Budgie on a budget

Boomfloom

hi

This is my first post ever but I have been avidly following many threads here.

My partner and I are looking to get a budgie. We have googled the topic but couldn't find answers to some very important questions.

Apart from the one-off set up costs (cage, feeders, etc), what are the ongoing costs of keeping a budgie?

Also, what temperature do they have to be kept in? With the energy prices so high, we tend to keep the heating off at night and still have not put it on this season (temperature hovers around 15 degrees at times). Will a budgie survive it or should we hold off until we are rich?

thanks!

Pechow

Not very high. The highest expense will be if the bird gets sick and you have to take it to a vet-ideally an avian vet, or at least exotics vet, since despite being little and common a budgie is still a parrot and will require slightly more specialised care than a cat or dog, often with prices to match. Otherwise, your main expenses will be on pellets/seed/fruit/veg, and toys-though a lot of toys can be easily homemade, like toilet tubes or weaving a rolled up piece of kitchen roll through the bars to nibble on. I also grab handfuls of the wooden sticks/stirrers from coffee stores whenever I visit one, my parrots like them

Temperature wise, they need to be kept somewhere without breezes, and where the temperature won't flucuate from warm/hot to cold. They can be kept in cooler temperature ranges, but the important thing is that they are gradually acclimatised to it (this is why aviary birds are put out in the summer, so they will be able to handle winter when it comes around). A warm cover at night can help, as can something for the bird to sleep in-not a nest or box, but something like this: http://www.petsathome.com/shop/cozzzy-hut-by-happy-pet-42706 There's also something like this: http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=6380 but I don't know where you'd buy it in the UK. You could make your own by cutting a piece of fleece and hanging it next to the highest perch, as the highest perch is where they'll naturally sleep.

antw23uk

The temps wont be an issue, these parakeets (not a parrot) can and do live out in UK Aviaries with no issues.

Keep it away from drafts and radiators. A good quality seed mix, fresh water and a variety or fruit and veg and you shouldnt have an issue at all.

Please rethink just keeping one. I think its terribly sad keeping such social animals on their own

Pechow

antw23uk wrote: »

The temps wont be an issue, these parakeets (not a parrot)

Yes, they are a parrot. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Budgerigar

Parakeet is a term referring to a number of different kinds of parrot. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parakeet

Agreed about keeping just one though, especially if they're not tame.

Boomfloom

Thank you so much for the info.

What would be your weekly expenditure on the essentials?

I see what you mean about keeping just one. Opinions seem to vary. Some say that if we have one bird, it will treat us as a part of the flock whereas two or more will be just happy with each others' company.

I am really hesitant as we never had birds before - just rodents and cats.

thanks again.

Mankysteve

antw23uk wrote: »

The temps wont be an issue, these parakeets (not a parrot) can and do live out in UK Aviaries with no issues.

Keep it away from drafts and radiators. A good quality seed mix, fresh water and a variety or fruit and veg and you shouldnt have an issue at all.

Please rethink just keeping one. I think its terribly sad keeping such social animals on their own

Aye it cruel to keep them by themselves. Personally unless you've got the room for a proper Aviary I wouldn't keep them.

Pechow

Boomfloom wrote: »

Thank you so much for the info.

What would be your weekly expenditure on the essentials?

I see what you mean about keeping just one. Opinions seem to vary. Some say that if we have one bird, it will treat us as a part of the flock whereas two or more will be just happy with each others' company.

I am really hesitant as we never had birds before - just rodents and cats.

thanks again.

If you get an untame bird it may very hard, sometimes impossible, to get it to become tame, even if it lives alone. If they're tame, even if there's more than one of them, with regular handling and interaction they won't revert to being untame. Though you may get the odd bird that simply prefers to hang out with other budgies (or, if you're really lucky, the reverse).

I'd say weekly we spend about £10 on fruits and vegetables, for ourselves that includes food the two parrots can eat. Then we buy a box of pellets every few months for about £12, and get a bag of good quality seed (different kind for each bird), again for about £12, every month or so. It's not very much at all. And since they both prefer to play with homemade toys, we don't buy them that often either, though it's worth investing in a bunch that you can rotate in and out of the cage. The cage itself is probably the biggest expense, if you get a nice size one.

Fire_Fox

If the bird is sold as a pet but not tame I would be questioning the source and quality of the breeding.

kizzie_nikita

I would also get more than one

Buttonmoons

We always had budgies when I was growing up - whenever one died we always replaced it with another ASAP as the remaining budgie always looked sad and depressed, when another bird came in on the scene they were back to chattering away, bathing itself etc etc.