Iggy and Ollie

[Saerphe]

I hesitate to call them MY budgies, as they might only be with me temporarily...

http://saerphe.deviantart.com/#/d3dg3so

Anyway, this is Iggy (green) and Ollie (cinnamon blue). They're rescue birds; their previous owner kept them in her closet, so I offered to take them off her hands. I picked them up to take them to the animal shelter on Tuesday, but I forgot that they're closed on Tuesdays. Oops.

So I had to bring them home overnight. I was going to take them to the animal shelter after school yesterday, but Mom and Dad said I could keep them for a couple days to see if they liked them. So they're living here on a trial period. They aren't really dusty, so they're not aggravating Dad's asthma and allergies and so as long as I feed, clean, and work at resocializing them, I might be able to keep them. At least 'till I go to university anyway.

I can get pretty close to the cage without startling them, as long as I don't make any sudden movements, but they won't take food from me yet. It's only day three with them though, so baby steps.

[GlassOnion]

Woohoo! Pretty birds!

*Again angry / unable to comprehend WHY people lock up their pets in the closet *

[Margaret]

Good for the birds that you took action and rescued them!
I really hope you'll be able to keep them
How in the world somebody could even think about putting birds in the closet...
Anyway- good luck!

[Saerphe]

Thanks! I don't know either.

They're settling in pretty well now. For the last couple days they just sat on the top perch of the cage, chirping and looking around like they weren't sure what to make of all this. We had a TV dinner in the living room tonight (where their cage is) and they just started preening really vigorously and devouring the treat bar. Ollie still avoids the nail file perch, but Iggy is quite happily hopping on and off.

Thus far, Iggy seems like the laid-back, relaxed one. He's kind of taking it all in stride. Ollie's more active, but is more flighty too. He startles a lot more easily than Iggy, but seems to be following Iggy's lead... he didn't start eating the treat bar until Iggy did, hehe.

I'm glad they're starting to get more comfortable in a family situation. They seem pretty adaptable so that'll help.

[entrancedbymyGCC]

To embed an image you need the URL for the picture itself. You place that between [ img ] and [ / img ] without the spaces.

So glad they are now "out of the closet"!

[Saerphe]

Thanks for the tip, Entranced. I can't seem to get it to post here from my DeviantArt site, so I'll just leave the link as is.

[zazanomore]

I'm so happy for the budgies!

There's currently a budgie on the wanted ads in my area. She was found in a box in a dumpster, with her wings cut badly. She was extremely thin, and this person had nurtured her back to health. But now she's looking to re-home her, as she never intended to have a bird.

I'm really torn about it. The adoption fee is 100$, as it includes the cage and accessories. If I were to get her, I'd need the cage for quarantine. She is female, so I could possibly have to deal with fighting between her and my female.

Then there's her health. She might have some hidden illness, and I would need to pay for expensive health care. I don't mind paying for my birds health care, because I've already committed to them.

I really want to help her, but to commit to a potentially ill bird...

[kaylayuh]

Those are beautiful budgies! I'm happy their in a better situation now, and I have no idea how anyone can lock something in a closet.

My budgies aren't dusty at all, so I don't think they'd bother your dad's asthma. Even if they are a bit dusty, I'm sure that could be taken care of with daily upkeep. They also love millet, so you may want to try that.

I'm jealous that you got them to eat a treat stick! I've tried all kinds with mine and they refuse to go near it.

Good luck with them!

[GlassOnion]

I'm so happy for the budgies!

There's currently a budgie on the wanted ads in my area. She was found in a box in a dumpster, with her wings cut badly. She was extremely thin, and this person had nurtured her back to health. But now she's looking to re-home her, as she never intended to have a bird.

I'm really torn about it. The adoption fee is 100$, as it includes the cage and accessories. If I were to get her, I'd need the cage for quarantine. She is female, so I could possibly have to deal with fighting between her and my female.

Then there's her health. She might have some hidden illness, and I would need to pay for expensive health care. I don't mind paying for my birds health care, because I've already committed to them.

I really want to help her, but to commit to a potentially ill bird...

If the budgie has been at her house house for a significant amount of time, doesn't that count as a semi quarantine?

[Saerphe]

My budgies aren't dusty at all, so I don't think they'd bother your dad's asthma. Even if they are a bit dusty, I'm sure that could be taken care of with daily upkeep. They also love millet, so you may want to try that.

I'm jealous that you got them to eat a treat stick! I've tried all kinds with mine and they refuse to go near it.

Good luck with them!

Thanks! I'm so glad they're starting to settle in.

Yeah, I think as long as I sweep around the cage and whatnot regularly, that should keep Mom happy. It's mostly feathers and seed husks.

I got some millet for training purposes. I just have to get near enough without startling them so they can eat it. Now that they're beginning to settle, I'll hopefully be able to work on building trust with them. It took them a while to warm up to the treat stick, but once Iggy started eating it, Ollie had to get in on the action too and now it's almost gone!

Zazanomore - That's awful! I'm SO glad she's in safe hands, even if she can't keep her. I had offered to buy the budgies for $50 from their previous owner, in case she wasn't willing to part with them. My friend doesn't have the most stable relationship with her mom, so I wanted to keep the negotiations as peaceful as possible. Even if I couldn't have kept them, at least they'd be out of the closet.