Does anyone else on the forum keep these gorgeous little birds? :lovehearts:
They are hard to come across in the UK and seem to be out of favor with aviary keepers who prefer splendids, red rumps and elegants :shrug:
I have 1 adult pair and 2 young hens, one who dropped her tail a few weeks ago during transport here but already 2 ickle biddy feathers are growing back.
They are just caged together in here temporarily. I have some breeder boxes arriving in a few weeks for them. I'll find mates for the two females (sisters) but I'll wait until they are older as I'm not in a rush right now and they are apparently only 4-5 months old :thumbsup:
Still learning the mutations but as far as I am aware yes, 3 are red fronted or full red fronted and the other is just normal with a decent amount of red (it varies through selective breeding apparently)
ooh! i used to have a male scarlet chested but it flew away on the nov 5th 2012 ... they are beautiful birds and you can watch their colours change! i love these birds but they run really fast!
I have kept these in the past. Lovely birds reallyiss mine. Have some pictures somewhere I kept normals.
During breeding season you need to keep them separate as they fight and keep them indoors over winter and be mindful of their food condition as they are very susceptible to bacteria infections in the crop.
How are their temperaments so far? I am looking for a new bird that might get along well with my English Budgie around the house and I read online that they can be a little temperamental sometimes. Just wondering what the perspective was from an actual owner They are so beautiful!
I think all the Neophemas (Turquoisines, Scarlet Chested, etc) can be a bit nervous as a finger bird unless hand-fed as babies by people. Their nature is to be a bit jumpy and wing-clipping will not help this if they are fearful of people (i.e. they will run away from you if they cannot fly). Having said that, I did have a very tame Scarlet Chested in the past. He was an older hand-fed baby - he took a while to bond with me but he become very friendly eventually. I have another one now that was pulled for hand-feeding very late. He is tame in that he will occasionally fly over to me but he is pretty independent and will not step up on my finger, when I want him to, like my other one.
As CatalinaDee (Daisy) suggested, a hand-fed Bourke Parakeet might be a good friend for your English Budgie. In my own limited experience, they are more easily tamed than a Neophema. This may be their nature or might be because they have more generations in captivity. One thing I have noticed is a Neophemas reaction to being scared is most often flight whereas Bourkes tend to "freeze" and maybe this has something to do with them being easier to tame?
Both Neophemas and Bourkes are very non-aggressive and this may be important when considering a friend for an English Budgie, which in my observation, are pretty laid back - more so than regular Budgies. A Cockatiel would probably work as well, as they are generally calm with other calm birds. But I would personally avoid a Parrotlet, Lovebird, or Conure, if your goal is to have a bird that would interact safely with your Budgie. All three can be aggressive at times and might pester or even injure your Budgie. I've seen Budgies with their toes bitten off that were caged next to Lovebirds - they went over to say "hi" to the Lovebirds and the Lovebirds bit them through the bars! I'm not saying a Budgie having "out of the cage time" with a Parrotlet, Lovebird, or Conure cannot work - I know things sometimes work out - but that there is a risk to your Budgie. You would need to supervise things.
I adore Bourke's!! Never had one, as they are hard to find in my area, but I've heard good things about them and they are just so pretty.
And temperament-wise, you can't beat a hand-fed cockatiel. People generally say tiels and budgies don't mix, but it can work with a more laid-back budgie.
I'd not reccomend them as a pet unless hand reared to be honest. They are beautiful and pretty quiet but VERY skittish. To the point I reccomend untame for avairys only and am actually in the process of rehoming mine. The youngsters are a lot more laid back but can still stress when you go in the cage to change food and water. The adults just freak out over the smallest thing and in turn set the youngsters off.
When startled they fly around in a blind panic and it's dangerous in a small space
I was moving them into tiel sized breeding boxes but considering how jumpy they are I have decided they would be happier outdoors.
Love the Turqs and Scarlets. They are quite common and easy to find here in Australia but still one of my faves! Just so peaceful!
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