hi all.. has been a while since i've been here but I am in a total dither... I have 4 untamed budgies that have coexisted niceley for a couple of years in a large aviary. One.. Kiwi, is older.. he is about 6 years old.. the other three we got at the same time as babies and they are about 2.5 years. We.. as they aged we realized we had one girl.. to three boys. ... Well, we have noticed that the two young boys (Apple and Ollie) are always trying to court the female.. Mozie. Kiwi seems to sort of stay to himself like the grandpa of the three.
about a month ago I found Apple Pinning Ollie to the ground.. swatted at the cage and it stopped. .. I noticed it again a couple of weeks later.. it concerned me so I kept an eye on him and nothing happened again so I figured they resolved whatever. .. Well two days ago I go to pull their cover by to find Kiwi sitting there with blood on his face (he also happens to be moulting).. He lifted his wing and to my HORROR was COVERED IN BLOOD. we panicked, got him out and examined him, thinking he had popped a blood feather, cleaned him up but after we cleaned the blood off we could not determine where a blood feather was!?.. so we separated him, kept him warm all day.. next day moved that cage next to the big aviary and they all kept coming to look at him and he acted like he was doing much better and wanting back in so we put him in.. he looked fine yesterday morning..but suddenly he is doing this crazy head bobbing and spitting a seed up... well my old love bird used to do this for me all the time, but I've NEVER seen KIWI do it. ???? So I thought, well maybe he was feeling better and telling me thank you or something.. but as the day went on I noticed he is sitting fluffed up alot.. and eating alot. So anyway, we decided to keep an eye on him, .. wake up to some noise go in and look and that Dang Apple had Kiwi PINNED TO THE FLOOR.. so now I'm thinking that little nasty guy injured kiwi the other day.. so we broke it up and observed for a half hour to notice Apple just seemed to be driving poor Mozi nuts... so we just caught him and moved him to the other cage... as you can imagine, with four untamed budgies, everyone got a little wild in there while we got apple out and poor kiwi looks so tired. .. we live in a remote area.. there is no avian vet for miles and miles.. and now here it is Thanksgiving.. We are flying out in the morning for two days... I've left them for two days often with plenty of food and just had a neighbor peek in on them to make sure they had clean water. .. but I just am beside myself.. WHAT AM I SUPPOSED TO DO????.. I can't NOT go to Thanksgiving because of this.. there is no vet to send them to. And what do I do with apple??? He is in the other cage now next to the big aviary.. looks like he is giving me the stink eye. .. I just looked in on Kiwi and while he is still looking a bit fluffed and disheveled he doesn't look as puffed up as he did last night.. (perhaps because Apple is gone from the cage??).. but Is hard to tell what is going on with him now.. there has been no more bleeding since we cleaned him up..and he IS molting, and has now been in another fight albeit quite brief.. he's flying around a bit and eating.. but I suppose it would be normal under all circumstances to look disheveled???? .. So please.. what do I do.?? I have to be gone 48 hours.. starting tomorrow around 10 am. .. I'm assuming it is a must that Apple stays in another cage. Do I keep him Next to the big cage? or move him all together. Do I ever put him back? I mean now that I have seen him pin birds down three different times..(and now wondering just how ofter that little bully has been doing that!?) and kind of feel like all that blood wasn't a blood feather but probably something done by him.. does he just live alone from now on?.. I'm so upset!!!! and feel quite helpless as to what to do in light of HAVING to leave them!
