Post by kcc4 on May 1, 2012 14:26:20 GMT
Okay, here's my situation.. this is a long read but I would like to give the full story so bear with me, and thanks in advance for those of you that make it to the end and reply
I'm currently deployed in Afghanistan. There is a local national here who owns a little shop on base right next to where I work, and outside he's got a cage with 8 budgies in it. I've never had a bird and don't know anything about them, but I'm a huge animal lover and since I don't have any pets out here I've taken to watching and talking to them when I go outside to smoke.
The first thing I thought is that he's got way too many birds in that cage. It looks like it could hold two comfortably at the most. Next thing I noticed is that a couple of the birds have bald spots on the backs of their heads, and I see them fighting each other sometimes. One of the bald birds is usually hiding in a little plastic house on the floor of the cage. This made me sad. So I've starting googling about them and reading up on these birds.
I've noticed he has only one kind of seed in a tray for them, just one tray in the cage.. I don't know what kind of seed it is but it's very small, round, light tan, just looks like a regular birdseed to me but not a mixture like I've seen before. The water is always dirty! He only has one water cup in there for them too. There is one rod going across the cage for them to sit on, and one little swing thing at the top of the cage that maybe one bird can sit on. There are like 3 houses that looked like they used to be hanging up that have fallen to the bottom of the cage. Nothing else is in there.
Some of the birds have really long, almost curly nails and some of their toes don't even have nails. A couple of the birds look like they've got some sort of hard buildup on their beaks/nostrils that I'm not sure if that's normal or not cuz the other birds don't.
I just went in there and said I needed to talk to him about his birds and asked a bunch of questions. He's a really sweet guy. I asked him if he loved his birds and he said yes, and I told them well they don't seem happy! I said first of all that's way too small of a cage for all of those birds.. he said he knows and that he's gonna buy them a much bigger cage, probably within the next week. I asked him if he ever feeds them anything besides that one seed and he said no, that's all they will eat. I said that they do eat other vegetables and fruits and suggested that he feed them broccoli and carrots cuz I know I've seen those here in the chow hall. I wasn't sure what all they ate so I didn't tell him to just feed them anything, but I remember reading about broccoli and carrots. He said he's tried before but they wouldn't eat it. I said that that's normal because they're not used to eating it and to keep giving it to them everyday anyway and to take out whatever's leftover after a couple hours and it may take them a while for them to start eating it... I told him they need more things in their cage. I asked him if he ever gave them baths and he said no. I told him he could either spray them with a water bottle or give them a shallow dish with water so they could bathe themselves, 2-3 times a week. They've never been out of their cage. I suggested that he should let them out into a small room, w/ covered windows, without places they could get stuck or hurt themselves etc. but thought maybe he should wait on that one in case they may be hard to put back in cuz they really do not seem like happy birds. I told them they need a cuttlebone and asked if he knew what I was talking about and he said yes... I also suggested he put more trays of food in there for them so they don't have to all share from one...
My question to all of you is, did I give him correct advice? And is there anything more I should be telling him? Would the cuttlebone be sufficient to eventually correct their toe/nail problems? And I'm pretty sure they're getting bald spots cuz they fight, would the bigger cage help alleviate that? He has 4 males and 4 females. He says they love listening to music and when he talks about them he seems to really enjoy them, just isn't aware of their proper care.
After our talk we immediately went out there and he started cleaning out their trays and the bottom of the cage and handed me a spray bottle and I started spraying them down.. they seemed to enjoy it.
I go out there several times a day with a water bottle and top off their water, but I hadn't been taking out the little water tray and cleaning it for him cuz I wasn't sure if he'd get mad or what, but he said he didn't mind as long as I didn't let them escape, so I'll be watching out for that for him at least.
I've been doing some reading online about them as much as I can but would love some advice from some more experienced people about this particular situation. I hate seeing unhappy animals!!!! <3
I'm currently deployed in Afghanistan. There is a local national here who owns a little shop on base right next to where I work, and outside he's got a cage with 8 budgies in it. I've never had a bird and don't know anything about them, but I'm a huge animal lover and since I don't have any pets out here I've taken to watching and talking to them when I go outside to smoke.
The first thing I thought is that he's got way too many birds in that cage. It looks like it could hold two comfortably at the most. Next thing I noticed is that a couple of the birds have bald spots on the backs of their heads, and I see them fighting each other sometimes. One of the bald birds is usually hiding in a little plastic house on the floor of the cage. This made me sad. So I've starting googling about them and reading up on these birds.
I've noticed he has only one kind of seed in a tray for them, just one tray in the cage.. I don't know what kind of seed it is but it's very small, round, light tan, just looks like a regular birdseed to me but not a mixture like I've seen before. The water is always dirty! He only has one water cup in there for them too. There is one rod going across the cage for them to sit on, and one little swing thing at the top of the cage that maybe one bird can sit on. There are like 3 houses that looked like they used to be hanging up that have fallen to the bottom of the cage. Nothing else is in there.
Some of the birds have really long, almost curly nails and some of their toes don't even have nails. A couple of the birds look like they've got some sort of hard buildup on their beaks/nostrils that I'm not sure if that's normal or not cuz the other birds don't.
I just went in there and said I needed to talk to him about his birds and asked a bunch of questions. He's a really sweet guy. I asked him if he loved his birds and he said yes, and I told them well they don't seem happy! I said first of all that's way too small of a cage for all of those birds.. he said he knows and that he's gonna buy them a much bigger cage, probably within the next week. I asked him if he ever feeds them anything besides that one seed and he said no, that's all they will eat. I said that they do eat other vegetables and fruits and suggested that he feed them broccoli and carrots cuz I know I've seen those here in the chow hall. I wasn't sure what all they ate so I didn't tell him to just feed them anything, but I remember reading about broccoli and carrots. He said he's tried before but they wouldn't eat it. I said that that's normal because they're not used to eating it and to keep giving it to them everyday anyway and to take out whatever's leftover after a couple hours and it may take them a while for them to start eating it... I told him they need more things in their cage. I asked him if he ever gave them baths and he said no. I told him he could either spray them with a water bottle or give them a shallow dish with water so they could bathe themselves, 2-3 times a week. They've never been out of their cage. I suggested that he should let them out into a small room, w/ covered windows, without places they could get stuck or hurt themselves etc. but thought maybe he should wait on that one in case they may be hard to put back in cuz they really do not seem like happy birds. I told them they need a cuttlebone and asked if he knew what I was talking about and he said yes... I also suggested he put more trays of food in there for them so they don't have to all share from one...
My question to all of you is, did I give him correct advice? And is there anything more I should be telling him? Would the cuttlebone be sufficient to eventually correct their toe/nail problems? And I'm pretty sure they're getting bald spots cuz they fight, would the bigger cage help alleviate that? He has 4 males and 4 females. He says they love listening to music and when he talks about them he seems to really enjoy them, just isn't aware of their proper care.
After our talk we immediately went out there and he started cleaning out their trays and the bottom of the cage and handed me a spray bottle and I started spraying them down.. they seemed to enjoy it.
I go out there several times a day with a water bottle and top off their water, but I hadn't been taking out the little water tray and cleaning it for him cuz I wasn't sure if he'd get mad or what, but he said he didn't mind as long as I didn't let them escape, so I'll be watching out for that for him at least.
I've been doing some reading online about them as much as I can but would love some advice from some more experienced people about this particular situation. I hate seeing unhappy animals!!!! <3