Apr 7, 2013 19:31:00 GMT
itchybear
Brand New Budgie
Posts: 72
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Post by itchybear on Oct 14, 2013 20:58:33 GMT
Hi all, I've been on here a few times, not as much as I'd like due to busy at work, restricted lunch breaks and evenings are very busy currently. I hope all your buds are as well as possible. So I'll start at the beginning, we're very new budgie parents (and feeling more naive than ever now ). A few weeks ago now i posted about my female budgie, Maggie's, behaviour which I thought was potentially breeding behaviour. Alas, the strange 'whimpering' noise I thought she was making got worse and we eventually after research and using the right search term, we recognised it as wheezing. I felt awful as she seemed to do it only when we were around, hence us thinking attention seeking but that was probably more down to her breathing more heavily when we got near. So after a you tube scare which was helpful, off to the vets she travelled, much to her disgust . Poor little bud has respiratory infection. Not only that, but she is underweight. We got some great advice from vet, and her meds, he was wonderful but told us so much in so short a time that I need to ask for guidance for a few things: 1. Getting their weight up, I need to increase her weight, and probably his, i've read a bit about egg food and bought some Johnson's egg & honey sticks which they're going mad for. What else do people recommend? 2. The seed quality, we realised is pretty poor. We've upgraded to higher quality seed we gave them as little buds, and also bought some germinating seeds, do we mix them in, alternate them? Any advice on these? Also mentioned was Harrison's food, is this the way forward? And any suppliers you can recommend? 3. We've added an iodine block, which they're happy with and I've bought some grit. How do I give the grit, do I mix it in with their seed or in another pot? They usually feed next to each other in the double pot so I'd struggle to put seed in one, grit in another. Any recommendations? 4. Vitamin A: we've upped the red vegetables, carrot, red pepper but getting them to eat them is another thing. They seem to be getting slowly interested, has anyone got tips? They don't enjoy carrot peelings at all 5. UV lamp. I think I'm to seek a 20w UV bird lamp, any recommendations where to get this. Can I just screw the bulb into any lamp? And how close to the cage should it be? And for how many hours a day? 6. There is a lot of over preening going on, which I know is part of poorly behaviour, but can anyone recommend any solutions to this? New toys are on their way, but I feel so responsible for their poorly-ness . Finally, to stop me asking questions, does anyone have a book recommendation at all so I can learn a bit more and give you all a bit of peace Thanks in advance for any recommendations! dumb naive itchy bear signing out
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Post by ffiscool on Oct 14, 2013 21:12:03 GMT
Hey, don't feel bad, you couldn't have known and you took the right steps, vet, medicines etc.
I can only offer thoughts on a few points. Re the carrots, do you finely grate them? That's the only way Bailey will eat them, or if slightly softened. It took ages for him to try red pepper, but again I finely cut so he can get bits. I also have given him vitamin drops daily (although didn't realise I wasn't putting enough drops in, after talking to Stan. I thought B had vitamin A deficiency.
Egg food, I have added dried to his seed every few days Are you able to have a pot that you could hold or separate for Maggie? Do you also ave a cuttlebone? I am sure once her infection starts to clear, she will gain weight.
Can't comment on pellets and I have read theories for both giving and not and am not sure but others on here will be able to advise you I know if mainly seed they do need fruit and veg. Also arguments for and against grit. I bought oyster shell which gets sprinkled on his seed once or twice a week.
I am sure she will improve quickly, again, others on here will have more insight on all fronts
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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 Oct 14, 2013 21:31:17 GMT
Thanks ffscool, that's really helpful and for the kind words. I felt so awful even though the vet was really nice. Did you see Stan Livy too? I'll look at vitamin drops, how do you administer yours? Carrots: we've tried batons so far! Grating is the next step, we do have a spare pot we can use at the opposite end of cage for veggies, so will mix some up for there and give that a go. Oyster shell sounds good, I'll look into that too! Thank you! Yes have always has cuttle bone up until recently, there was poop on it but new one is in the post with their better quality seed too. Thank you so much, I'm just glad we got to her before she was hiding on the bottom of the cage! They're so good at hiding their poorly-ness
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Post by ffiscool on Oct 14, 2013 21:45:59 GMT
I buy the cuttlebones in pets at home. They sell in bags of 5. Also the guys on here use F10 which I have started to, it's a safe disinfectant.
The drops I add to the water and have given Bailey tonic too as he had a heavy moult. Again in his water.
No, I ends up at a vets nearby who really didn't ave much to say. I found Stan via Mandeville surgery, but he was just about to go on holiday. But he appened to answer the phone when I rang and we chatted for about ten minutes. If I do end up needing one, then I will go to him as not far from me.
I use a smallish grate size so easy for B to eat and yet not mushy. Also butternut squash is good
Re the lamps, I was thinking about one. I think you can just buy special bulbs. Someone on here will know.
How many buds do you have?
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Post by birdguhl on Oct 14, 2013 21:56:26 GMT
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Post by ffiscool on Oct 14, 2013 22:03:20 GMT
How long do the bulbs last? And how close is it? Or just in ordinary fixing?
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Post by birdguhl on Oct 14, 2013 22:20:37 GMT
I use mine in a cheap floor lamp from Ikea. It is about 1-2 feet from where the buds spend a lot of time. Not sure how long it is effective for. I've a feeling that I read on Barrie Shutt's site that they stop bring effective before they give out altogether. If you put in a search for UV in forum you should turn up some useful stuff.
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Post by ffiscool on Oct 14, 2013 22:24:00 GMT
Thank you. I need it too. Am sure I have a touch of SAD
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Post by birdguhl on Oct 14, 2013 22:29:30 GMT
Yeah! When I had just the two I used to sit under the lamp while we all had breakfast.
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Post by Hezz on Oct 15, 2013 0:43:30 GMT
Hi all, I've been on here a few times, not as much as I'd like due to busy at work, restricted lunch breaks and evenings are very busy currently. I hope all your buds are as well as possible. So I'll start at the beginning, we're very new budgie parents (and feeling more naive than ever now ). A few weeks ago now i posted about my female budgie, Maggie's, behaviour which I thought was potentially breeding behaviour. Alas, the strange 'whimpering' noise I thought she was making got worse and we eventually after research and using the right search term, we recognised it as wheezing. I felt awful as she seemed to do it only when we were around, hence us thinking attention seeking but that was probably more down to her breathing more heavily when we got near. So after a you tube scare which was helpful, off to the vets she travelled, much to her disgust . Poor little bud has respiratory infection. Not only that, but she is underweight. We got some great advice from vet, and her meds, he was wonderful but told us so much in so short a time that I need to ask for guidance for a few things: 1. Getting their weight up, I need to increase her weight, and probably his, i've read a bit about egg food and bought some Johnson's egg & honey sticks which they're going mad for. What else do people recommend? Be careful of the seed sticks, as they are often full of honey (budgies can become diabetic too) and not part of their normal food. Keep them as a treat maybe once or twice a week. The best things to try are either hard boiled egg cooked yourself, or eggfood which can be bought commercially. The eggfood can be fed to them dry, over their seed without worrying about it spoiling, or moistened to a paste consisency, which will need to be discarded after a few hours. Some buds go for one, some the other. Some breeders will even feed their birds chicken carcasses for extra protein, so you could try them with a little cooked cut small chicken, if you can bear the thought of them being meat-eaters. 2. The seed quality, we realised is pretty poor. We've upgraded to higher quality seed we gave them as little buds, and also bought some germinating seeds, do we mix them in, alternate them? Any advice on these? Also mentioned was Harrison's food, is this the way forward? And any suppliers you can recommend? Keep soft, fresh foods separate to their seed, otherwise you end up wasting a fair bit of seed. Have a separate pot for these and remove after a few hours. 3. We've added an iodine block, which they're happy with and I've bought some grit. How do I give the grit, do I mix it in with their seed or in another pot? They usually feed next to each other in the double pot so I'd struggle to put seed in one, grit in another. Any recommendations? Most people use a separate pot for the grit as well.4. Vitamin A: we've upped the red vegetables, carrot, red pepper but getting them to eat them is another thing. They seem to be getting slowly interested, has anyone got tips? They don't enjoy carrot peelings at all I don't enjoy carrot peelings either! This can take some trial and error to find just how they will eat it. As ffiscool has mentioned, her little guy only eats it grated; mine like a fairly chunky round served up on a skewer. Before they got to that point though, I would slice them a round with a veggie peeler, so nice and thin, and gradually worked up to thicker pieces. Also, my buds will not eat their veggies out of a pot, they like them strung up on a skewer, pegged to the side of the cage. 5. UV lamp. I think I'm to seek a 20w UV bird lamp, any recommendations where to get this. Can I just screw the bulb into any lamp? And how close to the cage should it be? And for how many hours a day? Can't help much with this, but maybe samwiseg can help here. She has been through all this.6. There is a lot of over preening going on, which I know is part of poorly behaviour, but can anyone recommend any solutions to this? New toys are on their way, but I feel so responsible for their poorly-ness . Vit A deficiency can cause them to "worry" their feathers - adding a multivitamin to their water can only be helpful if they are under par, but if Maggie is still on meds, leave this until she has finished; you may want to talk to the vet about a probioic for her as well? Finally, to stop me asking questions, does anyone have a book recommendation at all so I can learn a bit more and give you all a bit of peace Thanks in advance for any recommendations! dumb naive itchy bear signing out Hi itchybear, don't feel bad; it can be very hard to get the correct info at times, and the best thing is that now Maggie should be on the road to good health. I'll add any helpful tips I can into your post. Edit: Sorry it is soooooo long!!
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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 Oct 15, 2013 11:46:16 GMT
I buy the cuttlebones in pets at home. They sell in bags of 5. Also the guys on here use F10 which I have started to, it's a safe disinfectant. The drops I add to the water and have given Bailey tonic too as he had a heavy moult. Again in his water. No, I ends up at a vets nearby who really didn't ave much to say. I found Stan via Mandeville surgery, but he was just about to go on holiday. But he appened to answer the phone when I rang and we chatted for about ten minutes. If I do end up needing one, then I will go to him as not far from me. I use a smallish grate size so easy for B to eat and yet not mushy. Also butternut squash is good Re the lamps, I was thinking about one. I think you can just buy special bulbs. Someone on here will know. How many buds do you have? Thanks ffiscool - I need to get some F10 too, i have such a shopping list I will look into drops - they sound like a good fix to get them on the right path. Yes - Stan at the Mandeville, he was amazing, really knowledgable, even tastes their seed to see if its mouldy and tells you too as well. (he says you can spit it out after ) Ok - definitely going to try the grater next, and have a little pot of mixed veg me thinks! We only have the two buds, Maggie & Lenny (brother & sister), they are so lovely and even though it was bf who originally wanted them, I am smitten! They're like my children! lol!
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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 Oct 15, 2013 11:49:09 GMT
Thanks birdguhl, That's great - they're exactly the germinating seeds I have ordered! . I'm looking into the pellets, want to find out a bit more first, the vet gave us a small bag of Harrisons sample to try, think that's a good starting point! I really like the idea of mixing in the vegetables, it's like children isn't it... you have to hide their veg in their other food Thanks for UV lamp tips - definitely buying one - a lovely guy from the local garden centre aquarium section just called back after saying he couldn't get me one yesterday and has purposely sourced it for me .. what a lovely fella!
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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 Oct 15, 2013 11:49:51 GMT
Be back in a bit to answer others - have a meeting to go to...
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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 Oct 15, 2013 19:31:27 GMT
I use mine in a cheap floor lamp from Ikea. It is about 1-2 feet from where the buds spend a lot of time. Not sure how long it is effective for. I've a feeling that I read on Barrie Shutt's site that they stop bring effective before they give out altogether. If you put in a search for UV in forum you should turn up some useful stuff. Thanks again birdguhl, I think I read the bulb last 6 months... Sorry for delay, I write the biweekly newsletter at work and it goes out tomorrow, so no chance to hop back on here after meeting .
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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 Oct 15, 2013 19:45:52 GMT
Hi all, I've been on here a few times, not as much as I'd like due to busy at work, restricted lunch breaks and evenings are very busy currently. I hope all your buds are as well as possible. So I'll start at the beginning, we're very new budgie parents (and feeling more naive than ever now ). A few weeks ago now i posted about my female budgie, Maggie's, behaviour which I thought was potentially breeding behaviour. Alas, the strange 'whimpering' noise I thought she was making got worse and we eventually after research and using the right search term, we recognised it as wheezing. I felt awful as she seemed to do it only when we were around, hence us thinking attention seeking but that was probably more down to her breathing more heavily when we got near. So after a you tube scare which was helpful, off to the vets she travelled, much to her disgust . Poor little bud has respiratory infection. Not only that, but she is underweight. We got some great advice from vet, and her meds, he was wonderful but told us so much in so short a time that I need to ask for guidance for a few things: 1. Getting their weight up, I need to increase her weight, and probably his, i've read a bit about egg food and bought some Johnson's egg & honey sticks which they're going mad for. What else do people recommend? Be careful of the seed sticks, as they are often full of honey (budgies can become diabetic too) and not part of their normal food. Keep them as a treat maybe once or twice a week. The best things to try are either hard boiled egg cooked yourself, or eggfood which can be bought commercially. The eggfood can be fed to them dry, over their seed without worrying about it spoiling, or moistened to a paste consisency, which will need to be discarded after a few hours. Some buds go for one, some the other. Some breeders will even feed their birds chicken carcasses for extra protein, so you could try them with a little cooked cut small chicken, if you can bear the thought of them being meat-eaters. 2. The seed quality, we realised is pretty poor. We've upgraded to higher quality seed we gave them as little buds, and also bought some germinating seeds, do we mix them in, alternate them? Any advice on these? Also mentioned was Harrison's food, is this the way forward? And any suppliers you can recommend? Keep soft, fresh foods separate to their seed, otherwise you end up wasting a fair bit of seed. Have a separate pot for these and remove after a few hours. 3. We've added an iodine block, which they're happy with and I've bought some grit. How do I give the grit, do I mix it in with their seed or in another pot? They usually feed next to each other in the double pot so I'd struggle to put seed in one, grit in another. Any recommendations? Most people use a separate pot for the grit as well.4. Vitamin A: we've upped the red vegetables, carrot, red pepper but getting them to eat them is another thing. They seem to be getting slowly interested, has anyone got tips? They don't enjoy carrot peelings at all I don't enjoy carrot peelings either! This can take some trial and error to find just how they will eat it. As ffiscool has mentioned, her little guy only eats it grated; mine like a fairly chunky round served up on a skewer. Before they got to that point though, I would slice them a round with a veggie peeler, so nice and thin, and gradually worked up to thicker pieces. Also, my buds will not eat their veggies out of a pot, they like them strung up on a skewer, pegged to the side of the cage. 5. UV lamp. I think I'm to seek a 20w UV bird lamp, any recommendations where to get this. Can I just screw the bulb into any lamp? And how close to the cage should it be? And for how many hours a day? Can't help much with this, but maybe samwiseg can help here. She has been through all this.6. There is a lot of over preening going on, which I know is part of poorly behaviour, but can anyone recommend any solutions to this? New toys are on their way, but I feel so responsible for their poorly-ness . Vit A deficiency can cause them to "worry" their feathers - adding a multivitamin to their water can only be helpful if they are under par, but if Maggie is still on meds, leave this until she has finished; you may want to talk to the vet about a probioic for her as well? Finally, to stop me asking questions, does anyone have a book recommendation at all so I can learn a bit more and give you all a bit of peace Thanks in advance for any recommendations! dumb naive itchy bear signing out Hi itchybear, don't feel bad; it can be very hard to get the correct info at times, and the best thing is that now Maggie should be on the road to good health. I'll add any helpful tips I can into your post. Edit: Sorry it is soooooo long!! Thanks Hezz, and don't apologise for length, I asked a lot of questions! And I'm truly grateful for the help. 1. So the sticks, that's why they love them, it's the honey! I went for them to help put weight on, but didn't think of sugar content, I will get some egg food ASAP ..... And yes there is a weird thought about them being meat eaters! 2 & 3 so I'll try the separate pots, it's hard to get them to try new things. The vet was funny saying we should eat in front of them and offer them their own piece, we are their flock and they'll want what we eat. Which I think makes sense, they often eat when we eat dinner. 4. Peelings, ok this evening I've gone for grated carrot and finely chopped red pepper, we shall see 5. Lamp - thanks Hezz, I have got one ordered as above, will keep you in the loop! 6. Great, I'll wait for meds to finish and look at some multivitamins options too Thanks again Hezz, I think the buds will be keeping me on my toes I really appreciate any insight you can give me!
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