New Flock Member

Hello everyone. I guess the...bird...is out of the...cage??? I would say cat is out of the bag but uhh, bird forum. Three weeks ago, I ordered a huge cage for Lily and Snowball. So huge, many have reviewed “I could fit at least 6 budgies in here without feeling it’s crammed”. Meaning, since I like to stuff cages with as many perches and toys as possible to keep everyone happy, I had room to introduce one or two more budgies. So... I ended up with Oliver-Matthias, the two named budgie, because I couldn’t figure out if I wanted another Redwall-themed fid (like Warbeak) or if I wanted a DC Comic fid (Oliver Queen/ Green Arrow, because bird is olive and buzzes around like an arrow lol). So he has two names. Stuff it (lol). This budgie actually doesn’t have a background like Lily or Snowball. Just the standard ‘keet from the pet store.

I gave him time to warm up to his surroundings. Lily went mother hen mode the moment she saw him in the cage next to them. Flew up like “Hi. Hi. Hello. Friend? Friend? Hello. Hi.” Of course I didn’t want anyone near each other, in case something was wrong. So I put a covering on most of the cage (he could still see out of the front completely) to prevent Lily from wanting to bother him during her out time with Snowball. Last week, I let him out to meet the others. Of course Lily immediately wanted to make friends and commenced preening. Which he didn’t like one bit and scootched away. But everyone is great pals now. Snowball is loving his new budgie friend. He’s taken to actually making parakeet calls like he’s supposed to now, instead of mocking Lily. I assembled the new cage (oh it’s pretty big) and thought since they welcomed Oliver-Matthias so well, I’d move them all into the new cage together, to help prevent territorial claims, and it was the weekend so I could monitor if something went wrong.

In the first morning together, I uncovered them to find the picture I’ve attached to this thread. Haha, my heart still melts looking at it. It’s just too cute. They get along so well. They made him part of their flock immediately.

Oliver-Matthias has no fear of me. I can stand two inches from his face and he doesn’t even flinch (trust me, I’ve done it). Because of this, Lily has basically forgiven me for being mean mama having to grab her to administer her medicine a while back. She stopped running off and hiding in fear! Doesn’t care if I stand next to her again. Yay!! Also, Oliver-Matthias shows interest in bonding with me. So I’ll be working on that shortly, and hopefully the other two will follow suit! Shouldn’t be many more months before I have them all bonded to want to be on me ^^

That's a nice photo and cage! Congrats on your new parakeet. They are awesome little creatures.

Ps. Hate to be that person but on second glance, I noticed a fluffy, cloth like toy in blue. The threads could potentially be harmful to parakeeets (and other birds) when ingested. It often will not pass from the crop and in accumulated volumes could cause crop impaction which is fatal. The rope perch can also fall in this category but in a milder way.

Awesome family!

I also hate to be the kill-joy here, but not only do you have a "Snuggle Hut/Tent" thing, which is a potential death trap and already mentioned, BUT you should ALWAYS completely quarantine any new bird you bring home for 30-days in an ENTIRELY DIFFERENT ROOM FROM YOUR OTHER BIRDS!!! Especially a Budgies from a pet shop like Petco, Petsmart, etc. Not that you shouldn't quarantine ANY new bird for 30-days in a totally separate room, no matter where they come from, breeder, pet shop, etc., but the birds that come from pet shops, SPECIFICALLY BUDGIES, even one that come from private, small pet shops, well, they all come from very large, mass-breeding, bird-mills...Most pet shops order parent-raised Budgies from the same large vendors, where thousands of Budgies live together in huge warehouses and they pump-out thousands of babies, and the chances of those Budgies having some type of infection/bug are very large. You don't want to spread anything to the rest of your flock.

So please, always put any new bird that you bring home, no matter where it's from, even if it's from a local, private breeder, into it's own cage that is located in a totally different room from the rest of your birds, for a MINIMUM OF 30-DAYS! And always wash your hands with Antibacterial-Soap before handling the new bird, directly after handling the new bird, and the same with your other birds for the first 30-days that he's there. After 30-days then you can first introduce the new bird to your other birds...

BoomBoom said:

Ps. Hate to be that person but on second glance, I noticed a fluffy, cloth like toy in blue. The threads could potentially be harmful to parakeeets (and other birds) when ingested. It often will not pass from the crop and in accumulated volumes could cause crop impaction which is fatal. The rope perch can also fall in this category but in a milder way.

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I do appreciate the concern. It is actually not a toy, but a circle hanging perch that Lily likes to sleep in 95% of the time. She has yet to chew it. I am aware the moment I see any signs of chewing, it’s time to toss. But I think if it’s been this long she hasn’t chewed it yet, then she likely won’t chew it at all (she actually came with it. I received her back in...November? So that plus however long she had it with previous owner). Not to say she or the others won’t ever chew it, they always could, but I do have plenty of those chew toys around the room, and two in the cage (one huge, one smaller). They seem more preoccupied with those. Rope perches, none of my fids bother chewing either. But yes, the moment they change their minds, one single fray mark, in the trash they go. The perches, not the birds (lol).

EllenD said:

I also hate to be the kill-joy here, but not only do you have a "Snuggle Hut/Tent" thing, which is a potential death trap and already mentioned, BUT you should ALWAYS completely quarantine any new bird you bring home for 30-days in an ENTIRELY DIFFERENT ROOM FROM YOUR OTHER BIRDS!!! Especially a Budgies from a pet shop like Petco, Petsmart, etc. Not that you shouldn't quarantine ANY new bird for 30-days in a totally separate room, no matter where they come from, breeder, pet shop, etc., but the birds that come from pet shops, SPECIFICALLY BUDGIES, even one that come from private, small pet shops, well, they all come from very large, mass-breeding, bird-mills...Most pet shops order parent-raised Budgies from the same large vendors, where thousands of Budgies live together in huge warehouses and they pump-out thousands of babies, and the chances of those Budgies having some type of infection/bug are very large. You don't want to spread anything to the rest of your flock.

So please, always put any new bird that you bring home, no matter where it's from, even if it's from a local, private breeder, into it's own cage that is located in a totally different room from the rest of your birds, for a MINIMUM OF 30-DAYS! And always wash your hands with Antibacterial-Soap before handling the new bird, directly after handling the new bird, and the same with your other birds for the first 30-days that he's there. After 30-days then you can first introduce the new bird to your other birds...

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I thought it was at least 2.5 weeks? Away from the others in separate cage. I never knew it had to be a separate room.

Do things really spread that badly with them to need them in a completely separate room? I always thought it was separate cage, don’t let others nearby, for at least 2.5 weeks. I recall being told that when I got my first pet store budgie when I was 5 (I had got one from my aunt and wanted a pal for him). Yikes, 30 days separate room? Do I need to re-separate them?

I would think it's too late now. And I always thought it was 30 days in a different room or until you get the all clear from an avian vet.

In my opinion it to do a proper quarantine, you will need a completely different room in a cage of their own, that is well ventilated and has its own clean air supply. As important as it is to quarantine, to do a real quarantine you basically need a separate house form your own or a room that you can totally convert to be a safe quarantine room where you have no chance of passing anything along to other birds. A two story house with stairs and the new bird housed in a quiet, basement bedroom would be ideal as there is low traffic, you can completely separate areas and air.

However, not all of us have the space, room or ventilation available to do so. Does that mean I shouldn't get a new bird? I don't think so. But you have to be careful where you get your new birds from and know the risks. At the very minimum, always keep new birds in their own cage.

I am bringing home a new bird in a month and there is just no way I can properly quarantine him -- my house is basically one big room with the kitchen, dining and living room all one space, aside from 1.) our bedroom 2.) the bathroom 3.) the spare bedroom, which is being used as the CAT's room.

While I could put the new bid in his own cage in one of the closed rooms, I am constantly coming in and out of the rooms and to the living room, where Boo's cage is,
so even if I were to put my new bird in my bedroom, I am bringing that air from Boo into the bedroom, and back and forth as they are ten feet apart and I am always coming and going. I have no way to do a proper quarantine, but I am okay with that and there are just things out of my control. I have no basement, or spare bedroom that would be adequate.

I suppose since he’s been with them since Saturday afternoon, it would do little good to separate them now. I got him when I ordered the cage. So it’s been almost 3 weeks separated. Little more than 2.5 since I wanted to put cage together and monitor them all together over the weekend. Maybe we’ll be ok? I haven’t noticed anything bad. 30 days. Geez. Maybe things have changed a lot since I was 5. Actually they definitely have. I remember that was the “seed only diet” years. I’m not sure there were pellets yet. Or they were just starting. And I remember mite/lice box was a “must have” the lady told me, and later they were removed from shelves because it was killing birds. Aiyahhh...I need to read up again and get more with the times here, stop going on past knowledge. 30 days, separate room, that’s a huge one. Things must really go viral between them for that to have increased so drastically. Or maybe the lady was always wrong, I have no idea. I mean she did recommend the lice/mite box in cage, and that could have easily killed my birds as a kid. Yikes...

An ideal quarantine is 30-90 days, preferably longer, and with a vet check (aka fecal and blood work) to make sure the bird is all clear. Agreed, it's too late, and it's difficult for *most* people to do a true quarantine.

I've kept birds for over half of my life, which isn't nearly as long as several other members on this forum, but I can say that a lot has changed in the past 15+ years. There's still many people who abide by the old training techniques (which I hate), but as the internet and knowledge has become easier to access, so has our own knowledge been able to expand.

MonicaMc said:

but I can say that a lot has changed in the past 15+ years.

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Yeah no joke. Seed only, to pellet only arguments, to need a healthy blend of both, to including fresh fruits/veggies, mash mixtures, bread recipes for them, you name it. It was difficult keeping up at first because mostly all the flip flopping of pellets vs seeds, but it got easier after some time, and seems to have standardized what they need for a good diet now (although still dependent on what the parront feels is the best to include/exclude in diets).

You can literally google “how long to quarantine new bird” and you see 6 weeks, 30 days, 30 days + extra 30 days upon signs of illness, all through the pages. Read a horror story of a breeder who introduced a new budgie after the 30 day period of no illness signs, infected the entire flock with some illness (I don’t recall what), and it didn’t really affect the adults but it killed a bunch of babies. Said breeder was fighting the illness in her flock for MONTHS. They thought they got rid of it, and it would all flare back up again in the fids. I can see why they say 30 days+. It really does go viral between them. I guess it’s no different than people if I sit and think about it. I mean, if someone caught bubonic plague or ebola, that would spread around like wildfire. They have to be quarantined, to protect themselves and others.

I do have a vet visit scheduled in a few weeks (again, I don’t have a license, I’m a terrible driver and have to work around my mom’s schedule, and the vet is pretty far away). Think I might bring the other two along for a check up as well just in case. I was doing a standard new pet check up for Oliver-Matthias, but after reading that breeder’s horror story, I think any parront would be insane to not get all their fids checked up in my shoes.

On a hopefully brighter note, Oliver-Matthias is very chipper and happy. He loves his out time. I can safely assume he’s never flown before until last weekend when coming out in the room for the first time. He’s a stinker before work and thinks it’s funny to fly around the room rather than join the other two in the cage. He flies surprisingly well for a bird with little flight practice. Also, he ate out of my hand this morning. I was doing standard morning breakfast routine, grabbed a food dish, emptied it, went to fill with more food. He came and hopped down near me to watch. Then decided as I was going to put the dish back in the cage, to hop right on and just start eating! So I thought “this might be a good idea” pulled up a chair and sat by the cage, with him eating out of my hand holding the food dish. Down comes Lily, with little chirps, bobbing head all around, assessing the situation. She was about to join in eating, but then...DOWN CAME SNOWBALL! I couldn’t believe it! He was going to join in! Such a huge step for the little guy! BUT, Snowball bumped into a toy on the way down, and it startled Lily, which startled Snowball, which startled Oliver-Matthias...and it was the end of hand feeding session. And I was sad. Happy, but sad. Lol. But progress is being made. All thanks to little mister Oliver-Matthias. 😊