Posted by Remy on March 16, 2003 at 12:50:35:
In Reply to: A few questions refuarding Budgie Care posted by Queen on March 14, 2003 at 18:06:31:
:1. I read that other perches post, but not all of it but it raised a question in my mind. I got a few perches which are called "Sand Perches" are they ok for my birds?
I haven't heard of Sand Perches. Who makes them? What are they made out of? What is the diameter?
:2. Why do my Budgies poop green or liquid sometimes? One of my birds has been pooping green but is acting good. Is that because that he might feel cold or he is not eating that much? Cuz my birds eat and some of them "shoo" others sometimes and they go away without completeing thier meal.
Green foods can cause feces to be more green than usual -- disease can too, so you need to look into it more closely. What do you mean by 'liquid'? There is liquid WITH the feces? There is a lot of liquid and unformed feces? It does make a difference in determining what is going on. Eating lots of lettuce for example (iceberg lettuce is worthless to feed, btw) can loosen up the usual tightly coiled droppings and make them softer. Excessive amounts of liquid urine present may be indications of an endocrine problem (diabetes mellitus being a common one).
If the birds are competing over feed cups, add more cups.
:3. How many times should you give them a bath and how?
My Budgies have been self-bathing as they desire, except in a case where I had to physically wash diahhrea or something off the bird. Budgies are natural leaf moisture bathers, so hanging a bunch of wet curly endive, parsley, or dandelion leaves on the side of the cage will encourage them to roll and bathe in the adhering moisture. You can also provide shallow pans of water (a glass pie plate is good, or a flat open salad dish -- I use ones 8" across) on the bottom of the cage. Most mine like to bathe on sunny days at about 10 AM.
:4. Do budgies have dandruff?Cuz yesterday I was showing my birds out the window and noticed some white spots on their feathers. When I touched it, it came off so i'm wonderin if that was Dandruff? And when I checked with my other birds, they too had the similar white spots coming off when you touch them.
As Kerry mentioned, it is probably the waxy feather sheathes breaking down as new feathers come in.
:5.Do they usually feel hot or cold? Cuz they all stay outside of their cage and I was worried if they would get cold cuz we have ac on at times.
They can be susceptible to illness from chilling. Air conditioning is famous for causing respiratory problems. Make sure that their cage is not directly in front of wherever the AC is blowing (if you have a window unit, or not over a floor vent if you have whole house AC). Far side of the room would be better. What temperature do you keep the house at? I think that a lot of houses are kept far too cold, esp. for a bird that comes from Australia. Providing a heat source, such as an infrared panel suspended over one end of the cage may allow them to move closer to warmth if they need it too.
:6. How many meals of millets should they eat in a day? I usually see them eating that and not eating the regular seed that much. And they never touch thier apple which is kept in thier bowl.
Budgies easily become Seed Junkies, eating millet to the exclusion of all else. Millet isn't bad food, but it's not optimal nutrition either, any more than eating 3 bowls of breakfast cereal a day is for humans.
What is in their 'regular seed' mix? If you have an inappropriate mix, they won't eat it. Generally speaking, if you are using some premix that has things like safflower (very bitter, too hard a hull), sunflower (too large), sorghum (The only birdsI've ever seen eat it at house sparrows and pigeons), and red millet (usually too small), it's not very suitable.
Sprouted seed mixes (such as from China Prairie and The Sprout People) are part of good nutriton for Budgies, as well as other foods in variety: pellets, fresh green foods, seeding grass heads (Bluegrass, Panic grass, Canary seed grass, some fescues) make a more complete diet. Some of us who live in climates where those things aren't available year round also supplement our birds diets with homemade bird bread and cooked cereal recipes.
