The Little Budgies

Baby Budgies Update

2008-12-16T18:56:00.000-08:00

It has been a while since I have updated. Zazu has stopped hand feeding for a while now. He enjoys his flying a lot and has gotten well at flying with 2 feathers missing from each wing.
Benu has also finally learned to fly. I would like to think that Zazu has helped him out. He still needs to learn how to fly as well as Zazu though. In the picture below you can see some blood feathers. His flight feathers are still trying to grow out from the bad chop job he had when I bought him earlier this year.
I let them both out from time to time and they both get along great. Below shows a good picture of them playing with each other.
I wish I had the space here for a big play gym for the both of them. For now they are content just flying around and landing on my desk, chair, stuffed toy hanging from the fan chain, and dog cages.

Baby Budgie: Day 41

2008-12-05T15:57:00.001-08:00

This is how our normal day routine goes that I plan to continue (minus the hand feeding when he doesn't need it anymore).

The alarm goes off at 9am and Zazu is taken out of his night time hamster cage. He gets some out time to fly or interact. At this time I make fresh mash. After he gets tired he goes to his bigger day time cage. Before I go to work, I replace his mash with fresh sprouted grain/seed mix or another food item that won't spoil in 6-8 hours. He might get another time out of his cage before I head to work if there is time.

When I get home (and after I let the dogs go potty outside) Zazu gets to come out again. He also gets a small bowl of seed at my desk at this time. When he is tired, he is put to bed in his hamster cage. The cage is covered and put into the bedroom.

That is a day in the life of Zazu. Of course, sometimes Zazu doesn't agree with the routine so he makes attempts to escape his cage. Below are some funny pictures of his attempts.
Today he did get his wings clipped. =( It was a sad day but it had to eventually be done. I thought he might hate me while I did it, but he doesn't seem to remember much now. I only took 2 feathers off each side. He should be able to fly well again soon, then time for another clip...

Baby Budgie: Day 39

2008-12-03T15:30:00.001-08:00

Today Zazu's meals were at 9am and 6pm. Looks like that is what it will be until he goes down to 1 meal a day. As it is, his breakfast is a eat-and-fly. He grabs a few mouth fulls then flies around for a while. He eats more of his dinner.

He is flying very very well. I just wish he would stop landing on top of my head. If I time it just right, I can put my head up infront of my head and he will land on that.

This morning he was such a cuddle bug. After his light breakfast and flight, he sat with me and made little mutters as I gave him scratches on his head and touched his beak.

I am so proud of how tame he is. He doesn't startle easily with new objects or sounds. He lets me grab him, but best of all, he steps up on his own very willingly.

He learned today water comes from a faucet and after some thought he tasted the water and ran under it. I suppose he doesn't still know what a bath is.

Here are some pictures of him enjoying his last snack of the night before being put to bed in his hamster cage.

Baby Budgie: Day 38

2008-12-02T13:57:00.000-08:00

Zazu had some new experiences today. But first, Zazu is still fully flighted. He cried for breakfast then flew away mid meal. I guess he doesn't want as much right now. After a few flights, he is ready for his nap. He will just sleep whereever he lands so I bring him back to his cage when I notice him getting sleepy.
Then he got some time out with Benu. At first Benu wasn't so interested in coming out of his cage, but after some time he came out with a flutter. Benu still can't fly it seems and can only flutter across the floor. I am letting his wing feathers grow out so he can learn how to fly proper, which I don't think he ever learned from his horrible wing clippings.

Anyways, Benu did finally come out. I put Zazu on the floor and he ran straight for Benu. Benu ran from Zazu during most of the experience. What is funny is how much bigger Zazu is to Benu. My poor little gray boy is skinny. Zazu would try to touch Benu's back feathers with his beak and Benu would step away. They were so cute. Maybe Benu doesn't know what to do with such a young pushy baby.
With all the flying Zazu does, I have to keep him contained more in his hamster cage which is now much too small for his activities. So he got his adult cage today. Zazu was not happy about this at all. In time he will settle. I was hoping on getting him a nicer cage, but this one will do until the one I want goes on sale.
So will tomorrow be the day his feathers get clipped? It is so hard to clip those beautiful wings, but necessary for his safety here in the apartment.

Part II: Grains/Seeds

2008-12-02T08:33:00.000-08:00

Ingredients
- 2 spoons of Amber Waves of Grain
- 2 spoons of budgie seed mix (without extras)
Note: You don't have to use the same products I use. Mix up the grains. Some suggestions are: amaranth (must be sprouted or cooked before feeding), quinoa, wheat, rye, kamut, spelt, triticale, oats, millet, etc. I bought this Amber Waves of Grain from SproutPeople because it has a large variety of grains without having to buy each seperate. I plan to add other grains seperately to increase certain grains from time to time. Make sure the budgie seed mix is plain seed mix. You don't want pellets, vegetables, fruits, etc in them because they will spoil.

Instructions
1. Put your grains/seed mix into a sprouting jar and soak for 8 hours. I like setting the soak right before I go to bed. I also add a little ACV to the soak water. I don't add specific instruction on how to sprout, so please read up if you are unsure.
2. After 8 hours of soak you can rinse and use immediately. Keep left over grain/seed mix rinsed several times a day. It helps to shake the container around to lossen grain/seeds to airate better. Otherwise it can spoil quickly.

The amount I put above in the ingredients list is more than enough for my 2 budgies a day. I have started sprouting grains/seeds everyday. Well, every night I do the soak before bedtime. When I wake up, I rinse and use for breakfast mash. Then rinse a few times during the day and offer again for dinner mash. (Instruction on mash mix in another post.) Then at the end of the night I discard leftovers and set another soak before bedtime. And repeat.

Mash Diet - Introduction
Part I: Legumes
Part II: Grains/Seeds
Part III: Vegetables **coming soon**
Part IV: Summary **coming soon**

Baby Budgie: Day 37

2008-12-01T21:49:00.000-08:00

Sorry, no new pictures today. Trying to get a flying shot but it is hard to predict flight sometimes.

He has been flying a LOT! I do mean a LOT! I may have to start his progressive clip tomorrow. It is such a shame I have to clip some of the feathers. At least it will only be 2 to start. Once he handles himself well with that, another one or two feathers. He has been maneuvering well and maintaining flight longer. He lands well too, so it just may be time for a progressive clip...

He is also down to 2 feedings a day. His last feeding of the night was earlier at 9pm instead of 10pm. He ate a little and flew off. So his feeding times are now 9am and 9pm.

Baby Budgie: Day 36

2008-11-30T17:15:00.000-08:00

Sorry, there was no pictures the last 2 days. There wasn't much to report anyways. I still have him on 3 meals a day but it looks like 2 meals should be fine. I still might offer 3 meals a day with the middle one being a light snack.

Now for the big news. Zazu is now FLYING! Yup, finally. This morning was his first few flights. I am surprised at how many attempts he made before breakfast. Then again a few more attempts after his mid-day meal. He is getting his control down well, but his landings need more work. He needs to figure out better where to land... and my head is NOT a landing zone. Early this morning he did bump into a few things, but his night one was much better.

He will be going to his adult cage soon and he will use his hamster cage as his night time cage. I was hoping some nice cages would have gone on sale, but no... So a pretty one will have to wait.

Now for his pictures. Sorry, no flight pictures yet. Just some of him playing in his cuddle bed and being himself.
That's all for now. Updates won't be as often now since there isn't as much to see now that he has his adult feathers. The milestones that will happen now are:
1. Flies very well so 2 feathers on each side will be clipped back.
2. Learns to fly well in his new clip so another 2 feathers on each side will be cut.
3. Possibility of another clip of a feather or two depending on how well his flight is with the clips.
4. Down to 2 feedings a day.
5. Down to 1 feeding a day.
6. No more baby formula feedings.
7. Gets a new fancy cage.
8. Meets Benu face to face.
9. Getting a new play gym.
10. Blah blah blah

Hm, I guess there are more things to come. =)

Baby Budgie: Day 34

2008-11-28T19:45:00.000-08:00

Sorry no picture update today. I will get one tomorrow. Physically he hasn't changed much at all. Mentally he is at the same spot as well. He has not flown yet. He gets 3 meals a day and soon will be on 2. He will be using a larger cage soon which will be his home. He has lots of personality.

Baby Budgie: Day 33

2008-11-27T19:22:00.001-08:00

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Zazu went with us to my bf's mom's house for Thanksgiving. He got to meet the family again (2nd time for some and 3rd for others). He was passed around and everyone said he looked different from the bald baby he was. Zazu was happily perched on fingers, mouthed fingers, and ran across the smaller dinner table and partake in a little pumpkin pie. I am very happy that he was not afraid and spent all his time putting things in his mouth to feel/taste. Here is his pic of the day...

Baby Budgie: Day 32

2008-11-26T20:55:00.000-08:00

Zazu is handling the 3 feedings a day better today.

He was rather clingy today. He wanted to be held, cuddled, and restrained. I did bring out his baby bed again so he can play in it. See below to see Zazu climbing into his baby bed.
Doesn't he look cute? He did take a little nap after these pictures.

I did put him in his baby bed earlier, but didn't get any pictures then. He did a lot of flapping then and looked like he was getting good lift. Shouldn't be long before he gets his first flight.

Baby Budgie: Day 31

2008-11-25T21:25:00.000-08:00

Zazu is on 3 feedings a day. That is 9am-4pm-10pm. I normally would have done 11pm but he was crying bad since 9pm. Here are some pictures of him today...
I also made the birds some pancakes special for them. I used Jiffy corn bread mix (half a box), with apple sauce (instead of oil), some yogurt (instead of milk), and an egg. I added some baby bird formula and seeds to the mix.
They look big in the picture but the biggest was no more than a 2" diameter. Most were probably 1.5". I froze the excess so I had more for later. I have written up a recipe for some pancakes without the Jiffy, but I need to test run it before posting.

Baby Budgie: Day 30

2008-11-24T20:19:00.000-08:00

Zazu has been doing well. He started wandering out of his hamster cage today (well the bottom part only since the top part is removed during the day if I can watch him). So I do have to keep a closer eye that he doesn't scramble away. When the top was on his hamster cage, I finally noticed today him climbing the cage bars.
He is still on 4 feeding a day, but tomorrow he goes on 3 feedings. He is eating his seeds now. He sure loves those spray millet pieces that were in his dish. He gets 2 dishes for most of the day. One for seeds and dry food items. The other is for his wet mash. I need to introduce more greens to him though.
He has been testing his wings again today. But not enough yet that he will be doing any flying soon. He looks just like an adult (with a big gut).

Baby Budgie: Day 29

2008-11-23T20:18:00.000-08:00

Zazu is still eating 4 times a day... He is insistant he is a fat starving baby chick...haha He hasn't been using his perch yet that I noticed so I put him on it. He seemed quite content sitting on it while preening. He still has those "uh-oh" moments with balance, but he isn't bad at all.
Time for a big yawn...
Preening his pretty feathers...
I found him finally interested in his bell toy. That is not to say he showed no interest in it earlier, but I didn't notice him playing with it until now.

Tonight is the first night he will be sleeping in his hamster cage. I think it is time he has more room than the plastic baby cage provides. It has been cold lately at night, but I have the heater set to a comfortable temperature for him. Soon I suppose it will be time to introduce him to his adult cage... He is growing up so fast...

Baby Budgie: Day 28

2008-11-22T17:19:00.001-08:00

Zazu is now 4 weeks old. I have had him for 2 weeks. He is doing very well. He is eating adult food and foraging between formula feedings. I am still feeding him 4 times a day, but the 2 middle feedings are not as big anymore. I feel keeping him well fed with formula will encourage him to do more foraging on his own. So far this is working.
He is so much quieter when he has food in his mouth. He has become a little more independent of me. He is not as beggy all the time regardless if he is hungry or not. I am attempting to expose him to as many different foods as possible, including a little of whatever I am eating. I stopped scattering seeds on the floor and it in a bowl. When he is grown up, he will need to search a bowl out for food.

I have exposed him to seed mix, nutriberries, birdie bread, part of a mash mix (legume/grain/seed mix but no vegetables yet), and whole pieces of dark leafy greens from my patio garden. I should start adding mashed vegetables to his mash mix as well as showing him what spray millet is. I want to get some cooked varieties of food as well. This way as an adult, he won't be too picky about his foods.

He has been testing his wings today as well. I was so pleased to get a shot of his wings open while he was flapping. He is still not ready to fly or attempt to fly.
I wonder if this will be the week he learns to fly. He will probably switch to 3 times a day this week as well.

Baby Budgie: Day 27

2008-11-21T17:47:00.001-08:00

Zazu has been eating some of his adult food today. I gave him a mash with the legumes part I made in another post mixed with seeds. It was 1 part legumes to 2 parts grain/seed. All sprouted of course. Here are some pictures of him eating early this morning.
Here are some pictures of him later tonight.
I was going to put him on 3 feedings a day, but it seems he may still need 4. Just one of them needs to be a small encouragement to forage on your own feeding.

It looks like he is starting to learn to step-up. I rather him step-up than me have to grab him.

Still nothing on trying to fly when I observe him. He does stand up higher though. He even tries to stand on his legs when he sleeps...lol
EDIT: Looks like Zazu is flapping his wings around. He just started fluttering.

Mash Diet Part I: Legumes

2008-11-21T06:53:00.000-08:00

Ingredients
- 3/8 cup legume mix (adzuki, mung, pea, and garbanzo)
- 1/8 cup lentil
Note: I found those above mixes made for sprouting that are just perfect. It was getting irritating buying them separately.

Instructions
1. Sprout legume mix and lentils. I normally start the lentils a day or two after the legume mix because you only need a 1/4" tail for the lentils and a 1/2" tail for the legume mix. (There are many sites that talk about how to sprout legumes, so I left out all those details. I do add a dash of Apple Cider Vinegar to the soaking water though.)
2. Lightly blanch/steam all ingredients for 3-5 minutes. **Sorry I forgot to take a picture while blanching/steaming the legumes. The picture should give you an idea though.**
3. Chop it up in the food processor.
4. Freeze and store.
5. Thaw portions as needed.

The amounts above made enough legume mix that was 1/2" thick by 13.5" long by 3.5" wide. So if you need more, make more. I think next time I will buy a bigger sprouting jar just for the legumes. They are such a pain I rather do a very large batch then do this often.

Mash Diet: Introduction
Part I: Legumes
Part II: Grains/Seeds
Part III: Vegetables **coming soon**
Part IV: Summary **coming soon**

Baby Budgie: Day 26

2008-11-20T16:16:00.000-08:00

Zazu has been able to climb to the ledge of his hamster cage bottom. His balance is getting much better but he still has a ways to go. He was riding on my shoulder earlier in the morning while crying for a bit after being fed. He seems to like this.
You see the bluish ting on his chest and legs? He has a yellow band through his belly. As you can tell, he still needs more feathers.

He loves his little hidey thingy. I used to put him in it when he was smaller while I held him at my desk. Kinda like a cuddle bed. On its side it makes a nice hide away. Now watch that red piece in the picture...
Now do you see that red piece? Hm? Well, I hope you got it right. It is in his mouth. I am glad I finally caught a shot of him putting food in his mouth. As to if he is consuming any of it, I don't know. All I care is he is interested in food items as a mouth toy for now.

I haven't seen much flapping lately so I wonder if he has other interests right now. Once he starts flying, it will be harder to keep track of him.

EDIT: I just made some birdie bread. Zazu was crying for some food but it isn't time yet so I gave him a nice warm piece of birdie bread. He attacked it and I think he consumed some. Maybe feeding him by spoon has helped because he was attacking the bread like he does the spoon taking his food down. I will feed him with the spoon daily, but still use the pipette for most.

Baby Budgie: Day 25

2008-11-19T20:35:00.000-08:00

Zazu is fast approaching 4 weeks. He is still on 4 feedings a day. He has been learning today (and a little of yesterday) to eat from a measuring spoon. I forgot his pipette at work so his 2 last meals of the day were by spoon. I think he handled it well and wore his formula well too. I do have a feeling that he will be on 3 meals a day soon. He tells me off in the morning if I wake him up too early, which is funny. He still mutters after he is fed and is falling asleep, which is cute. And I am still very amazed how fast this baby runs on his feet. For lack of complete balance he sure moves. I bet he learns to fly next week.

This is the only picture for tonight. I am really tired and woke up just to give his last feeding and an update.

Baby Budgie: Day 24

2008-11-18T11:45:00.000-08:00

I took the top off Zazu's hamster cage because it was hard to see what he was up to with it. I left only one ladder to the edge. He hasn't really been perching high in his hamster cage so until he starts climbing, the lid stays off.

With the top off his cage, I saw him doing a lot of foraging. He had his 2pm feeding and after some crying he walked around with his face on the floor mouthing little bits of seeds and wheat grass scattered. He also had a bowl of rehydrated greens from Beak Appetit, which you can see below. He is "into his food".

He sure likes his food.
He is sure a cutie.
So far to me he seems to be a boy. Here is to hoping.

Baby Budgie: Day 23

2008-11-17T20:08:00.000-08:00

Zazu is still on 4 feedings a day. He has gotten better at climbing and spends time during the day in a small hamster cage, but he has yet to use the ladder in there. He just keeps climbing his buckwheat sock.

Below he was running around my table and somehow he ended up trying to get in my hand. I am not sure where he was trying to go, but I wasn't forcefully holding him in the picture below.

Here he standing still for a second before running off again. I can't believe how fast his feet take him.

He still isn't too interested in foods, but he does like chewing on the bars of his cage. Tomorrow I plan to make some bread or something to teach him to nibble on. I have been offering seeds and wheatgrass blades. Zazu is active for longer period of time before needing sleep. I am amazed how fast he is growing.

Mash Diet

2008-11-17T14:18:00.000-08:00

I plan on making another post about the mash diet I feed Benu since eventually Zazu will need to learn to eat it as well. Here is a good post about the mash. It is long but has lots of great pictures. I will be making several more posts about the mash in different parts.

Part I: Legumes
Part II: Grains/Seeds
Part III: Vegetables
Part IV: Summary

Please check back later. They will include pictures. =)

Baby Budgie: Day 22

2008-11-16T20:49:00.000-08:00

Zazu is sure something. He is much harder to get a still picture of him since he is running everywhere. This little guy would walk off the table if I didn't watch him. He is down to 4 feedings a day now, which is about every 5 hours. He also sleeps a little earlier and wakes up a tad later. But he sure still cries a lot...haha Here are his pics of the day.

New Plantings

2008-11-15T16:38:00.000-08:00

Well, I redid my patio again. Some plants weren't doing so well and my guess is either it was the lack of full sun or the weather cooling down.

Jack Be Little - died off. Probably too cold now.
Other Squashes - didn't do well. Need more sun?
Dandelion - never did well since earlier this year. Will try planting indoors soon.
Millet - grew into grass but no millet. Dried and died later. Will try planting indoors some time.
Canary Seed - grew better than the millet but didn't look so good so tossed. No seeds.
Dwarf Sunflower - Still growing indoors and has developed a flower head. Hoping for seeds.
Greens - Kale, Chard, Collards, Spinach, etc. Does better in cooler weather. Planted too soon this year but now should be fine. I may plan a few of these indoors to see how they compare to the outside ones.
Clover - Didn't do well outside. I think it needed more sun or maybe the weather wasn't right. Flowering was a problem. Best to grow many months in advance. Will go another pot indoors some time.
Eucalyptus - growing well on the shaded patio. Grown from a seed this thing is now 2 feet tall.
Carrot - had problem with mushrooms so it was destroyed.
Radish - had problems with mushrooms so it was destroyed.

So right now I have some cool weather greens, eucalyptus, and sunflower growing. I will try bird seeds and some herbs as well when I get my patio situated with space. Oh how I wish I had a large yard to plant my own raised garden. My dogs sure enjoy cuttings from the vegetables...haha

Baby Budgie: Day 21

2008-11-15T15:28:00.000-08:00

Zazu is now 3 weeks old. He has come a long ways from tiny pins to a bird with lots of feathers coming out and fuzz all over. This boy loves to eat. Today he spent time in his small hamster cage posted on Day 20. This will now be his day cage. When he no longer needs his first baby carrier container, I will also be providing a larger cage for the day and the small day cage will become the small night cage for what I hope is the rest of his life.

He finally is showing some blue shimmer on his chest under his beak. Looks like the middle of the tummy might become yellow. And noticed yesterday was some blue on his legs. He continues to make chatter as he sleeps. Also this morning he made his firat mad calls when I woke him up for breakfast...lol Here are his pictures.

Baby Budgie: Day 20

2008-11-14T19:23:00.003-08:00

Ain't he a cutie?
Now for a while I have been very puzzled with Zazu's color, but I think I am figuring it out. For a while I have been wondering why he was so green. I thought he should be blue since his parents are white base. But the below picture shows his blue on his leg reflecting. Note the bright green on his rump too.
Tomorrow he will be 3 weeks old. Exciting!!!!

Baby Budgie: Day 19

2008-11-13T17:07:00.001-08:00

Here is some pictures of Zazu today.

He is looking good. He is spending more of his waking hours exporling. I think it is almost time for his new cage. His next cage will be a small one level hamster cage. HAHA! I made special covers for it. Here are some pictures.
After his 8pm feeding I gave him a Nutriberry. He nibbled a little on it and then ignored it. He also spends some of his waking time making peep sounds. Not baby cry for bottle sounds. He sure is a weird cutie pie. I am very happy he is finally recognizing me as his feeder.

Benu Update

2008-11-13T08:56:00.000-08:00

I has been a while since I put an update to how Benu was doing, so here it is.

He is such a character. Although he is not to interested in me, he is interested in my toy poodle Goofball (Goofy for short). When Benu is out he checks out Goofy's blankets outside her cage and often gets close to her. I wonder, does Benu think he is a dog or that Goofy is a large weird shaped bird?

Benu knows there is a baby in the house crying. He can hear Zazu and sometimes calls out to him. I hope that they can be good friends when Zazu is old enough. I am also hoping that Zazu will teach Benu to not be scared of people. Benu sure isn't scared of the dog though.

Baby Budgie: Day 18

2008-11-12T17:00:00.000-08:00

The little one is almost 3 weeks old and he finally has a name. He will be called Zazu.

You can see how much feathering his wings and tails as gotten. From the looks of his feathers on top of his head he will not have normal barring. I guess he is opaline? I have yet to see blue feathers though. He has a lot of lime green which is really pretty, but I hope to see some blue too.

He has been staying up a little more now as well. He has shown interest in flapping his wings, which is really cute. Zazu is still a big cry baby though. He eats much more and less often. He seems to be on a 4 hour schedule now.

Now for some pictures. Enjoy!

Boy does he love his sock heat pad.

Baby Budgie: Day 17

2008-11-11T20:53:00.000-08:00

The little one has noticeably grown up. He has been using his feet for grasping a few days now and has an awesome grasp. He has also started to do some wandering as you will see in the picture below. It is funny when he goes walking much faster than I would think he could go. I assume next week he will start climbing and require a cage with perches. It is amazing how fast he grows. Below are some pictures for today:

Here is a really funny shot I got of him. He loves his sock buckwheat sack. Whenever I put him back in his cage with it warmed up, he mouths it all over as if he was hungry. Then he cuddles up to it and falls asleep. He also cuddles his little hide tent inside his carrier as well. But nothing beats this picture...haha Like a kid sleeping against a window.

How much more will his feathers be out tomorrow?

Baby Budgie: Day 16

2008-11-10T17:48:00.001-08:00

The little baby is doing well. He is eating every 3-4 hours still and eats vigorously. You have to hold him back when he is in hungry mode and knows you have food somewhere. It is funny how he will beak you to see if you are food. He is indeed very demanding when it is feeding time. Below are pictures of him today. Notice how some feathers are starting to feather out at the tips.

His legs are very strong. He sometimes tries to perch and often death grips you while you hold him. It can be difficult feeding him sometimes because all his limbs are in every possible direction while you try to position him for the feeding his feet are holding onto you tightly.

Even after eating he starts mouthing things. He is definitely curious and looks at me while I hold him after feedings. He often cries himself to sleep when I have him out even if he just ate his fill. He sure is a cry baby...haha

The last 2 pictures shows his carrier that he stays in. The sock has a buckwheat heat pad in it. He loves to climb up on top of it and will fall asleep stretch out on it. The container has holes drilled into it and I made the cover to wrap it up. I also made the cuddle tent for him if he wants to snuggle up.

Lets see how he looks tomorrow.

Newest Baby

2008-11-09T21:25:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I got a baby bird who is still being hand fed. I will be calling him a he even though I don't know his gender in hopes that he is a he. Either way I will love this baby.

He was hatched October 25th. He was 15 days old yesterday and below are his pictures. The second picture you will see him already attempting to preen himself. The last one shows off his wing colors.

Today I took some more pictures and they are below. He has been doing very well and gets 5 feedings a day. His feedings are every 3-4 hours with an 8 hour break in the night.

I hope to keep a long for every single day. I would love to see how fast he grows up and how much difference a day really makes.

Benu Wants Out

2008-10-08T06:08:00.000-07:00

For the past couple days I have noticed Benu coming to the front of the cage peering out. I have never seen him so interested on what was on the outside world like this before. Then today he was climbing the front bars of his cage (first time seeing this) while curiously looking around outside his cage. To really understand how odd this is, for all the times Benu was out of his cage, he came out because I asked him to "up-up" onto my finger and took him out. It wasn't because he wanted out. Only a few times has he been on his play gym and again, each time he got there was because I put him there.

So today, I put his play gym near his cage and opened his doors. It didn't take long before he was out on his gym content with eating millets there.

I am happy he is becoming curious of the world beyond his cage and getting braver. I hope for the day he seeks me out.

Plants for Budgies

2008-10-03T06:12:00.000-07:00

I suppose I should give some feedback on how my plants are doing.

The white clover plant outdoors was doing very poorly for unknown reasons, while the plant indoors was doing well under a full spectrum bulb. They enjoyed chewing on clovers and the clover flowers from time to time. It takes about a month before you get flowers and you don't get many flowers. I think this one is best for outdoor in the ground sort of planting where you have more room to grow it. The seeds are not expensive either so reserving a part of your yard to grow this is nice. I sure wish I had a yard...

The pot containing carrots and radish did not fare so well when a mushroom kept popping up in there. I kept removing the mushroom since I don't want it to spread to my other pots. In the end, I took out 4" of top soil from that pot and now use it for the 2nd Jack-Be-Little pumpkin plant. My dogs sure enjoyed the radish tops. Even the budgies got it from time to time.

I also have another Jack-Be-Little pumpkin plant in a large pot outside of my patio. This plant has been growing well and has been a bit difficult keeping it on supports so it goes upward. It has been flowering for over a week now, but it is hard to say if any are the fruit bearing ones. Pumpkin plants have flowers of separate genders. Most are of one gender, the non-fruit bearing ones. So we will have to wait to see if I get any pumpkins before the season is no longer good for the plant. As mentioned above I have a smaller plant still on the patio. Once it grows up more I will put it outside.

The last of the plants are the greens. They are the broccoli, red chard, mustard, and spinach. These are not as big as I hope they would be so I will just leave them to grow some more. Maybe I need cooler weather for them too, so I may grow some more a little later to see how they fare. Either way I do pluck leaves from time to time for budgie entertainment (or dog chewing).

I do have millet and canary seed plants, but they haven't been doing much. They grew out like grass then nothing. Maybe they need more direct sun or something they are not getting on my patio.

All in all, growing plants for pets is a lot of fun. I do wish I had more room to experiment or even a yard. Lack of direct sunlight sure is hard to deal with at times and is limiting.

Fly Free

2008-10-01T14:00:00.000-07:00

...

It is hard to say that my little Kon had passed on today way before his time. He showed no sign of being ill that I noticed and was fine when I went to work. I am very heartbroken that it happened suddenly and I don't know why. =( He was so young still. Benu will miss him dearly. =(

Fly Free Kon...

First Meeting

2008-09-15T08:34:00.000-07:00

Benu and Kon meet each other face to face outside their cages yesterday. I set up a plastic container as a temporary play gym. It took a while before I got both of them to stop flying off it. They had some spray millet and finally calmed down. It was a nice chance to see personalities. Benu was quick to feel relaxed and started walking around. Kon was still frozen in place and was slower to warm up. Kon gives Benu the right of way. A few times they were touch beaks with Benu then preening Kon. I have yet to see Kon preening Benu. The day ended after about an hour of outside time. I am so thrilled that they both get along right from the start.

Quarentine is Over

2008-09-11T06:45:00.000-07:00

On Tuesday the quarantine was finally over and Kon was put in the living room where Benu is. For now I have the cages stacked on top of each other. Kon has the bottom one and Benu has the top. I am also changing some of the interior of the cage adding more foraging and toys for amusement. I will wait some time for Kon to settle into the new arrangement before giving both of them some time outside the cage to socialize. I plan to keep them caged separately.

Dutch White Clover: Day 42

2008-09-07T05:19:00.001-07:00

It has been 6 weeks now since I planted my white clover seeds. There was one plant indoors and one outdoors. Below is a picture showing you the development difference taken September 1st.

The large leaves are from the plant being grown indoors under a full spectrum lamp. The smaller leaves comes from a plant grown on my shaded patio. Same soil and watering. The quarter gives you an idea of the size the indoor leaves are growing. They are MUCH larger than the leaves of a wild growing plant. I am sure it has to do with lighting, but I think temperature also has an effect.

Here is today's picture showing that there is finally flower development. I will be watching to see how fast a flower fully develops and I hope there will be more to come.

I have been chopping clovers off as they are reaching too high towards the lamp bulb. Some are also provided to my budgies as a form of entertainment. Next week we will see how things go.

Dutch White Clover: Day 29

Plantings Update

2008-09-03T17:43:00.000-07:00

It has been 2 weeks since I planted a bunch of vegetables and other things. So here is the update on the progress.

Above is a pot of white and red millets from my budgies seed mix. They are growing quite nicely.

This is a pot of canary seed grass which is also from my budgies seed mix.

This pot has radish and small carrots. I read that if you grow them both together, the radish will be ready before the carrots. We will see. The larger leaves are obviously the radish and the tiny slender leaves are the small carrots.

This pot was mainly for the Jack Be Little Pumpkin plant. It is probably too late in the year to grow it, but I figured it was worth a shot. Also, it seemed some of the corner space is going to waste so I put in some Spinach (upper left), Mustard (bottom left), and Chard (bottom right).

This pot has a ceramic little frog watching over them. It has Spinach, Mustard, Chard, and Broccoli (upper middle and upper right).

Well this pot was not planted 2 weeks ago but long ago. I can't recall when. It is my dandelion plant. You would have thought it should be growing crazy, but it is going slowly. I wonder what I am doing wrong growing this weed.

So it is time to try growing a few more things for the benefit of my little budgies. I just got my dwarf sunspot sunflower seeds today so here are the 3 pots.

Check back later to see how my patio garden grows. Also, soon Benu and Kon will be seeing each other for the first time. Kon will finally have his cage in the living room and be done with quarantine next week.

Dutch White Clover: Day 29

2008-08-25T07:42:00.000-07:00

Ops, 1 day late doing an update. I am trying to update this progress every Sunday.

So far the indoor clover plant is growing awesome with huge clovers, but still no flowers. I wonder at what point flowers start since it has been about a month now. Oddly enough, the plant outside has very small clovers and low growth. I guess it doesn't like too much shade and needs light. More light, bigger the clovers I assume.

Dutch White Clover: Day 21

New Plantings

2008-08-20T16:00:00.001-07:00

Today I planted a bunch of plants that I hope will benefit me and my budgies. I bought lots of organic potting soils and a few more pots. I found some seeds, but will likely still buy some online.

So far, I have planted Ruby Swiss Chard, Broccoli, Cherry Belle Radish, Spinach, Mustard, Jack Be Little Pumpkin, Short n' Sweet Carrot, Nasturtium, Calendula, White/Red Millet (from seed mix), and Canary Seed (from seed mix). Some were sown directly into pots outside while others are in a mini indoor greenhouse. I will later plant spray millet, Sunspot Sunflower, Wheat (and other grass grains).

We will see how well they all fare. It is worth a shot to see if I can grow some of the vegetables on my patio. The only problem is lack of prolonged direct sunlight so I probably will have to move some pots out of the patio into the sunlight when I am home. I just want to be careful other dogs walking by don't get to it nor the pesticide people spray my plants outside.

I will post some pictures when there is something interesting to show. I doubt people like seeing just a pot of soil.

Dutch White Clover: Day 21

2008-08-17T21:20:00.001-07:00

My plant has been growing well. Oddly enough, the indoor pot looks further along than the one outside on my patio. I wonder if that has to do with the face the outdoor pot is in the shade most of the time and the indoor one gets 12+ hours of light each day from a full spectrum lamp. So far, no flowers. We do have clover leaves now though.

Dutch White Clover: Day 14

The new budgie

2008-08-10T15:27:00.000-07:00

I went to a Bird Mart and bought another budgie. It was an hour drive to get there and then another hour to get home. This budgie is a 4 month old hand fed boy (I hope). He was sure tuckered out so I let him sleep. It must have felt like a long day to him. He is currently in quarantine in a separate cage in a separate room from Benu for now.

Dutch White Clover: Day 14

2008-08-10T15:25:00.000-07:00

Looks like we got some clover looking leaves now. I wonder how good it will look in another week.

Dutch White Clover: Day 7

Dutch White Clover: Day 7

2008-08-03T05:18:00.000-07:00

There was a tiny shoot at Day 2 and it has progressed this far to Day 7. I wonder when it starts to get flowers. This pot is kept indoors on my desk top with a full spectrum bulb. I also have another pot outside on my mostly shady patio to see if there is a difference in growth.

Dutch White Clover: Day 1

Benu's Mash Mix

2008-08-03T05:03:00.000-07:00

Here is an example of the mash mix Benu gets. I first started with sprouting the legumes, then the grains. Below are the list of ingredients:
1 Tablespoon each of Mung, Adzuki, and Lentils
2 Tablespoon each of Rye Berries and Quinoa
1 Tablespoon each of Couscous and Amaranth

That makes 3 Tablespoons of sprouted legumes, 4 Tablespoons of sprouted grains, and 2 Tablespoons of cooked grains. For the mash, the legumes where sent through a food processor so Benu doesn't pick around them.

Then came the vegetables in 2 parts. The dark leafy greens and other vegetables. For dark leafy greens I added: Collard Greens, Kale, Mustard Greens, Chard, and Dandelion Greens. For the other vegetables I added: Carrot, Peas, Corn, Sweet Potato, Acorn Squash, Butternut Squash, Tomato, Red Pepper, and Broccoli.

The vegetables were also sent through the food processor and froze them (dark leafy greens were frozen flat in a zip lock bag and the other vegetables where first frozen in the ice cube tray before being put in zip lock bags).

When I thawed my birds food, I took out 2 cubes of legume/grain mash, 1 cube of vegetables, and some leafy greens. To serve, I line the bottom of his bowl with those before putting a generous portion of the mash and any fruit toppers. (I don't really give fruits often.)

Sprouting Jar

2008-08-02T06:51:00.000-07:00

My first post here was of a small sprouter I made using a yogurt lid and plastic crafting grid cut to fit. This sprouter works great when I only want to sprout a small amount, but when I want more, then here is what I use.

I use 16 oz Ball Platinum Wide Jars, which come 4 to a pack from Walmart. I then buy the lids from the heath store. They were meant for a larger capacity jar, but fit perfect on these Ball Wide jars.

When I am done soaking, I use a small container I had to hold the jar at an angle. This system has been working out great for me so far. I plan to buy another pack of the Ball Wide jars plus some more sprout lids. It is good to have extra handy for those times I have to sprout lots of different types of grains, legumes, and seeds for the batch making times.

Dutch White Clover: Day 1

2008-07-28T13:59:00.001-07:00

I got my Dutch White Clover seeds from urawinr on eBay. (She has them at a great price and was very helpful to me.) After picking some white clovers and offering them to Benu, I decided to frow some of my own. Heck, I am already growing some dandelions (which are barely coming out right now). I need to get chickweed too... but that is for another post.

I am going to keep track of the clover's growth. This should be interesting to watch.

Doing Good

2008-07-28T07:59:00.000-07:00

Here is an update on Benu. It has almost been a month since I got him. He doesn't seem to be moulting anymore though, but I can be wrong. He lost 2 flight feathers and grew only 2 new ones back. I thought he should have lost all his flight feathers...

He eats his mash well as you can tell from his face. I see him trying different items. I have just introduced sprouted alfalfa, fenugreek, and clovers. He doesn't seem interested in them yet.

He still needs work on stepping up. He prefers the comfort of his own cage, which I can understand. I should provide an out of cage play area which I can use for his foraging activity on my days off. I think he needs more stimulation than staying in the cage.

Messy Boy

2008-07-18T06:33:00.000-07:00

Benu is sure messy when eating his mash. You can see from the picture that he does dig in. I bet he is searching for the sprouted seeds in the mix more than trying out the other stuff in it, but at least he is digging in. With time he will surely realize more of the mix is food as well and enjoy himself even more. Doesn't he look cute.

More Pictures

2008-07-11T12:20:00.000-07:00

I have been trying to figure out what color mutation Benu is, but it is still confusing. I thought him to be a gray, but I am reading that grays aren't all that common and most are actually mauve. So either way, he is probably mauve. Keep in mind, the pictures below may not be 100% accurate. The color of the face streak is not accurate and looks more gray blue in real life. His pictures I used flash. So here he is...

Here is his mash I made for him today. I made a ton of it...haha Next time I will do a smaller batch since this one will last a while. The ingrediets are cooked couscous, sprouted wheat, sprouted rye, sprouted barley, sprouted mung, sprouted lentils, sprouted adzuki, sprouted parakeet seed mix, and assorted vegetables (from Beak Appetit Veggie mix). The grains and legumes were sent through the food processor to mash it all together. Doesn't it look yummy?

He has a name...

2008-07-10T18:11:00.000-07:00

My little bird is now named. He is called BENU, an egyptian god.

Here are some new pictures of his also. They were taken yesterday. There is one of his current cage set-up, the cage cover I made for his cage, and of him perching on my finger.

I have been working on hand taming him lately. As long as I move my finger slowly in his cage towards him, he will not run. I place my finger against his chest as I ask him to "up up". When I start to move with him on my finger he does panic a little. Most of the time I put him back on another perch, but sometimes I take him out. I need to work on getting him more comfortable about getting out of his cage since he seems to panic a bit on that still.

He has been eating better now. He eats his morning and evening mash a little. He loves his seeds the most, but it has been days since he has had dry seeds. They are all sprouted now. I am working on sprouting some mash for him instead of cooking them. It will take time to figure out when to start sprouts so I can make a batch of mash at a time and freeze the extra for future use. He has been eating Beak Appetit Apple Carrot Harvest for the past few days/nights.

My order from EucProducts in CA came a few days ago. I placed a custom order to get 2 branches, chew sticks, leaves (on sticks), and gum nuts. He worked with me to get me what I wanted. I plan to place orders again in the future.

I like the idea of the cage being more natural instead of filled with lots of plastic colorful unnatural stuff. I plan to turn my birds cage into a huge foraging activity. He will eventually get a play gym too which will be another foraging and exploring area.

Molting?

2008-07-06T14:55:00.000-07:00

It looks like my little boy might be molting. Yesterday I thought there was more feathers around than normal. I found one of his flight feathers (cut one). He also has quills on top of his head where new feathers are. So he will be losing his barring. I guesstimate he is 4 months old so now I can decide his birthday. His birthday will be March 1st, 2008.

I was hoping for him to molt later since this means he will be growing new flight feathers. It is rather unfortunate that his current wing cut is horrible. Too many feathers were taken which causes him to just be able to flutter around hopelessly instead of glide. I wanted to hand tame him before he molted so I can let his wing feathers grow out. This way he can learn to fly properly and then give him a better cut. We will have to see how things go.

At least he is eating better. He seems to be eating some of the mash he gets. I offer him more sprouted seeds than dried ones since he takes them that way now. I do need to mince his vegetables up and mix it into his mash better. I plan to go to the health store this week to buy a few more foods for him.

As of yet, he still has no name. It has been very difficult to decide what fits him.

My sprouter

2008-07-03T05:19:00.000-07:00

Since I have only 1 budgie, I don't need big costly sprouting kits. I only need to sprout a little at a time, so I used items I had to come up with a solution. I went through a few trials and errors until I got what I am using now.

Materials:
- The Lid portion of the Breyer's YoCrunch Yogurt. The section the candy is kept.
- Plastic mesh cut into a circle to fit inside the lid above. Normal grid is all you need and will keep small budgie seeds inside the container. You can probably use the wider mesh if you want more drainage for bigger items.
- Seeds, legumes, or grains you want to sprout. Larger beans will not fit and only small quantity does fit in this set-up.
- GSE (Grapefruit Seed Extract) **NOTE: I no longer use GSE anymore. I use a little ACV (Apple Cider Vinegar) now.**

To make sprouts I just place the seeds I want to sprout in the lid then cover with the mesh. I hold the mesh down while rinsing (pour water in and pour it back out). When clean, I leave enough water to emerge the seeds and add a drop of GSE (Grapefruit Seed Extract) for soaking. Then go about normal sprouting procedures.

The plus side is, you can use the bottom part of the yogurt cup as pots for growing wheatgrass or other plants. You can even use it with the lid for a mini green house. Nifty.

New little budgie

2008-07-03T04:58:00.000-07:00

I have been looking for the perfect budgie for over a month when my eyes finally fell upon my little boy. I have wanted a gray one for a long time and couldn't believe my luck. Since I wanted a boy, I had to check his cere. Twice I confirmed it had some blue near the nostrils. To top things off, he didn't bite when he was caught (twice) and actually perched on my finger (scared of course) while store sales person got a box for him. So my perfect little budgie came home with me.

He spent a long time not moving from the branch I placed him in the cage, but when I stepped out to do grocery shopping, I found him on the other side of the cage at his food dish. I guess he got hungry. There he spent the rest of the night and most of the next day. Near his food dish.

I found him in the morning is another part of his cage near the bottom. And there he will probably be for a while, until I leave the room I suppose. He seems to like to do most of his activity when no one is looking.

He did sing a small song yesterday night when his covers were put on. It was so cute.

Here is a picture of his cage and one of him taken yesterday.