Fill a guy in

[robert]

Hello all,
I recently bought 2 baby budgies, first pets of my life and I am just so impressed with these birds, I had no idea they were this social or smart.

One is a Blue Pied and the other is a Violet Opaline. Unfortunately we think that they have French molt.

I joined the first budgie site I could find and the people there honestly turned me off, from their budgie halloween costume contests to their "Rainbow bridge" (a place deceased budgies wait for their owners before crossing into heaven, why the concept of a beloved bird having to wait in some kind of purgatory for you before crossing into heaven is pleasing escapes me).

I'm just looking for a forum without all the overwhelming cuteness and virtual prays for my birds, just looking for a place where I can learn and not want to poke my eyes out, hopefully this is the place, but if rainbow bridges and budgies go together like Crack and Whitney Houston let me know now please and I'll leave.

Thanks.

[Joey]

Welcome and congratulations on your budgies! I hope this is the place for you haha and about the rainbow bridge thing, I personally just say R.I.P

[robert]

lol, thanks. After a search for rainbow bridge turns out it's for all pets, not just budgies.

[stace]

They are clever little things. The more effort and time you put in to teaching them and bonding with them, the better they get.

They are very affectionate, curious and social creatures.

Shame about the French molt. Can you post some pictures?

[robert]

To tell the truth I would have never bought a bird, my wife had one as a child so we got them and since I work at home I've been taking care of them since they were 20 days old or there abouts, hand feeding at first 5 times a day. They are now about 50 days old. I'm just so impressed by them. They spent a good part of their day crawling on me.

The blue pied lost all but the two longest tail feathers and all her primary and all but 2 secondary wing feathers but none of her body feathers. They are starting to grow in again but I can see that the quill has blood in it as the feather forms so I'm not hopeful they will stay but for now at least she can make short flights, a little better then one who's had their wings clipped I'd imagine.

And yesterday I made a horrible mistake and stepped on the other's tail feathers and he flew away pulling most out. He can still fly as well as before it seems but after looking at the feathers that came out 2 of them had dried blood in the quill but most were clear. All of the feathers that came out on the pied had dried blood in them so I think they both had it to various degrees.

The vet said it could be stress but I don't know why stress would make the quills fill with dried blood.

At this point they are eating a seed mix for budgies, fresh broccoli sprouts dipped in vitamin water and the pied is given vitamin drops which dye her face red.

I already have a video I made for the other place of my birds

[Joey]

Oct 8, 2011 23:39:48 GMT robert said:

lol, thanks. After a search for rainbow bridge turns out it's for all pets, not just budgies.

No worries man, glad you found the site

[Hezz]

Pretty birds, Robert

[stace]

I'm not an expert on French Molt, but I have heard of some cases where the feathers grow back a little. I don't believe this is common.

However, they can live happy lives without them. They just can't fly well or at all. You might have to watch out for them hurting themselves if they fall from a height and can't glide down.

Just a query. Do you have an avian vet or a normal vet? If not, I'd highly recommend finding one. Normal vets often provide incorrect advice on birds. They aren't very familiar with them, rarely seeing them in their pet practice, and bird medicine often isn't even part of their degree.

Your birds look gorgeous, by the way. Lovely little things.

[robert]

We're lucky that there is an avian vet right down the street. We're due back on Wednesday.

[stace]

Oct 9, 2011 2:33:22 GMT robert said:

We're lucky that there is an avian vet right down the street. We're due back on Wednesday.

Me too. He's about five houses up the road. It's very handy. His Galah, Ralph, keeps on flying off in thunderstorms. He came around to my house once, then another time I found him walking down a busy Sydney city street. I knew who he was straight away, picked him up on my shoulder and walked him back home.

[barrieshutt]

Well it certainly sounds like french moult Robert, the feather follicles become weak and cannot support any new feathers for very long

[Marianne Marlow]

Welcome Robert.

Just watched your video. Lovely birds!

[Joey]

You are lucky to have a vet that close! my nearest vet is an hours drive!

[robert]

Yeah, I live in Tokyo so we have pretty much everything within a 10 minute drive.