Bird Selection

[Jasongj 0]

Hi.. I have kept budgies since I was a boy. Single bird inside the house. Each one, i got as a baby and tamed them up and had them talking.

I now have a super tame 9 month spangle sky blue that has started to talk well. He flies in and out the cage at will and often comes to pester me to pull the buttons on my shirt, nibble my ear or pull my hair. If I open my mouth he gets inside and goes down my collar on a cold evening to roost. He also follows me into the shower and runs up and down my arm flapping himself in the spray. Fantastic bird and a cheeky one.

Now, my problem is this- he has turned out to be a she and its not green. I hunted high and low for a year or more to find a baby, male, light green budgie. I failed and opted for second best- a blue one. And now it's defo a girl!

When I was young budgies were only ever green or sky blue. Now they come in all sorts of ghastly patterns! Native light green birds are increasingly hard to find.

Where can I get a green 6week bird that's a boy? (As best as can be told cos gender is hard to distinguish at that age). Any green budgie breeder within Kent area? I will have my current bird for rehoming when I find one (sorry prettyboy, you were bought in haste after desperation!) and will pose a problem in itself as I want her to go to a knowledgable loving home only.

If I last resort to breeding myself, how do I select and breed them so I only end up with light green babies? I only want one bird so what do I do with all the others?

I know I'm fussy and probably ungrateful for the fantastic bird I have, but pets are important and so is choosing the right one.

Someone please give me constructive advice on what to do with my current bird and/or locating a LIGHT GREEN male bird.

[Budgie_Mad 0]

Do you mean Bush Budgies, native to Australia? If you do I was so lucky that my local pet store had a breeding pair and am hooping for them to breed for the first time in my ownership to breed! I don't know where you can get them where they always are but I am sure if you look on Gumtree.com on the internet or see if there are any breeders near you, good luck I hope you can get what you are looking for! Just be aware that they can be quite expensive!

[Jasongj 0]

Have just looked through this site and noticed everyone is Australian! Oh well, I should've looked first haha

You don't know how lucky you are to have wild budgies flying about. We don't have bush budgies as you call them here. We have them the same colour in dwindling numbers it seems, but they are out of a long line of captivity birds. Most are now blue, violet, yellow or white in all sorts of hideous crosses. Give me a bush budgie any day. Infact I would much prefer to catch my own!

Look after your new pair mate and count your blessing- don't ruin 'em by crossing them with pieds, spangles, whites etc. they're a very special pair. But I can sit here and say that cos I'm worlds away from having what you have. You lucky fella. Post me some of their chicks haha

Regards..

[Jasongj 0]

...ps Internet searches are fruitless. have found plenty of babies But not light green. Hence plumping for a lesser blue one. Khaki green, bright green, dark green yes, but not babies. Not a single light green, young or old.

Surely a breeder in south east England has one somewhere? If I could guarantee light greens from light greens, I would breed my own. But this strain is watered down, it seems?

[Jodie 0]

I never knew that it was so difficult to find a a green budgie anymore, hmmm. I mean I guess it has been 6-7 years since I went to a pet shop or breeder for a budgie. I used to breed my light green pair, but have stopped now due to the females age. They were great parents I love the greens more than anything but I do like some of the other variations too.

If I were still breeding them and you were willing to travel as I live near London I would have welcomed you to one. Maybe a rescue may have some, just keep looking in pet shops or even search for a UK breeder. I wish you luck on finding your feathered friend.

I recently just lost my talking green budgie boy Ollie and I am devastated. He was a doll with a wonderful vocabulary.

[Finnie 0]

I know I'm fussy and probably ungrateful for the fantastic bird I have, but pets are important and so is choosing the right one.

You contradict yourself. If pets were important to you, you wouldn't just trade yours in for a different color. Apparently choosing the right one didn't matter when you picked out your current bird. (Which, in my opinion, you hit the jackpot.)

Someone please give me constructive advice on what to do with my current bird

Keep it and love it. If you really need a green bird, then when you find one, keep them both and love them both. As for breeding your own and selling off the excess wastage produced, you can't breed a green baby without starting with a green parent, so there's your green bird, and no need to breed more unwanted ones. Sheesh.

[Jasongj 0]

okay, here's the update a year on.. I have a small, light green male budgie now. I bought him back in January and he's taming up nicely.

As for my other bird, I now keep her at work where she is used as pet therapy for older people with mental health issues. Being so tame and playful she is ideal and I get to see her everyday and keep an eye on her welfare. It's been so successful, the manager has invested in another bird to take to other homes as well as night time company for my old one.

Alls well that ends well.

 

 

[Finnie 0]

That sounds like a great arrangement!