I need some advice on a neglected baby budgie I received

[Lady Jane]

Funny you should ask. I read an article yesterday about the wild birds and sleeping. They take frequent naps in the daytime hours and nights they sleep with one eye open to be on alert about predators. Very interesting article in Birds and Bloom magazine

 

[Britnicorn]

Funny you should ask. I read an article yesterday about the wild birds and sleeping. They take frequent naps in the daytime hours and nights they sleep with one eye open to be on alert about predators. Very interesting article in Birds and Bloom magazine

Phoenix sleeps with one eye open if the house is noisy or the computer is on, but I see him sleeping with both eyes closed a lot. He must know he's safe

 

[Mybluebird]

My Tweetie does the same - he wakes up, eats, then snoozes for about an hour. At around noon he has an hour siesta and then plays until dusk. Buddy naps with both eyes open - he gets all fluffed up and quietly, softly sings to himself.

 

[Britnicorn]

Is there a way to tell if your budgie is overweight? He weighs 42 grams but it has been steady like that for two weeks. That's a bit on the heavier side but he doesn't look very fat? So I wonder if that's just *his* normal weight. I tried looking at his keel bone but I'm not really sure what to look for, I see a line down his abdomen but it's not always there

 

[Ripshod]

IIRC 30-40g is the norm, so technically he is slightly overweight. But nothing to worry about - "puppy fat" - he'll soon burn it off. If it hasn't dropped any in a week you could start making tweaks to his diet.

 

[Britnicorn]

IIRC 30-40g is the norm, so technically he is slightly overweight. But nothing to worry about - "puppy fat" - he'll soon burn it off. If it hasn't dropped any in a week you could start making tweaks to his diet.

Definitely... I was scared that he would feel underfed and regress back to his formula these past couple weeks so I was giving him free rein on pellets for most of the day and seeds at night(with fruits and veggies throughout the day), but now I think we are in the clear and I can start measuring out his food for him.
He gets tons of exercise though, he’s out of the cage for almost 10-12 hours a day and he’s almost constantly playing. He’d probably be even fatter if he didn’t have so much out of cage time

How much should budgies eat? His crop is still too big, I think it will just be like that now since it has stopped going down, will that affect his eating habits at all?

 

[zoo mom]

Before cutting back on his food I would communicate with his vet. With his rough start in life I wouldn't take chances.

 

[annafauna]

With the caveat that I'm not an expert (and it's always a good idea to check with the vet), I wouldn't so much cut back on the quantity of food, overall, but the ratios in which it's offered. Seeds are going to be the most calorie-dense, so if you offer less of them, up the amount of produce, assuming he's already eating a sensible amount of pellets.

I'll say that, a few months ago, Gemmy weighed in at ~42g -- and was noticeably rotund. I haven't been able to get any of them on a scale at home recently (I know from the vet that Ivy is low-mid 30s, and Snowy, who is smaller overall, is 28g), but Gemmy looks a lot better these days, so I'm sure she's shed a few grams. I would guess that Pickle and Snowy are almost 10g apart in weight, but they have the same general body shape -- they're just different sizes. So maybe Phoenix is on the larger end for an American budgie? Like Linden says, maybe he's still got a bit of baby fat on him. Anyway, my (slightly rambling) point is that when my budgies were overweight, they looked it -- vs just being a bigger-bodied bird who's at an appropriate weight.

 

[Lady Jane]

Perhaps let him fly more for exercise. does he have any English Budgie in him? EB weigh mid 40's. I too think you should not cut back on food. Discuss this with you vet on next visit.

 

[Britnicorn]

Perhaps let him fly more for exercise. does he have any English Budgie in him? EB weigh mid 40's. I too think you should not cut back on food. Discuss this with you vet on next visit.

He has all day to fly, and he flies a ton. He’s out of the cage for at least 10 hours a day. I actually have no idea if he does or not, I could ask the lady I got him from how much their budgies weigh

 

[Rock19048]

Hi! For some context, one of my family friends started breeding her parakeets... it was a terrible idea in my opinion, because she has no idea what she’s doing. The budgie in question hatched yesterday (01/20) and was not being fed by the parents, and basically shoved away.
Honestly, I had seen something like this coming. I spent days prior researching how to care for budgie hatchlings, watching videos on how to hand feed them,etc. After the budgie was neglected by the parents, and my family friend refused to do anything for it, I stepped up.
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this was taken the night I got her, after I fed her.
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these two are from today (01/21).
I just want to know if she looks healthy? She eats really good, and her crop empties about every half hour (yes last night was so rough for me lol). Shes also sure to let me know that she’s hungry. She’s on a heating pad in her little nest I made her, keeping her at about 98° and I check it regularly. I put my hand in with her a lot to snuggle with her because she just looks so lonely. She does seem very lively, and even bites the syringe when I feed her.
Is her bright pink color normal? Her belly/rump seems to be purple-ish too. I’m just so worried about her, I’ve already fallen in love. Thanks!!
I’m a stay at home college student (thanks covid) so I’m almost always with her

It is normal for them to be that color and also they are sensitive to heat u might need to order some baby budgie pellets or human baby food for it

 

[Rock19048]

View attachment 370678 View attachment 370679
it was hard to get a picture because she was squirming, but I tried feeding her faster this time and I think I did better about the air bubbles... it’s not perfect though
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Here’s pics of the makeshift brooder... I’m getting aspen bedding as soon as possible today, I found some at Walmart.
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this is the syringe I use, too, there’s no size or measurement anywhere on there and it was a leftover one we had. I’m trying to find a .5cc syringe and the only ones I’m finding at stores near me/Amazon is insulin needle ones

U might beagle to find some small medicine syringes just wash it well

 

[tka]

Hi @Rock19048 - this thread is now 84 pages long and you've just read the posts on the first page. I'm happy to say that Phoenix survived and has started flying

 

[Britnicorn]

I weighed him again this morning with his crop completely empty and he weighed 38.6 grams... so I guess he's good

 

[Lady Jane]

Getting a weight is best done at same time every day before am meal.

 

[annafauna]

That’s great! I was able to get both Pickle and Gemmy on the scale (separately) this evening, and Pickle was 33g, Gemmy 37g. Guess I have to stop calling them the pudgies! I’m glad both they and Phoenix came in within the proper weight range.

 

[Rock19048]

im not sure how to get my budgies to trust me and eat greens and veggies i tried a peanut butter saltine cracker and it didnt work

 

[Sunni Tiel]

im not sure how to get my budgies to trust me and eat greens and veggies i tried a peanut butter saltine cracker and it didnt work

There are many threads here that can help, or you could make your own thread. You'll get better answers that way.

 

[Britnicorn]

im not sure how to get my budgies to trust me and eat greens and veggies i tried a peanut butter saltine cracker and it didnt work

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[zoo mom]

Any updates on Phoenix. It's been a week