# Nemi & Apollo (On-going thread)



## ZachExMachina (10 mo ago)

Hello all! I'm going to go ahead and start an on-going thread for both my boys, Nemi & Apollo. I'll go ahead and give quick introductions for both.

Nemi is a yellow budgie who I got around Mid-March 2022 and who's hatch day was roughly November 2021. He's a sweet, social, and attentive boy who loves observing everything around him. Smaller than the normal budgie, he is a little skittish and nervous, but also tends to have a "little dog" complex about him where he will take charge. He's already taken the role of flock leader for his new brother Apollo only a week in and has been very affectionate, singing, feeding, and grooming him. We have already been through a lot since he's come to live with me. For those who don't know, he got very sick about a week after I got him. The entire saga is documented HERE, but to give you a quick rundown: he showed signs of being very sick (bottom of the cage, very weak, puffed up, ect.). I took him to the vet and, since he weighed so little, they couldn't take blood but gave him an X-ray. I was then instructed to give him anti-biotics twice a day and, eventually, a calcium supplement. He managed to pull through and I couldn't be happier about it.










Apollo is the newest addition to our little family whom I purchased from a breeder within the city I live on April 22, 2022. His hatch day is sometime in October 2021 is what I was informed and was parent-fed, but handled regularly since he was a hatchling. He's a very large boy, dwarfing Nemi and is still settling into our home. As explained in his intro-post HERE, I chose to forgo the quarantine process due to lack of space to be able to do so effectively. In order to do so, researching, finding a breeder with healthy birds, and then taking him to the vet the same day. We don't know eachother too well yet, but from what little time I've had with him, he's a very chill bird who doesn't mind letting Nemi take charge. He will step up, occasionally, after Nemi does it and has no issue eating around me, but doesn't let Nemi go far without him. The two have a very distinct voice, with his being deeper and more "yelp" like than Nemi who has a more normal "chirp". Overall, looking forward to learning more about the big guy.










So those are my little guys and a bit about them. Here are some more pictures of them together for your enjoyment.





































Before you ask, Nemi likes to sleep like that in the 3rd picture and Apollo has taken to copying him.

I'll try to keep this thread updated with more pictures when I get them. Also, feel free to ask any questions and I'll answer anything I'm able to!


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## StarlingWings (Mar 15, 2013)

Aw they're so sweet  I look forward to hearing more about them!!


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## FaeryBee (May 9, 2011)

*Great pictures! I'll be looking forward to your updates as they come along. 💙💛*


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## ZachExMachina (10 mo ago)

Update: The boys are doing pretty well. I made the decision to move their cage to a lower spot because they would tend to hide atop the cage when they didn’t want to do something like go to bed or if I needed to check them. They seem fine with it and it puts them closer to my computer where I usually hangout.

I was a bit concerned yesterday though. Apollo was having watery poop and was sneezing a bit. Both he and Nemi decided to rest on a flat bookshelf when I took a small nap only to wake up and see half of Apollo’s lower bottom covered in a dark substance. I immediately thought he had broken a blood feather and started freaking out. Turns out that he had decided to nap on top of his watery poop on the bookshelf and it had smeared his entire lower body and he had cleaned off half of it before I could even get the styptic powder out. His poop is normal again today, so he might have been just drinking too much water.

Both birds are getting along pretty well, wanting to stick together almost 24/7. When one takes off to fly, the other will immediately drop what they are doing and follow. They will also occasionally bicker and fight, as all animals do, especially now that Nemi is molting as well. One thing that will happen is Nemi will come to me when I have millet for him, only for Apollo to then fly to me as well, landing on top of Nemi. Then Nemi will get mad and fly off, to which Apollo will follow. It’s happened a couple of times already. They also collide in mid-flight occasionally, enough that I’ve noticed on several occasions. But overall, they still groom each other and get along plenty well. Nemi is still the only one singing and head bobbing to Apollo, but I don’t think he minds much.


























More updates to come!


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## Ellipoo (9 mo ago)

So adorable and love their colors!


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## ZachExMachina (10 mo ago)

Ellipoo said:


> So adorable and love their colors!


Thank you! I wanted to make sure to get colors separate from one another. So if I ever get a third, it will most likely be either primarily white or green.


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## FaeryBee (May 9, 2011)

ZachExMachina said:


> Thank you! I wanted to make sure to get colors separate from one another. So if I ever get a third, it will most likely be either primarily white or green.


*Keep in mind that three budgies isn't really a good idea. Often two of the birds will bond closely and the other will end up being left out or bullied.
Every time you add or substract a bird from a flock the flock dynamics change.*


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## ZachExMachina (10 mo ago)

FaeryBee said:


> *Keep in mind that three budgies isn't really a good idea. Often two of the birds will bond closely and the other will end up being left out or bullied.
> Every time you add or substract a bird from a flock the flock dynamics change.*


Of course, I have no intention of getting a third bird anytime soon, this is only a "what if" scenario. I never really planned on getting a second in the first place, but only decided to do so for Nemi's health because of how much time I spent away from my apartment.


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## ZachExMachina (10 mo ago)

Some more pictures of the boys. I’m happy with the decision to get Apollo, because Nemi is flourishing with a constant social environment. He’s very active and always singing either by himself or to Apollo, as well as actually playing with all his toys. Apollo, contrary to Nemi, is very happy to sit back, relax, and watch Nemi be hyperactive. He chirps plenty, will occasionally sing when he’s in the mood, and hops around and plays with toys a bunch. But for the most part, he enjoys watching/listening to Nemi.


Both birds finally took a bath with the fountain I have for them on Saturday. Nemi, as usual, took the lead and took a couple baths, followed by Apollo who did as Nemi did. Both their molts are going fine as well, with Apollo looking like he will be coming out of molting here pretty soon.



























More pictures to come!


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## ZachExMachina (10 mo ago)

Hello again everyone!

Another update on the boys. A bunch has happened since I last posted. First off, Nemi's molt is still in full swing and it looks like his iris is finally beginning to form. I can see the white outline now, especially when he's excited and his eyes are wide. On the other hand, it looks like I was wrong about Apollo coming out of molt, because it looks like that was just the start. He has just as many pins as Nemi does and both of them spend half their day preening themselves and each other because of the irritation. Both birds take a bath every couple days on their own now and seem to really enjoy the water fountain both for drinking and bathing. I also got a new and improved cage that is easier to clean for me and is a bit taller, but still the same dimensions WxL wise. They are still getting used to it as I put it on a stand to the side of my desk rather than on it to give myself more space.

Now onto the their relationship, and I have a couple of questions for the more experienced owners in here. First, Nemi has seemed to take charge of the 2 bird flock and is kind of running it with an iron wing. He will still play nice most of the time with Apollo but when he wants something or doesn't like something Apollo has or is doing, he has no problem immediately snapping at him. He is also pretty influential over Apollo's behavior; where ever Nemi goes, so does Apollo. If I try to interact with Apollo over Nemi, Apollo will seem very nervous and hesitant until I physically turn around with him on my finger putting myself between the two. I'm trying to get more 1-on-1 interaction with him, and this behavior is impeding that. If I try to put Nemi away, Apollo will try to follow, and if I do so successfully, Nemi will throw a fit and Apollo will be even more nervous. This has caused Apollo to become a more reserved budgie and is less interested in interacting, especially without Nemi, as a whole. Does anyone know of a good way to work around or work through this problem?

Secondly, following up on the first point, food time. Both boys have been very good with sharing food until the beginning of the month where Nemi has started to bully Apollo away from food and start fights over it. I used to just feed them out of my hand at night for bonding before this started happening, but I can't now which is sad. I've tried a split feeding bowl with 2 separate troughs to see if that would help, Nemi will be ok for a while but then will jump to the middle to try to shoo off Apollo. I've tried 2 separate feeding bowls entirely and Nemi will, like before, just fly over to Apollo's bowl and fight him off for it. I always keep an eye on them during food time and every time this happens, I immediately cover the food for both as to not reward fighting and for them to learn that fighting causes food to go away, which helps for a little while, but doesn't last. Do any of you know a good solution to this problem?

For the most part, again, both of them get along quite well and I've written it off as them both being at that 7-10 month puberty hormone stage where they are acting up on instinct. They clearly aren't trying to injure each other, but are more snappy and "growl chirpy" (if you've seen budgies mad, you know what this sounds like). But, I thought I would bring them up anyways just incase I need to take corrective action on the off chance that one might get hurt.

Anyways, here's more pictures of the boys for ya.









Sleepy boys on their favorite perch next to the window.
















Nemi enjoying a bath.









New cage setup









Hanging out on the window perch.

More updates to come!


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## ZachExMachina (10 mo ago)

Hello everyone, it’s been a bit since I last updated, mostly because there wasn’t much to update, as well as I was recovering from surgery.

Both the boys are doing quite well. They are done with their adult molt for the most part and are still going through their teen puberty independent streak. Nemi has solidified himself as the leader of the two due to his confident and curious nature as well as his lack of patience for dealing with his brother. Apollo has pretty much accepted Nemi as the leader, being more timid and nervous despite being much larger than Nemi. Both birds tend to stick together when playing and singing, and will almost always flock together when one or the other takes off the stretch his wings. They will occasionally spend time to themselves as well when either one gets annoyed with the other.

My relationship with both is fairly strong, considering I’ve only had them for 4-5 months now. They are still being fiercely independent so getting extended 1on1 time with either of them is sometimes tough outside of training time. Notable exception being that when Nemi is acting out, Apollo will come and sit on me and hangout because he knows I’ll baby and shelter him. Hopefully they will both calm down soon so we can grow closer.





































See you in the next update!


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## StarlingWings (Mar 15, 2013)

They are so cute, it's great to have an update on your boys  Glad they're doing well and hope you will fully recover from surgery soon as well


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## ZachExMachina (10 mo ago)

StarlingWings said:


> They are so cute, it's great to have an update on your boys  Glad they're doing well and hope you will fully recover from surgery soon as well


Thank you! I had to bring the boys with me when I was staying at my parents place for 3-4 days after surgery. Brought my old cage to just keep there incase I need to do so again in the future. They handled it like champs and even let both my sister and brother hold them.


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## FaeryBee (May 9, 2011)

*Great to see your updated pictures of Nemi and Apollo. I hope you've fully recovered from your surgery now!

Best wishes! 💜 *


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