Posted March 30, 200817 yr Hi, Firstly, I'm really happy to find such a great website like this. I am going to buy 2 baby budgies tommorow(one male,one female). But this is the first time I'm getting a bird, I have researched about budgies for a week and read some of the topics on this website. I would like to know if you can help me about a few things. 1. How do you keep them healthy? 2. What medicines are used? 3. How do you keep the cage hygenic? 4. How do you feed them and what do you feed them? 5. How do we know when they are breeding? 6. How do we get to train them to get in the cage and get them to talk? Thanks Edited March 30, 200817 yr by dossie
March 30, 200817 yr 1. How do you keep them healthy? There are a number of excellent articles in our FAQ section that talks about where to put the budgie cage, how large it should be for 2 budgies, nutrition for your budgies and more. The best thing you can do to keep them healthy is keep them out of locations where their are toxic fumes like a kitchen (don't use tephon for cooking), make sure they have the largest cage you can afford, change their water & food daily, start them off immediately on a good seed/pellet/veggie/fruit diet and spend a lot of good quality time with them in and out of the cage. There is so much more so read the FAQ and I know others will give you even more ideas. OH always blow the empty seed shells off the top of the seed bowl many times it looks full but it is not, and teach them to forage for food it keeps their minds activity and you do have quieter budgies. 2. What medicines are used? Here in the states when you buy a budgie there are no medicines needed for a budgie when you purchase them they should be mite free, worm free and healthy. If your budgies (s) are ever sick they need to go to an avian vet so they can be checked over and given the correct medicine and dose if need be (just like kids or adults) you don't want to give unnecessary medicine especially if you don't know what you are doing. 3. How do you keep the cage hygenic? You clean the paper daily or every other day depending on how much your birds poop, I put the newspaper on the top of the grate bottom so I don't have to clean the grate it is so much easier, do a through cleaning of your cage & perches 1x a month and clean the food and water dishes daily before you refill. 4. How do you feed them and what do you feed them? Click here About Nutrition 5. How do we know when they are breeding? Budgies don't breed unless you give them to correct enviroment. I got 2 of the same sex so I didn't have to worry about an unwanted clutch because sometimes they do breed without it, along with the fact that I didn't want to worry about egg bound hens. If you are planning to breed budgies are not to be bred until they ar at least 12 months old so you have a lot of time to read here and get good information, read through the breeding journals on the ups and downs of breeding because if you want healthy babies throwing in a nest box and letting them go at it is not the best way, your birds need to be in optimal health, given the right circumstance etc ...PLUS you need to think about what will you do with the babies (budgies breeding if you breed correctly is not a profit making business). There are so many unwanted budgies out there in shelters, on craigslist, on pet finders so think carefully before you bring more into this world. PLUS important factor if you are getting your budgies together they will be most likely brother and sister so maybe think about getting 2 of the same sex instead and if you decide to breed you can purchase 2 other budgies of the opposite sex therefore you are not in breeding and if you decide not to breed you won't have any unwanted clutches. Budgies do not know they are brother and sister and will breed. 6. How do we get to train them to get in the cage and get them to talk? Click here for Taming Your Budgies (s), if you have 2 budgies straight from the store I highly doublt they will talk because they have each other. For your birds to talk you will need to get 1 bond with it, teach it how to to be strong talker before you introduce #2. If you want budgies because of talking do know that most don't talk, males are better at learning and females usually mimic whistles. Edited March 30, 200817 yr by Elly added information
March 30, 200817 yr 1. How do you keep them healthy? Good diet and conditions that they're kept in! 2. What medicines are used? Depends on the sickness, try to keep sulpha on hand for the most common illness, "poopy bum" 3. How do you keep the cage hygenic? - Clean it atleast once a week or when needed, washing it out with hot water and disinfectant, then leaving it to dry in the sun 4. How do you feed them and what do you feed them? Budgie seed mix, leafy green, vitamins minerals... Check out the FAQ's for these4 answers 5. How do we know when they are breeding? - yours shouldn't be breednig until atleast 12 months old so don't even contemplate that yet 6. How do we get to train them to get in the cage and get them to talk? - generally only males will talk... to teach them to the key is patience... and ALOT of repeating yourself!!! Taming them is another matter, check out FAQ's again Oh and welcome to the forum! glad to see you're doing your research BEFORE getting your birds!
March 30, 200817 yr I feel your questions have been answered by Elly and Libby, so i just wanted to add, Hello and Welcome Buying new budgies is very exciting I would love to see pictures of your new birds
March 31, 200817 yr Hi amd WELCOME You have been given TOP Answers by Both LIBBY and ELLY ..... Would be Great to see photos ... We Love picture's on BBC
March 31, 200817 yr Author thanks to all of you, I have bought them, but I changed my mind last minute. I bought 2 males. One named Jack and one Squishy. Jack is my fav. For some reason, jack has been acting different to squishy. I got them in a box each from a pet shop and jack has been trying to fly in his box until we got home,squishy was sitting still. But when we got home, we put them in their new cage in our living room, Jack has been flying wildly across the cage, and same with Squishy. So we decided to put an old tablecloth to cover %90 of the cage and that stopped them, we talked to them for about 10 minutes, but then we took the tablecoth off and then jack flew up to the top of the cage. Squisy went to the middle. We put on the radio to a channel that plays classical music so that they relax, and that really helped! I have posted some pics. Jack is Yellow and Squishy is the white with blue at the bottom. http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn57/dostol/DSC00080.jpg http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn57/dostol/DSC00079.jpg http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn57/dostol/DSC00078.jpg http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn57/dostol/DSC00077.jpg http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn57/dostol/DSC00076.jpg http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn57/dostol/DSC00075.jpgMy Favourite picture Edited March 31, 200817 yr by dossie Pictures larger size than allowable.
March 31, 200817 yr :budgiedance: Lovely boys dossie!!! Glad you chose 2 males, there should be no problems then, I mean I have had a male and female for years but other female/male pairings have been a disaster.They are very pretty!!! I am so pleased you have been asking questions and finding out what is best for them, way to go!!! Welcome to the forum and enjoy your budgies! And keep in mind that they will be a bit weird for the first few days as they are adjusting to their new surroundings Edited March 31, 200817 yr by Phoebe
March 31, 200817 yr Author I have posted some new pics. Also, squishy is opening and closing his mouth all the time even when hes not eating, deos that mean anything? http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn57/dostol/DSC00084.jpg http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn57/dostol/DSC00083.jpg http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn57/dostol/DSC00082.jpg http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn57/dostol/DSC00081.jpg http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn57/do...jackSquishy.jpg Edited March 31, 200817 yr by KAZ changed to link as pictures were oversized
March 31, 200817 yr openig and closing his beak....? well it could be that he is hot... explain more what it looks like when he does this it could mean he is having difficulty breathing
March 31, 200817 yr Author openig and closing his beak....?well it could be that he is hot... explain more what it looks like when he does this it could mean he is having difficulty breathing well, i have recorded him doing that but its not really clear, because I couldn't get close to them, they were scared so I zommed from far out. heres the video: http://s301.photobucket.com/albums/nn57/do...nt=MOV00001.flv EDITED: to link, picture too large Edited March 31, 200817 yr by Elly
March 31, 200817 yr Thanks dossie! well it looks like he is hot..does he do this all the time or just when windows closed etc... ♥Indy
March 31, 200817 yr The behavior that he is displaying is not from being hot but from being nervous and scared. I suggest that you keep the cage covered on all 3 sides for 3 days to help get him used to his surroundings. You will find that he will start to calm down and will do less and less of this. This behavior is also displayed if you just tried to touch a bird that is not yet used to human hands or fingers so if you tried to get him to get on your hand this is also why he is doing this. In the FAQ I wrote up a taming article and it talks about what I did for the first couple weeks to get Pretty adjusted to his new life at our house. I know if you read it you will get excellent points.
March 31, 200817 yr Hi Dossie, congratulations on the purchase of your new feathered friends. Feathers.
March 31, 200817 yr Careful with the cage you got there, the bar spacing is very wide and may mean that your little budgies escape or get caught. Budgie will show nervous signs for about 3-7 days then will try their ultimate best to escape. You may not see them eat or drink in this time, because they are too scared to eat while you are around, but they will quickly calm down. They are beautiful boys, I especially like the name squishy
April 1, 200817 yr Author Careful with the cage you got there, the bar spacing is very wide and may mean that your little budgies escape or get caught.Budgie will show nervous signs for about 3-7 days then will try their ultimate best to escape. You may not see them eat or drink in this time, because they are too scared to eat while you are around, but they will quickly calm down. They are beautiful boys, I especially like the name squishy I have thought about the cage problem aswell. Although they have settled in very fast, it took them a day. They are whistling, and fighting over the spots in the cage. Jack keeps on trying to get out, but he can't. Though he managed to get out his neck, I thought he got caught, but he didn't. Jack is starting the fights but squishy always wins. Jack bit squishys tail by the way. thanks
April 1, 200817 yr I have thought about the cage problem aswell. Although they have settled in very fast, it took them a day. They are whistling, and fighting over the spots in the cage. Jack keeps on trying to get out, but he can't. Though he managed to get out his neck, I thought he got caught, but he didn't. Jack is starting the fights but squishy always wins. Jack bit squishys tail by the way. thanks This is NOT good. I'd be doing something about this cage. Just because he didn't get stuck this time, doesn't mean he wont next time... and you might not be around to save him. They shouldn't be able to get their heads out of their cages. :mellow: P.S. I have sent you a personal message (PM).
April 1, 200817 yr Hi Dossie, I agree with Maesie, you need to get a cage with more suitable bar spacing as soon as possible. If they can get their head out, they can get their whole body out. Feathers.
April 1, 200817 yr Completely agree with what everyone has said that cage is not even good for quaratine because that is when they try to get out the most throw it up on e-bay, craigslist or in the newspaper and purchase a new one for sure .
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