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Post by helptheneglectedbudg on May 6, 2021 0:40:19 GMT
I'm currently living with my godmother to help her keep my autistic god brother safe and looked after. I'm not a bird person, but even I could tell that these budgies needed more than what they had. There's five budgies. Two in a black wide cage on the floor. Three in a yellow cage right on top of it. Two are their kids, adults, and a yellow unrelated bird. Both: -are in filthy cages. The bottom of the cages have piles of dried droppings. Wires never were cleaned. Improper food bowls that are also filthy. Birds don't have have access to a bath. -feed the all seed diet. My godmother is absolutely certain that they do just fine with seeds because her mother feeds her birds all seeds. Veggies and fruits are just preference and all birds are different. My godbrother, follows her lead and is even more firmer and certain that seeds is all they need. Gets upset if I try to feed them anything else and will dump it out if he notices some different in the bowl. Thinks I'm making them cry and upset when I try it. It's his job to feed him. A job that he frequently forgets to do everyday. He also neglects to change the water so it's filthy. I change it whenever I can every day. Before I came here his mom would be the one to change the food if he forgot. Untamed and Frightened: -bought off from the local flea market so obviously untamed and terrified. -godmother never fully prepped for having budgies. Only bought "necessary" items from seller. -never trained them -never tamed them. -godbrother isn't aware that his movement and volume of his voice frightens the birds. Nor does he recognize their body and vocal language. Stays in his room most of the day and will come out to occasionally squat on front of the cage and wave his hands out them and loudly greet them with 'pew pew pew!'. They back into a corner and shrink everytime. -both of them move to quickly to remove the bowls when they change food. -budgies have never stepped a foot out of the cage during all the years she's had them. I've tried sending links and info to my godmother and tried talking to her of at least moving them to a better spot. Ex. The empty corner in her living room. But she says she doesn't want them there. I love them both, I really do. But these birds are just being kept alive and are not being treated as pets. I don't want to ruin my relationship with them, but I know I have to do the right thing. I'm currently trying very hard to gain their trust so I can train them to be called and return to their cages when half the day is over. So at least they can use those muscles. But it would be best to get them a new home. Budgies are kept in California. Is there anything I can do to help them?
update: my god mother doesn't mind me mixing veggies in with the seeds. however she asks me to make sure the mixes aren't out for long because she's worried about the ants that come in the house every summer. Asked her if she's considering moving the cages to somewhere higher like a shelf or a table. She shakes her head and tells me *that's where she likes them to be*. She doesn't want them anywhere else because she's worried about the mess. I wanted to argue against that, but I took monas advice and refrained from being pushy on it. The cages aren't being moved anytime soon.
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Post by helptheneglectedbudg on May 6, 2021 13:44:55 GMT
I'm currently living with my godmother to help her keep my autistic god brother safe and looked after. I'm not a bird person, but even I could tell that these budgies needed more than what they had. There's five budgies. Two in a black wide cage on the floor. Three in a yellow cage right on top of it. Two are their kids, adults, and a yellow unrelated bird. Both: -are in filthy cages. The bottom of the cages have piles of dried droppings. Wires never were cleaned. Improper food bowls that are also filthy. Birds don't have have access to a bath. -feed the all seed diet. My godmother is absolutely certain that they do just fine with seeds because her mother feeds her birds all seeds. Veggies and fruits are just preference and all birds are different. My godbrother, follows her lead and is even more firmer and certain that seeds is all they need. Gets upset if I try to feed them anything else and will dump it out if he notices some different in the bowl. Thinks I'm making them cry and upset when I try it. It's his job to feed him. A job that he frequently forgets to do everyday. He also neglects to change the water so it's filthy. I change it whenever I can every day. Before I came here his mom would be the one to change the food if he forgot. Untamed and Frightened: -bought off from the local flea market so obviously untamed and terrified. -godmother never fully prepped for having budgies. Only bought "necessary" items from seller. -never trained them -never tamed them. -godbrother isn't aware that his movement and volume of his voice frightens the birds. Nor does he recognize their body and vocal language. Stays in his room most of the day and will come out to occasionally squat on front of the cage and wave his hands out them and loudly greet them with 'pew pew pew!'. They back into a corner and shrink everytime. -both of them move to quickly to remove the bowls when they change food. -budgies have never stepped a foot out of the cage during all the years she's had them. I've tried sending links and info to my godmother and tried talking to her of at least moving them to a better spot. Ex. The empty corner in her living room. But she says she doesn't want them there. I love them both, I really do. But these birds are just being kept alive and are not being treated as pets. I don't want to ruin my relationship with them, but I know I have to do the right thing. I'm currently trying very hard to gain their trust so I can train them to be called and return to their cages when half the day is over. So at least they can use those muscles. But it would be best to get them a new home. Budgies are kept in California. Is there anything I can do to help them? please don't read past this, I want to help these birds.
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Oct 6, 2011 7:41:27 GMT
Marianne Marlow
Administrator
George, Daisy, Iris, Billy, Peter, Chipper, Dinku, Barney, Ayla and Rocky
Posts: 28,752
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Post by Marianne Marlow on May 6, 2021 14:02:25 GMT
I'm not sure how I can help.
The cages should be cleaner, higher up, the food and water need to be placed in better containers and much higher so they are not soiled by droppings.
But as to if you are allowed to help with these things when your suggestions have already been met with such resistance, I doubt it.
The birds need flying time if their cage is not big enough to allow it and of course they shouldn't be hassled by anyone.
Yes, they'd probably be better off with someone better equipped to look after them, but will your Godmother allow that?
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Post by tweetiepiesmom on May 6, 2021 17:05:01 GMT
Poor little budgies. So good of you to want to help them. Would your godmother allow them to be rehomed? I suggest you start with one thing such as cleaning the water and food bowls everyday and giving them fresh water and seed. Once your godmother and her son get used to you doing that every day, pick something else to do such as cleaning the bottom of the cage. Just keep adding things to do. Good luck! Yes, they definitely need more care.
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Post by mona on May 6, 2021 17:14:32 GMT
That's such a difficult situation..!! It's difficult to help autistic people understand and the way it upsets them is also difficult to handle. It would be better to rehome them.. the cage should be clean.. food bowls preferably stainless steel.. if not, at least cleaned daily.. at least veggies along with seed diet.. It would be best to be rehomed, but their agreement about that would be difficult.. tweetiepiesmom's suggestion might help too.. but are you staying for just a while? If so, after you leave, the birdies would again be in the same condition..
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Oct 6, 2011 7:41:27 GMT
Marianne Marlow
Administrator
George, Daisy, Iris, Billy, Peter, Chipper, Dinku, Barney, Ayla and Rocky
Posts: 28,752
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Post by Marianne Marlow on May 6, 2021 17:58:24 GMT
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Post by helptheneglectedbudg on May 6, 2021 18:56:52 GMT
That's such a difficult situation..!! It's difficult to help autistic people understand and the way it upsets them is also difficult to handle. It would be better to rehome them.. the cage should be clean.. food bowls preferably stainless steel.. if not, at least cleaned daily.. at least veggies along with seed diet.. It would be best to be rehomed, but their agreement about that would be difficult.. tweetiepiesmom 's suggestion might help too.. but are you staying for just a while? If so, after you leave, the birdies would again be in the same condition.. From what I can tell, my god mother wants these birds. I can try to suggest the idea and see if she could consider it. She might not want to rehome them since my god brother likes them. But I'll most certainly try. I've been considering what to do if they won't be rehomed, like report animal neglect. But I don't want her to get a big fine or something. Every weekend I head back home to my parents and get picked up every sunday.
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Post by tweetiepiesmom on May 6, 2021 19:55:58 GMT
I suspected that the birds might be bought as pets for the son. Although I'm not an expert, people with autism have difficulty adjusting to change which is why I suggested you make changes in their care one thing at a time until he accepts the change. Keep doing it until he accepts it even if he tells you no. Just keep telling him that the change you are doing is good for the budgies. Pets are often recommended for people with autism but they all need to be taken care of. Many people think of budgies as "low maintenance" pets. They still need to be fed properly and kept in clean conditions.
Unfortunately reporting the situation as animal abuse won't have any effect except to make your godmother mad at you. The type of animal abuse that gets taken care of is fighting cocks, animals getting beaten, dogs being left out without food, very severe cases like that. If they can't be rehomed, you will be the only one to try to help them. Thanks for trying to help them.
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Post by mona on May 6, 2021 20:51:11 GMT
Maybe these arguments might help your godmother understand:
Cleaning the cage should be daily duty, not only for the birdies, but for the sake of humans as well. Their poops, if accumulated over time, can harm human respiratory systems too (can find the info on google easily). The birds are prone to illness as well, with dirty cage (bacterial buildup is easy). Every time they fly inside the cage, the little particles from their dried poop can be inhaled by caretaker.. so, the cage base and poop has to be off, if she really want herself & her son to be healthy in the longer run. As everyone has suggested in other threads, you could just place a newspaper on the base (a couple of newspaper) and just remove one daily as an alternative to dried wooden pieces. Most of the countries have newspaper ink safe. I use a toothbrush otherwise to clean other things, before taking out the newspaper.
Seed bowls and water bowls should be placed towards top of cage to avoid being pooped on.. or avoid any perches on top of the food dishes..
An only seed diet leads to some diseases which might reduce the longevity of the bird (in case, if they are attached to the current birdies). For them to have a long life, nutrition is necessary.. which can be just as simple as providing budgie safe green leafy veggies.. The change of loosing a birdie would also be not easy to deal with her son..
Unclean, unchanged water will have bacterial buildup too, which is definitely harmful for the birdie. Having clean cages, food dishes and bowls will ensure good health for the birdies as well as humans..
I'm not sure if these would make any sense.. but hope that you could help the buds.. 𧥠it's difficult, when you want to do your best, but when others don't understand.. Thanks for trying to help the little babies.. đ§Ą
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Post by helptheneglectedbudg on May 6, 2021 21:04:13 GMT
I suspected that the birds might be bought as pets for the son. Although I'm not an expert, people with autism have difficulty adjusting to change which is why I suggested you make changes in their care one thing at a time until he accepts the change. Keep doing it until he accepts it even if he tells you no. Just keep telling him that the change you are doing is good for the budgies. Pets are often recommended for people with autism but they all need to be taken care of. Many people think of budgies as "low maintenance" pets. They still need to be fed properly and kept in clean conditions. Unfortunately reporting the situation as animal abuse won't have any effect except to make your godmother mad at you. The type of animal abuse that gets taken care of is fighting cocks, animals getting beaten, dogs being left out without food, very severe cases like that. If they can't be rehomed, you will be the only one to try to help them. Thanks for trying to help them. I've been trying to show my god brother videos of budgies eating fruits and veggies via tv. But he refuses to look at it or acknowledge it. Even stepping out into the backyard. He's just switched out the veggie seed mix with seeds again. But you're right though. I want to focus on getting the birds proper food and food bowls first. I'll be cleaning the cages and changing water.
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Post by Hezz on May 6, 2021 22:24:23 GMT
If you canât get him to leave fresh food in for the birds, could you mix their seed with some high quality pellets in the hope that they will start eating these? The pellets would be less noticeable than fresh greens so perhaps the boy wonât be bothered with dumping the new food out. Besides taking on the care and cleaning yourself, this is one of the hardest situations anyone can find themselves in. mona has made some good points regarding appealing to the familyâs own good health as a reason for keeping the birds in a better environment. Not being your own home, and not being able to make the changes that really are needed to give these birds proper care makes the impact you can can make rather limited, but if this is going to be a long term arrangement with you staying there during the week, it may be worth changing what you can change for now - cleaning and refreshing food and water, and the receptacles, perches etc, and working on gradually changing things for the better over time rather than trying to bombard these people with information overload. Pick your âfightsâ, be a bit subtle, and try to change things slowly rather than everything at once.
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Post by helptheneglectedbudg on May 6, 2021 23:44:27 GMT
If you canât get him to leave fresh food in for the birds, could you mix their seed with some high quality pellets in the hope that they will start eating these? The pellets would be less noticeable than fresh greens so perhaps the boy wonât be bothered with dumping the new food out. Besides taking on the care and cleaning yourself, this is one of the hardest situations anyone can find themselves in. mona has made some good points regarding appealing to the familyâs own good health as a reason for keeping the birds in a better environment. Not being your own home, and not being able to make the changes that really are needed to give these birds proper care makes the impact you can can make rather limited, but if this is going to be a long term arrangement with you staying there during the week, it may be worth changing what you can change for now - cleaning and refreshing food and water, and the receptacles, perches etc, and working on gradually changing things for the better over time rather than trying to bombard these people with information overload. Pick your âfightsâ, be a bit subtle, and try to change things slowly rather than everything at once. You're all giving me really great advice! I really wish this wasn't so difficult but good things are worth doing. I'll try giving the changes a shot first. I'll try with suggesting good spots to place the bird cages. THey shouldn't be on the floor any further. The only good places are the living room and the kitchen. She also has a high living room ceiling so maybe they could be hanged up or something. I'll send pictures of these spaces in case yall can come up with a better idea of where they could go.
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Post by helptheneglectedbudg on May 7, 2021 0:23:41 GMT
update: my god mother doesn't mind me mixing veggies in with the seeds. however she asks me to make sure the mixes aren't out for long because she's worried about the ants that come in the house every summer. Asked her if she's considering moving the cages to somewhere higher like a shelf or a table. She shakes her head and tells me *that's where she likes them to be*. She doesn't want them anywhere else because she's worried about the mess. I wanted to argue against that, but I took monas advice and refrained from being pushy on it. The cages aren't being moved anytime soon.
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Post by helptheneglectedbudg on May 7, 2021 0:29:44 GMT
If you canât get him to leave fresh food in for the birds, could you mix their seed with some high quality pellets in the hope that they will start eating these? The pellets would be less noticeable than fresh greens so perhaps the boy wonât be bothered with dumping the new food out. Besides taking on the care and cleaning yourself, this is one of the hardest situations anyone can find themselves in. mona has made some good points regarding appealing to the familyâs own good health as a reason for keeping the birds in a better environment. Not being your own home, and not being able to make the changes that really are needed to give these birds proper care makes the impact you can can make rather limited, but if this is going to be a long term arrangement with you staying there during the week, it may be worth changing what you can change for now - cleaning and refreshing food and water, and the receptacles, perches etc, and working on gradually changing things for the better over time rather than trying to bombard these people with information overload. Pick your âfightsâ, be a bit subtle, and try to change things slowly rather than everything at once. also, where can I get these high quality pellets? are they available at petsmart or petco? I highly doubt there's good pellets at the flea market where she got them from
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Post by mona on May 7, 2021 4:14:13 GMT
One thing at a time is going to work well in your case. Mixing seeds and veggies would have to be removed between 2 to 4 hours, since veggies will degrade and affect the health.. the duration to keep it there depends on the temperature in your city. And the seeds would have to be thrown away. Normally, we keep seeds in a different dish and veggies in another one, but in your case, whatever might work at this time..
Kitchen won't be a good place to keep birdies, due to fumes, non stick appliances, things containing teflon, etc. There are 2 cages with birdies in both.. the upper cage is still at a distance from the floor.. the lower one is pitiable. Even a simple table beneath it would work.. A person like me would be worried about my back, shoulders and neck while dealing with a cage. If health concerns like that make a difference.. Though I interact a lot while feeding them - 30 mins every time, so a cage that down will break my body.
Could you find pellets on amazon? Everyone here recommends Harrisons pellet.. Others might be able to tune in more about it..
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