I said a while back I was only going to adopt birds now, no more fostering. Well I met a young budgie today who needs a little TLC and I brought her home.
The vet said she had come from a hoarding situation, sharing a small cage with 8 others and no perches or toys. Just a bare plastic floor, a bowl of wild bird seed and a bowl of water. Hygiene was the last thing on their old owner's mind, that's all I'll say about them. You can imagine that life on the bottom of a dirty cage can leave a bird dirty, but this poor girl's flights and tail really are stained bad. She also wouldn't even eat seed from a bowl, she would only eat off the floor.
The vet has done a grand job cleaning the crud off. He has also got her to take food and water from bowls and she has learned to perch.
She's fully vetted. No parasites, nothing toxic or contagious and no obvious injuries, so she's home with me now.
The plan was to split the double flight cage and let her have one side to herself with the boys in the other side for company. That lasted half an hour give or take. All three were stuck at the bottom of the divider introducing themselves and trying to preen through the bars for that time. With Minty being the older and calmer boy I let him through to meet her. No dice. They both sat silently at each side of the cage and did nothing.
I took a chance with the recently hormonal Jack and changed them over. He was a hit and it has definitely brought out the calm and tender side I'd seen before the hormones. They sat together, beak tapping and preening. Jack has really taken this girl under his wing, possibly because they're roughly the same age.
I've removed the divider and all 3 birds seem happy, though I am watching them.
Jack showed her what the bath is for, she had a quick step-in step-out but she knows it's there and what it's for. He has also shown her there's nothing in the seed mix to be scared of, and is teaching her all about the pleasures of egg and rice.
She's a white DF Spangled, around 15-16 weeks old and I'm calling her Misty as I can see just a little of the blue showing through. I'll keep this thread updated like a diary, rather than a separate blog for as long as it takes her to mature some and become tame enough to move on. I really hope I do get the option to adopt this one.
You can see the staining in her tail feathers in the first pic.
The vet said she had come from a hoarding situation, sharing a small cage with 8 others and no perches or toys. Just a bare plastic floor, a bowl of wild bird seed and a bowl of water. Hygiene was the last thing on their old owner's mind, that's all I'll say about them. You can imagine that life on the bottom of a dirty cage can leave a bird dirty, but this poor girl's flights and tail really are stained bad. She also wouldn't even eat seed from a bowl, she would only eat off the floor.
The vet has done a grand job cleaning the crud off. He has also got her to take food and water from bowls and she has learned to perch.
She's fully vetted. No parasites, nothing toxic or contagious and no obvious injuries, so she's home with me now.
The plan was to split the double flight cage and let her have one side to herself with the boys in the other side for company. That lasted half an hour give or take. All three were stuck at the bottom of the divider introducing themselves and trying to preen through the bars for that time. With Minty being the older and calmer boy I let him through to meet her. No dice. They both sat silently at each side of the cage and did nothing.
I took a chance with the recently hormonal Jack and changed them over. He was a hit and it has definitely brought out the calm and tender side I'd seen before the hormones. They sat together, beak tapping and preening. Jack has really taken this girl under his wing, possibly because they're roughly the same age.
I've removed the divider and all 3 birds seem happy, though I am watching them.
Jack showed her what the bath is for, she had a quick step-in step-out but she knows it's there and what it's for. He has also shown her there's nothing in the seed mix to be scared of, and is teaching her all about the pleasures of egg and rice.
She's a white DF Spangled, around 15-16 weeks old and I'm calling her Misty as I can see just a little of the blue showing through. I'll keep this thread updated like a diary, rather than a separate blog for as long as it takes her to mature some and become tame enough to move on. I really hope I do get the option to adopt this one.
You can see the staining in her tail feathers in the first pic.
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