New Additions???

It's been a long time since I've written anything in my blog (I told you I wasn't very consistent with this sort of thing). I now have something interesting to write about, so I will try to post something every day.

On Monday, I decided to try and breed a pair of my parakeets (budgies). Back in the Fall I had tried, but the pair I chose (Rodney and Tapell) just weren't interested in each other, so the attempt was fruitless. After returning the pair to the aviary, I decided to watch all of my budgies (I have 9 of them) to see which pair was already bonded. Low and behold, Rodney is bonded to a different female!! Her name is Rosy Cotton (after Samwise Gamgee's wife in the "Lord of the Rings"). Originally I had named her "Frodo", because I thought she was a boy....then her cere turned pink and I knew I had picked the WRONG name, so sticking to the Hobbit theme, I chose Rosy Cotton.

I've decided to keep a daily log of the process.

Day 1. Feb. 15 - They were singing and eating soon after being put in the breeding cage. They were still nervous and flighty and spooked easily.

Day 2. Feb. 16 - They were more relaxed and ate seed, but didn't touch their "soft" food. (In this case, it was cooked plain pasta, corn and raw parsley). Some very exciting news.....Rosy Cotton went into the nest box!!!! This is a very good sign. She also began chewing on the opening on the nest box, which is also a good sign. Female birds are very persnickety about their nests, the chewing shows that she cares what her nest looks like and wants to "make it her own".

Day 3. Feb 17 - They are VERY relaxed. They only get nervous when I reach my hand into the breeding cage to change their "soft" food. They have spent much of the afternoon preening each other and feeding each other. Rosy Cotton has gone into the nest box numerous times, and Rodney sits right outside the opening and even sticks his head inside to talk to her. They are still eating seed and are now eating the "soft" food as well. I have not witnessed any actual mating, but often times you don't.

This is a picture of Rosy Cotton when she was a baby. She looks pretty much the same, only her cere (the part right above her beak) is now a tannish/brown color, and she is bigger. I hand raised her from a baby. Her parents were my very first budgies. Her mom is "Bluey", whom I affectionately call "Mama". Mama is approximately 7 years old, so I no longer breed her. Rosy Cotton's dad is "Spock". Unfortunately, he passed away about 2 years ago.


The green and yellow bird is Rodney. I bought him in a pet store. I also bought the blue bird next to him at the same store. Her name is Teyla. One year ago tomorrow, Teyla died. I can't be certain why she died, but suspect she had night fright and killed herself by running into something in the aviary.

If Rodney and Rosy Cotton lay eggs and then hatch them, I will take pictures along the way and upload them.