upatsix.com - Your Source For Pet Bird Information

I haven't been on here for quite a while, unfortunately I lost my babies about Christmas time. Whiskey was about 7mnths and India about 12mnths. I was looking after a dog for a few days that was fascinated by them and kept jumping at the cage so I put them into the spare room and shut the door whenever the dog was in the house. I left the door closed when I went out one day and came home to find them both dead (middle of summer and the room got incredibly hot).

I have been thinking about getting some more and ended up with some babies after I spoke to my uncle yesterday morning. He has always bred budgies but it turns out he now has tiels too. Something (cat?) got into the aviary on Sat night and all but 2 babies were dead or escaped (the mothers of both were dead). He was going to start handraising them but I've now taken over as I am home alot more and have experience with hand rearing. I also have some doubts about my uncle's birdkeeping skills...

No idea on gender at this stage. My gut says the older is male and the younger is female but I have absolutely nothing to base that on. Kinda like pregnant women dreaming about what sex their child is, its just a feeling. He had been handling them regularly which makes things much easier.

Malibu. Is showing interest in seed sprinkled on the floor, can fly short distances, loves to snuggle and really friendly.




Coconut. Also a snuggler.




Both in the makeshift nestbox

berocca wrote:I left the door closed when I went out one day and came home to find them both dead (middle of summer and the room got incredibly hot).... Something (cat?) got into the aviary on Sat night and all but 2 babies were dead or escaped (the mothers of both were dead).

I'm too horrified and heart-sickened by this awful news to celebrate your new birds just yet How hot did it get in the room Whiskey and India died in?

So sorry to hear about the loss of your babies. Your new babies are BEAUTIFUL!!! How lucky for them that you were there for them when they needed it most. Do my eyes deceive me? they don't look like they have red eyes!

I was very surprised to find them dead, that's for sure. The avian vet couldn't find anything medically wrong with them but said she saw alot of bird deaths in summer from the heat. The bedroom was very hot and stuffy when I got home and their water was warm. Whiskey was still alive but only just, he drank a little from an eye dropper but died soon after.

I certainly didn't expect it to get that hot in there, even though it was the middle of summer (Im in Australia). There is no way I would have put them in there if I thought it was dangerous to them. The window was open but because Id forgotten to open the door when I left there wouldn't have been any air flow through the room. I felt so guilty for a long time afterwards, they were much too young to die. Took 6 months for me to consider getting some more birds.

I don't really know the whole story from this weekend. My uncle came out in the morning to find the aviary door open, a few feathers scattered around the yard and most of the adults gone. The hens were on the floor but weren't bloodied, he assumes they stayed to protect their babies. The nest boxes were on the floor and most of the babies were dead. He has left the aviary open for now (no more birds anyway) hoping that some may return. He has shooed away a wandering cat many times, it has always shown great interest in the birds. Not exactly sure how it got the door open though, its possible one of the grandkids didn't lock it properly. The budgie aviary was fine.

The eyes are red, but very dark, especially the older one. His look almost black, they only look red with certain light.

It's easy to understand your being so devastated. I've heard often that caged birds have a much harder time adapting to heat than cold. I keep what seems like a factory of air conditioning units, fans, hygrometers, and sprinklers to keep my flock as comfortable as I can in our sometimes extreme heat. I was hoping you knew how hot was too hot, although it would likely not be helpful information to many of us because so much would depend on the bird's size, health, air flow, and humidity. Incredibly sad nonetheless. I'm so sorry for all these tragic deaths of innocent birds

maybe you should invest in an AC unit for where you put your birds.
When I lived in my first small house it was bloody hot in the summer. I could tolerate it but I noticed my budgies were suffering (wings spread and panting)so i bought a small window unit for about $100.00 on sale for THE BIRDS!

They were usually in the living room in that house and it was a pretty open plan type house. It didn't get that hot in that room, and there was a good AC in there for when it got really hot. I was looking after a dog for a few days that kept jumping at the cage and frightening them so I put them into the spare room. At night the dogs came inside so I was shutting the bedroom door then opening it in the morning when the dogs went outside. One morning I had to rush out (my sister was in an accident) and I didn't even think about the birds and cat (who had to be locked in the other room at night so the dog would leave her alone). I came home after spending the day at the hospital to find the birds on the cage floor.

That sounds like me (re the AC). Years ago I noticed my budgie and Tiel at the time looking a little hot in the house we were in (renting means moving around a lot) and I went out and bought one of those window ones just for the birds. My OH at the time thought I was completely nuts, but it was a particularly hot summer and there was no way I was going to make my birds suffer

I was lucky enough to be living down the road (about 1min) from an Avian vet. Whiskey didn't last that long though. I have since moved but I'm still only about 10-15mins away so Im pretty lucky. My local vet breeds budgies and lorrikeets so at least knows more than the average one if its really urgent.

My uncle, well, what was it I was saying about his bird keeping skills? Pretty much he just has a large aviary full of birds with some nest boxes in there When he ends up with too many birds he gives them away to family and friends, although sometimes people approach him to buy a baby. I didn't even know he had tiels so it would be something he got into within the last few years. To have 2 whiteface lutinos from different clutches suggests to me that there are some pretty close breedings happening there. Who knows what genetics are going on there