Our new little gem.....

[Kath/Gaz]

Meet our new little gem.....we have not named him/her as of yet as we were told that our budgie was a "he" but we think our budgie is a "she".....we have rehomed her.....we are little in the dark as to her past but she is hand-tamed....makes cute duck noises and whistles.....and if we leave the room....she flys to our shoulder or head as we think she does not like to be alone....however we were told that she does not get along with other budgies....which is fine as we did want a "indoor" budgie....and this one seems to think she is "human"....

Questions: Is she a "she".....as she likes to chew and tends to bite before stepping onto our hand.....

Is she abit overweight.....she has been given a selection of fruit and veggies which she seems to enjoy....

Bands are gone from her head so we are not sure of her age.....

Once we sorted out the he/she issue....we will come up with another saint's name.....

[Gaile]

cute little girl she is at least 1year as the white around the iris is pure white!!!!

[BudgiesBuddy]

She is very beautiful and seems very tame too. Congratulations on your new addition

She doesn't look overweight in the picture where she is sitting on the head. What's her weight?

[Rachael Kellett]

A lovely girl She does look a tad chubby but nothing to worry about.

[Nani]

She seems so tame! And a bit on the chubby side lol. That just makes her more cute I wouldn't worry too too much about her weight because A. she eats her veggies and fruit and B. she flys fine (not struggling when flying) Welcome new member of the family!

[Deleted]

hi she is a little cracker ...very nice indeed .. .
dont worry about her plumpness ..... she will be fine...

[Hezz]

If in doubt with her weight, weigh her, Kath. In some photos she looks tubby, but others seems fine. But Smudge is like that too, so you will be able to tell better than us. She is certainly a pretty little thing.

[Kath/Gaz]

Thank you all for your nice comments.....trying to get her to stay on the kitchen scales is not an easy task.....however we do have a question about girls.....

She does well when we have her out of the cage.....until she finds something she likes to chew.....paper.....door....and anything else that does not move.....is there a way to break her of this habit.....as when we remove the item being chewed to pieces she attacked our hand....she has not drawn blood but has left marks.....but when she is not chewing.....she is a sweetheart.....and makes the cutest duck noises......

[samwiseg]

I am sure the other members might know more than me and would correct me if I am wrong but it does sounds like she is going through her "teenage" spell.

Our Hen bird went through the same thing and you might find that she might see a male human as a potential mate! So he may get more bites as a result.

But stick with her and don't reward her bad behaviour or shy away from her bites otherwise she will think she has won. A hen's "pick" (beak) is a lot sharper than a cocks beak I'm afraid but she will grow out of it with you if you persevere.

Best of luck and let us know how you get on

[Hezz]

Smudgey makes little quacky duck noises too. *smooch*

It took me a full 12 months to get her out of the nipping habit - but she was mainly trying to bite my hand whenever I was doing anything with her. I can only suggest providing her with plenty of bark to chew up, whether it be in the form of on branches, pegged to the side of her cage, on the top of cage, gym etc. Bark or soft wood like dowels - the sort of natural fibres she should be encountering in the wild - that's what I provide for Madam Smudge. But for her, I think the nipping was an assertion rather than a chewing need. Yes she still wants to chew things, and will, but she doesn't need to nip now, although will if she thinks she can get away with it!

[Kath/Gaz]

Jun 26, 2012 9:28:11 GMT samwiseg said:

I am sure the other members might know more than me and would correct me if I am wrong but it does sounds like she is going through her "teenage" spell.

Our Hen bird went through the same thing and you might find that she might see a male human as a potential mate! So he may get more bites as a result.

Gaz walks through the front door and I am no longer required.....however she has only bitten him twice that I know of....with me....she has drawn blood once and does tend to try and attack the hand that feeds her.....but she does give this odd warning noise first.....she makes the same noise when you try and pet her back.....but this is becoming less and less with abit of work.....we are still working on a name and the chewing issue as now it is light shades that meet her wrath.....