| Topic: |
Religions > Atheism |
| User: |
"Gregory Gadow" |
| Date: |
01 Nov 2005 08:51:22 AM |
| Object: |
OT: Anyone familiar with the care of budgies (parakeets)? |
One of my budgies has become an ex-parakeet. Jewel had been looking ill
for about a week and I was going to make an appointment with a vet, but
her died last night. I've had her for six years, part of a pair. I'm a
bit saddened, but her mate, Skye, is devestated (budgies mate for life
usually.)
From the symptoms, I'm guessing that Jewel died either from a bacterial
infection or liver problems. Skye still looks healthy, so I don't think
it was anything contageous. I didn't have the time to do much about
cleaning the bird cage this morning; I will be doing that when I get
home from work, remove the bedding from the bottom of the cage and take
out and wash all the toys and perches.
My question is, how soon can I get a replacement? Budgies are very
social animals and do not do well when kept alone. I'm concerned that
the stress of losing Jewel will make Skye more susceptible to disease.
On the other hand, I don't want to bring in another bird until I know
that there is nothing contageous still lurking around. Anyone with some
expertise who could offer some suggestions?
--
Gregory Gadow
techbear@serv.net
http://www.serv.net/~techbear
"[W]e have never held that moral disapproval, without any other asserted
state interest, is a sufficient rationale under the Equal Protection
Clause to justify a law that discriminates among groups of persons."
- Sandra Day O`Conner, _Lawrence v Texas_
http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/scripts/getcase.pl?court=us&vol=000&invol=02-102
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| User: "Pat Kiewicz" |
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| Title: Re: OT: Anyone familiar with the care of budgies (parakeets)? |
02 Nov 2005 06:46:36 AM |
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Gregory Gadow said:
One of my budgies has become an ex-parakeet. Jewel had been looking ill
for about a week and I was going to make an appointment with a vet, but
her died last night. I've had her for six years, part of a pair. I'm a
bit saddened, but her mate, Skye, is devestated (budgies mate for life
usually.)
Birds hide their illnesses and if they start looking the least bit ill, you can
not wait.
It might have been a good idea to have a necropsy done. Jewel may not
have died from anything infectious. Budgies are prone to fatty liver disease,
usually due to dietary problems. (Liver disease was what finally did in
the Most Expensive Budgie in the World.)
Consider taking the surviving budgie in for a health check. The advice
for quarantining any new bird(s) is correct.
(After our last budgie died, we switched to a snake for a pet. Very
quiet, but also quite easy to handle and very low maintenence.)
--
Pat K. aa#1154 ('someplace.net' is comcast)
Any technology distinguishable from magic is insufficiently advanced.
(attributed to Don Marti)
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| User: "Joe Zawadowski" |
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| Title: Re: OT: Anyone familiar with the care of budgies (parakeets)? |
01 Nov 2005 08:07:29 AM |
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In article <436780EA.A19BA13A@serv.net>, Gregory Gadow <techbear@serv.net>
wrote:
One of my budgies has become an ex-parakeet. Jewel had been looking ill
for about a week and I was going to make an appointment with a vet, but
her died last night. I've had her for six years, part of a pair. I'm a
bit saddened, but her mate, Skye, is devestated (budgies mate for life
usually.)
From the symptoms, I'm guessing that Jewel died either from a bacterial
infection or liver problems. Skye still looks healthy, so I don't think
it was anything contageous. I didn't have the time to do much about
cleaning the bird cage this morning; I will be doing that when I get
home from work, remove the bedding from the bottom of the cage and take
out and wash all the toys and perches.
My question is, how soon can I get a replacement? Budgies are very
social animals and do not do well when kept alone. I'm concerned that
the stress of losing Jewel will make Skye more susceptible to disease.
On the other hand, I don't want to bring in another bird until I know
that there is nothing contageous still lurking around. Anyone with some
expertise who could offer some suggestions?
--
Gregory Gadow
techbear@serv.net
http://www.serv.net/~techbear
"[W]e have never held that moral disapproval, without any other asserted
state interest, is a sufficient rationale under the Equal Protection
Clause to justify a law that discriminates among groups of persons."
- Sandra Day O`Conner, _Lawrence v Texas_
http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/scripts/getcase.pl?court=us&vol=000&invol=02-102
Sorry about the loss of your budgie. Although they can live into their
teens, six years is probably an average age.
I would suggest that any new pet being brought into the household be
quaranteened for at least 30 days. Perhaps you could cage your replacement
within sight of of Skye before you decide if you should house them
together.
When you go shopping for your new budgie, there is a way to tell a young
bird from an old one. The area directly above the beak is covered with a
barred pattern of feathers on young birds. As the bird ages, the barring
disappears, making a unpatterned forehead. Young birds, are easier to tame
and train than older ones.
I hope this bit of information is helpful to you.
Joe Z. a.a.#249
p.s. I used to raise budgies, and canaries and even bred African Grey
parrots once. When I practiced falconry, I bred prairie falcons and even
worked as a bird keeper at a major zoo back in the '70's.
--
"Freedom begins between the ears."
Edward Abbey
"Which ever way your pleasure tends,
if you plant ice, you're gonna harvest wind"
Hunter
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| User: "Dubh Ghall" |
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| Title: Re: OT: Anyone familiar with the care of budgies (parakeets)? |
01 Nov 2005 01:54:41 PM |
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On Tue, 01 Nov 2005 06:51:22 -0800, Gregory Gadow <techbear@serv.net> wrote:
My question is, how soon can I get a replacement? Budgies are very
social animals and do not do well when kept alone. I'm concerned that
the stress of losing Jewel will make Skye more susceptible to disease.
On the other hand, I don't want to bring in another bird until I know
that there is nothing contageous still lurking around. Anyone with some
expertise who could offer some suggestions?
Sorry to hear about your loss.
I asked a neighbour of ours, who had the same sort of thing happen to her, last
year.
She said that she was advised to get a replacement, ASAP, but to keep the two,
separate, but where they could see each other, and not to put them together for
at least a month.
That gives them time to get used to each other, and also acts as a sort of
quarantine period.
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| User: "Uncle Buck" |
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| Title: Re: OT: Anyone familiar with the care of budgies (parakeets)? |
01 Nov 2005 07:36:19 PM |
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On Tue, 01 Nov 2005 06:51:22 -0800, Gregory Gadow <techbear@serv.net> wrote:
One of my budgies has become an ex-parakeet. Jewel had been looking ill
for about a week and I was going to make an appointment with a vet, but
her died last night. I've had her for six years, part of a pair. I'm a
bit saddened, but her mate, Skye, is devestated (budgies mate for life
usually.)
From the symptoms, I'm guessing that Jewel died either from a bacterial
infection or liver problems. Skye still looks healthy, so I don't think
it was anything contageous. I didn't have the time to do much about
cleaning the bird cage this morning; I will be doing that when I get
home from work, remove the bedding from the bottom of the cage and take
out and wash all the toys and perches.
My question is, how soon can I get a replacement? Budgies are very
social animals and do not do well when kept alone. I'm concerned that
the stress of losing Jewel will make Skye more susceptible to disease.
On the other hand, I don't want to bring in another bird until I know
that there is nothing contageous still lurking around. Anyone with some
expertise who could offer some suggestions?
My dad used to have parakeets since before I was born, though he _usually_ only
kept one because they usually don't talk when you have more than one, and he
liked training his to speak. I started off on my own having just one, it was a
pale, powder-blue female. The thing became so attached to me that it actually
started laying eggs, which I naturally hollowed out and dyed as an easter
display. :-) Once it began doing that, though, I realized how lonely it must
be, so from then on I always kept two.
There isn't really a problem getting another one right away, but I would suggest
keeping them in separate cages until the newer one is accustomed to its new
environment. Then once I notice they're sticking on the same side of their
respective cages (facing each other), that's when I generally introduce them to
the same cage.
You _can_ put them in the same cage right away, it probably won't hurt anything.
But I've just always preferred to let the newest one get accustomed to living in
my home-space for a little while first. Otherwise, they tend to be tense and
nervous, which once in awhile causes the acclimated one to behave aggresively.
If they're both comfortable living in your space, they're more likely to start
things off on equal footing.
Good luck, they really are adorable little critters. :-)
--
L8r,
Uncle Buck
**********************************************************************<
"A recent poll says that 66% of Americans think that President George W.
Bush is doing a poor job handling the situation in Iraq. The other 33%
think that Adam and Eve rode dinosaurs to church."
**********************************************************************<
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| User: "Uncle Buck" |
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| Title: Re: OT: Anyone familiar with the care of budgies (parakeets)? |
01 Nov 2005 07:38:57 PM |
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On Tue, 01 Nov 2005 20:36:19 -0500, Uncle Buck <UncleBuck@SpamMeNot.com> wrote:
<snip>
...Then once I notice they're sticking on the same side of their respective
cages (facing each other), that's when I generally introduce them to the same
cage.
I mean when they're facing each other _after_ the new one is properly
acclimated, and only if they're not acting too excited or anything. Generally
when they start warbling to each other in more lower voices is when you know
they've hit it off.
--
L8r,
Uncle Buck
**********************************************************************<
"A recent poll says that 66% of Americans think that President George W.
Bush is doing a poor job handling the situation in Iraq. The other 33%
think that Adam and Eve rode dinosaurs to church."
**********************************************************************<
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| User: "Gregory Gadow" |
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| Title: Re: OT: Anyone familiar with the care of budgies (parakeets)? |
02 Nov 2005 09:07:26 AM |
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Thanks for the support, I appreciate it.
I've made room for a second cage, which I will be getting in a few days when I
have the money (I need a new one anyway.) I will also get a new bird and put them
next to one another. After a month or so, when I see that they are getting along,
I will move Skye in to the new cage. In the mean time, I've picked up a "cuddle
buddy" and a play mirror, which hopefully will keep Skye from getting too lonely
while I'm at work.
I have also been looking for a vet, but none I talked to last night do much with
budgies. I actually had one person (a receptionist, I hope, and not the vet
herself) say that a new bird would cost less than an office visit. I asked someone
at PetCo for a recommendation and she had none to give; the only one she knew who
worked with parakeets was the vet employed by the chain, and he didn't have a
public practice. She did recommend calling a small shop that specializes in larger
parrots, though; I'll be trying there this afternoon.
Thanks again :-)
--
Gregory Gadow
techbear@serv.net
http://www.serv.net/~techbear
"[W]e have never held that moral disapproval, without any other asserted
state interest, is a sufficient rationale under the Equal Protection
Clause to justify a law that discriminates among groups of persons."
- Sandra Day O`Conner, _Lawrence v Texas_
http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/scripts/getcase.pl?court=us&vol=000&invol=02-102
.
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| User: "Pat Kiewicz" |
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| Title: Re: OT: Anyone familiar with the care of budgies (parakeets)? |
03 Nov 2005 06:06:47 AM |
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Gregory Gadow said:
I have also been looking for a vet, but none I talked to last night do much
with budgies.
Find an avian vet (in the USA and Canada):
http://www.aav.org/vet-lookup/
(USA)
http://www.lafeber.com/FindALocal/Vet/default.aspx
I'm lucky to have a vet practice nearby that handles birds and reptiles.
Just because budgies are sold as cheap commodities doesn't make it
proper (humane) to ignore their health issues...
--
Pat K. aa#1154 ('someplace.net' is comcast)
Any technology distinguishable from magic is insufficiently advanced.
(attributed to Don Marti)
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