Our first budgie

[mh434]

Well, some of you are familial with the trials and tribulations of other members of our flock. there is Reno (also known as "Sir Reno the Grey, Earl of Cookie, Viscount of Victuals, Count of Contrary, Marquess of Mayhem, and Crown Prince of the Realm"), Sammy the YNA (and royal PITA), two conures, and four lovies. But today, my wife was at a big-box pet store picking up some birdie treats, and she spotted a little juvenile budgie.

She fell in love with him, and inquired about buying him, but the staff said "Well, we won't sell him, but you could adopt him". She was mystified, until she discovered he has a malformed foot, basically clutched into a tiny fist. He still gets around, but has trouble climbing and, since his wings have been heavily clipped, he can't really fly either. Anyway, her photos etc. of the rest of the flock convinced the staff that she was a worthwhile mom, and sent her out the door with him - for free.

He is very small, and apparently only a few weeks old. My wife was trying to figure out a name for him, a duty which often falls to me. We settled on "Timmy"...as in Charles Dickens' "Tiny Tim", as he's so small and has a game leg. An alternate form would be "Tim Bit" (...this is a name that will ring a bell with all Canadians hereabouts - it refers to the little "donut holes" available at those famously Canadian institutions known as "Tim Horton's" donut shops.

He's only been here a few hours (and was quite frightened by being boxed up, transported, etc.), so he's not comfortable enough yet to really explore his cage, sing, chatter, etc. I seemed to recall that budgies like millet & mirrors, so we've provided him with both. He hasn't discovered the millet yet, but he definitely is interested in the mirror, and stares at his reflection often. He even finally gave a few cheeps at it, so we're hopeful he's coming around.

We did notice that, instead of roosting for the night on one of his perches (we carefully selected ones suited to his foot size), he seems to prefer clinging to the bars on the side of the cage. We don't have a problem with that as it turns out - while he's doing so, his malformed foot seems to be workable, and he's gripping the bars in a fairly normal fashion. We're hoping that if he continues there may be some improvement in his foot, and he'll become simply "Tim" instead of "Tiny Tim".

I'll post a photo of him when I'm able to take some. Now my wife's talking about getting a second budgie (there's a found & unclaimed one at our local shelter). I'm not sure how well budgies get along with others of their kind - lovies seem to pair up & cease being "tame", but I have no experience at all with budgies. Anyone here have any advice on this?

 

[ParrotLover2001]

I paired up my budgies, they took well to each other, and, like most if not all parrots, they are flock animals and will most likely prefer to be with one of their own speices. Although it really depends on the bird as an individual, some will accept another one, others won't.

I've never had a problem when pairing my birds, unless pairing my lovebird who is kind of a jerk to the others.

Sent from my Galaxy s8

 

[mh434]

As promised, here's Tiny Tim's very first picture. He's (she's?) discovered his/her food dish now, and is eating like food is going out of style. Good to see! The mirror seems to be appreciated, too. No response to any of his/her new toys, but it's only day 2 in the new flock.