Apr 7, 2013 19:31:00 GMT
itchybear
Brand New Budgie
Posts: 72
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Post by itchybear on Apr 11, 2013 21:38:17 GMT
Hi, my name Emma, my partner and I have two male budgies, Milhouse & Lenny. We bought them last November at 8 weeks old and we are having fun training them and slowly getting them to trust us.
Milhouse, our blue budgie is much more trusting and tame than our green budgie Lenny, I wonder if anyone else has experienced this before. It's strange as I can have Milhouse on my hand using millet, and Lenny will drive himself a bit crazy going round the cage trying to eat the millet but refusing to get on our hands! Has anyone got any ideas how we can tame Lenny more?
i also have some questions, we have been advised to get wings clipped, but not so sure if a good idea. The vet we called said they can still fly even when clipped, we wondered what others thoughts are?
it also appears Milhouse has a slightly scaly beak, and looking on this site, we think it might be mites, is it safe to treat him with the relevant medicine, even if he hasn't got them or would it be wise to take him to a vet to check?
Sorry for lots of questions and if I should move them to another thread, please let me know!
Many thanks! Emma
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Post by lousette on Apr 11, 2013 21:48:35 GMT
Hi and welcome. I see you are a Simpsons fan. I am only new so not going to try and answer questions, however I would definitely NOT clip their wings. I am sure someone can help you to see if they have scaly face mite, but I assume they will need to see pictures.
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May 14, 2024 5:18:58 GMT
Deleted
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on Apr 11, 2013 23:15:35 GMT
All budgies are individuals so some tame easier/better than others. You can treat your bird even if it doesn't have it , it want hurt. I treat my entire flock every 6 months as a precaution. I too advise against clipping wings.
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Post by samwiseg on Apr 12, 2013 7:24:11 GMT
Hi Emma, Partner, Milhouse and Lenny - welcome! To try and answer your questions in order - As for taming/training all budgies are different like with people, it can take a while for some but they should come round in the end. Perhaps try with the millet without expecting him to sit on your hand so he gets used to your hand (hand is a good thing, brings millet treats!) Once he sees that your other bud is stepping up for millet he should learn from that. But patience is the key! Everyone has their own opinions about wing clipping but I would definitely advise against it. Reason is that it takes an AGE for their feathers to grow back and in the meantime they cannot fly or manouvre well. You dont want any injuries to occur either as a result if they try to fly and dont succeed. And besides, its sounds like you are doing marvelous with their training so they will be tame in no time! We do need to see pictures really to tell whether your bud has mites/scaly face, but in the meantime you might wish to take a look here for help/advice/info: budgerigarsforum.proboards.com/thread/690/scaly-face-leg#Hope that helps!
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Post by mizloco on Apr 12, 2013 8:00:38 GMT
Hi Emma and partner and welcome to the forum. Also a big welcome to Milhouse and Lenny. Great names by the way, even though I don't watch the Simpsons. Definitely don't clip their wings is the only advice I can give you as mine are still young too. There is loads of great people and experience on here so hope you enjoy.
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Post by stace on Apr 12, 2013 11:31:29 GMT
Hi Emma. Not sure where in the world you live, but wing clipping is more prevalent in the US than elsewhere. I'm not sure why that is, but most don't really think it's a good idea. Flying is important for them.
If you are speaking with a vet, do try to find a good avian vet. Regular vets are not good with birds. Birds don't form part of their vet studies and they often make wrong diagnoses.
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Apr 7, 2013 19:31:00 GMT
itchybear
Brand New Budgie
Posts: 72
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Post by itchybear on Apr 12, 2013 18:57:26 GMT
Dear All, Thank you for such a warm welcome. It's really appreciated! I am grateful for the not clipping wings advice. We'd both heard conflicting advice, and with them flying as they do at the moment, really didn't want to restrict that. I love watching them when they go on a flying competition with each other - they look like two little spitfires! A bit of background, we've not owned budgies ourselves before, but both grew up with birds seperately. Myself living with various Cockatiels and my partners parents had an avairy when he was younger. I did buy a book and have been using forums for advice over any questions I have. Ahhhh their names (thank you for the compliments) - yes we are a Simpson household, we had to wait until we could sex them, so for a long while they were the green and blue one (still call them it by accident occassionally). We were going for Lenny & Carl, but Carl just didn't fit, we liked Lenny (and he wears a green jumper in the simpsons so it fitted and I suggested Bart & Milhouse... partner still liked Lenny, so we went for green budgie as Lenny and Milhouse has blue hair so that fitted too! Partners boys approved so happy household! We live in the UK, just outside London, sorry I hadn't quite worked out how to fill out my profile properly straight away. Very much appreciate the vet advice, is there a website or way to find out if a vet is an avian specialist? On the scaly beak - I'm about to attempt to upload photos (with fingers crossed). I hope it helps. It does look somewhat similar to the budgie in the first picture, I've also tried to include a shot of Lenny's beak so you can see the difference. If I need to move this query to the health thread, please just say!. Milhouse seems to 'scratch' it a lot too against the swing we bought them which is one which has some 'grit' to it. Not sure if that assists with a diagnosis. Thanks again for such a warm welcome
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Apr 7, 2013 19:31:00 GMT
itchybear
Brand New Budgie
Posts: 72
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Post by itchybear on Apr 12, 2013 19:06:37 GMT
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Apr 7, 2013 19:31:00 GMT
itchybear
Brand New Budgie
Posts: 72
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Post by itchybear on Apr 12, 2013 19:07:50 GMT
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Apr 7, 2013 19:31:00 GMT
itchybear
Brand New Budgie
Posts: 72
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Post by itchybear on Apr 12, 2013 19:08:31 GMT
Lenny's beak which looks smooth and normal to me!
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Post by samwiseg on Apr 13, 2013 6:44:00 GMT
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Apr 7, 2013 19:31:00 GMT
itchybear
Brand New Budgie
Posts: 72
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Post by itchybear on Apr 13, 2013 19:05:49 GMT
Hi Samwiseg Thanks for the reply, we've looked up the treatment and understand we would need to weigh them to check we give the right dosage, is this correct? We do have electric scales, we're not quite sure how to get them on there , Milhouse is almost hand tamed and could hopefully be bribed with millet, and as they're the same age would they be the same weight? Funnily enough, Milhouse has got a little clever / cheeky and similar to another user's budgie in a different thread I read, he is using my hand / arm to run up and escape for his flying time. With regards to applying the treatment, whilst they're not fully hand tamed, what is the best way to handle them? I don't want to traumatise them but know they need to be treated, do you have any tips? My other half keeps reading about using a cotton bud and applying mineral oil or Vaseline which suffocates the mites, has anyone heard or have reservations about this? We bought some proper bird disinfectant for the cage, I just wondered the best method of cleaning wooden perches? Thanks again for the advice
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Post by samwiseg on Apr 13, 2013 21:23:17 GMT
Hi Emma There is no easy way to say this but you will have to handle the budgies to apply the ivermectin. Bribing them to place a spot on the back in between the shoulder blades directly onto the skin (and not the feathers) means you will have to pick them up. They will probably sulk with you afterwards, but it wont last! You can apply vaseline to suffocate the mite but it is not a long term solution and doesn't sort if the mites have travelled into the respiratory system. I was also advised against using cotton buds as apparently they can get caught in their feathers. As for weighing them, do you have a travel cage or box you could place on your scales? Then set the scale to zero then place the bud in the box/cage to find out their weight? Depends what type of disinfectant it is. Read the instructions on the bottle as some say to clean the perch with a damp cloth and then spray disinfectant and leave to air dry OR wash off and leave to air dry after use. Your most welcome!
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May 14, 2024 5:18:58 GMT
Deleted
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on Apr 13, 2013 23:17:55 GMT
Don't stress about handling your birds the more you do it the more they get used to it, as a show breeder i'm constantly handling all my birds. No need to weigh your birds to apply treatment, just get a eye dropper suck some up, spread feathers on back of neck and squeeze i drop on skin and bob's your uncle.
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Apr 7, 2013 19:31:00 GMT
itchybear
Brand New Budgie
Posts: 72
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Post by itchybear on Apr 18, 2013 12:48:11 GMT
Thanks again to you all for your help! There's always so much conflicting advice out there! And sorry for my delay, we've had fun the last few evenings sorting bits out including Monday night was throughly cleaning the cage prior to treatment. The Ivermectin came yesterday to OH's work, so last night was the night! Prior to treating them, I ensured we cleaned everywhere they fly to (curtain rail, swing, etc). It's weird but I felt really nervous, (probably didn't help them poor little things!) I wasn't sure if I needed a tea towel or gloves as I used to try to handle my cockatiel years ago and he could bite! I decided to go with hands only and went for Milhouse first who is a little more hand tame, he didn't particularly like me chasing him around the cage, but I eventually got hold of him. OH helped and dropped the Ivermectin on his neck, I slowly stroked his feathers to the side and let him fly off gently. He actually seemed ok with it, and didn't appear to sulk too much. Next was the joy of Lenny! lol! I felt more confident catching him, I think I knew how much pressure I could use with my hand, whereas the first time wtih Milhouse I was being so light that he just kept escaping from me. Anyway he wriggled more but we managed to treat him to, and slowly released him to fly off. After they were both up on the curtain rail, we thoroughly disinfected everything again -in and around the cage and the cage itself again. The wooden perches dried very quickly and we put back only anything that was dry. Anyway they both seemed ok last night, not particularly traumatised thankfully. When i left for work this morning though they were 'shouting' at me I think! lol!! that squawking they do when telling each other off... I did laugh and think I wonder if they're telling me off for last night! I think the tell tail sign will be next time we do a bit of hand taming with millet, as soon as I go near the cage I'll tell if they're traumatised or not! I have another question (I hear you all shout 'oh no')... the bottle says to treat them for the next 2 weeks as well, do we need to throughly disinfect cage, perches, toys, etc each time we do the drops as well? We do clean the cage twice a week (once is a part clean and once is fully). Thanks again for all of your help and comments, it's very much appreciated!
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