I know I'm new to budgie keeping but....

[newbudgiekeeper]

George, to me, looks underweight. I know he's been through alot in the last 7 days and is probably really stressed out. But to me i'd have thought that his chest would be round, his chest has an angle sloping inwards about two 3rds of the way down. I'm now anxious about letting him out to fly too much incase he uses up all his energy stores. Tempted to leave him caged for a few more days so he stores some of his food as fat.

Is this normal for a budgie so young, he's 7 weeks old?

Can anyone set my mind as ease and tell if this is normal? He is eating when in his cage.

I'll try and get a photo of the angle i explained,

Thanks in advance, x

[Hezz]

Just be sure that he is actually husking and eating the seed, not just mouthing them. If you are blowing out plenty of husks each day, you (and George) should be right. He is still very young and won't have too much muscle tone either, so letting him out for a fly and gradually increasing the flying time will help there. He will have been flying for not too long yet and like any new exercise, the muscles have to tone up. A photo would definitely help to see if he is underweight. I am sure that with gently increased exercise and a good diet, he will fill out. He still has some growing to do.

[Deleted]

hi iv just looked at pics of George on your other post ...and he is fine ...
but as hezz......already said ..make sure he is de husking the seed if theres no husk hes not eating ..but seeing you have had him for about a week id say hes eating ...just look and put our minds at rest ..
but George looks great ..in his pics ... .

[barrieshutt]

My babies never fly free until they are 16 weeks old , they are hyper at this age and will fly their weight off them , after 16 weeks they go into the main avary and there they will build up muscle.

[Hezz]

I think so too, Mick. I had a look at his pics on the other thread and commented there. I feel it is just his boufant feathers making him seem that way.

[newbudgiekeeper]

Hezz and Mickmay thankyou for replying, it's difficult to get the right photo for you to see my concern, when he's up on an outside perch he stands tall and you can see the 'angle' i was talking about, in his cage he hunkers down and looks tubby lol.

Hezz i never thought it may be lack of muscle. He's eating just now and is removing the husks, if he's just mouthing it is that him saving it for later?

Barrie I'm thinking along the lines of the way you do things. I'm inclined to leave him to fatten up a bit in his cage. He'll have plenty of time for flying later. I'm just worried he's going to get too weak to survive.

Very anxious mum here. His poo is still green/cream.

[newbudgiekeeper]

[glow=red,2,300]OMG he's eating like a horse now[/glow], yeah i know horses don't have beaks. I don't feel so anxious now.

[Ryan.W]

if you're concerned about his weight, EMP(it's a brand of eggfood search for it online). Every second day for about a week, and he should start to fatten up, EMP especially has plenty of oily seeds, like nyger and Hemp, and it's full of protein (not that fattens up ,but it's good for his muscles and health in general).

[newbudgiekeeper]

Thanks Ryan, I'll have a look for that ;D

[newbudgiekeeper]

Ryan, i just found EMP and it says it's good for moulting birds too so i'll get him some. He has new feathers coming in in his beard and over his head. Thanks Again ;D

[Ryan.W]

Jul 18, 2012 23:02:36 GMT newbudgiekeeper said:

Ryan, i just found EMP and it says it's good for moulting birds too so i'll get him some. He has new feathers coming in in his beard and over his head. Thanks Again ;D

no worries , i noticed mine started to get a bit plump if i fed it too often ,so their eggfood is rationed now ;D.