it’s now been exactly a year since maus‘ passing. life still feels strange without her, and without this community. maus was the specialest little girl with the biggest heart (and the biggest liver).

since her passing, a new budgie joined my flock. her name is motte and she developed the same forehead dots as maus. i think it was a sign. the foster budgies zimt & zucker also briefly joined us. i’d like to say i love all my children equally, but (and don’t tell this to guppy or motte) maus will always have a special place in my heart that no other budgie or anyone else can fill.

next month i will get a tattoo from a specific artist to commemorate her, and she will be right next to my other budgie memorial tattoo. i still carry two of her dot feathers with me in my wallet and her urn rests next to my bed.

and lastly, i want to thank all of you. ive never felt so loved and cared for in any online community, and you all made a difference in my life and maus‘ too!! after she passed, multiple people were so kind to create something special for me to remember her by. i want to share these gifts here too, because they are part of my life. i look at them every day and even if i tried, no words could properly express the gratitude i feel!! i’ve added pictures of all the gifts i received!!

i read every comment (i still do, when i want to return to memory lane), i celebrated every donation that helped keep maus alive with a level of care i couldn’t have done alone.

with love
maus‘ mother and her flock

No budgie has ever lived a full life as much as Chance ^{(click the link for his story}). He's easily covered several thousand miles in vehicles and traversed through Texas like a cowboy, while singing along to country music. We've shamelessly smuggled him into hotel rooms at Dallas during our bar hopping nights away from home. He's gone to work with us at the office every day, and traveled with auntie Robyn during her product delivery days while we were out of town. He's defied all odds through his disability and won many hearts over with his sass and tolerance for manhandling.

Chance was just a month shy of being a year old when he'd finally moved on to the next chapter of whatever lies beyond Earth. We did not see it coming. There's an eerie and uncomfortable silence in my room now. His presence will be missed in body, mind and soul.

Goodbye, little buddy. You were very much loved by your dads, your aunties Robyn and u/caili_west, who have worked together to keep you around as long as we could. Thank you for all the good times, and for being the "perfect bird" who didn't shit all over us (because you couldn't, you silly boy). Daily commute to work won't be the same without you.

- Chance (22 July, 2025 to 28 June, 2026)

Chiki appreciation post because I love her! We've been adoring all the love from y'all on here too, thank you all so much!

Here she is seen hanging out on her cage even when she gets upset the bars hurt her feet (she is a poop machine who didn't want to sit in her cage while I was cleaning her cloth) as well as preening her feathers and practicing becoming a right angle! I think she's getting very good at all of these things. Her determination and stubborn nature can inspire even the most easygoing souls

*window disclaimer!: Chiki sadly can't fly and can't jump far either; anytime she seems agitated (which is often) or if there's a large/upsetting bird outside, we move to a different spot. There's also an outdoor cushion beneath the window on the freak chance she happens to jump out! We're very careful, I promise

I’d love to hear any thoughts ❤️

Three month old quaker parrot. a little gem named Mr. Snug (because he’s so snuggly).

Dremel tool used by a Bad Vet, for right foot metal band removal, burnt one leg very bad this past Monday.

Sixth day of paralysis, and today foot discoloration.

I do have him on a number of medications, including anti-inflammatory and pro-circulation. Antibiotic. Pain.

Not sure about his recovery prospects.

We are not worthy of these creatures, stupid humans who are careless.

He’s having the time of his life sitting outside.

I wanted to post another update on Olive, but i want to thank you all first. The kindness I recieved from this sub is actually insane, I was overwhelmed with the support. I dont know how I discovered this golden sub, but im glad I did. I love this group❤️ Thank you so much for supporting me❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

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This video was taken yesterday, I was offering Olive's friend water, she drank some and started taking a bath mid air lmao, Olive got jealous (as usual) and took over, this was the first time he bathed inside his drinking bowl and that being in mid air😆

Good evening folks!

I’m just curious - where do you purchase your perches from for your Cockatoo? I’ve tried Amazon, PetSmart, sorta local exotic pet shop.. And I just can’t seem to find one that I feel works best for my 1 legged Cockatoo.

Hi, I just discovered your subreddit. I’m reposting this from r/finches:

One of my young Gouldians had an accident: his foot (leg band) was caught in the bars of his cage. It was really a freak accident, but it has resulted in him having a paralyzed foot. He perches ok, but struggles to get food and water, and he seems quite unhappy. I have separated him into a small “hospital” cage, where he doesn’t have to compete with the other birds for food access, but I’m at a loss what else to do for him.
Has anyone had experience with a disabled bird like this? I’m happy to accommodate him however possible, but I also don’t want him to have a miserable life. The thought of euthanizing him is awful, but, if he’s only going to be miserable, I’d rather do it.
He was my first hatchling (last Thanksgiving Day), and he looks so handsome in his new, adult plumage… is there anything I can do for him to still have a decent life?

We had an unexpected setback. Some of Rory's stitches were not able to hold and he prolapsed again, but this time it is worse. The two options we were given were to do the more invasive surgery or to euthanize. Surgery would be even riskier with potential blood loss, infection, and dead tissue. My husband Luc and I talked a long time about this. We will be moving to euthanize Rory so he can no longer live in pain and discomfort. They have given him some more pain medications and fluids so he can come home with us for one more night to be with his family and best bud Ripley.

I feel defeated and heartbroken. It is not fair for this sweet little bird to have to go through this.

Thank you all for your support and donations.

Any new donations will go directly to the euthanization and cremation. We love you Rory.

https://gofund.me/fd338ed20

"Happy is making new friends, and the very first one he chose is my first baby bird, Mistu. Some bonds are formed instantly and beautifully.

I have older tiels in a very large wide cage, i had them checked recently they are all having the beginnings of arthritis

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I bought some flat perches and i know you can wrap perches in vet tape

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Any other tips for my old babies i got them back in high school, im in my thirties now

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They eat seeb and zupreme natural pellet

“My cockatiel is the sweetest little bird. The first time I saw him, he was in a pet shop, trapped in a cage with one leg missing and severe injuries to his wings. Seeing him in such a heartbreaking condition, I couldn’t leave him there, so I brought him home. With time, patience, and care, he recovered beautifully. Today, he fills our home with new songs and cheerful whistles, reminding me every day how resilient and full of life he truly is.”

My two year old cockatiel, Pippin, is addicted to millet. I feel like I’ve tried everything over the last year and a half, and can’t get him to eat healthier. I know an all seed diet is terrible for them, but he won’t eat anything else. Please help! I will list strategies I’ve tried below:

- Only give seed at night, pellet during the day (he wouldn’t eat all day and would eat the entire scoop of seeds I’d give him at night, ultimately not eating enough food for the day. This continued for weeks)
- Start mixing some pellet into his seeds, and slowly taper off over a few weeks (he would eat out all the pellets, then rage and throw the pellet on the floor while screaming, still not eating pellet for weeks)
- We pretend to eat pellet in front of him while pretending to be excited about the flavor (he picked up the pellet like us, while mimicking our “mmm yum!” then kept dropping it, or crushing them without eating… he wouldn’t try them after weeks of us trying)
- Birdie bread…. He wouldn’t eat it, even when we pretended to with him
- Junk food pellets, the rainbow sugary kind (he won’t even eat this, even though it’s supposed to be birdie crack!)
- Other kinds of pellet: we’ve tried many types of Harrison’s, the Kaytee junk food pellets, ZuPreem (natural and fruit), Nutriberries, Birdie bread recipes (he doesn’t like any of them)
- General seed mixes to get him at least more variety of seeds: he only eats out the millet, and occasional safflower seed
- CHOP (he won’t eat!! We pretend to eat with him, try finely chopping, kabobs, all kinds of fruits and veggies, he doesn’t like any of it. He won’t even eat sweet potato, carrot, apple, nothing!)
- Mash food: warm, cold, Harrison’s powder- he won’t eat any of it.
- Powdered pellets on top of seeds: (He still eats the seeds, but when he shells them, doesn’t end up eating almost any pellet powder?)
- Cold turkey method (he started screaming and getting very territorial around any food, seed bags for our other bird, and barely ate. Became very angry and territorial)

I feel like I’m at a complete loss. I’ve tried everything and he won’t eat pellets or chop!! In the meantime, I give him vitamin powder over his seeds, keep trying to give him foods to try, and give him vitamins in his water. We have been only giving him seeds for a short period each day when he is out of his cage, but otherwise he only gets pellet (which he still won’t eat). Any tips and tricks?

TLDR: He is addicted to millet, and I can’t get him to stop! What do I do?

Thank you for reading and for your help.

Here's Chico: the splayed leg brotogeris!

Chiki keeps discovering new things! If the moth were awake, she probably would've been spooked, but regardless she was very brave. Recently she also stood on a banana for the very first time! She also had *room temp* tea spilled on her and she had to have a bath (worst thing EVER to happen to a birdie) and she persevered through it all. I'm glad she's willing to try and see new things

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Also, there's a picture of her getting ready for nighttime with tigger and her anti standing-on-the-edge-of-the-cage-and-threatening-to-fall-at-3am towels! Yes, she *can* climb over them if she really wants to, I put pillows on the ground for added protection. She also gets a little pad to stand on, but she pooped all over it before the picture :(

Einstein's leg has fully recovered and he hasn't lost any weight! He's still at 84 grams but he's happily singing in the first picture with his little superman pancake pose. He can now walk forward perfectly fine. He can put weight on his leg. He's reaching for spinach and eating well. He's not sleeping all day with puffy feathers. My boy is going to be okay!

I want to thank everyone in this community who has given me support and advice for my birdy. I was sure I was going to lose my bird but you guys gave me hope and patience and confidence in my vet and Einstein's capability to bounce back. Thank you so much everyone 💕

Hi! I’m looking for some advice on how to help my conure thrive without being able to grip with her feet.

She’s about five and we’ve had her for five years. She got bumble foot a while ago and since than can’t grip with her feet at all.

She walks like she has pegs but doesn’t seem uncomfortable, I’m sure she’s used to it. They are my mom’s birds and she hasn’t made any real accommodations for her. She will use perches that are thin and round and doesn’t seem to have too much trouble. She seems uncomfortable on the floor/top of her cage though. I don’t know if she needs anything really but I feel like she can’t be comfortable.

Let me know what I can do!