Hey Im Back

[Birdgirl24]

I'm not even entirely sure if y'all remember me, but I used to be really active in here, and I had two SUPER cute budgies, Julius and Indigo. With sad news, I come to say Julius passed this morning at about 3 In my hands, I have no idea what I'm gonna do without him. It's only been a few hours, and I've already cried more times than I can count. His little cage buddy hasn't moved all day; he looks just about as depressed as I feel. Julius would have turned 10 next week.... That bird kept me going through more things than I can even count on one hand. I really owe him my life. I suppose I knew he was getting older, and I was just in denial. I really thought I would have him still into my college years, and to be completely honest, just typing this has me sobbing. A part of my heart has been torn away, and I don't think I'm ever getting it back. Anyway.. I hope he's happier now, and I'm gonna stop typing before I actually start sobbing.

 

[LaManuka]

I'm not even entirely sure if y'all remember me, but I used to be really active in here, and I had two SUPER cute budgies, Julius and Indigo. With sad news, I come to say Julius passed this morning at about 3 In my hands, I have no idea what I'm gonna do without him. It's only been a few hours, and I've already cried more times than I can count. His little cage buddy hasn't moved all day; he looks just about as depressed as I feel. Julius would have turned 10 next week.... That bird kept me going through more things than I can even count on one hand. I really owe him my life. I suppose I knew he was getting older, and I was just in denial. I really thought I would have him still into my college years, and to be completely honest, just typing this has me sobbing. A part of my heart has been torn away, and I don't think I'm ever getting it back. Anyway.. I hope he's happier now, and I'm gonna stop typing before I actually start sobbing.

Oh @Birdgirl24, welcome back but I'm so sorry for your loss. It's true what they say, that there are places in the heart that we don't know exist until we love a bird. And all of those places shatter into a million pieces when we lose them, that's why it hurts so much. Our hearts eventually do heal, but it takes a lot of time and they're never quite the same, but that's ok because I think it's good that they leave an imprint there. My deepest condolences and lots of hugs go out to you, Julius was a lucky little birdie to have such a loving parront as you.

 

[wrench13]

My sincere condolences on your loss BirdGirl24

 

[foxgloveparrot]

I am so sorry Bird. It was so obvious how much you adored and cared for him. Please take care of yourself.

 

[DonnaBudgie]

Im so sorry! He almost made it to ten which is a good long life for a budgie, but I know that almost makes it harder to let go. Feel free to grieve hard for as long as it takes and trust that it gets easier.
In the meantime, you ought to get his friend a new friend to distract him from his loss. Fortunately, even though budgies bond strongly, they do adapt to new friends. I wish you lived near me in Maine because I have some budgies I'd rehome to the right person, in particular a fiesty but very friendly tame male (or two).

 

[TiredOldMan]

I'm very sorry for your loss

 

[ToriTheConure]

I'm so sorry for your loss. Julius was a very loved and loving friend, and I know how heartbreaking it is to lose a feathered friend—the little souls fill such a big space in our hearts. Hope you feel better soon.

 

[Birdgirl24]

Thank you all. Yeah, I'm just working through it. Indi seems okayish today. I've seen him eat a little, so that's a good sign he still hasn't chirped or talked at all since yesterday, but

 

[DonnaBudgie]

I hate to say this because we want to think our budgies are deep thinkers that are like us and grieve like us but my experience has been that they do recover more quickly than we expect when their mate or bestie dies, especially if they are given a new friend. Many birds are said to mate for life, but that period is usually the life of the one that dies first. The survivor usually finds a new mate and lives on to make more baby birds. So, I encourage you to get him a new friend and he will chirp and talk again.

 

[Birdgirl24]

Yeah im planning on it most likely

I hate to say this because we want to think our budgies are deep thinkers that are like us and grieve like us but my experience has been that they do recover more quickly than we expect when their mate or bestie dies, especially if they are given a new friend. Many birds are said to mate for life, but that period is usually the life of the one that dies first. The survivor usually finds a new mate and lives on to make more baby birds. So, I encourage you to get him a new friend and he will chirp and talk again.

Most likely planning on getting him another bird that or rehoming Indi to a home already with birds tbh I'm not sure yet my main issue is there really isn't a place in ND to get budgies. I've looked at people trying to rehome them and I also didn't turn up with much there is the Center for Avian Adoption, Rescue, and Education in fargo. Still, I believe they've been in lockdown since August because of the bird flu, so honestly, I don't have too many options.

 

[DonnaBudgie]

There must be somewhere you can get a budgie friend. Don't they have any pet stores in ND that sell budgies? I live in a rural state, too, (Maine) and some pet stores sell them and some people breed them casually and have extra budgies.

 

[Birdgirl24]

See

There must be somewhere you can get a budgie friend. Don't they have any pet stores in ND that sell budgies? I live in a rural state, too, (Maine) and some pet stores sell them and some people breed them casually and have extra budgies.

We have some pet stores that sell budgies.. my issue is my first 2 budgies (both now passed Julius and Petals) were from a pet store chain technically and I battled their health problems for awhile because of it so I guess you could say I'm a little traumatized from that whole experience.

 

[Vampiric_Conure]

**HUGE Hugs from Canada** Simultaneously, welcome back .

 

[Corkscr.ew]

See

We have some pet stores that sell budgies.. my issue is my first 2 budgies (both now passed Julius and Petals) were from a pet store chain technically and I battled their health problems for awhile because of it so I guess you could say I'm a little traumatized from that whole experience.

Have you tried Craigslist or non-bird shelters? I got some of my birds from a shelter that specializes in dogs and cats and doesn't have a real bird adoption program but often has budgies surrendered to them.

 

[bug_n_flock]

Sending hugs and support. I remember you. Budgies are just so incredibly dear little feather people. Thank you for being so kind to them. I hope you can come up with a solution that helps you n indi heal from your loss

 

[DonnaBudgie]

The problem with sourcing a budgie is that almost all budgies available in the US are bred at budgie farms in Florida whether they end up at petcos or otherwise. Even budgies bred by hobbyists are recent decendents of the budgie farm budgies. Home breeders often don't control their breeding the way they should (no closely related pairs, no colony group breeding).

The exception is breeders of English exhibition type budgies. They control the breeding very closely to try to get the "quality" birds that win shows. But English budgies have medical issues from years of selective breeding for size and conformation and don't live as long as American budgies AND some people dont "like" Engish budgies because they don't look "natural" like wild type budgies, but I love them. Theyre big, fluffy, cute and docile. English budgies are hard to come by in the US unless you know a show breeder, but they always have lots of extra birds that aren't prize winning material and many sell them to the public. The American Budgerigar Society has member lists. Most members breed them and in order to show a bird you must have bred it yourself.

However, American type budgies are genetically weak, too, because Australia has prohibited export of its native birds for over 125 years so the entire gene pool is very limited. I've had a small pet store budgie live 13 years. Others live 4 to 6 years. If you purchase an American pet store budgie when it first arrives at the shop it will usually be a 6 to 7 week old baby that the store hasn't had the chance to neglect yet. But most young budgies in a large cage at a most petcos for example are not unhappy neglected birds. They have a lot of budgie friends, plenty of seed and fresh water. Not the healthiest diet but for the two to 4 weeks they are there before they're sold isn't long enough for them to get problems that can't be reversed with better care. I have a friend that loves animals who worked at a Petco and he insists that HIS store took good care of the birds and took them to vets when needed. Some obviously don't. Some private small breeders don't either and feed them nothing but seed.
In other words, getting a "petco budgie" isn't that bad an option.

 

[bug_n_flock]

I agree with most of what Donnabudgie said. There's a lotta bad info out there n hate about big box store budgies. I've had a few gems of personality and lifespan from there for sure.

What do you consider "recent decent" from big store birds for home breeders? How many generations removed before you wouldn't think of them that way? Just curious mostly.

 

[DonnaBudgie]

It's hard to say. If a breeder gets his birds from different sources they're less likely to be closely related and if they pair up individuals to breed carefully based on diverse source the babies are more likely to be strong and healthy.

 

[DonnaBudgie]

Pairing up an English female with an American male generally results in strong birds. An Enlish male may be too big to jump on a small American females back and mate but vice versa is good.
I have a budgie I hand raised from an egg, Rocky, and she's amazing. Her mother was a big English show bird and her father was a regular American male.

 

[Birdgirl24]

Have you tried Craigslist or non-bird shelters? I got some of my birds from a shelter that specializes in dogs and cats and doesn't have a real bird adoption program but often has budgies surrendered to them.

Yeah, I've checked every animal shelter within a 3-state area, no birds, let alone budgies. Craigslist and bisman were no help either.