Baby Budgie: Day 28

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.