u/Federal-Grapefruit31

This is Skittle.

Context: I bought her (I assume “her” because she has a VERY pink crest) 2 days ago now. I wanted to get a buddy for one of my parakeets since they’ve all “paired” themselves with each other, except for one since I had an odd number of them. Since I started seeing signs of “third wheeling” I decided to get another budgie for him. Besides her, all of my budgies are male.. I think.. I did put her with the others immediately after bringing her home, even though I know that’s ill advised. I did this because we don’t have the space or the resources to keep her in a separate enclosure for two weeks, but budgies need the social interaction. So I made the decision to purchase her anyways for the happiness of my third wheeler. We did watch her behavior for about an hour before deciding to buy her, and she acted like a perfectly normal and healthy budgie. It did seem like she was bonded to another budgie when we were buying her, but we’ve maxed out our limit after her and we’d have to buy 3 more instead of just her if we bought the one she was bonded with as well (to make the number even).

Concern: When I released her, she immediately flew out of her carrier. All of my budgies (including the third wheeler) instantaneously accepted her into the flock, except for one. This one budgie has been pecking her when he doesn’t like something she’s doing. He lets her eat and play with toys, but he won’t let her partake in the same activity he’s doing. The pecking has severely decreased within 48 hours, but now she pecks whenever the others try to give her love. The third wheeler has been defending her like crazy (scaring the pecker away whenever he gets close to her) and has been trying to show affection towards her but she’s completely disinterested. The third wheeler is obviously trying to befriend her, but she seems totally shut down. She hasn’t sang or really made any noise except for the mad tweets when she pecks. She’s also been completely fluffed up non stop since she’s been home and sleeps a lot. She doesn’t move around a lot and she hides in the corners of the cage as well. I don’t think she’s sick as she isn’t showing any other signs (like tail popping, weird breathing, etc), but I’m thinking I’m gonna take her to the vet in a few days if she doesn’t deflate (stop being puffed up).

Thoughts?

Ok where to begin.. so when I bought these guys (about a month ago), the pet store also sold me the same bag of seed they were currently eating. I read the contents after feeding them and 80% is just millet and the rest is fillers that I can’t pronounce. To my understanding, that’s really bad for them and I’ve been trying to convert them to my homemade mix. Well, they refuse to eat it. Right now I have 50% old food mixed with 50% new seed mix and they just REFUSE to eat it. They eat veggies like CRAZY and I’ve been sprinkling their new seed mix in with their chop, but I don’t think they’re actually eating it. In fact, they’re so picky about the food, that they’re opting to scavenge off the floor of the cage, even with full dispensers.

I’m so lost, what do I do?

Ingredient content of new seed mix:

1/2 Ib quinoa
1 cup oat groats
1 cup hemp seed
1/2 cup whole brown flax seed
1 cup chia seed
1/2 cup rape seed
1 cup rolled oats

Hello! I bought these three budgies about a week or so ago, and they’re getting along great with their new enclosure. The problem is, I keep seeing them puffed up like this and I’ve seen multiple posts of other budgies looking similar and people commenting on the possibility of them being sick.

Should I be worried?

I also transitioned them to a new seed diet (with pellets and veggies) but they refuse to eat it, so I keep giving them their old food so they don’t go hungry. I know their old food isn’t healthy though. How do I get them to eat their new food? Please reference second photo for ingredients. I didn’t include any millet into the mix.