Anyone got/had budgies?

heretolearn_2

Hi

I miss having a pet in the house but at the same time I know I can't make the commitment cats/dogs need with respect to their cost/need for routine/amount of attention/exercise/hair everywhere. We also go away for a night or two now and then and I don't want to get into kennels/catteries etc. I've been mulling over getting a couple of guinea pigs as I've had them in the past and they are great little characters but I've also been seeing loads of dead cute videos of budgies on Youtube.

now, I always thought budgies were rather cruel sorts of pets and the only ones I've seen have been sad looking things stuck in a little cage all the time. And not very interesting. But these videos have really appealed to me and they seem completely different to what I'd expected - I'd want to do the whole big cage/tame so let out to fly around a lot/learning cute tricks/enjoying a bit of a fuss.

I've done some research into it all and I've got a few questions I wonder if anyone could answer for me. All the budgie forums are full of enthusiasts (of course) so I can't help thinking maybe they are only going to talk about the good side.

So if you've had budgies
- would you get one again?
- is the amount of dust a problem? How often do you need to clean up/hoover AROUND the cage and clean the cage itself? I've been a bit put off by the discussions of people getting lung diseases from them. Is that right? Is that a risk with 2 budgies or just if you have lots?
- did you manage to tame/train yours or did you end up with something that just bit you if you went near it/went mental round the house and wouldn't go back in cage/lived in the cage all the time? IF you did, do you think that someone with no bird experience could tame/train one?
- if you get 2, is it best 2 girls, 2 boys, or mixed, or makes no difference?
- would it be ok (yes, I know not ideal, but in the real world) to make sure stocked up on food and water and leave at home for a weekend?
- smell. Do they? Even if you keep cage clean?
- anything else you think I need to know.

Lots of questions I know, but I don't like to get an animal unless I can give it the right sort of life, and I won't regret having it!

Wellyboots6

I used to have a budgie called Charlie, although it turned out he was a she!

S/he had a cage in the living room but only ever really went in there to eat and drink. The rest of the time he would just fly around the house and perch on doors and my housemates head!

We had to be careful opening the doors etc and didn't have the windows open, but he seemed perfectly happy just wandering around the house.

There was a bit of cleaning up, as he would poo on the tops of the doors. I would just once a day go over the tops of the doors with a cloth. As he didn't spend much time in his cage I would clean that once a week or so.

I didn't notice any smell or excessive dust.

He was a very tame little chap and would come when you called him. He also used to throw tantrums if you had to put him in his cage for whatever reason though. He would screech and flap and act like a toddler!

He would sit and twitter away when you spoke to him and !!!! his head to one side to listen.

He would sit on my shoulder when I was watching TV, or sit on my housemates head and pick at the very little hair he had left!

Charlie would also go mental when the Hollyoaks theme tune came on! He would fly round the living room screaming his head off for the whole time the theme tune played!

Very cute little guy, easy to look after and hardly any mess or smell.

If I didn't have a dog that would swallow one whole I would definitely get another.

I had no bird experience at all when I got him. I don't really know how I trained him, he just seemed to have his own personality and learnt what he needed to.

I decided to just get the one as I was told that if you get pairs or more then they become less people orientated. I don't know how true that is though.

Hope that helps

PixieDust

Hi How lovely that you are doing all the research like this

I had my first budgie at 8, then another at 18, two more at 20...then another one at about 25....so yes, I'd have one again, they can make surprisingly wonderful pets.

It is possible to contract psittacosis from many birds, and they are not a pet for those with asthma. However if you are of sound lung, it's unlikely that your budgie will make you ill )

A quick vac every day or so is all it takes to keep the room decent....get a cage with high plastic sides to minimise husk mess. And do get a cage with horizontal bars...it's so sad to see a budgie clinging desparately to vertical bars trying to climb and sliding

The ones I had from babies were hand tame andall hadtheir own unique characters. One would alwats fly to sit on the rim of a glass of squash and taste it....he got a surprise whenever there was fizzy pop in there!!!! He also adored my Nan's hair and would sit for ages in it.....and he had apassionate love affair with a child's green building block. Hilarious and endearing!

I found that one boy was always the most successful pet...girls can be feisty and multiples will bond more strongly with each other than with you.

Yes, you can leave them for a weekend but no longer - and leave a radio on for them. Make sure they have food in a shallow wide dish if you're going away....some don't learn that there is more food under the husk they dropped, and they can starve You will need to blow husk off their food pot each day for them normally.

If you keep them clean they don't smell.

They love fresh green veg and a nibble of apple or pear though they sometimes shred it for fun rather than eating it! They need cuttlefish, seed and sand/grit. Too much millet can make them fat. Most like a bath in the summer, you get ones which clip on to the cage. Most love to go outside in their cage in the sunshine with you. Some like a daily spray of water from a spray bottle with a fine mist....angle it upwards so the mist falls on him like rain. Sandpaper covers for perches sound great but in reality often cause sore feet...how would you like to hold sandpaper all day? You will need to cut their claws occasionally......so get used to holding your bird so he can't bite you. Don't have one if you smoke in the house, their lungs are delicate.

Pechow

Wall of text incoming! I can't help but reply to parrot threads.

Firstly keep in mind that while they're a common pet, a lot of common knowledge about keeping them is outdated, for example what cage size is acceptable or what to feed them. It's well worth reading specialised sites as you'll discover things you didn't realise, like about 12 hour cycles, body language, etc.

Secondly, keep in mind that they are parrots, even if tiny and common, so they're smart and 'emotional', though not to the extent of Greys and such. A budgie holds the world record for a parrot's greatest vocabulary (over a thousand words!), and they're not something to be stuck in a cage with seed, two perches, and a mirror all day. Not saying you will-after all, you made a thread to ask about them-just saying that they're often underrated and underprovided for in a lot of cases, be it due to simply not knowing, or not caring because they're little birds.

PixieDust wrote: »

They love fresh green veg and a nibble of apple or pear though they sometimes shred it for fun rather than eating it! They need cuttlefish, seed and sand/grit. Too much millet can make them fat.

Just want to point out, hopefully it's not taken the wrong way, a lot of people don't know about such: they don't actually need grit. They dehull the seeds before eating, so they don't need to eat grit (like say, pigeons) to help crush it down in their gizzards.

General reply:

For diet, a seed based diet isn't good for parrots, even with lots of fruit and veg since they'll tend to just go for the tasty fatty food (seeds). It's preferred to either feed pellets as a base (not as the only thing, or even 90% of the diet like Harrison's pellets say) or a mix of pellets/seeds/sprouts and bean mixes, things like that. Lots of fruit and vegetables are good, nuts are good but as treats since they're fatty. Parrots often die from a Vitamin A deficiency, without the owner ever realising it was a problem-it can be found in carrots, citrus fruits, red peppers, etc. Also calcium, especially for female birds, so as mentioned cuttlefish or crushed oyster shells are good for that.

The smallest size cage you should get is 18x18 inches, anything smaller is too small. Really! Even if they'll be out and about most of the day. Bigger is always better, especially with multiple birds. Keep in mind you'll also need room for toys, bowls, and anything else you want to put in there. You can use newspaper (b/w ink preferred) on the bottom or sandpaper, but the latter likely won't wear down their claws enough to be of use so it's up to you.

Toys are a must. They will get bored without them, and parrots need mental stimulation. You can buy them, but they're also just as happy with random things from around the house. My conure loves destroying egg boxes and paper towels that I've tied into a knot on his cage. I also cut up egg box sections, rip up paper towel or skewer it on a popsicle stick, and put a nut in it. Instant foraging toy! Avoid colour inks, dyed wooden toys unless you can confirm the dye was safe (food colouring works), and toys with parts they can get toes caught in or heads stuck. Also, avoid mirrors, they can make the bird neurotic and aggressive, or uninterested in you.

Birds from pet stores are much more difficult to tame, especially if you get more than one, and are at higher risk for health issues. Generally pet stores are to be avoided when buying birds, but there are the rare stores that look after their stock properly. If possible it's best to get handraised birds. You could also look on birdtrader and other ads online for birds that need rehoming, there are loads that have nothing wrong with them but the owner is "going on holiday" or whatever and want to be rid of the birds, so you could get lucky there.

If you do get untamed birds, especially a pair, prepare to patient. It could take months or more for them to come around and trust you, and unlike larger birds where you could take them into unfamiliar surroundings to build trust on neutral ground, they scare easily so you really need to go slow. Often when a bird first comes home they'll allow themselves to be handled, it's just because of being scared and overwhelmed, not tameness. Bribery is the way to go-millet is good for this

General health hazards: Avocado, chocolate, coffee, a variety of household plants, and teflon fumes are all poisonous to birds, lethally so. Closing the door isn't really good enough for teflon and isn't worth risking it, so if you have non-stick cookware it should be replaced. Aerosols, diffusers, candles and incense, all not good for little birdie's respiratory system. They're much more sensitive than ours. Of course beware open windows, and the like.

I could write a bunch more about things like preventing hormonal behaviour, etc etc etc but this post is already huge so if there's anything you want to ask about, feel free

heretolearn_2

Brilliant answers from you all, thank you! Will let you know what I decide.

SailorSam

We use to have a budgie when i was young, it wasn't mine it was my sisters so i never had anything to do with it. I must have been about 15/16 when my Mum and Sister went to the caravan for a week and i was left at home on my own. When they got back my Mum said to me "What's wrong with the bird". I didn't know 'cos it wasn't mine i hadn't even looked at it. But it was laying on the bottom of the cage. She asked how long had it been like that, i didn't know. She asked "have you fed it and given it water". But before she went she'd never told me, if she'd said i would have done it.
Here we are 40yrs later and i still feel guilty, the poor bird had starved to death.

Dizzy65

Hi

I had a budgie when I was little and he would swoop down from the curtain rail when you were eating dinner and steal your peas.

When I moved in with my husband some years later, he had a blue crowned conure with such a lot of personality. Check them out!

nibs

We had a budgie for a couple of years ago.
I spent hours trying to tame it at first but it was a very aggressive budgie and after being bit one time too many I have to admit giving up.
It would never come out of its cage and on the rare occasion I coaxed it out it just pecked my pictures, furniture, curtains and me! It also used to dive bomb me!
It squawked all day ( a real high pitched sqawk sometimes, that actually went right through me) but went to bed and never made a sound.
I asked at pet shops for advice and was told it was frustrated and needed a mate.
Eventually I decided to rehome it with with a friend who had a budgie already.
It stays in its own cage but sits beside the other budgie and apparently it still squawks but at least it gets a reply now :rotfl:

System

I had a budgie when i was a little girl. Vicious thing he was. We dare not get too close or he would have pecked us and those pecks really hurt.

I remember one time he got me when i got too close. He swung on my lip and wouldnt let go.

Mom had to clean him out as me and my bro wouldnt go near him. Damned thing was almost 13 when he pegged it (though i still missed him).