Meet Bonnie & Clyde (Rainbow Bourkes)!

[MissingMango]

Well I finally got a picture of them! It is not very good (cell pic), but here they are. They are so much prettier in person & I LOVE their sweet little voices! Their feathers are ruffled up since I just switched them into their new HQ Flight Cage. So far they are totally terrified of me. I have just been sitting next to their cage, talking softly to them. I am hoping after a few days of settling into their new big cage I can start millet training them.

So far they have only eaten a bit, mostly millet and canary seed it seems. The breeder fed a mix of Finch seed, and parakeet seed with a tiny bit of fresh foods. I have been offering tons of fresh food, but to no avail yet. Hoping I can get them on a better diet.

For those of you with Bourkes, what do you feed? Will they eat Roudybush Crumbles? They did seem to really like the Goldenfeast Australian Blend I added to the seed the breeder sent them with, but other than that, nothing seems to be a hit.

Anyways here are Bonnie & Clyde!

 

[Stormcloud]

Grass Parrots are taking over!!! First and foremost I'd just be looking to get them settled and that may take a few weeks. However, there are some things you can do in the meantime. Change up the dowel perches for some natural hardwood ones to exercise their feet and add a few small natural wood toys (balsa, cork, etc) for them to play with. IGAW, T4W and OG excel in this area and our wonderful vendors will be only to happy to advise you with some appropriate selection/s. Keep the toys to the side of the cage so that they maintain room to fly. Keep offering a mixture of fresh greens, grated carrot, sprouts, etc as eventually they'll try it for some variation.

 

[MyAussieFriends]

Such cuties. In the future, I'd love to have a bourke. They seem like such chill little birds.

And I totally agree with Gerard. Replace those wooden dowels with some natural perches. Their feet with thank you!

 

[expressmailtome]

@Monica might be able to share her diet experience.

Matt

 

[Boston]

I feed parakeet seed with TOPS pellets, millet and fresh foods. Bourkes are very good eaters once they get used to their new home. They especially love to eat millet spray on the bottom of the cage as they are ground feeders in the wild. I love goldenfeast products and add some to the budgie seed once or twice a week. It has all kinds of good things in there for them. All my birds get some goldenfeast mixture. Your birds are gorgeous.

 

[MissingMango]

Thanks everyone! That is the only dowel perch in the cage. They also have a swing, a cement perch, a sandpaper perch, and 3 natural ones. I tried to keep all perches on the sides, with toys against the walls rathey than hanging from the top so they would have a good bit of room to fly. I am headed to Petsmart tomorrow for cat food, so will grab a rope one too....maybe I will swap that one for the dowel so it's not too crowded.

For toys they have a silly little plastic toy with moving parts, the one you see in the pic, a natural preening toy, a natural shredding toy, and a plastic mirror with bells. I am currently waiting on 3 orders for Opie (Oliver's Garden, IGAW, and T4Ws), so I am sure I will be able to steal a few of his toys to replace the two plastic ones once they come. I was going to place another IGAW order too, since Opie "NEEDS" that new swag with the colorful beads , so I will grab a few more from there too I am kind of a compulsive toy buyer, which Opie will be thrilled about since he LOVES to shred Balsa wood and cork!

I just offered sprouts on the plate on the cage floor. Hoping they will try them. They didn't touch the millet, apples, or chop I put down for lunch, but did eat seed since there are empty shells.

Oh and also, do you think they would appreciate a flat perch? Opie has a smaller square one, but I ordered the sunflower one from T4W also, which I could give to them since Opie is also waiting on a peekaboo perch from IGAW....I think we need a compulsive shoppers group.....I easily will have enough toys to fill 3 flight cages at least with back ups to swap toys out when they get bored!

 

[Princessbella]

OMG they are cuties! Congrats

 

[Monica]

Personally, I'd toss the sandpaper perch. I also don't recommend mirrors.

I have given my bourke hen flat perches before and she has used them. I typically feed her the same foods as I fed the budgies and cockatiels... that is, seeds (I've been mixing Kaylor of Colorado Sweet Harvest Cockatiel or Parakeet blend with Goldenfeast Petite Hookbill Legume or Australian blend - although I have also mixed finch and canary seeds into the Kaylor for variety!), pellets (currently Harrison's Fine), the occasional sprouts and whatever I end up putting into the mash! (grains, legumes, vegetables, some fruits....)

 

[MissingMango]

OK great thanks for the feeding info! The plastic toys and non-natural perches were just what I could find locally until my other orders come in. There are three natural perches in there, so until the new stuff comes, I am sure they will be ok. Like I said not much good stuff around here store wise. They do have natural preening and shredding toys, but wanted to offer more than just the two natural toys and 3 natural perches until the rest comes in. A big HQ Flight Cage would be pretty empty otherwise IMO.

On the feeding front I have been offering all of their fresh foods on the bottom of their cage and this AM they ate a lot more! They tried birdy bread crumbled up, sprouts and even ate some chop! They love the Goldenfeast Austrailian blend, not sure if they are eating the Roudybush Crumbles....guess I am off to look for a good seed mix today as I am running out of what the breeder provided.

 

[MissingMango]

Just wanted to update with a new pic! You can see their colors so much better with some good Full Spectrum Lighting! I can't wait to see what they look like after their baby molt!

 

[vmashley03]

Just wanted to update with a new pic! You can see their colors so much better with some good Full Spectrum Lighting! I can't wait to see what they look like after their baby molt!

They are precious!!! How old are they? Also do they like their new toys or still a bit nervous?

 

[MissingMango]

Thanks! They were both born in April, Bonnie seems to be molting now. Their tails are not full, so I am not sure if they are finishing, or starting a molt.

They have three preening toys that they have never touched, the ring toy that you can see which they randomly will peck at, then an easy to shred IGAW toy I have not seen them play with yet. They are very shy though, so maybe they do play a bit when I am not around. They haven't tried the mineral block, but there are some bites out of their cuttle bone. They do however LOVE their millet holder LOL! Here is a pic of Bonnie with the millet holder they love oh so much!