haylo
Member
- Feb 15, 2025
- 48
- 31
- Parrots
- 2 budgies - bailey & benji , and a zebra finch - beaker!
I posted on here when I was thinking of getting beaker & once I'd taken him home 2 months ago. I just have some new found questions / am in need of some advice. Sorry this is so long. Fair warning, I don't know if the photos of his wings would be consdiered "graphic" (no blood, but they're not in great shape.)
TL;DR at bottom.
Beaker here has been with me for 2 months now, and he's come a long way - He's in his own (large) cage, and has been visiting by Bailey once or twice (Shockingly, without any sign of incident.) He makes a lot of calls, and has officially joined the club in learning how to beg for food. (I was seemingly taking too long yesterday morning and he stood by his bowl and beeped a loud, three times. I was very proud, I'm sure the budgies appreciated such a move.)
I'm hoping to schedule a vet appt. for sometime next month (that's about as close as my vet gets.) Although, bad wings aside, he's doing well. I have gently checked him out myself once or twice and the second time I snapped photos of his wings so that I could leave him alone and have a point of reference for the vet when we go.
However, I'm getting kind of nervous for him. I don't think he will ever fly, at least so far there has been no change in his wings that I can make out. This isn't a shock but he's also still very afraid of me (naturally) I'm planning to try and hang out passivley more & more - but I'm also nervous about his socialization.
I don't want to introduce a second bird right now because I don't know if he would be prone to being picked on, and I want to make sure I have a clear idea of his health beforehand. But, I know finches are SO social and don't neccasairly connect well with other birds (so, while he has seen the budgies, it's likely not doing much.) But realistically, in a similar vain, I'm nervous at the risk of ending up with four solitary, social birds in one room. My two budgies live apart across from eachother, and I'm not sure how I'd even pull that off but I cannot deprive Beaker here of socialzation from his own species.
Will he be okay over the next couple months alone?
Does anyone have experience keeping disabled bird out of their usual social groups due to their disabilities? Is that OK? Or possible?
I've thought about turning on some kind of TV, maybe birdie TV (other finches) but I'd be worried I'd just get his hopes up in some kind of way.
Not sure if that'd help. I do have a small radio I could run for him he might enjoy.
He is very vocal and actually pretty active at this point, all things considered, he seems content to me but I am only human.
I'll admit I've considered the potential of someday having to surrender him, I have a reputable local parrot resuce, but the idea of doing that is pretty impossible for me. I knew from the get-go if I really turned out to not be able to support him long-term, it was an option but I would rather not put him through another set of homes, vet appts., etc. If he needs a companion, it's not out of the question for me - I just can't see it being the right move right now, but at the same time, I feel badly possible depriving him of that and making his life worse.
Sorry for the long post. TIA.
TL;DR:
Beaker here is a zebra finch, I got him about 2 months ago from a petsmart that had him for adoption due to his wings not working. I took him home on a half impulse because I was really nervous someone would pick him up just for being free, and he wouldn't get the right care. He's doing fine, vet appt. pending, but I'm nervous for him socially since I'm not sure if introducing another bird is the move or even feasable right now. Learning how to balance traditional and specialized care has been a struggle of mine and Beaker is particularly difficult.
My main questions -
Will he be okay over the next couple months alone if that's how long it is? I.e I kept my first budgie, Bailey, single for about a year --as I spent most of my time with him instead-- before we met Benji - and even today, I am both of their "companions" as they don't interact face-to-face often. (One territorial, one blind. It's an odd pair. They CAN play nice though.)
Does anyone have experience keeping disabled bird out of their usual social groups due to their disabilities? Is that OK? Or possible?
Learning how to balance traditional and specialized care has been a struggle of mine, even with my blind budgie, but Beaker has been particularly difficult in figuring out. TIA.
TL;DR at bottom.
Beaker here has been with me for 2 months now, and he's come a long way - He's in his own (large) cage, and has been visiting by Bailey once or twice (Shockingly, without any sign of incident.) He makes a lot of calls, and has officially joined the club in learning how to beg for food. (I was seemingly taking too long yesterday morning and he stood by his bowl and beeped a loud, three times. I was very proud, I'm sure the budgies appreciated such a move.)
I'm hoping to schedule a vet appt. for sometime next month (that's about as close as my vet gets.) Although, bad wings aside, he's doing well. I have gently checked him out myself once or twice and the second time I snapped photos of his wings so that I could leave him alone and have a point of reference for the vet when we go.
However, I'm getting kind of nervous for him. I don't think he will ever fly, at least so far there has been no change in his wings that I can make out. This isn't a shock but he's also still very afraid of me (naturally) I'm planning to try and hang out passivley more & more - but I'm also nervous about his socialization.
I don't want to introduce a second bird right now because I don't know if he would be prone to being picked on, and I want to make sure I have a clear idea of his health beforehand. But, I know finches are SO social and don't neccasairly connect well with other birds (so, while he has seen the budgies, it's likely not doing much.) But realistically, in a similar vain, I'm nervous at the risk of ending up with four solitary, social birds in one room. My two budgies live apart across from eachother, and I'm not sure how I'd even pull that off but I cannot deprive Beaker here of socialzation from his own species.
Will he be okay over the next couple months alone?
Does anyone have experience keeping disabled bird out of their usual social groups due to their disabilities? Is that OK? Or possible?
I've thought about turning on some kind of TV, maybe birdie TV (other finches) but I'd be worried I'd just get his hopes up in some kind of way.
Not sure if that'd help. I do have a small radio I could run for him he might enjoy.
He is very vocal and actually pretty active at this point, all things considered, he seems content to me but I am only human.
I'll admit I've considered the potential of someday having to surrender him, I have a reputable local parrot resuce, but the idea of doing that is pretty impossible for me. I knew from the get-go if I really turned out to not be able to support him long-term, it was an option but I would rather not put him through another set of homes, vet appts., etc. If he needs a companion, it's not out of the question for me - I just can't see it being the right move right now, but at the same time, I feel badly possible depriving him of that and making his life worse.
Sorry for the long post. TIA.
TL;DR:
Beaker here is a zebra finch, I got him about 2 months ago from a petsmart that had him for adoption due to his wings not working. I took him home on a half impulse because I was really nervous someone would pick him up just for being free, and he wouldn't get the right care. He's doing fine, vet appt. pending, but I'm nervous for him socially since I'm not sure if introducing another bird is the move or even feasable right now. Learning how to balance traditional and specialized care has been a struggle of mine and Beaker is particularly difficult.
My main questions -
Will he be okay over the next couple months alone if that's how long it is? I.e I kept my first budgie, Bailey, single for about a year --as I spent most of my time with him instead-- before we met Benji - and even today, I am both of their "companions" as they don't interact face-to-face often. (One territorial, one blind. It's an odd pair. They CAN play nice though.)
Does anyone have experience keeping disabled bird out of their usual social groups due to their disabilities? Is that OK? Or possible?
Learning how to balance traditional and specialized care has been a struggle of mine, even with my blind budgie, but Beaker has been particularly difficult in figuring out. TIA.
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