upatsix.com - Your Source For Pet Bird Information

Hi,
I'm looking for a home for my budgie Zyler. She's (I believe it's a female) approximately 3 and a half years old. My elderly mother has COPD and the little bit of bird dander that parakeets naturally give off is making it difficult for her to breathe. My mom has lots of allergies and serious illnesses and I moved back home to take care of her and of course, Zyler came with me.

Zyler is special needs...well, kind of. She must have been hen-pecked as a baby because she doesn't have much of a tail. However, it's an extremely cute look. That short little tail makes her look even smaller than she is. Also, she used to have a cage-mate, but we came home one day about a year and a half ago to find her cage-mate had suffered some sort of injury and had an odd uncontrollable repetitive movement. We rushed her to the avian vet, and he said it did seem like a neurological (head injury?) problem although he couldn't be certain. He said the prognosis wasn't good so we had him put Blueberry (that was her name) under anesthesia and then euthanize her. I'm telling you this because there is always a chance that Zyler injured her, therefore Zyler can NEVER be caged with another bird. Just as well for her because she eats attention with a spoon and will compete for it readily.

Having said all that, she really is a special little girl, and not just any home will do. She comes with a nice cage, a hang-up heating pad for chilly times, toys, supplies, accessories and is very spoiled. She likes watching the nick jr. channel on medium volume if no one's home and if there's music on the tv and you change the channel she'll let you know she wants you to change it back. Of course, once the music stops she'll allow you to change the channel just fine, lol ). She has a hamster wheel mounted in the top center of her cage that she's ADDICTED to. She spins on the outside of it for fun and sleeps inside of it at night. She's not quite hand-tame but does occassionally like to give kissies through the front bars of her cage. The more we work with her the tamer she seems to become but we haven't had a lot of time with family obligations. If you live in the area and could give her a responsible, loving home please contact me as soon as possible. Thanks so much for your time.

I forgot to mention that you should be able to see her cere in the attached photo. I have some slight color blindness and have never been able to sex budgies with that method, so perhaps an experienced budgie owner can view the photo and let me know. Thanks.

Deffinitely a hen! Hope you are able to find her a home!

I just HAD to post a quick pic of Zyler sitting on top of her cage and giving kissies

I hate to say it but as cute as that appears, it's not healthy for birds to preen or touch our mouths with their beaks. Our mouths are full of bacteria that can make the birds sick, so I would suggest not allowing her to touch your mouth or anything your mouth has come into contact with.

Dont worry, I never let her near me if I have a cold, flu, or even sniffles from allergies since allergies can weaken your immune system & make you more susceptible to illness. I appreciate your concern but it's unwarranted. I would never do anything to jeopardize her health.

actually as far as I know birds can not catch human colds but what MFids means is that you should never let a bird come into contact with the saliva in your mouth as human bacteria can cause birds to become ill.......
These bacteria are always present in your mouth and have nothing to do with colds and the flu.

Well stated Claudia. The same goes for the saliva of cats and dogs as well, the ever present bacteria can kill a bird just by ingesting it. This is also why you should never allow a bird to eat from your plate or drink from your glass either. Instead, make their own plate and give them a small glass of their own if you let them eat at the table with you.

Well, from research I've done it is my understanding that birds CAN catch some illnesses from humans and vice versa (at least that's what an article written by an avian vet stated). THAT SAID, I do NOT share my food/plate/glass or anything else that has been in contact with my saliva with my bird. As you can see from the photo my mouth is dry and closed. That is not by accident. I'm sure, however, that you will find fault with this anyway. But since I have kept birds for years and have always given the occassional 'dry kiss' and have NEVER had a bird become ill, I'm completely confident the practice is safe for the bird. Your opinions are noted.

I don't mean to be a bother. Birds can appear healthy but still be sick from an infection. A fecal test can rule out bacterial or fungal infections in the GI tract which are most common. My a-vet once told me of a bird she treated and no matter how many meds the bird was given for any length of time, the bird could not drop the infection. As it turns out, the owners were giving the bird kisses. Even if your lips are dry, there could be dry saliva on your lips.

She is gorgeous and I hope you are able to find her a home.

At first I felt there was a lot of rudeness, but I see now I was being overly sensitive. It's apparent to me now that even at risk of upsetting me, your only concern is the best of health for my bird. That's actually pretty wonderful. I may sound like a novice at times but I'm actually quite knowledgeable about birds. Several years ago when I took a rescue tiel with giardia and fatty liver disease I did research on the web for almost a year straight. I learned how to notice the slightest change in behavior and what body language indicates which illness (i.e. bobbing of the tail indicating respiratory distress/infection). I learned how to make 'pellet pancakes', steam veggies with garlic, the whole kit-and-kaboodle. I was, in fact, a 'bird slave'. I actually used to be a regular fixture on the tiel and finch chats. I still don't know that I agree that it's dangerous. I'll have to give it some very serious thought. Thanks.

Thank you for taking the time to understand that we really do want the best for the birds, even if that means upsetting the owner. There are a lot of us who have owned birds for many years, and it used to be that everyone thought it was fine to kiss their birds. It is a hard habit to break as well.

I do know what pacifies my oldest cockatiel that wants kisses. I put his beak up to the side of my nose and make kissing noises. This makes him feel like he is getting the same attention, without the contact of my mouth on his feathers. Tweety has never gotten sick from the kisses, but now that I know better, I don't take the chance that he could.

good lord! you mean Tweety is 22 ?!!!!!!!!!! Is he/she a normal grey? I'm just curious because I've heard that certain cockatiel mutations can have a shorter life span, like with my Baby. I got her when she was 6 and managed to give her two more years of quality life before I had to have her anesthetized and euthanized. She was a whiteface cinnamon pied, although she simply looked like an albino without the red eyes. of course, who knows how much longer she could have lived without the giardia and fatty liver disease she acquired with her previous owner. Anyway, you have some OLD tiels there and I'm just curious what their mutations are......oh wait, I just looked at the photos and it seems like your tiels are either pieds or whitefaces but never both. That probably cuts way down on certain inborn health risks. But no doubt their long lives are mainly due to superb care. They are so so beautiful. I miss my tiel.

Yes, Tweety is 22, and he is the heavy pied. I do have one normal, Unix, but she has severe kidney disease due to bad advice from a vet, and probably poor genes. The other two tiels I have to guess at their ages. I know I'm pretty close due to how long they were at previous "homes" and I may have made them younger than they really are. I do know that Ash, the whiteface, carries the lutino gene from my one expierence breeding, but I don't know how carrying the gene affects health, if it does at all.

With all animals, I believe there are some genetic problems due to a degree of inbreeding, but I do believe that we can continue to give them a good quality (and long) life by keeping up with the research, and paying attention to how certain things affect each individual bird/animal.

Actually, my research in the past has indicated that being whiteface or lutino can affect their health/lifespan, not necessarily that it will. And the only reason this is possible is because certain mutations often start off as being at least somewhat inbred. That's usually how they create new mutations in the very beginning is by breeding together some specimens that are related in some way. But having said that, lutinos and whitefaces can have really wide gene pools if bred properly, but the potential for inbreeding by irresponsible people is greater for these mutations than for normal greys. But even normal greys can be inbred, although it's much less likely. So basically poor health in the unusual mutations would only be a problem in general if there is inbreeding :o). I still can't believe you have a 22 year old tiel. I love the photos of him. He's AMAZING. I just wanna kiss him....oops...I mean snuggle lol :o).