My budgies (Extremely long thread with loads of pics)

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ninz

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I just wanted to thank everyone for sharing their lovely photos of their piggies and other pets.

Unfortunately, I do not have guinea pigs yet and so I will share you pictures of my budgies instead!

I have decided to write a bit about them as they have changed my life!
(Bear with me as this thread will be pretty long lol)

So it was 2007 when I really wanted budgies and I was at college during that time. I kept pestering my mother and all she kept saying was, soon... soon...
Anyways, I decided that if I wanted a budgie I should start doing some research. It was 2008 when I went to my local pet store in tooting.
There I saw the most beautiful budgie in the world. He was blue and so active, he was jumping on the other budgies, chasing them and just being crazy! I fell in love with him straight away and begged the lady to keep him as much as she could as I will definitely be back on the weekend for him.

It was perfect as my friend Richie had given me and my brother £25 each and I could use that with what I saved to buy my budgie!

On that Saturday, my brother came with me and we bought my lovely budgie home. Here he is when he had just arrived on the 1st July 2008.
(Note: I do not use sand paper anymore and all his perches are now wooden with different sizes to help his feet keep comfortable and healthy)

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It only took a night for him to get used to his cage which was fantastic. I remember just watching him and winking at him while he was playing. He had such an amazing characteristic and it was hilarious watching him play!

Here he is being curious at the camera. You see those black bars from his eyes down to his neck, well those means that he is a baby budgie. As he gets older, he will moult and lose those feathers which indicate his age... hopefully wisdom too!
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Here he is being a lunatic... for some reason he would try and do a whole 360 degrees turn over using his body! It would never quite work and he would end up falling LOL

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To be continued...
 
After a week of getting used to his cage and the surroundings, I thought it was time he had his first flight inside the house. I covered the window with curtains, I stuck post-it notes on any glass such as the cupboards etc. This way he would know not to fly into it... which cause serious injury or death.

Here he is sitting out of the cage staring...

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The first time he was out, he didn’t want to fly and so walked on top of his cage. He looks so shy!

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After his fun time of exploring, he would go inside and rest.

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Soon as he familiarised himself with getting back and into his cage, I began leaving the cage door open so he could come out whenever he wanted. Giving him as much freedom as possible made him a happier baby!

One of his most favourite toys was the mirror! On the mirror, there are two handles that he will swing and run from left to right which is so funny to watch. When he becomes tired, he will sleep against his mirror, smooshing his face into it lol

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Soon, it was time for a vet check which I wanted to do often just to make sure he was fit and healthy. We decided to name him Imzi for the vets and called him many other names... such as Montgomery, Monty, Lala (everyone uses this one lol) and my brother likes to call him liege...?

He always has his way of making us laugh...

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What’s up duck?

To be continued
 
Playing on my old mobile...
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It was many months when one night he had a fright night. Budgies can get startled by any small noise. I used to put the lights of and cover his cage at night and one night, poor Imzi had a fright night.
As a natural instinct, a bird will fly when it hears a loud noise, or even if a fly sits on them or something. Imzi suddenly flapped crazy in his cage, hitting the perches and hitting the bars of the cage. I jumped out of bird and quickly put the light on. I am thankful to the budgie forum as I learnt exactly what to do during this time.
Imzi trusted me enough to stop flapping when he could see me. His heart was thumping so much and I knew if I was haste and moved too quickly, he could end up with a heart attack.
I gently spoke to him, and I remember being in tears as I was so frightened and thought he was hurt. I told him how much I loved him and wanted to take care of him. I stayed up the night talking to him and slowly he went back to his perch and came right next to me to listen.

It was then on that my budgie began to trust me properly. Here is the first time he ever came near my hand and he took food from it too!

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Imzi would trust me so much that he now could play anywhere near me and even play on his back.

Here he is having a wrestle with the pen!
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To be continued...
 
Luckily, I have a healthy baby and he loves his greens! He loves spinach!

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In fact, he loves his spinach so much, he takes it with him on his wagon!

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He loves carrot too!

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I bought him a gym to help with fitness... here he is playing basketball.
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Lala is also very vain!
He loves looking in the mirror... ALL THE TIME!
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He had a new hairdo...
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To be continued... (sorry)
 
He has weird obsessions too! Like feet... and teeth...? Here he is with my friend Sarah!

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(I think when he grows up, he wants to be a dentist?)

He’s also very clever and like most animals, he learns conditioning very quickly. When he was new to everything, he would be afraid, especially of human hands. Everytime I put my hand into the cage, he would go to the water and put his feet into it. I noticed that everytime he was scared or did not want to play, he did this. Soon he learnt that if he put his feet into the water, I would leave him alone lol... I guess I got conditioned too!
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He also thought he was boss of the house!
Here he is ARRK ARRKING...
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It was 2010 and by then, me and Imzi had become the best of friends. Everytime I would come home, he would come over to say hello and ask for a kiss. He would sleep on my shoulder and talk to me... he could say baby which was so cute! I knew he loved me, and I definitely loved him.
It was time for me to go to university and by that time, I did not have much time for him. I did play with him, and he would sit on my laptop and watch me typing. He would also ‘holepunch triangles’ into my essays and books I borrowed from the library. It seemed that as I got more into my studies, the harder it was to play with him as much as I did before.
So I thought it would be best for him to have a new friend.

On the 12th August 2010, I bought little FeatherBee... also known as Huckleberry LOL We also called him Lord ThistleWebber...

He’s so cute! I loved his colouring!
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To be continued...
 
It didn’t take long for both of them to become best of pals... it was the best decision I had made and it never affected my relationship with Imzi! He’s still the gentle giant as he was before.. (giant because he’s so fat!)

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Featherbee started to change colours which was amazing to see... he obviously had a dominant recessive gene in him! He was turning green!

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He looked so beautiful as he was changing...

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Here’s the change from start to finish...

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Imzi never fails to miss the camera with a pose! FeatherBee on the other hand is always in another world!

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I shall end this thread with a Mug Shot of the two!

Thank you all for reading, I had so much more to tell but I do not want to bore you guys anymore lol

I hope that if I have piggies in the future, I will give them all I can just to keep them happy!

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They are gorgeous! We used to have a budgie she was blue & used to"clean" our teeth too lol! You are lucky! :))
 
Oh Nina this is so interesting and lovely. I can see how much you love your little men. How interesting that Featherbee changed colour like that. They are both beautiful. I love the little wagon! It is so nice to hear all about them.
 
What a lovely story and pictures. I remember when I used to have budgies. I loved them so much. Sunny (boy) and Percy (girl who was thought to be male)
 
Aww how lovely. Just out of interest is Featherbee the more dominant of the two atall? If so that may explain the color change x
 
That was such a great story from start to end, thanks for sharing, I really enjoyed reading all about your two special boys! I used to have a budgie called Paulie x) I loved him so much, he sang the Eastenders theme tune :)) and sat on your shoulder and gave you kisses. They are so lovely aren't they! You've made me want another one now! :))
 
Thank you all for your comments! I am glad you all enjoyed reading them, hopefully as much as I love reading and seeing the pictures of your guinea pigs! x>>

@ Poppy'sMum- That's so lovely to know your budgie did the same... it's very awkward! Imzi fell ill once and didn't want to eat... I then used my own mouth to feed him like a mother would. I know for some it sounds disgusting but to me it was the only way to feed him. Syringing was too much for him.

@piggyfan, Thank you lovely! My vet said he was going to ask me if it was a different bird :)) They are both playing and chasing each other right now... I cannot see my life without them! The wagon is Imzi's favourite. There is a hilarious story.. one day for some reason, (I think he was packing to go on holiday), he went nuts and started running around on the carpet putting everything in his wagon... his orange ball, a piece of lettuce, a pen and he tried putting his small mirror in there too but couldn't as it was heavy. He gave up and went back to his cage for a nap. I just couldn't stop laughing and wish it was recorded!


@herriotfan, Thank you for your kind comment! I love birds so much too! What kind of bird do you have?

@Julesie, aww Sunny and Percy sound great! Were they very young when you got them? Sometimes their cere stays pink and even I mistake it for a girl and later it turns blue lol They're so cute!xx>>>

@harold_the_pig, Thank you! :) Unfortunately, I cannot tell who is more dominant.. They both sit on the top perch, they both share their toys together, eat together... I think they do have small quarrels but there is never a winner. I think it just depends on who is grumpier during the time :))

@Guinea pigs <3, Thank you so much! Paulie sounds like a sweetypie! :)) It's amazing how they pick up on whistles and tunes... but once they learn it they just never stop! I cannot see me without budgies in my life! You must get another x)
 
ninz said:
@Julesie, aww Sunny and Percy sound great! Were they very young when you got them? Sometimes their cere stays pink and even I mistake it for a girl and later it turns blue lol They're so cute!xx>>>
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Percy, I am not sure how old she was. She was originally my uncles pet who got a cat and they wanted the bird to be safe so we took her. She couldn't fly so they didn't want to endanger her with a cat around. Sadly, one day after being with us for a few years a cat broke into the house and stole her from her cage. We'd just pulled up to the house with some new toys and food for her, saw her feathers everywhere and the cat running off with her. My brother tried to chase the cat but it was too late. :(

Sunny was a beautiful and happy boy though, he lived a long time and eventually got ill and wasn't in the best of health. He was struggling to survive and mum said to him that if he wanted to pass away we would still love him but not to struggle for our sake. He passed not long after she said it (an hour later). I think he understood her. We buried him and gave him a little tombstone. He was a lovely bird.
 
Julesie said:
Percy, I am not sure how old she was. She was originally my uncles pet who got a cat and they wanted the bird to be safe so we took her. She couldn't fly so they didn't want to endanger her with a cat around. Sadly, one day after being with us for a few years a cat broke into the house and stole her from her cage. We'd just pulled up to the house with some new toys and food for her, saw her feathers everywhere and the cat running off with her. My brother tried to chase the cat but it was too late. :(

Sunny was a beautiful and happy boy though, he lived a long time and eventually got ill and wasn't in the best of health. He was struggling to survive and mum said to him that if he wanted to pass away we would still love him but not to struggle for our sake. He passed not long after she said it (an hour later). I think he understood her. We buried him and gave him a little tombstone. He was a lovely bird.
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Poor Percy! :( This is one reason why I personally do not like cats, even though I think they are lovely animals. I just don't like how they kill birds to play. I once had an incident where Imzi was in the cage and the window was open. Sumnmery warm day and a cat was coming through the window. Imzi being the curious bird he is, he came to the corner closer to the cat but I came just in time. I shoo'ed it off and closed the window!
Cats claws have a poison/bacteria in them that if they scratch a bird, it will die within 24 hours.

I hope Percy and Sunny are flying over in heaven and watching the guinea pigs popcorning... I bet they are pestering them too :(|)
I am glad that Sunny got all your love and died happy x
 
I've got a senegal parrot. Her name is Peanut and she was 8 years old yesterday.
She's such great company and chatters away for hours on end. The only time she's not talking is when she's asleep or eating! My family say she's just like me....:p
Peanut 'helps' doing all my animals. We do all the feeding, watering and cleaning together. She starts off perched on my shoulder but soon creeps down my arm to sit on my hands so that she gets a closer look at what I'm doing. Peanut is very nosey! ;)
The only pets she's not allowed anywhere near are my snakes. :...
I love my little Peanut to bits and can't imagine doing anything without a little voice asking "What yer doing?" She really is a very entertaining character. :))


Edit to add......she isn't allowed to help with the piggies! She can make the same little noises already. :o
 
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Your Budgies are lovely :) I have a Budgie called Matty, our neighbour didn't want him any more so we have him now. He is very vocal lol
 
your budgies are beautiful! Imzi sounds like such a character!
 
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ninz said:
Poor Percy! :( This is one reason why I personally do not like cats, even though I think they are lovely animals. I just don't like how they kill birds to play. I once had an incident where Imzi was in the cage and the window was open. Sumnmery warm day and a cat was coming through the window. Imzi being the curious bird he is, he came to the corner closer to the cat but I came just in time. I shoo'ed it off and closed the window!
Cats claws have a poison/bacteria in them that if they scratch a bird, it will die within 24 hours.

I hope Percy and Sunny are flying over in heaven and watching the guinea pigs popcorning... I bet they are pestering them too :(|)
I am glad that Sunny got all your love and died happy x
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Cats along with guinea pigs are my favourite animals but yeah it was very saddening. The poor girl didn't stand a chance. She was a huge biter though so I'm sure she probably bit it quite a few times. You are lucky you managed to save your budgie.
I didn't know that about cats claws.

I'm sure they are both happy up there with my grandad and his 100+ budgies. He loved them. When he died he was buried with his dead budgies and one of his died the day after he did despite being a young happy bird. Think it was mourning my grandad. You couldn't find my grandad without a budgie or two attached to him. One even flew into his garden and landed on his table. Grandad picked it up and kept it -after checking it was no one elses-. His other surviving bird when to my aunts and died a few years later. :)
 
Really enjoyed reading about your beautiful special budgies. They sound like real little characters. Thanks for sharing that with us!
 
I love budgies! x)
They are both so adorable, and what a cute story.
I never knew budgies could change colour though!
 
What gorgeous pictures and a lovely story. I've never really thought about birds as great companions before but you've definitely changed my mind! What's the average life span?
 
herriotfan said:
I've got a senegal parrot. Her name is Peanut and she was 8 years old yesterday.
She's such great company and chatters away for hours on end. The only time she's not talking is when she's asleep or eating! My family say she's just like me....:p
Peanut 'helps' doing all my animals. We do all the feeding, watering and cleaning together. She starts off perched on my shoulder but soon creeps down my arm to sit on my hands so that she gets a closer look at what I'm doing. Peanut is very nosey! ;)
The only pets she's not allowed anywhere near are my snakes. :...
I love my little Peanut to bits and can't imagine doing anything without a little voice asking "What yer doing?" She really is a very entertaining character. :))



Edit to add......she isn't allowed to help with the piggies! She can make the same little noises already. :o
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Awww how sweet! I love Senegal parrots. They are very intelligent birds. I am thinking of getting a parrot in a few years after my guinea pigs. I am hoping to move out and get married too, I feel like a larger parrot will be better. I thought of African Greys but now I am thinking of Senegal parrots!
 
Julesie said:
Cats along with guinea pigs are my favourite animals but yeah it was very saddening. The poor girl didn't stand a chance. She was a huge biter though so I'm sure she probably bit it quite a few times. You are lucky you managed to save your budgie.
I didn't know that about cats claws.

I'm sure they are both happy up there with my grandad and his 100+ budgies. He loved them. When he died he was buried with his dead budgies and one of his died the day after he did despite being a young happy bird. Think it was mourning my grandad. You couldn't find my grandad without a budgie or two attached to him. One even flew into his garden and landed on his table. Grandad picked it up and kept it -after checking it was no one elses-. His other surviving bird when to my aunts and died a few years later. :)
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Your Grandad sounds like me when I grow old but as a female! I want many birds in my life, they are absolutely lovely to have and budgies I have to say are one of my favourite parrots. They may be small but never judge the intelligence!
 
youthnovels said:
What gorgeous pictures and a lovely story. I've never really thought about birds as great companions before but you've definitely changed my mind! What's the average life span?
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They are amazing animals to keep, long as they are looked after well with a lot of patience. Their average life span is between 7-14 years... some can live longer depending on how you look after it.
They each have their own personality and dislikes and likes lol
 
Thank you for this thread! I dont think I've seen the early pictures of imzi before, he looks so tiny! Now he's all grown up and the boss of a family of puny humans...then again I'm sure thats the same for all pets :))
 
Ibn said:
Thank you for this thread! I dont think I've seen the early pictures of imzi before, he looks so tiny! Now he's all grown up and the boss of a family of puny humans...then again I'm sure thats the same for all pets :))
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Your welcome :(|) I would have posted the pic of you hand him!

It would have been nice if you had met him when he was a baby, he was so funny! He used to watch tennis and go left and right with the ball! We thought he was mentally disturbed... turned out he was just playing LOL
 
They're a lovely pair. :)
I used to have budgies, they were all very different characters and very LOUD!
:(|)
 
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