:offtopic: i am thinking of buying 2 budgies they will be my first birds ever. i have done some resurch but would like to know if there are any of you who have small kids and budgies. we have a 4 year old girl and a 5 year old girl they are both very miture for there age and have always done well with pets and babys. does any one have sugjeations. sorry for my spelling i cant spell as you can tell.

With any small kid supervision is in order. You will be the one that has to be sure they are feed and have clean water and the cage it cleaned weekly. Plus the one to do the training so they don't bite.

 

Training two can be harder than one, since they bond easier to each other than humans, but with extra work some have done this, such as Training alone in bathroom.

is it better to buy just one for now and then add the second one in a couple of months? i have heard that it is better to have two or does it matter?

Depending on what you want out of the bird/s

 

do you want one that will (hopefully) bond strongly to the family, happy to sit on shoulders?

 

or to watch two that have heaps of fun with each other and be willing with lots of training to interact with humans sometimes.

 

okay re-reading that it seems a bit bais to one side, which I didn't mean to happen. I started out with one bird she was alone and happy for roughly two years, i had her bonded to me to sit on my shoulder but not fully, she was quite happy to spend time alone as well.

 

When I got her a friend I saw her really enjoy bossing him about. Since I didn't have the time to spend with her like I did before and really enjoyed them playing together. After that I breed them and havn't looked back with now 13 birds and 7 new babies. But that had always been a dream of mine.

 

It's great that your coming here and ask before getting the birds.

Welcome to the forums! Personally i would start with one baby budgie. In your other post you said that you're a stay at home mum so it doesn't seem like it will be alone for too long during the day. Once it's tame you'll probably want to add another anyway, even if it seems happy. :offtopic:

I have 2 budgies, and many more pets and 2 kids 6 and 7 and I can tell you that they can help you but they can't take full responsibility. So I always tell people (and your probably know) that if you don't want the birds and you are only getting them for your kids and expect them to take care of them it won't happen. So many pets get thrown aside for that reason above. So I will finish my lecture because I just throw it out there and not because you will do it, but just as an FYI.

 

My kids can help change the water dish, the seed dish is a bit much esp if they drop it and they can give them the veggies after I chop them. If you want them to perch on the kids you need have the birds around the kids and work the kids. What I have found is that Pretty and Merlin have bonded to me but the kids movements and actions are too flightly for them so they are not scared of them but tend to stay away and would not rather perch on them because kids just can't sit still.

 

I hope that helps and congrats on your decision.

 

Oh and to answer 1 or 2, I agree with Nerwen and Bea if you want tame start off with 1, 2 is hard to tame and make sure you have a strong bond because you intro #2 to #1 because they would rather be with each other then with humans. It is nature, they are not like cats and dogs where 2 doesn't take the focus off of you . Also make a note that budgies when brought home can be very quiet and scared unlike a cat or dog that settles in quickly and they are not much into being cuddled but some do like a little head scratch but not on the tummy. To bond with the bird you need to think like the bird , and you are at the right place here because I think most of us do that.

thanks so much for the sugjeations. i am geting a budgie for me not realy for the girls. i think i will just start of with one i am looking for a bird that will bond with me. is the younger the better for this should it still have the lines to its beek for a better bonding experiance or does it depend on the personality? sorry for all the questions i just want to do this right. i know of lots of pet owners that rush into things and regret there disition in the end.

The younger the better, they are usually weaned and fledged at around 6wks, some breeders keep their babies a little longer. I suggest doing some research before you purchase on where to purchase.

 

Every budgie needs a home pet store or breeder but of course this is your investment for a life long friend so make sure that where you purchase is up to your standards.

 

The older they are in the pet store the more bird bird they become meaning they are more attached to their own kind. Pretty is like that, I got him at 3 months and it took 9 months to form any sort of a bond plus it was his personality too he was quiet and shy. I am a sahm too so he was with me all the time but he still as a bird bird. Now Merlin I think if he was my first would have been a bird human bird (Laughing out loud) because he bonded quite easily BUT I also got him from someone who handled him all the time when he was little.

 

Remember big chain pet stores don't handle their budgies, some breeders and smaller pet store do. You have to ask.

 

It is not important for them to be hand fed or raised but handled by humans at a young age. Budgies are really in fact wild little animals they are not domesticated like the dog or cat so given a chance will revert to their nature of being afraid of people.

 

So saying that do your research. You live in the US and many of us do, I personally live in Ohio not sure what state you are in but you may want to ask around here if anyone knows of any good breeders/pet stores in your particular city or state. You may even find a breeder that will let you handle and get to know your baby before you take it home. There are SOOO many options.

 

If we lived next to Karen aka bubbles or Nerwen or Daz (Laughing out loud) we wouldn't have any problems finding a breeder but we don't (darn snaps fingers) because their avaries are wonderful.