Hi,

I'm Deb. I stumbled across this forum while searching the net for some info on Budgies. My daughter (5yo) is keen on getting a pet bird. I thought a budgie would be the best option but know so very little about them it is scary. Firstly, is it better to have a pair of birds or are they happy enough on their own? What are the basics on upkeep & maintenance? I am hoping my Danielle (my daughter) will be doing most of the cleaning etc as that is the deal if we get her a bird. Are they fairly tolerant? - I know Danielle will be wanting to handle it as often as possible. Any other must knows when choosing a bird?

I would prefer to deal with a reputable breeder. I am in the Redlands - (Brisbane). Can anybody give me a recommendation?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks heaps

Hi,

I'm Deb. I stumbled across this forum while searching the net for some info on Budgies. My daughter (5yo) is keen on getting a pet bird. I thought a budgie would be the best option but know so very little about them it is scary. Firstly, is it better to have a pair of birds or are they happy enough on their own? What are the basics on upkeep & maintenance? I am hoping my Danielle (my daughter) will be doing most of the cleaning etc as that is the deal if we get her a bird. Are they fairly tolerant? - I know Danielle will be wanting to handle it as often as possible. Any other must knows when choosing a bird?

I would prefer to deal with a reputable breeder. I am in the Redlands - (Brisbane). Can anybody give me a recommendation?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks heaps

 

Hi Deb, and welcome. You have come to the right place... First things first check out FAQ's?. This will give you loads of info and is pretty easy to follow. A budgie is a great first bird pet, but you may have to watch her when she handles him/her. You wouldn't want her to squeeze the little thing too hard... as it may bite in defence... As to one or two? Many members on her started with one, and end up with many more. Especially when they think it's bored on it's own. It all depends on how often you'll be around to keep it company. As to the sex of it/them. Boys talk and don't seem to bite as hard as girls, girls can lay eggs regardless of if they have a mate or nest box... I'd prob go for one or two males, but the decission is yours. As to the up keep, general cleaning (usually weekly), daily water/seed/vegies changes, etc... you'll find most of this info in the FAQ's. Then you have the time you'll need to spend with it to tame it (this will be made eaiser if you get it quite young, just out of the nest and cracking seed) Good on you for going with a breeder than a pet shop. If you find one here (I think there may be some), you could even pick out the young budgie and get them to handle it before you get it. Good luck on your hunt, and ask anything you want!

Edited February 26, 200817 yr by maesie

Hello and welcome Deb,

 

I got my first budgie when i was about 7 years old. it is a magical experience for the little ones and I hope you will be able to find your perfect bird/s for Danielle:D

 

 

We all have to learn somewhere and all i can say is... this is the BEST place to get all your questions answered by very skilled breeders and bird owners

 

your questions...

If you want to have a single budgie, that is fine, but it will be more prone to boredom if it is at home alone a lot, so that is when a friend can come in handy

 

Upkeep... Fresh (quality) seed and water every day. I personally recommend 'Trill' brand seed.

Some fresh vegies and fruit at least twice a week, everyday is best they love carrot, broccoli, corn, apples, snow peas.... etc. see the food and nutrition section for more info

Fresh food needs to be removed after about 12 hours and the cage needs to be cleaned at least once a week.

 

Cage size is very important. most pet shops sell "set up" cages that are WAAAAYYY to small for budgies. and the cage needs to be wider, rather than taller.... 90cm l by 60cm h by 60cm w is a good size for 2 budgies to live happily

 

If you purchase a baby budgie (6 weeks - 8 weeks) they will be easier to train. Budgies love lots of attention

 

**EDIT**

Posted the same time as Maesie

Edited February 26, 200817 yr by **Liv**

**EDIT**

Posted the same time as Maesie

 

... I forgot to mention about the cage. Here is a topic Kaz started about cages. I'm sure it will be very helpfull

Edited February 26, 200817 yr by maesie

Welcome Deb

 

I agree with the above post, that topic by KAZ is a very good one, just because a cage may look pretty to us, it might be a nightmare for a budgie

 

I bought my first budgie just over 6 months ago, and l noticed she was getting lonely, as l'm not home between 7:30 and 5:30 everyday so l bought her a little friend.

 

Remember, if you would like a tame budgie, please don't give it any mirrors or other shiny toys (like bells for example) as they get protective and prefer to talk to their "friend" more than you.

 

And if you have any questions, there are a lot of people on this forum who are willing to help I've asked for help on several occasions and they have always been helpful.

Edited February 26, 200817 yr by Missy

Welcome to the forums this is a great place to start for sure and you have received excellent advice.

 

Just a few things to add make sure YOU want the bird not just your daughter because at 5y she is too young to be able to take care of it. I know you know that but I like to put that out there.

 

On top of budgies being wonderful pets they can be a bit noisy especially if you get a male, females tend to be quieter but there are some that break that rule. They are messy (Laughing out loud) everyday is vaacum day because they love to sift through their seed and the hulls are all over the place. They need their food and water changed daily and feeding them can be a challange until you can get them to eat the right things (we have an FAQ on feeding your budgie). To keep your budgie tame or to tame it you must be willing to spend time with it daily. Many places say 15 minutes a day I say as much as you can everyday it is very important. Birds are not like dogs and cats they are not domesticated they are still "wild" and will go that route if you let them. It is best to keep your bird tame especially with a little one because they will want to be able to interact with the bird, if there is no interaction then they will loose interest quickly.

 

If you can handle all that you will have a wonderful pet budgie for the rest of his life. , not to scare you but they are the realities of budgie owning. Much easier then a dog for sure but things to consider.

 

My advice would be to get a baby budgie (either sex is fine) if you can find one that has been handled already that is wonderful, see if there are reputable breeders out there before walking into a big chain pet shop where most budgies have not been handled and are more on the wilder side. You may even find a budgie breeder that has a clutch that has yet to fledge and you could pick one from there and wait for it to come home. There are so many options on purchasing your budgie but the best advice I can give you since the budgie will be a pet for your daughter (and kids have less patience then adults) is to work on getting a baby that is used to human contact. It can take many months to tame down an older budgie (some are expection to the rule but most are not).

 

I would also start off with 1 budgie first they will bond quicker to their human vs another bird. If you decide down the road you would like another budgie then that is awesome as long as the first one you have is already bonded to humans because many a times when you have 2 they absorb in each other if they were not first properly bonded to humans in the beginning.

 

Good luck and again welcome .

Edited February 26, 200817 yr by Elly

Hi, welcome to our forums

hi and welcome Some great advice has been given and i don't feel i need to add to it :yellowhead: hope you enjoy it here :bluebudgie:

My kids(4 and 2) love the budgies so much in fact I need to buy a new cage and send some over to the Grandparents place (They babysit for us) (Laughing out loud)

:bluebudgie: Hello and welcome to BBC!!! I think the first budgie that entered my life was when I was about 6, my parents took care of Skippy and I think I was fascinated by him!!! :dbb1:

Hi Deb,

 

It is so great to have someone looking for information on the care of a pet before buying it! If you click on this LINK it will take you to a PDF file I wrote called "My New Budgerigar Care Leaflet" (It is down at the bottom part of the page). It gives you lots of information on the right type of cages and nutrition, whether you should get one or more and household hazards.

 

Hope this helps

 

Feathers.

Hi again,

Thanks to everyone for your great help & tips. You have all been so friendly and made me feel very welcome.

I loved KAZ's article on cage sizes. One of my biggest stumbling blocks is my hubby - he is a real bird lover, to the point that he isn't keen on keeping one in a cage. Last Christmas, we went to visit his family who all live interstate. His brother has a budgie and 3 kids who have the bird out with them all the time. "Bird" happily hops from shoulder to shoulder and nibbles on earlobes etc.... that started Danielle's obsession with having one.

The maintenance and cleanup of the budgie doesn't scare me off, my main concern is the welfare of the budgie. One other stumbling block is other family members in our household include 1 dog and 1 cat. Both getting quite old now and really placid - but I would have to keep an attentive eye on the bird to make sure he/she did not become an unexpected snack. Any tips or good cohabitation stories on that subject?

Is there a link or an association to find local breeders?

Thanks again for your help - I will certainly let you know if I end up getting a feathered friend and send pics if I do.

Send a PM to one of our members and admin Daz. He is in your area and breeds show budgies. He may have a chick or know of one for you.

Send a PM to one of our members and admin Daz. He is in your area and breeds show budgies. He may have a chick or know of one for you.

 

Thanks Kaz, will do. I see Daz is in Warner - about an hour away from Redlands, but worth the trip if he is the best. Might make a day trip of it and see some other friends I have on that side of town.

Co-habitation consists of you being the pack leader and setting the expections. We have 3 cats and because Merlin is in a good sturdy cage there is no risk. My husky is not around Merlin and my other dog is indifferent. They are never around when he is out flying around because he would be a snack. Cats have instincts that are very strong (yes I have seen pics of cats and birds very scary unless the bird is bigger then the cat), dogs are unpredictable they may leave the bird alone while in the cage but when they are fluttering around it does drive up instincts especially if they are of th hunting or working variety.

I am proud to announce I am Grandmother to 2 new babies. After weeks of looking and reading up on the subject - and thanks to all your helpful tips and advice - my daughter and I went out this morning and adopted 2 little boys (I think...).

We had a bit of compromising to do, to win hubby's approval. When it came to a cage, I had read up on cage sizes and styles etc and was set to get one rectangle cage around 50cm wide (almost square). Hubby thought it too small, he said bigger the better (I think I read that in Kaz's cage guide too...) so we ended up getting a bigger one 80cm wide x 45cm deep x 85cm high.

I was going to get just 1 bird to start, but hubby thought it would get too lonely during the day. I am in and out a bit, kids at school / day care most days, so he may have had a valid point. Anyway, we got 2 just to keep him happy. Also means we technically have 1 for Danielle (5yrs) and 1 for Matty (nearly 3). I don't think we will be letting Matty handle his for a while though.

I was very weary about buying from a pet shop, I was planning to see what they had, but still thought I would end up going to a breeder. The first shop I went to I quickly left empty handed (will talk about that later). Next shop were completely different. No heavy sales talk. The sales girl readily acknowledged her lack of confidence in confirming sex of birds, and checked with another - who was still undecided - especially with one of the 2 we had picked. The cages were clean and spacious. They had separate "hand reared babies" to "older" birds. Even though the sales girls weren't budgie experts, they were very friendly, let Danielle handle a couple of the "hand reared babies" and choose. They were not pushy or impatient at all. Anyway, we fell in love and took 2 home. They were packed in a big shoe box with airholes and cut out flap on the lid.

Now we have them home and the cage set up, we have placed the shoebox in the cage to let them come out in their own time (or should I just take them out the box) I don't want to overwhelm them on their first day.

We are still to pick names, but once they become more comfortable, I will take some photos and post an update. I am so excited about our new family members. It is going to be hard getting Danielle to give them some space to start, but I guess the birds will get used to her (and Matty) pretty quickly if she is with them lots.

Anyway, I have rambled enough. Will go check what little boys are up to....

Congratulations on your new purchase and new family members

 

They will bring you years of joy Mine are constantly playing and talking, it would be very quiet without them.

 

Also - when you get the time, why don't you post some pictures up? I'm sure a lot of people are looking forward to seeing your two little bundles and might even be able to tell you the gender (if they are good enough photographs)

congrats on your new budgies, i hope they settle in well for you. i have a cage the same size as yours with my 2 tame budgies in it and they love all the space to play. cant wait to see some photos

Congratulations

 

That is great that you did alot of research before getting one. On this forum we love to see tons of pictures of our feathered babies, so please post some pictures

If you are unsure on how to post a picture, you could click the link on my signature.

Edited March 9, 200817 yr by birdluv

Awsome news! I'm very happy for you and your family (esp. Danielle). Putting the box in the cage and letting them come out on their own is a good idea... just have the lid open a bit so they can see out etc... Also, if you have the cage partly covered and in a quite room, they'll be more likely to come out. Along with the pictures of your new 'grandchildren', a picture of your cage/setup would also be awsome... once they settle in that is. As they are very new, don't be too worried if they don't eat/drink much and have runny poos. This is usually a sign of stress and should pass in a few days. If you have some millet on hand, this can usually temp them to eat. Congratulations again, and enjoy!!! :(Laughing out loud): (P.S. Don't forget to change your profile... It now needs to read that you own 2 budgies, not 0. )

Edited March 9, 200817 yr by maesie

Congratulations!!!

 

I am so excited for you

 

I cant hardly wait to see some pics

Great news - Birds now have a name... Charlie & Benny. (I hope they are both boys...). They have come happily out of their box and are hopping around exploring their new home. I will take some pics and post shortly (once I work out how) in the "Your Flock" section.

...

Going back to the First pet shop I visited.... Firstly, even though I am no expert, I thought a few of the birds were not well. A couple had poopy bottoms and others just didn't look well. Probably not happy either as there were heaps in each cage. There were around 10 separate cages, probably 8 marked as babies. I finally got a sales man to assist and explained our situation. He said they were all babies - up to 12mths. Also asked about boys or girls and the guy replied it is impossible to tell when they are young as the birds can change sexes. Well, I hadn't heard that before.... any trans-gender birds out there?

Charlie & Benny... cute. (Both could be altered if need be)

 

I'm glad they're checking things out. As to THAT Pet shop!!!!! Maybe trans-gender is the 'new' mutation?!?! He would have been better to say nothing than that ****.

 

If you need help posting pics click here if that doesn't help, feel free to PM me or one of the other mods. Just remember to keep your photos under 450x450 pixels.

Cool names

 

If you do need to change them (hopefully not) you could change them to Charli and Bonny

 

Looking forward to pictures

 

and as for that pet shop! I have seen a few like that, l feel so sorry for the budgies

Great news - Birds now have a name... Charlie & Benny. (I hope they are both boys...). They have come happily out of their box and are hopping around exploring their new home. I will take some pics and post shortly (once I work out how) in the "Your Flock" section.

...

Going back to the First pet shop I visited.... Firstly, even though I am no expert, I thought a few of the birds were not well. A couple had poopy bottoms and others just didn't look well. Probably not happy either as there were heaps in each cage. There were around 10 separate cages, probably 8 marked as babies. I finally got a sales man to assist and explained our situation. He said they were all babies - up to 12mths. Also asked about boys or girls and the guy replied it is impossible to tell when they are young as the birds can change sexes. Well, I hadn't heard that before.... any trans-gender birds out there?

 

Lovely names

 

(i am not a fan of many petshops as you will see hehe)

Petshops have a really bad reputation for having NO idea what they are talking about and for not telling the truth.

Firstly - Budgies do not change gender!

Secondly - I feel a baby budgie is under 12 weeks old, tops. And a budgie for taming should be under 8 weeks.

Him Saying their "babys" are under 12 months is very vague

As for seeing sick birds - oh i hope not , but very possible.

Keep a VERY close eye on your new additions for atleast 30 days. Check for poopy bottom, their general appearence and their weight. The stress of a new home can bring out illness...

 

Really looking forward to pictures if you can get some