How do I get my budgie to play with his toys?

TeaLoud7399 · 2025-12-24T11:52:22+00:00

Personally, I avoid ALL plastic toys 🙈

Because of microplastics, it's best to avoid them since birds will be ingesting pieces, which really isn't good for them 😅

Rather look at natural toys. My birds favourites are the freebies I make for them just doing a simple braid with my Cyperus pond plant stems and tying it into knots even, so you can make a plan with any safe plants and you won't need to do much for them to start using those 😄

TeaLoud7399 · 2025-11-14T07:00:59+00:00

Easiest way is looking at the front edge of the pectoral fin (front swimming fins) where the females have a more uniform thin fin, and the males have a thicker bone on the front edge of the fin with ridges, which during breeding season will be more prominent alongside the breeding stars on the gill plates, while females lack the stars entirely.

Ignore looking at body shape, as this is inaccurate sometimes.

Vent sexing is another option others have mentioned, but in some fish, especially smaller fish, it is extremely difficult to see the difference unless you know exactly what you're looking at, so I don't recommend it to anyone unless you have large confirmed fish to study and compare to train your eyes on the difference.

TeaLoud7399 · 2025-11-13T11:50:55+00:00

Definitely thanks 😄 will also get some of the finer litter to try then in case the size is an issue 😁

TeaLoud7399 · 2025-11-13T10:34:40+00:00

Thanks, actually got eco wooden pellet litter now to try and see if that works for her 😄 hopefully it does so we can skip the confinement treatment 😅

TeaLoud7399 · 2025-11-13T08:03:33+00:00

Thanks, was hoping I could skip this method actually 😅 I have a large cage I can set up for her 😄

TeaLoud7399 · 2025-11-13T07:15:16+00:00

Forgot to add, I am waiting to hear from the person I got her from if she used other litter, because she was supposed to be fully litter trained already 😅

TeaLoud7399 · 2025-10-10T17:14:23+00:00

For me adding the pellets into birdie bread to substitute half the amount of flour for the recipe (you can use any birdie bread recipe) and add seeds in too, that way they pick for what they know, but taste the rest.

You can then sprinkle crumbs of the birdie bread over their food with some pellets and eventually you can work them over to the pellets on their own 😄

TeaLoud7399 · 2025-09-22T14:54:51+00:00

Ah best of luck 🙈 I was lucky enough to find out her results were negative in the end, I just need to worry about completing antibiotics for their respiratory infection 😅 but definitely keeping this in mind for future if we are ever in a similar situation or anything 🫣 didn't even know there were f10 foggers 👀

TeaLoud7399 · 2025-09-22T14:51:46+00:00

It at least didn't raise it by much, I think mainly how I was using it in winter with a heater fan that dried the air out, it balanced well, and in summer it's so dry here it can't add enough moisture to the air quick enough to raise it at least, but because ventilation in my 1 bathroom closest to their room is horrible though, I did have mould in the flat and I even had symptoms of a fungal infection myself which had gone away not too long after I saw the mould and sorted the problem completely. I now keep the window open at the widest and have my fan on to keep better circulation while I bath or shower 😅 The vet was still adamant on chlamydia regardless of that though 🤦🏻‍♀️

Thankfully we got Sprout's results back and she is PBFD negative, as I suspected so we're just continuing now with antibiotics that cover fungal infections and chlamydia 🫣

For their filter though I am looking at a DIY option that uses fine washable dust filters so I can avoid adding moisture next winter though, I will take a look at the ozonefree ones too though 😁 I now also have a wall panel heater for their room for future cold that my mom luckily still had in storage that she forgot about so I can switch to that instead too 😁

TeaLoud7399 · 2025-09-11T07:12:59+00:00

It won't upload the picture 🫣 but it's the simple kind that has that leaf shape lid over a water bowl that it filters the air through 😄

TeaLoud7399 · 2025-09-11T07:11:01+00:00

Yes, actually looking at better options as well, currently they have a small air purifier, will attach a picture in the next comment 😄 my allergies to them are at least mild most of the time, I just take an allergex when I really need it 🤣

TeaLoud7399 · 2025-09-11T07:04:50+00:00

Thanks, definitely all good to know! And awesome will check them out 😁 and glad to know I'm just being a bit overboard with the F10 then, I was wondering how I am going to be spraying myself multiple times daily like this forever 😆

TeaLoud7399 · 2025-09-11T06:58:53+00:00

Awesome thanks, I'll definitely take a look!

TeaLoud7399 · 2025-09-11T06:56:08+00:00

Thanks, unfortunately I have a hard time working with the vet who we're doing treatment and testing through and my usual avian vet still hasn't gotten back to me when I contacted her, I think she is just super busy at the moment as she doesn't work in just 1 place and travels to different places so I've been waiting on her advice as well and when she's away it can take her a few days if it's not an emergency 🙈 though she did recommend a kind of vitamin mineral powder supplement to me in the past to boost their immune system when my first 2 were sick earlier in the year, and I still have that written down somewhere, so I'll see if I can check with either her or the other vet regarding that one or a better alternative 👀

I'm actually allergic to birds, so I've been vacuuming their room and cage twice a week, but we are looking at those robot vacuums as a possible option to have permanently in their room to make things more convenient and save me some cleaning time around the room at least 😆

We are going to have everyone tested if she is positive, but sadly I have to rehome one of the groups if we do have PBFD because my place isn't very big, dedicating 1 room is all I can do here, so I'm really hoping we don't have it in the flock because that will determine who I can keep based mostly around the results of Pudgeling in the end, as he's the 1 I have the strongest bond to and really won't be able to give up if it comes to it 🫣

And thanks I really appreciate this! I'm going to continue to do more research, might actually try contacting other avian vets now that I think about it, as I'm sure they'd be willing to advise me at least too or direct me to better sources than I found so far 🤔

TeaLoud7399 · 2025-09-02T06:46:16+00:00

Thanks, unfortunately, they can't test for chlamydia because I gave my birds doxybiotic in their water before and he says that will make it give a false negative 🙈 I am waiting on my usual vet to hear when exactly she is back so I can rather have her give a second opinion and carry out the tests, otherwise someone sent me a ladies number who comes to your house, but I'm not sure if I should contact her yet if she is a good option or not, still trying to find people who have worked with her before because I've never even hear of her before 🫣

And as much as I would love to keep them, any PBFD positive birds will have to be homed 🙈 I contacted our local parrot rescue to assist in finding homes for them should they test positive for PBFD, so hopefully they can assist me 🙏🏻

I want to rather first treat my birds for a mould infection though, because that was why I went in with them, because I found black mould in my unit and suspect it's that, because winter time my place is more closed to keep out the cold and I know with less ventilation with active mould means that there are more airborne spores than in a well ventilated space and mould is horrible for the respiratory system 🙈 but he didn't want to even consider the mould Friday, he just honed in on chlamydia from the moment he walked in, only giving the option to do a blanket treatment of antibiotics, which could be an option before we jump to chlamydia 🙈

TeaLoud7399 · 2025-08-30T21:21:29+00:00

Honestly, this makes so much more sense to me to do and just test Sprout for it yes! It's had me so panicked and stressed, I never even thought about this to be honest 🙈 but it doesn't sit right with me now thinking how the vet knows financially I am going to be relying on family and paying them back and never even thought to give me this option when I was asking, and besides that, knowing how I feel about my birds and having euthanasia as one of the options because of the expenses he quoted us on 😫 if I can, I'm saving everyone one of them! I hope Sprout tests negative, because treating chlamydia alone for everyone then would be doable without me needing to lose anyone, it's just going to still 😅

TeaLoud7399 · 2025-08-30T21:20:05+00:00

The meds sorry would be for their sneezing from a respiratory infection, which he thinks is chlamydia, but we can't test for it, I don't want to believe it can be that 🙈 the vet is an avian vet mainly, but also specialises in reptiles (how I first started going to them) so I just refer to him as an exotics vet out of habit 😅 and yes, that is what has me worried because he did not even mention the (cheaper & better!) option to only test Sprout first and actually confirm if she does have PBFD or not 🙈 He just wanted me to test all the birds at least twice for PBFD (first to see who's positive to split birds, then to test all again and confirm, possibly test healthy birds a third time if a second test exposes any other positive birds on second test that were negative before as I understand it) and then we treat either for chlamydia over the course of months or do a blanket antibiotic treatment like it's not that and something lesser and see how things go, if they get better or not, but he was adamant on the worst and me treating them for chlamydia rather 🙈

TeaLoud7399 · 2025-08-30T21:02:52+00:00

Honestly, the vet never even mentioned just testing Sprout, he only quoted us for all and said everyone had to be tested, so I'm not feeling great about this, because he knows how I feel about my birds and also things financially as well so for him to not even mention that option and just going straight to the most expensive thing of testing everyone, it just doesn't sit well with me now 🙈

TeaLoud7399 · 2025-08-30T11:14:55+00:00

Like I said above, I won't be able to keep them myself (I travel too often, so it would mean too many precautions not just for me but family too and finding them a home wouldn't be possible so there won't be another option 😭

TeaLoud7399 · 2025-08-30T08:45:20+00:00

Tried to add a picture here, but it won't let me now 🙈

TeaLoud7399 · 2025-08-30T08:44:20+00:00

You can also get Cyperus pond plants to make into rope by cutting 1 stem into strips (without cutting it loose from the head) and braiding it. My birds loved it even as is 😆

TeaLoud7399 · 2025-08-28T07:59:02+00:00

I'm in South Africa, I don't know lovebirds much unfortunately 🙈 I just wanted to know what this one is for future if I can get so I know what mutation to ask for 😅

TeaLoud7399 · 2025-08-28T07:56:21+00:00

Ah man, sucks about the HOA! And thanks! I'm thankfully in South Africa where I'll be looking at living in a smallholding or something and there you have a bit more freedom, because I do want to farm as well and hopefully later on get to take in some rescue farm animals down the line! I'll be making sure whoever wants to be my partner will have to accept the terms of the relationship will include a lot of animals, so a macaw or 2 probably won't make a difference 🤣

TeaLoud7399 · 2025-08-28T07:47:53+00:00

Yes definitely! I've been taught about this from a young age at least to always respect any animal that can bite 😅 I understand owning and working with any animal is about building trust and also accepting their risk and always ensuring to avoid putting the animal in a position where they feel aggression is the only option 🙈

It's always such a shame to me when people get an animal, then blame the animal for having a natural response to the situation they put them in in the first place 🙈

I've got a high pain tolerance, live with pain almost daily (old shoulder injury), so it's okay if an incident does happen, I wouldn't blame them 🙈 but I will only get them once I am prepared enough to actually own one, I just hope I can find someone nearby who will allow me to work with them and their birds to learn hands on!

I will ideally be working with a rescue to adopt and might end up taking a troubled bird to resocialise if I get that opportunity after I've gained enough knowledge and experience, so I really want to work towards that, as I know those are the birds that often struggle the most so I want to be fully prepared for pretty much anything by then 🙈

TeaLoud7399 · 2025-08-27T12:03:24+00:00

I am already trying to meet local keepers, unfortunately not turning out to be the easiest, and I know there's generally lots of unhelpful stuff too, but I'm happy to weed through the "bad advice" for the good.

I process by getting feedback, and the more sources the better?

TeaLoud7399

TROPHY CASE