Depression Recovery

Question:

folks, with uncanny Daughter Tongue tradition (ie, not doing things normally), i managed to come down with a slight case of tonsilitis 5 days before my wedding.  why this suprises me, i have no idea. anyways, after visiting the doctor and getting my medication (amoxicillin), i bought lots of veggies to make a great big soup (soup cures anything from tonsilitis to colds to broken arms (you have to soak them, you know) to unpaid bills to holes in the ozone layer, etc.).  so there i was, chopping up my leeks, bringing my soup to a boil, when i heard this <scratch!><scratch!> sound.  looking around, i saw that angus, YC macaw, had disappeared into the large brown paper shopping bag and was trying to chop on the shadows of my fingers busying around the kitchen. gad, he loved that paper bag!  i couldn’t get him out of it.  then inspiration struck – if he likes it so much, let’s make a nest out of it next to my computer!  (‘fess up now, wouldn’t all of you had thought that?) i have to admit, it adds an unusual dimension to my terminal keyboard…. — %%   The Speaking Tongue, AT&T   %%  C Code.  C Code Run.  Run, Code, RUN! %%

Response:

Hi all.  I need some advice.  I have an 8-month old male budgie and my husband and I are just getting him to get used to us (sitting on our shoulders etc). My problem is that we both work long hours, so JollyMon is alone for most of the day.  I feel really guilty about leaving him all alone by himself.  I would like to get another budgie to keep him company (plus I would like another bird around for me to play with also!).  My husband is not so keen on the idea since he thinks that if JollyMon has another bird around to play with, he’ll ignore us and won’t be as social with us humans.  Plus, we haven’t gotten him talking to us yet.  I know alot of people in this group have multiple birds and I was hoping that someone would tell me a little bit about their experiences with getting that "second" bird.  So you all, what do you think? Thanks, Indra

Response:

>Hi all.  I need some advice.  I have an 8-month old male budgie and my husband >and I are just getting him to get used to us (sitting on our shoulders etc). >My problem is that we both work long hours, so JollyMon is alone for most of >the day.  I feel really guilty about leaving him all alone by himself.  I >would like to get another budgie to keep him company (plus I would like >another bird around for me to play with also!).  My husband is not so keen on >the idea since he thinks that if JollyMon has another bird around to play >with, he’ll ignore us and won’t be as social with us humans.  Plus, we haven’t >gotten him talking to us yet.

Indra, Sally and I have two Budgies and a Timneh.  The first bird we got of this trio was a cobalt blue Budgie we named Bogie.  We had him for four years and entertained the idea of getting another Budgie thoughout the period.  He is a very outgoing, curious, talkative, playful, intelligent, in short the apple of our eye.  We had many worries about getting a second bird.  We didn’t want to ose his affection to a rival.  During those four years we developed a very close bond with him.  Our desire for a second bird came to head about two years ago. We were re-reading our Budgie books, the specific sections about having more than one bird.  One Sunday, I was working out with weights in the bedroom with the door closed and my wife came in and closed the door behind her (When we do these activities, cleaning, vacuuming etc. the birds are in their cages or unable to be in the same room with us). Anyway, I keep lifting weights and Sally resumed the discussion about a second bird.  While we were doing this Bogie was outside the door and as we talked we could see is little feet and legs as he paced back and forth waiting for us to let him in.  We are convinced that he was aware that we were manking a momentous decision that would affect his future.  Part of what we talked about was iformation from total strangers that we got at local pet store that weekend. One man said that he got a second bird for a Budgie that was already established with his family and the original little guy maintained his bond with the humans and enjoyed having a new little friend to play with. . We did get the second Budgie and have not regretted it.  We named her Ridley and she and Bogie tear up the skys of our apartment.  These birds have "The Right Stuff".  The chase each other, fake each out, and sometimes Bogie will land on our shoulder and hide from Ridley’s view and peak around our heads and see if she is following.  They buzz us and drag their feet through our hair.  Smiles all around. . I recommend getting a second Budgie, BUT, and there is a BUT, I can’t give you a good time frame as to when the most stratgic time would be to add to your family.  We had Bogie four years and he was already talking after 4 or 5 months of age.  We got him when he was about six weeks old.  He still speaks English, but Ridley never has.  She speaks Budgese very well and has a pretty voice.  She is devoted to Bogie and finds us humans a tolerable puzzle.  We do keep them in seperate cages at night because Bogie needs his rest and she stresses him to much when he can’t get away from her.  When we are gone for the day they are also in the seperate houses.  When we are home and not excercising, etc. they are let out to play and share the apartment with us.  BTW thier cages are kept side by side. . If you get the 2nd Budgie I recommend not putting the little guy in the same cage until your family adjusts to its new member.  You may not have to keep the 2nd cage after a while, our circumstance is that Bogie has a congenital kidney problem and needs to have time to himself. . Our third bird, the Timneh, is supervised more than the Budgies, and we discourage interaction between him and the Budgies.  He does not have flight.  We just got him two months ago and he is almost 5 months old. . If you don’t have the book, "The New Parakeet Handbook" by Birmelin and Wolter, your nearest pet store should have it.  It’s one of the best guides for many of your birds needs and it has some information that is specific to having a second bird. . Good luck.                             People are birds too! . Dana .

Response:

><scratch!><scratch!> sound.  looking around, i saw that angus, YC macaw, >had disappeared into the large brown paper shopping bag and was >trying to chop on the shadows of my fingers busying around the kitchen.

About six years ago Sally and I made our trek to a pet store to get a parakeet.  Little did we know that indeed what we wanted was a "Budgie".  We knew enough from reading that we wanted a baby just weaned and had called around until we found a store that said that they had one left from a clutch of five and that he was 5 and half weeks old.  His sister had been sold an hour earlier.  We dashed to the store where he had just been put into a flight cage with twenty older birds.  The store keeper fished(?) him out the cage for us and while clipping his wings told us that he was kind of  "dumb, well nooo, peculiar!" We didn’t have a cage and the one they wanted to sell us we knew we could get cheaper at another store so we left with Bogie in a brown paper bag that had holes punched into it with a pen.  Sally had the bag in her lap all the way to the other store and home.  He would bop the inside of the bag with his head and chirp.  I swear it seemed like he was giving the side of the bag a karate kick.  The bag was the size of a lunch bag.  When we got him home and let him out he jumped up onto Sally’s finger and chirped. That was the three day finger training process that the pet book told us about done by Bogie in three tenths of a second.  "Dumb?" . Now, every time I see a brown paper lunch bag I smile secretly because I know what treasures they contain. . BTW Sally and I were married 8-7-87 and we bought Bogie with some of our wedding money.  The song should be changed, "Love, AND BIRDS, and marriage go together". . Dana . P.S. Sorry to hear your under the weather with tolsilitis. – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text ->i have to admit, it adds an unusual dimension to my terminal >keyboard…. >– >%%   The Speaking Tongue, AT&T   %%  C Code.  C Code Run.  Run, Code, RUN! %%

Response:

>gotten him talking to us yet.  I know alot of people in this group have >multiple birds and I was hoping that someone would tell me a little bit about >their experiences with getting that "second" bird.  So you all, what do you >think?

I went through the exact same debate and ended up getting that second bird for my budgie.  It wasn’t the greatest idea.  First, he stopped most of his playing which I was so entertained by, in favor of dominating the other bird.  Also, the other bird got mine sick (they both recovered). They also made more noise together.  Unfortunately, the second bird wasn’t too happy (never got used to me, was usually harassed by the original cage occupant) and died.  He was of undetermined age, so he might have lived out a normal life span, but I doubt it. Currently, my guy lives alone.  He didn’t seem to go through any depression, and now plays again.  And, I don’t feel bad for another bird having to put up with his dominant behavior.  I also don’t want budgies my whole life, so I’d have to stop replacing them eventually… Keep your pet entertained (mine derives plenty of company from a mirror and tons of things to chew on) and I think he’ll be OK solo.  On the other hand, in the wild they live in huge flocks. Up to you…

Response:

> >gotten him talking to us yet.  I know alot of people in this group have >multiple birds and I was hoping that someone would tell me a little bit about >their experiences with getting that "second" bird.  So you all, what do you >think? > I went through the exact same debate and ended up getting that > second bird for my budgie.  It wasn’t the greatest idea.  First, > he stopped most of his playing which I was so entertained by, in > favor of dominating the other bird.  Also, the other bird got > mine sick (they both recovered).

It’s a really good idea to quarantine new birds in a separate room for a few weeks so you can eliminate the possibility of introducing disease into your current bird population.  It also gives you a chance to get acquainted with the new bird. > They also made more noise together.  Unfortunately, the second > bird wasn’t too happy (never got used to me, was usually harassed > by the original cage occupant) and died.  He was of undetermined > age, so he might have lived out a normal life span, but I doubt > it.

After you’re sure the new bird is disease-free, move the new bird’s cage close to the other birds and let the birds chat from a distance for a while.  If you want them to become cage mates, make sure that you supervise their early meetings.  If they squabble, separate them! I’m very careful about introducing new birds into my aviary; I have even had good luck with species who don’t ordinarily get along.  I keep finches, not hookbills, but I think the principles are the same.   > Keep your pet entertained (mine derives plenty of company from a > mirror and tons of things to chew on) and I think he’ll be OK > solo.  On the other hand, in the wild they live in huge flocks. > Up to you…

Keeping birds entertained helps in mixed-bird situations, too.  I had a feather-pulling black-headed nun.  Adding spray millet and changing the aviary plants stopped the nun from terrorizing his mate. — Heather Madrone

Response: