and continued trying to court the first hen ( the Whiteface Blue one). Eventually the first hen did seem to appreciate his advances a little, and they've bonded a bit. Both of them ignore the second hen. All three have been together for the whole year now. There are 2 nestboxes set up in the cage. The second hen (the one the cock ignores) frequently goes in and out of the nestboxes. But the cock and the first hen pay very little attention to them.
Both hens are about a year and a half old now. Both hens went into breeding-condition this past summer, and their ceres turned brown and wrinkled up. But there was no mating activity. The cock frequently approached the Whiteface hen, headbobbing and chattering. He preens her whenever she allows him to. She sometimes seems mildly interested, but she doesn't reciprocate much. The Yellowface hen at first tried to flirt with the cock, but he consistently ignored her, and she's now given up.
And so I think that the budgies are compatible with living with each other, but probably don't have much desire to go any further, or to mate. It's too bad, as I'd like to raise some young birds, but it may not be meant to be. At least they are healthy, seem happy and active, and I guess that is as much as can be hoped for.
Happy New Year 2023 !
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