Bathing feels better in open space

Photo © We Love Budgies on tumblr

At least that's what my experience is telling me. My budgies have a bath similar to the one in the picture, but with a plastic part covering it so it can hang at the cage door. I noticed that my budgies only go there to drink from the water, perhaps because it's a confined space just like a drinking tray.

The one time they bathed (by accident!) is because Erlend had put a water plate on top of the book case, where they are often resting. Frodo became curious about it and hopped on top of the plate. He looked into the water and started to slide into the water and he didn't have a clue of what was happening!

It's true that not all budgies like bathing, but most of them really do. That's why I'm not giving up yet. I'm going to take off the plastic cover of the budgie bath right now and fill the other part with water... let's see if they go for it this time!

The Eternal War between Budgies and Cockatiels

Image © bleedingcrow

More on this topic: can budgerigars and cockatiels live together?

I love Pope Rocketfist

Look at him sleeping on his K'NEX tower. He's so adorable!

... And here he just took a bath :)

*** Photos via We Love Budgies ***

Some Budgie Questions (Quiz)

If you feel up for a budgie quiz, you can try out this one:

Photo © fairy-wren on tumblr

Some Budgie Questions (Fun Trivia)

I'll give only one answer away (the one I got wrong ;))

Question 7: Which one of these is not a characteristic of a sick budgie?

Wrong answer: turn head 180 degrees. That's right, because budgies are able to do this, whether they're sick or not!

Correct answer: eat more than usual. D'oh! I totally overlooked this. Losing appetite can in fact be an early illness indicator, as budgies eat pretty much all the time (because of their high metabolism).

2012 - Year of the Dragon

May the Celestial Dragon bring good luck to you and your budgies in 2012!

Image © soundstar on tumblr

Chilling on the Lamp

Photo © mouldynipple

Toxic plants for budgies

I had to call the vet over a second time last week, because Isla was throwing up again =(
This gave me plenty of reasons to worry, because she has been sick recently, and vomiting can be the cause of a few nasty illnesses.
The vet quickly found out what was wrong. He explained that budgies are in fact always busy cleaning themselves, because they want to be clean all the time. The problem is that Isla still had diarrhoea, and among other things, she has to clean her vent. By doing this, she accidently swallowed parts of the diarrhoea. Of course, no one wants to eat their own poop so it came right out again.

Photo © Erlend Alvestad

Now Isla is taking medication against diarrhoea and I have to clean her as soon as the poops start sticking to her vent again. It's almost like changing dipers!

Now my question is: where does this recurring diarrhoea come from? I have a theory. My budgies have been crazy over a certain plant we have in our room: a Dracaena Massangeana. Although it's not on any list of toxic plants for birds, I suspect that eating too much of it may cause diarrhoea. And my budgies are VERY addicted to the plant. Over the course of a few months, we noticed that Isla got diarrhoea/retching fits a few times, while otherwise she seems perfectly healthy. So we took the plant away from them (I felt bad because it's their favourite hangout spot) and now we'll wait and see if Isla gets better - for good. I'd hate to see my budgies on antibiotics again.

I caught Frodo nibbling the plant only a week ago. Photo © Erlend Alvestad

You can find a  good list of toxic plants and branches for budgies here.

Normal Droppings or Illness? (1)

Budgie droppings are not merely a heap of dirt. Sometimes, a closer look may reveal useful information about your bird's state of health. In this, not only consistency and color play an important part, but also the position on the cage floor. Normally, budgies stay on the same spot while they sleep at night. As a consequence, there should be a pile of droppings in the same spot. If the droppings are spread around on the floor, it's possible that the budgie has been disturbed by mites or other parasites while he was trying to get some sleep.

Photo © littleedenphoto on tumblr

What should we look out for?

Normal consistency: A normal dropping of a budgie consists of a dark, firm range and a white urine portion in the center. The urine portion can be a bit more creamy if your budgie recently drank or ate fresh food.


Sometimes the consistency varies a bit, depending on what your budgie ate or drank. There could be signs of indigestion (that go paired with retching or vomiting). If the consistency of the droppings is different from the normal consistency for a period of over two hours, it could indicate the start of an illness. Be careful with this.
 
Abnormal consistency - please take your budgie to the vet ASAP

Photo © Birds Online

The picture above shows the droppings of a budgie that has diarrhoea. The color is greenish and the consistency is rather wet. Wet droppings are never a good sign. If the urine portions contain more water than firm portions, your bird might suffer from a kidney problem. In both cases, you should not be afraid to take your bird to the vet because these illnesses are not taken lightly.

Photo © Birds Online

If your budgie's droppings look like the ones in the above picture, you should definitely be alarmed. The droppings have a rather voluminous consistency and the colour of the edge and the urine portion are the same.This points to a pancreas infection. You have to go to the vet immediately because this can be cured and save your budgie's life!

Two cute budgies

This picture was made by Spikylein on Deviantart, with pastels and crayons. It's so sweet :)

Noisy Household Makes For Noisy Budgies

Photo © Annoncen.org

Most budgies fear the noise of a vacuum cleaner. But once they get over it, they will actually start making noise when you are making noise. Each time I go around in the living room, I catch Frodo singing at the top of his lungs, just because he wants to sing louder than the vacuum cleaner :)

Have you noticed how quiet budgies are when the TV and radio are off, no household appliances are running, and you don't say a word?

Image © Fat Birds on tumblr

Budgies are social birds and they enjoy having a lot of life around them. However, it may be a good idea to give them a few "noisefree" hours per day, so they have time for a nap :)

Budgie of the Month: Pope Rocketfist III

I found this cute budgie hidden somewhere on the internet. I simply had to reblog this :)

The budgie is named Pope Rocketfist III and their owners like to make things and put him on them.

I love the KNEX tower! I used to make things out of KNEX as a kid too :) And the Companion Cube, of course, made out of pearl beads. Nice work!

All photos are © We Love Budgies!