SOMEONE PLEASE HELP ME!

[BigSkyMT]

What a great thread I just spend the last 20 minutes at my work reading
What a joy to read. I've been through the taming wild budgies before. It's doable but patience is a virtue! I didn't let my male 5? year old budgie Frosty out of his cage (it was large) until I could get him to at least perch for millet. It took a lot of time but ended up working out.

Best of luck and keep updated congrats on Mozart.

I'm so glad you enjoyed our thread. I just went back to page 1 and read about when I got my very first bird Hercules. Blows my mind to think how far we've come and now +3 more feathered family added to our flock!
Speaking of.. we sure had an adventure today going to get Motzart! I worked a night shift & didn't sleep. My husband did all the driving! We rented an eco car to save on gas, we were about halfway to Idaho & found out there was a winter storm warning & found out Monida pass was closed!! This meant I waited weeks to go get him & spent money on a rental car to just turn around! We kept trucking along & right before we got to the pass, they opened it back up! Phew! We got soooo lucky! The roads were pure sheets of thick ice & we passed many cars & trucks in the ditch! It was a LOOONG SLOOOOW drive, but we made it!! Motzart was well worth it & we just got home safe! He chirped on the way home & ate a lot. He wasn't stressed but is still pretty scared of hands. I reclined my seat and just talked to him & we sang to him. He scooted across his little cage to be closer to me! I have high Hope's he will warm up to us soon. I am keeping him quarantine in my bedroom until after vet gives him the clear bill of health & I get him to start stepping up, then I can slowly introduce him to the rest of the flock! They've already been replying to eachother calls from the other room.

Here is a pic of him all buckled up for the ride home!

I will keep you guys updated on our progress & hopefully make YouTube video of the taming process to help others out with new birds.
God Bless everyone, it's been a very rewarding day!​

 

[zoo mom]

Mozart is gorgeous.

 

[BigSkyMT]

Hey guys,

Thought I'd share an update of Little Bird (budgie) and the newest member of the flock, Motzart (cockatiel) I ended up buying a large "catio" for cats to go outside & converted it into a large indoor aviary!
It has been such a BLESSING!!



Little bird is still obsessed with Hercules & lucky for me, Hercules has always put herself to sleep, when shes tired, she goes back in her cage by herself. She ended up doing the same thing with the aviary. So every night about 930-10pm she goes into the aviary, has a bite to eat & gets cozy for the night. Little bird now follows her every single night to bed. No more chasing little bird around the house to get her in her cage before I go work a night shift! It's been wonderful & shes finally starting to trust me & even flew on me once!



Now for Motzart. We've had him for over a 1.5 months. We waited a couple weeks to move him into a larger cage because he was already so overwhelmed being in a new place.
He went from this awful, tiny cage...

To this temporarily..

He finally started taking millet from my hand inside the cage after weeks of persistently trying! I have to hold perfectly still for 10-20 min to achieve this, if I even move to scratch my face, he moves away.

It's been weeks of giving him millet by hand & we felt like we were stuck at a plateau with taming him, he was still terrified if I even flinched. My husband & I decided it was time to introduce him to the aviary & see if we could take the next step in taming by getting him out of his cage & how he would do out with the other birds & seeing how much the birds trust us scary hoomans!

It took him awhile to come out of his cage, until he saw Hercules, he decided to come out to explore. He did amazingly & I was so proud of my birds of how openly they accepted him into the flock! He took his first small flight around the aviary, but was exhausted quickly, because quite frankly, I dont think he's ever been able to fly before! He hopped back & forth atleast 15 times!! He is so happy now. They all come out of the aviary for 10-12hrs a day, free flying the house & getting into mischief. At nap time and bed time, they all go back in & put themselves to bed. It's been such a blessing!




His first time having chicken & potatoes. He porked out & had potatoes all over his beak. Was so darn cute!


The flock is doing AMAZING! The aviary has been such a blessing. They love it & I REALLY love it!! I got it on Overstock.com for $300 & I highly recommend for anyone with smaller or medium size birds. A ring neck or bigger bird could prob chew their way out.

Here's a pic of the aviary & we fixed the door so it fully opens so I can walk in to sweep & clean with ease


Quick question- little bird (budgie) wants so badly to get affection from the tiels, but they are always trying to stay away from her because she is such a sassy BOSS lol. We were thinking of adopting another budgie or possibly two & taming them, then introducing them to the flock so she can have a couple budgie friends her own size & spunk. What do you guys think about it? I think there's plenty enough room for another budgie & I just feel bad for her cause shes the only budgie & just wants someone to preen & preen her..
Would love to adopt, see budgies on craiglist all the time & just breaks my heart.

I hope you guys enjoyed the pics & update. Let me know about adding another budgie or two. Would love your input!

God bless!

 

[Zara]

Fantastic update!! I LOVE the aviary!
I think a second budgie is a good idea

 

[zoo mom]

Beautiful aviary. I think just one more budgie. Sometimes odd numbers cause problems. Especially if you have male and female.

 

[Lady Jane]

Looks like you have done everything just right for the welfare of your lovely birds. How do you deal with working night shift and sleeping in the day time when the birds are active?

 

[BigSkyMT]

Fantastic update!! I LOVE the aviary!
I think a second budgie is a good idea

Beautiful aviary. I think just one more budgie. Sometimes odd numbers cause problems. Especially if you have male and female.

Okay one more budgie it is! She is female, if I'm lucky enough to find a single female, would that be best? I dont want any babies, there's enough birds out there that need a home. With my tiels, when they go broody, I set them up a nest box & replace the eggs with fake ceramic ones I bought on Amazon. I got home this morning & to my surprise, Motzart is sitting on the eggs in the nest? Do males do that without mating or maybe he is a she?

Looks like you have done everything just right for the welfare of your lovely birds. How do you deal with working night shift and sleeping in the day time when the birds are active?

That's a good question & took me awhile to adjust. I get home a little after 7am. I open the curtains & turn the lights on. The birds wake up & get their veggies & sprouts. I let them hangout until they are ready for their "after breakfast nap" usually about 10am. Once they all go back into the aviary for nap time, I sleep for a few hours then get back up & let them back out about 1pm until my hubby gets home around 4pm so they can stay out with him & I get back up around 6 or 7ish. Took awhile to adjust to the sleep schedule, but it's worth it so they can be out most of the day. On my days off, I leave the door open all day unless I have to run errands, I'll go do it during their nap times.

I'm going to be on the hunt for a single female budgie. Just so many budgies that need a home & most of them are 3 or 4 of them crammed into a tiny cage. Breaks my heart. When we finish building our forever home, we are making a very large bird proof bird room & then can hopefully take in a few more birds that need homes & possibly start a small rescue that I could foster & adopt out to good homes. Never know what the future holds!
Thank you guys for replying!
I will keep you posted on updates & when we start a new adventure of finding a budgie!

 

[Begone]

Just short..
Don't get another female, they will fight, and it can be bloody.

 

[Begone]

And another short.
You have at the moment 4 birds.
To bring another budgie will give you a odd number, and you also don't know what to expect if you add a male budgie in that flock.
Budgie are much more active.
With only one budgie your will have a more peaceful flock.

I would have waited and let them all settled in.
It's not impossible that one of your tiels can be bonded with your budgie.

If they all seems to get along fine I wouldn't add another bird.

Great update!

 

[Hawk12237]

Hey guys,

Thought I'd share an update of Little Bird (budgie) and the newest member of the flock, Motzart (cockatiel) I ended up buying a large "catio" for cats to go outside & converted it into a large indoor aviary!
It has been such a BLESSING!!

View attachment 330956

Little bird is still obsessed with Hercules & lucky for me, Hercules has always put herself to sleep, when shes tired, she goes back in her cage by herself. She ended up doing the same thing with the aviary. So every night about 930-10pm she goes into the aviary, has a bite to eat & gets cozy for the night. Little bird now follows her every single night to bed. No more chasing little bird around the house to get her in her cage before I go work a night shift! It's been wonderful & shes finally starting to trust me & even flew on me once!
View attachment 330958
View attachment 330959
View attachment 330968
Now for Motzart. We've had him for over a 1.5 months. We waited a couple weeks to move him into a larger cage because he was already so overwhelmed being in a new place.
He went from this awful, tiny cage...
View attachment 330962
To this temporarily..
View attachment 330963
He finally started taking millet from my hand inside the cage after weeks of persistently trying! I have to hold perfectly still for 10-20 min to achieve this, if I even move to scratch my face, he moves away.
View attachment 330966
It's been weeks of giving him millet by hand & we felt like we were stuck at a plateau with taming him, he was still terrified if I even flinched. My husband & I decided it was time to introduce him to the aviary & see if we could take the next step in taming by getting him out of his cage & how he would do out with the other birds & seeing how much the birds trust us scary hoomans!
View attachment 330967
It took him awhile to come out of his cage, until he saw Hercules, he decided to come out to explore. He did amazingly & I was so proud of my birds of how openly they accepted him into the flock! He took his first small flight around the aviary, but was exhausted quickly, because quite frankly, I dont think he's ever been able to fly before! He hopped back & forth atleast 15 times!! He is so happy now. They all come out of the aviary for 10-12hrs a day, free flying the house & getting into mischief. At nap time and bed time, they all go back in & put themselves to bed. It's been such a blessing!

View attachment 330970
View attachment 330969
View attachment 330971
His first time having chicken & potatoes. He porked out & had potatoes all over his beak. Was so darn cute!
View attachment 330972

The flock is doing AMAZING! The aviary has been such a blessing. They love it & I REALLY love it!! I got it on Overstock.com for $300 & I highly recommend for anyone with smaller or medium size birds. A ring neck or bigger bird could prob chew their way out.

Here's a pic of the aviary & we fixed the door so it fully opens so I can walk in to sweep & clean with ease
View attachment 330973

Quick question- little bird (budgie) wants so badly to get affection from the tiels, but they are always trying to stay away from her because she is such a sassy BOSS lol. We were thinking of adopting another budgie or possibly two & taming them, then introducing them to the flock so she can have a couple budgie friends her own size & spunk. What do you guys think about it? I think there's plenty enough room for another budgie & I just feel bad for her cause shes the only budgie & just wants someone to preen & preen her..
Would love to adopt, see budgies on craiglist all the time & just breaks my heart.

I hope you guys enjoyed the pics & update. Let me know about adding another budgie or two. Would love your input!

God bless!

That is the best avery I've seen yet! Superior!!
Great job!! seriously! Go with even number of birds....male /female equal ratio.

 

[Tiel Feathers]

What a beautiful aviary, and I love the life you have given these birds!

 

[Lady Jane]

I agree with @Eloy on keeping you flock as is. Male cockatiels are good daddy birds too.

 

[BigSkyMT]

Hey guys, long time! Been so busy busy.. we decided to wait on another budgie for now, I do feel bad for little bird though because she is kind of a loner. Hercules & Motzart are inseparable. Motzart follows Hercules everywhere, they preen eachother all day. Little bird (budgie) preens my female cockatiel, Pepper, but Pepper never returns the favor & just always wants to be with me. I feel bad for her, but she's a happy little bird & she has freedom she's never had before.

Anyways.. giving you guys an update.. there are a couple african Greys on my area on Craigslist, one looks to be in rough shape, and tummy plucked bald. Been doing non stop research on Greys & was always my dream bird.. one of the Greys is around 15 years old, the other around 20. I do not know much about them as of yet, but will be making a 4 hour drive to get them & 4 hour drive home. I just ordered carriers on Amazon for them, they come with their own cages. Any advice you can give me, is appreciated. Anyone have tiels around Greys in a large but supervised room, they will never be left unattended, but I want them all to free fly my home when I'm home.

Merry Christmas everyone!

 

[BigSkyMT]

Here are the two greys I'm adopting next week. They also have 2 cockatoos a macaw & green cheek. Wish I could save them all, but I cant... was considering taking on the green cheek with the greys, but I don't know if I should. Just feel so bad for them & they aren't any avian rescues in 100 of miles... very sad.. I know taking on TWO Greys at the same time is going to take absolute dedication for the rest of my life & I hope to eventually bond with them, even if I can't do that, I will provide them the best forever home possible.

 

[Lady Jane]

You are an angel to get these two birds and provide improved quality of life. They have specific needs, example is more calcium in the diet. I am suggesting you get them on Harrisons High Potency pellets. My grey adored them but she had them from baby time on. She also loved Trader Joes frozen sweet potato fries cooked nice and crispy. Birdie bread may be a good option as a transition food because you can hide a world of nutrition in them. Best birdie bread mix can be found on Avian Organics and it is so worth it. Easy Organic Bird Bread Mixes ~ Organic Parrot Food ~ NO GMO & Sugars, Whole Grains (avianorganics.com) As far as toys they really do like puzzles to stimulate the intellect. Of course I hope you can get them to a vet to have complete check ups and blood panels done because it sounds like they were not well cared for.

Please give us updates once in a while on your progress with them.

 

[BigSkyMT]

You are an angel to get these two birds and provide improved quality of life. They have specific needs, example is more calcium in the diet. I am suggesting you get them on Harrisons High Potency pellets. My grey adored them but she had them from baby time on. She also loved Trader Joes frozen sweet potato fries cooked nice and crispy. Birdie bread may be a good option as a transition food because you can hide a world of nutrition in them. Best birdie bread mix can be found on Avian Organics and it is so worth it. Easy Organic Bird Bread Mixes ~ Organic Parrot Food ~ NO GMO & Sugars, Whole Grains (avianorganics.com) As far as toys they really do like puzzles to stimulate the intellect. Of course I hope you can get them to a vet to have complete check ups and blood panels done because it sounds like they were not well cared for.

Please give us updates once in a while on your progress with them.

Thank you for replying. I screenshot your message. I will look into those pellets & my birds LOVE birdy bread. We are actually buying a second fridge to keep all the fresh organics for the birds. I can only imagine how much more greys eat compared to my small flock & they eat & "waste" a lot of produce heehe. I will make the commute to get them on Tuesday, it will be an all day adventure, we have lots of snow & roads will be interesting, hope it goes smoothly. Going to quarantine them for a month or so & in that time bring them to my avian vet for full check up on health. I've read about the calcium needs of greys, much more than other parrots. I still have a lot to learn about them, but they need a home fast. Wish we had a bird rescue in Montana. There is one, but they are very small & aren't open to the community much.
My hopes is to bond with them, but I don't have much info about them except the lady said they were her sons & she needs them to go to homes. I pray they all find good homes. I can't afford to buy them all, would be a total of $6k for all the birds & I don't have the room for that many big birds. Excited for a new adventure with the two greys tho. I am considering taking the green cheek conure too, I dont know a whole lot about them either. Anyone have GCC with cockatiels? I know they are a bit more bossy than cockatiels. I want to help the birds, but also don't want to cause my current flock stress either.
We plan on building a large outdoor aviary this summer with stainless steel mesh like they use in zoos, so they can get a lot of sun & fresh air this summer.

Any advice is welcome & appreciated on Older rehomed greys & if I should take on the GCC too..?

 

[BigSkyMT]

These are the carriers I bought for the greys trip home. They are big enough for them to turn around & be comfortable, hopefully they work good. Any recommendations of what to add to their carriers to keep them occupied for the trip home or will toys be too much stimuli for already being so scared on the way home. I know its going to be extremely stressful for them

 

[conureluv]

These are the carriers I bought for the greys trip home. They are big enough for them to turn around & be comfortable, hopefully they work good. Any recommendations of what to add to their carriers to keep them occupied for the trip home or will toys be too much stimuli for already being so scared on the way home. I know its going to be extremely stressful for them

When I brought my bird home, it was the same long drive as yours. He was in a small travel cage and pretty overwhelmed as he was going from one mommy to another. The drive went so fast, as I was fascinated with the bird, and he was fascinated with me! Best thing that I would bring wouldn’t be toys. Bring a blanket. This is a tough time, so covering his cage calms them down (in my opinion) and lets them get some shut-eye before coming home. If you really wanted to bring a toy, then bring one that the breeder/store/seller gave you if they do give you a toy. They want something to familiarize with home so they don’t get too worked up! Also, great job on starting your bird rescue journey! If I could do that, I would!

 

[camelotshadow]

Wow, Nice thread. Congrats on how your current flock gets along.

The grays will need separate cages.

Good Luck with adding the AG's. GCC might be a bit much & would need separate cage. Also conures with dusty grays & tiels are not a good combo for health reasons.
Remember to quarantine all new birds.

 

[BigSkyMT]

When I brought my bird home, it was the same long drive as yours. He was in a small travel cage and pretty overwhelmed as he was going from one mommy to another. The drive went so fast, as I was fascinated with the bird, and he was fascinated with me! Best thing that I would bring wouldn’t be toys. Bring a blanket. This is a tough time, so covering his cage calms them down (in my opinion) and lets them get some shut-eye before coming home. If you really wanted to bring a toy, then bring one that the breeder/store/seller gave you if they do give you a toy. They want something to familiarize with home so they don’t get too worked up! Also, great job on starting your bird rescue journey! If I could do that, I would!

Great advice, thank you!!! I will keep you guys updated on the journey & post pics. Also going to make a video on my YouTube channel about process from home to hopefully bonding.
So excited!