TL;DR: my budgie has more energy now than ever, chews and eats almost every toy to the point of sickness, and i can't keep up or make him happy anymore - please help me heal his heart.

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friends,

this is going to be a little emotional, and for this, i am so, so sorry.

my youngest 8-year-old budgie, moe, has always been a rather reserved bird. he wasn't too terribly interested in many toys, objects and foods i'd offer him, and for the longest time, i simply thought that this was his little personality - just a shy, independent birdie.

yet, this all changed in july and august of this year.

in early july, moe was diagnosed with giardia - a protozoan parasite he'd most likely inherited from his flockmates when he was a chick. he had shown no signs whatsoever until i heard the faintest wheeze one day; so soft i swore i was just hearing things .. but, when we rushed him to our avian veterinarian, we very quickly discovered that something was wrong.

from the near end of july to the beginnings of august, we had to give moe oral medication to combat his parasite. i didn't want to leave him alone whatsoever. i bypassed job interviews, family outings and simply going outside just to look after him, and from the start to last month to the 11th, i was in absolute agony .. until we revisited his veterinarian to have his faeces checked.

and that day was the happiest day i've ever had this year - because i found out that he'd beaten his parasite.

to say that i was relieved was an understatement. i was so worried about him not being able to recover that i'd wake up in the middle of the night in a fit of sweat; that i'd prepare myself for losing a living piece of my heart and plan what i'd put on his urn .. but, to even the surprise of his doctor, he overcame his illness and became a completely brand-new bird.

but the thing is, he's completely different now - like i have never seen before.

once moe was cured, he changed. He's had this energy that has seemingly appeared out of nowhere - so much so that it has shocked my family and me.

though his new curiosity has been so sweet and endearing, he wants to chew on everything he can now - and i mean everything .. but, he's beginning to eat what he's chewing on as well.

he eats, drinks and plays more than he ever has in his entire life. he's become so addicted to chewing and eating his veggies that he vomited last week, and i promise that it wasn't because of an infection - as he went to an appointment last week and it was confirmed that his fit of sickness was because of irritating fibres in his crop.

he tries to chew on everything: metal, clothing, furniture, wires and more - and i've become so afraid of him becoming sick again that i haven't left the house in nearly a week. i've gone back to rejecting going outside and have forgone eating at certain times to take care of him and watch out for him.

moe is an only bird. i know that my presence can never make up for another budgie companion, but right now, i don't think my loved ones or i have the strength, finance ot time to have another. back in 2024, i lost my eldest budgie to cancer, and when i lost him, i was changed forever. it was the most painful life event i'd ever had. i still haven't recovered from his loss and i don't know if i can take losing another budgie - not like i lost him.

no one can seem to explain what happened to my baby. he's so unhappy now - always crying for greens - more greens than his little body can handle - chewing on things he's never chewed on before, clinging to our heads if we leave the room for even a moment .. it just breaks my heart in a way i haven't felt in a long, long time. the medicine saved his little life, but it also changed it, too - and i don't know how to keep up with him ..

i'd do anything in this world to make him happy again. a very dear friend of mine accepted my request for help with getting him a few new toys, and i couldn't be more grateful .. but, i still don't know what to do. i'd sit with him forever if i could, but i am beginning to physically and mentally rot from the stress of making sure he's healthy and safe. i don't think i can even go back to school knowing that he's unhappy. i can't remember the last time i woke up and felt anything besides a fear that causes my heart to pound against my chest.

i'm so scared of losing him. i don't have it in me to rehome the miracle that changed my life, but i don't know what to do anymore. i'm so sorry if it sounds like i'm going in circles, but i've deteriorated greatly these past few months to the point where all i do is cry.

please, help me .. i need help from fellow budgie parents to help heal moe's heart, and though i am far from wealthy, i'm willing to do anything to make him happy. i'll take every piece of advice to heart, and if you have any experience with something like this, i'd be forever honoured to hear what you have to say.

thank you so, so much for reading, and i am so sorry.

I can't tell anymore.

Heyyyy, soo, my mom agreed for a budgie on CHRISTMAS, so I wanna make sure my lil fly has the comfiest and best home ever! What are some MUST know tips? (Also I am pretty deep in research, so maybe half the things y'all tell I alr know, but I'm still taking tips!)

J’ai adopté ces deux bébés il y a quelques jours et j’ai tendance à me décourager facilement, je suis patiente mais j’aurais besoin de conseils pour créer du liens entre nous trois.

As the family tree in my flock continues to expand, I get more and more funny relationships in clutch mates. The grey green is the youngest of the 3 birds pictured here, and he's the uncle of the blue sibling pair (Clearwing brother and Cinnamon sister).

How did that happen? Well, the green's father (Avon) is the grandfather to the blues. Avon and his daughter (Ador) were starting their new families at the same time, and all the chicks ended up in the same nest as I've shuffled my chicks around.

I couldn't stop giggling while admiring them and visualizing their pedigrees in my head. 😂

Lloyd’s memorial portrait is coming along nicely. Just a few more layers.
#oiloncanvas
#Lloydthebudgie

Hi everyone! My budgie is over a year old now.

Its cere is blue, but I’m not 100% sure if that means the bird is male. Also, there is a plain purple plastic ring on one of its legs, without any numbers or letters.

Can anyone help determine if it’s a male or a female?
Thanks!

They’ve been switching branches for half an hour lol xD
It’s like when people switch lanes just to switch back into the lane they were already on
All I concluded is that whatever they do. They are so cute while doing it. ☺️

Three years ago, I lost my first pair, Luna & Coco.

Luna passed away first after living a long life. After that, Coco never accepted another female. He stayed alone until he passed away, too.

I swear, some pets just hit different. I miss them like crazy.

Hey everyone,

I posted recently about needing to separate our girls because they were fighting a lot and at risk of injury.

It's been a week and yesterday they had some time out of the cage together.

They were VERY happy to spend time together. There was still a little bickering which was to be expected. It was relatively easy to move one to the other cage when they came down and they had a peaceful night separately.

I opened their cages again today so they could have time together and fly around (I want them to have that opportunity as much as possible).

Astro was immediately following Shinji around and pecking her repeatedly. So I had to separate them again.

We'd like to get 2 x boys to complete the flock and hopefully soften the dynamic. My questions are:

Should we get 2 x boys now or wait until the girls hormones calm down and see if they can live together happily considering that they are already bonded?

When we have 2 x of each sex, should we keep them sex segregated or keep a girl and a boy together? They'll all get out of the cage time together but will roost 2 x per cage so the have enough space.

How can we tell if the boys personality's are complementary to the girls when we choose? Astro is a queen while Shinji is a sweetie.

If we get baby boys, will it be a problem that they are younger than the girls who are about 1 year now?

What has your experience of managing girl energy and/or flock dynamics over time?

Thanks everyone!

Oh and even though they are in separate cages they are always in the same room so they can see and hear each other. They seem to have coped well during the week, less stressed than when they were fighting in the same cage.

They each have a spacious cage with all the things they need in each one. They go about their day with some contact calling and even mutual singing as usual eg eating, playing, grooming, napping apart from not being together anymore.

Also, we're doing all of things you're meant to for hormone management. Seems to be related to them finishing their moult after 5 months.

(edited errors)

2022, I got into loving parakeets, since then, I got myself 3 budgies(mistake for taming , i know). Since then , I've had a budgie escape away and fly, and one passed away this year(it had some disease in his organs like a tumor. don't worry i took it to the vet, and it got better, but suddenly passed away). Anyways, I'm realizing that my single bird is starting to feel a bit lonely, and I want to tame it and bond with it. I've tried for years and nothing has worked. I'm feeling that it might be from the trauma that the pet store has caused.

Does anyone know where I can get mineral blocks that don't contain grit. I used to give my budgies an iodine block and found out later that it contained grit. I also get confused with oyster shell, is this safe or same as grit? im very cautious as one of these blocks likely caused impaction in my bird (treated and recovered now).

Outside Budgies Comic List

A friendly reminder that real pet budgies can't survive in the wild. This is a completely ridiculous fictional comic that makes no sense!!!

Hello everyone.

I know that I said I would not use this account anymore.

But today is Roadkills Gacha Day and I wanted to celebrate it in some small way, even though he’s gone.

It hurts to write this, it hurts knowing that today would’ve been his 4th Gacha Day.

I found him on the sidewalk while on my walk 4 years ago today.

And despite the heartbreak I’m feeling looking at old photos of him, despite the pain in my chest just writing this.

I also can’t help but feel so happy, that I was able to be part of his life, even though he was only here for 3 years.

I’m happy that I fed him delicious food, so that he would never have to worry about an empty belly ever again.

I’m happy that I was able to calm his nerves and soothe his fears, when he had night terrors deep in the night.
no matter how late it was, just so that he would know that everything was okay.

I’m happy that I put on music and videos of my favorite YouTubers that he liked on for him on my Laptop, because it meant he could sit down on the overheating device and make himself comfy.

I’m happy that I was able to make sure that the last three years of Roadkills life, were filled with joy and love.

While I had thought that I had more time with him, while I utterly regret not doing more for him earlier; not knowing that our time together was so limited.

I’m happy that when he passed away and happily flew over the Rainbow Bridge.

He knew that he was Safe and Loved.

Happy 4th Gacha Day Roadie.

I love you so much.

(The Drawing of Roadie was made by this user: https://www.reddit.com/u/Idrawandpaintstuff/s/SNZNTofJz3)

He has extreme high energy recently and bothers my other budgie. She gets very frustrated and backs off. He flirts a lot (beak tap etc) but hasnt attempted to mate. My girl keeps flying away and he keeps chasing her even when shes tired and I can see how annoyed she gets because she will peck him sometimes. They dont fight but he can be very annoying to her.

Shes a very quiet girl and will only start singing once I lock him inside the cage or when I grabbed him just this one occasion because he was being too hyper towards her which she dislikes. After grabbing she was so happy and singing so much and I put him back in. And she enjoyed her time out alone the cage because she finally felt freedom. When caged together he does none of this

Anything I can do?

TL;DR

Overly excited male budgie, constantly bothering his friend. She backs away but he still makes his chest big and tries to push her off things sometimes, flirts a lot too. Never aggressive but not sure why he does this. Even when playing together out of cage I notice he secretly walks towards her to move her away.

First two photos were taken in 2024 (August?) when i got him. Kind lady told me he fledged in March 2024 and born February 2024.

Last 3 photos taken today to show any differences. Is he actually 2 years old? I remember asking a few people and they didn't believe it because his bars were receeded at the age of 5-6months old.

Fun fact: He was taking a poop in 4th pic, hence the fat mode🤭

ive never owned a bird before, and i want to get a budgie because i heard theyre good for new bird owners. is there anything special i need to know?

my main big questions below ↓

i think my biggest worry is getting a little guy and it being lonely while im away. should i start with two, or introduce a second one after ones been with me for awhile?

what kind of cages and cage toys are recommended?

i know pellets and veggies are good for them, but is there any other food recommendations? any snacks that are healthy for them?

thanks so much to anyone who reads or replies or has any helpful tips!!

My Peewee is eating on my hand. She's now playing with all her toys! I am SOOOOO proud of her!!! I trained her with spray millet which I put in her toys. After a few days she started playing with her toys! I had her about a month and I'm SOOOOO proud of her progress!!!!