Looking after budgies - dont have a clue what to do!

nobile

Long story short, we ended up looking after 4 budgies after their owners seperated and refused to take ownership of them:

2 male/2 female; approx 6-9 months old; one large cage (approx 3ft long); both females look smaller than the males.

We know how to feed them etc but thats about it. Ive looked online, but the advice is usual from & geared towards those who already know about them

We've had them for 2 months, and I dont think they've taken to us as we had hoped.

Males seem a little aggressive towards each other, and one male pesters the one of the females a bit.

Can someone gives us an idea of how we should be looking after them?

Buttonmoons

We had budgies when I was little, we usually had 1 male and 1 female, and it was so cute when they cleaned each other, but I always found it a bit funny when they bickered between themselves.

Anyways! Only one of our budgies was ever tame enough to come on your finger or shoulder, even though we tried with them all.

Cuttleshark (I think its called) for their beaks in the cage, fresh seed & water everyday (obviously)

Oh and dont use tefal frying pans as the fumes can kill budgies.

Sorry, I cant really remember much and our birds always died early, and I think it was because my parents excessively smoked and burnt food in the frying pan a lot.

nobile

Thanks. Good start. No smoking household. No tefal pans either.

We have cuttlefish and they seem to enjoy that. Water changed 3 times a day & food replaced regularly.

We have newspaper at the bottom of the cage & that is changed daily.

Their perches are all plastic, but ve been told natural branch or a rough texture perch is good for their feet?

Also, said something about clipping their wings???

Buttonmoons

I remember ours had wooden perches, it's maybe to wear down their nails a bit? I don't imagine plastic would be any good for that.

Clipping their wings, we never did that, and ours used to fly around the living room, but they did tend to smack into things as the room was so small.

nobile

Buttonmoons wrote: »

I remember ours had wooden perches, it's maybe to wear down their nails a bit? I don't imagine plastic would be any good for that.

Clipping their wings, we never did that, and ours used to fly around the living room, but they did tend to smack into things as the room was so small.

I'm replacing the plastic ones with some I found on ebay from a pet specialist. Why do they sell them if they arent good enough.

We would love to be able to hold them. We tried with the smallest, most cutest, and his bit us all!!!

nobile

A few people have asked us about breeding them etc

If we dont want them to breed, have to do anything in terms of making the conditions such that they wont breed? Not sure we could cope with any more at the moment.

Buttonmoons

I think they need one of those nest boxes to breed, I don't think they will just "do it"

chelle230

we've always kept birds, and have a budgie atm, poor thing had it's wings clipped as a baby, heaven knows why! she can't fly, so she just lives quite happily in her cage.

I use sandpaper on the bottom as it keeps her claws from getting too long, along with perch covers. Also use oyster shell with the diet, I sprinkle it on the bottom of the cage for her to pick at as they would in the wild. It helps to break down the food and have a healthier digestive system.

I've never heard of not using tefal pans though, we have them and use them with no issues!

nobile

Great! No nestboxes for now then!

Will get some of that sandbased paper from petshop tomorrow - was wondering about their feet/claws

helenut

Limiting daylight hours will discourage them to breed. Also the lack of a nestbox would be good. However if they really really want to they will.

What food do you feed them? They might like to try things like broccoli, peas, sweetcorn and spinach plus other kinds of veg, you can find lists on the internet.

I wouldn't worry too much about the bickering, unless it does get a bit too violent. It's usually the females that are the fiesty ones though. I would keep an eye on them incase you do need to separate.

The rope perches and natural branch perches are good. The concrete and sand ones do keep their nails short but are also pretty rough on the bottom of their feet and in some cases can cause sores and other perching problems.

Do they get any time out of the cage? Wing clipping would only be good if you are really serious about trying to tame them, however it can be seen as quite a controversial topic.

Ours love to fly around the living room, arn't too bothered by us, let us tickle them if they're tired but I'm sure if we tried to hold them they would definitely not be very happy and bite. Taming process with birds is a very long process and is a lot harder when they are around their own kind. Maybe start with some mutual respect, no grabbing :P let them out in the room with you and in time the curiosity will win and they will come over to you. Although if you have enough free time, some gradual bribery will millet will also work.
Here's a link to a video of one of the most timid birds I've had. It took her about 6 months to get to this stage: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=sF2x3jDOXnc

The first few months with her I could barely walk in the room without her freaking out so this was such an accomplishment. Yours are probably a bit calmer than this one I've also had birds who have gained trust within weeks, so it depends on them and their upbringing too.

Apologies for the essay, maybe you could join a budgie forum, there's a pretty popular one around and there is a lot of information on keeping and taming, along with potential hazards that you may not already be aware of.

nobile

Thanks helenut.

We let the fly around a little room, not too big - but they get too stretch their wings a bit except 1 who never leaves the opened cage.

They still get startled if you surprise them. I thought clipping wings had to be done, (like we trim our hair), but thankfully not!

Learnt a lot tonight!