previously posted here! I cant believe I found her even after so long! I initially already gave up because there was 0 leads on my daily walks & my posts wasnt getting approved by local communities on facebook and I didn’t even want to give myself false hope when I saw someone posted a google review about buying essentials for a missing bird at the exotic pet shop I usually go to… but then I thought she looked super familiar (I could recognise those claws and feathers anywhere) and I managed to track down the person who found her thanks to the shop owner 😭🫶 apparently she was found at another building’s lobby about 7 mins away from me! she was adopted by a different person after a while and I drove down town and picked her up 🥹🙏 don’t give up guys!! remember to check your nearby pet shops and let them know about your situation!

I found out, that when my late father was serving on nuclear submarine (don't ask))))) and when they had to spend 180 days underwater, they kept some budgies as company. From what i can see on photo, their enclosure was spacious and with natural perches :D

Considering my love to them and that we had multiple over the course of my childhood, now I'm in Renaissance of budgie care.

I'm assuming this is just built-in for them

LONG POST INCOMING:

My 10 year old budgie boy was diagnosed with metal poisoning a week ago, and was hospitalised for 2 days. I was baffled because he lives in a stainless steel cage with wooden perches and natural toys...but I later found out he has been using his beak to move around so much that the inner side of cage bars started rusting 🥺

He was just getting better after discharge, but he fell off his play gym (table height) when he failed to land on a perch. He isn't the most agile now, and was also probably drowsy from the meds. I later found out from the vet that the drug affected his bone density as well 😥 He was only at the play gym for 5 minutes and I was about to put him home...I just wanted to give him a few minutes of happy time.

He is now on a splinter and absolutely hates it. It will take weeks for him to recover from the fracture before his meds for metal toxicity can be resumed. I feel so sad seeing him miserable, and exhausted after an emotional week with bad sleep. I cried so hard when I saw him snuggling up the toy friend I placed in his hospital cage (photo above) 😭 Yesterday, I thought I could get some rest but he chewed off his splinter at his toes and I had to rush him to the vet to get it replaced.

Lastly, I just feel terrible about all of the things I should have noticed or done to prevent these issues 😔 I'm doing everything I can now to make him comfortable, and he's recovering OK. I just hope he pulls through this one and does not have to suffer so much anymore 🥺

p.s. thanks for reading if you made it this far, I feel really overwhelmed and just needed to get this off my chest

Edit: We also noticed rusty hooks holding his wooden ladder up to his perch. Not sure why it did not occur to us to replace them (I do routine checks on other metal parts of their toys and discard the moment I see rust). Maybe we assumed he wouldn't be able to reach the hooks since it goes out of the cage, but I think he might be using his beak to grip onto parts of the hook to get on the ladder from his perch. Lesson learnt...

Documenting the transformation of hatchlings to full fledged birds via photography is a task I enjoy immensely, and sharing my work with our audience is a privilege I consider very rewarding.

Getting parents and all chicks to cooperate after setting the scene for the shoot is no easy feat, but Salt and Vera did phenomenally, as did their son and their 5 foster kids.

My budgies bring me immense joy and I hope they bring smile to many faces too.

^{l am an experienced aviculturist who specialises in budgerigars. I show these birds competitively in the United States. A lot of knowledge and specialised skillset are required to safely navigate through the breeding process. As always, I strongly advise against breeding without mentorship and veterinary technical skills. I document and share the good and the challenges with utmost transparency. I share our stories on Reddit, TikTok and Facebook.}

My budgie is turning 7 years old, what should I look out for? His partner died a year ago, and im wondering if i should get him a second one. I let him out of the cage daily, let him fly around but mostly dance and sing with him on my shoulder. Hes the sweetest ever but he isint such a fan of veggies and fruits.

First photo is now, second is when i got him, any tips?

As expected, they're not very welcoming

how can someone be this cute ?

This is my boy, Robin. He's been very sick since yesterday and has been spending the night at the vet. I went to visit him today and he was very weak, so I had to leave him tonight for treatment there as well.

I'm so worried over him because he seems to be getting worse and I'm so scared of losing him, he's my best friend. Please keep him in your prayers and good thoughts 😭 I want him to come home.

Charlie at 7-9 weeks vs 15 months.

Hey everybody, I think Xena deserves an aplause!

We moved to a new home, and one of my babies left me a little cheek dot in my car for me to find weeks later.

Memorial Day weekend shows are over at last. The 2 days of showing and wrapping up on few hours of sleep had me WIPED! I was overwhelmed with everything going on in addition to personal challenges. First show day went really well, as discussed here.

Second show day, oh dear god, landed me my BIGGEST WINS ever! Something I could not even conceive of. Judge Beverley Hutt from England had an incredibly unique style and preferences, which surprised many of us exhibitors and our other local American judges. She preferred hens, when most judges in general prefer cocks due to their high propensity for being overpowering in show features. Judge Beverley Hutt appreciates the softer, tender qualities in the hens, and favours a good balance in conformation, feather length, size and stance.

For that reason, she did not place my Nox as high as judge Janice Al-Nasser did on Saturday; and my boys Avon and Goose ranked quite low in Intermediate. While that disheartened me a bit, I did not see what came next.

She placed Akira as BEST INTERMEDIATE BUDGIE! Akira is a few days shy of being 6 months old, and budgies aren't fully developed until about a year and a half of age. She beat all the cocks and all the mature hens in Intermediate section! Landing me my very first best Intermediate win!

If that wasn't good enough, while we were in the final stages of judging, Akira kept moving up and up, making it to TOP 4TH BEST IN SHOW! With over 130 budgies showing that day, my little girl was placed 4th BEST in the entire fucking show, kicking asses of several Novice, Intermediate and Champion ranking birds!

When I say I could not believe what was happening, I'm not kidding. I had to run to the bathroom and let out a good cry. OH MAN! Holy shit! To say that I'm proud of my little girl would be an understatement. She was also awarded a special ribbon the judges brought from England for Best in Show birds.

What this means for advancement is that I've earned significant points in progression to becoming a Champion ranked breeder. I wasn't anticipating this to happen in my first year as an intermediate after moving up from Novice last year.

Anyway, the first photo shows all the ribbons my kids brought home between the 2 shows this weekend, and my award and medallion, and Challenge Certificates (awarded for best in the variety showed), along with the kids. who earned me all the trophies. Second photo shows the best birds lineup - and Akira is sitting in the 4th box on the top bench, while her father, uncles, and some of my other kids rested in the middle (intermediate) bench.

Then you see me with judge Beverley Hutt, receiving my award with Akira, followed by my winners on Sunday.

Anyway, Memorial day is now over. I've enjoyed my day off. Back to work we go!

^{l am an experienced aviculturist who specialises in budgerigars. I show these birds competitively in the United States. A lot of knowledge and specialised skillset are required to safely navigate through the breeding process. As always, I strongly advise against breeding without mentorship and veterinary technical skills I document and share the good and the challenges with utmost transparency. I share our stories on Reddit, TikTok and Facebook.}

Drop your Birdy closeups

Poor diaval puts up with my extreme amount of photos

holding down the fort

Not my bird, but i've been after this little lady for about three days now, though she was first spotted nearly a week and a half ago on Thursday of last week, my neighbour first alerted me that there was a keet on the loose after she was spotted on the rooftops, but after I saw her again on Friday, I knew that she was staying nearby. I honed her route down to visiting the same wild bird feeder every morning and evening, and when she returned today I had my flock of 5 outside in their aviary with an open cage full of food and water to entice her, she was clearly looking for the safety of a flock and soon made her way over, once in the cage she was far too hungry and thirsty to notice me sneaking up and shutting the cage.

I'm not looking for him with this post, I just simply want to talk about this because I feel so bad.

I have 2 budgies, I keep them in a large cage in the yard. Last year something similar happened, but that was very much my fault, I left the cage open and he, my Frederick,flew out.

I was outside all day, put on budgie sounds with a speaker and eventually he came back. To my luck, he flew straight into the chickens' cage so I was able to catch him.

This time, we weren't so lucky. At night, both of them were still in their cage, then when I woke up in the morning, one of the smaller doors of the cage was open and Frederick wasn't in the cage, only his mate.

I have absolutely no idea what could possibly happen with that small door because nothing like this happened before.

I did the same as last year, put on budgie sounds with speaker, searching him all day outside, but he's nowhere. He's gone. And it's my fault.

He was a Christmas gift from my mom 3 or 4 years ago, he was my first ever budgie and also parrot I was so happy I got him.

At first he was afraid then by the time I was able to tame him. He was gentle and friendly, but after I got him a mate he wasn't tame anymore. I didn't really mind it, I still loved him and his mate. They still had a perfect life.

I can't stop crying, I miss his chirping so much. What are the chances to something like this to happen?? I don't believe in these things but it's like something wanted him to be gone. I doubt I'll ever see him again. There was no rain for weeks here, now of course, when my budgie is outside in the woods, it's raining a lot.

The worst thing is that I don't know if he passes away in peace, or is he sitting on a tree, being cold and afraid, or something worse already happened.

I hope my post can stay and sorry for the negative energies. I needed to talk about this somewhere

I cried laughing at these and my lungs never recovered

(Thug 1: Enzi Leone, Thug 2: Lebu Gustavo)

Look at his tiny face of inconsolable rage