I was spending a ton of extra time with my budgies today. They were finally learning to go on my finger, this isn't something I'd just say, "cool" and walk away. I wanted to keep doing it so they'd learn and get used to it. They were finally learning stuff, but then maybe I spent a little too much time with them, I dunno. Maybe they started to get sick of me, cause I was holding Yamma in my hand, (with my hand in the cage) and all of a sudden he starts flapping like crazy. He wasn't flying/flapping, just flapping. Maybe you've seen it with your budgies once or twice. But I waited to see if he would do it again and he did. I guess he didn't like me or something. But thats weird cause he was STILL on my hand. The whole time they were trying to naw on my finger, I don't really know why. Anyone know?

 

And also, right there and then my mom started screaming at me like, "how come every 5 minutes you come over there! Do something else!" And I could tell she was mad. I've never really had a true pet, I've had fish. I love fish and all, but they can't even recognize you if you leave and come back. So I've never really had a pet, and this isn't something I'd take for granted. And I'm a deep nature lover. Thats just one of the things my mom will never understand of me.

 

P.S. Sorry if I seem a little pessimistic.

So your budgie was flapping and hanging onto your finger at the same time? That's pretty normal, i think it's them having a bit of fun. Don't give up because of your mum. My parents aren't as into animals as me. They let me keep my budgies outside in an aviary but it took a bit of effort to get them to let me have Blinkie inside!

(Laughing out loud), thats cool. Where is Blinkie's cage in your house?

Edited April 29, 200520 yr by Nefas

He lives in a lovely blue cage (matches his feathers) on the book case in the main family room. He can always see what's going on that way. His favourite place to hang out is at the computer while i'm on budgie forums! When i was trying to do school work with him on my shoulder, he kept flying back to the computer as if he was trying to say...boring! Let's look at budgies instead!!! He's inside because i wanted a friendly pet budgie that i could play with, so i took him from my last batch of babies.

Edited April 29, 200520 yr by Bea

Thats actually pretty cool what you did. If my 2 budgies breed and so on and so on until I have a big batch, I'll probably do that too. Ooh ooh! Plus, Shmaya's cere (obviously the female) is turning brown and a little crustish. However you explain it. I just noticed today. So I put in the nest box and the twig stuff so she could finally lay some eggs! and this is awesome cause my dad said that if they have little baby-budgies, I could get this really cool 20-something inch by 20-something inch cage which is way bigger than my other one. I always wanted it and I know the birds would defonitly love it too.

Sounds really great! Just make sure you read up on what your getting into with breeding.

Sounds like your budgies really enjoy your company. Piper does the flapping (and nipping) when she's happy and excited to be out of the cage. That's really cool.

 

Also, just a couple of things. A single budgie's cage should be a minimum of 18x18x18 inches. So, if your cage is a lot smaller than 20 it's way too small for two budgies, let alone a breeding pair. There's a lot to know about breeding. Just adding a nest box isn't enough. You should convince your dad to let you get a larger cage whether or not they breed as they really need the space.

 

Make sure you're prepared for breeding. Some things to ask yourself are:

 

*Are your budgies old enough to breed?

*Are they healthy, from good stock, and positively unrelated?

*Will you be able to give the babies to good, loving homes?

*Do you have a certified avian vet and the funds to take the birds to him/her in case something goes wrong? (Egg binding is one issue that is fairly common in laying hens that can be fatal and should be treated as an emergency.)

*Are you prepared to handfeed the young in case the parents reject or harm them?

 

If your answer to any of those is no, you should reconsider breeding until you're better prepared. This isn't meant to lecture you, I'm just trying to help you get an idea of some of the important things to think of before you breed budgies. It sounds like you're bonding with them very well so another very important thing to ask yourself is why do you want to breed? In my opinion the breeding of any animal should only be done for the purpose of bettering the species. That's not to say it can't be fun as well but I feel that this should be the first priority.

 

Whatever you decide, good luck with your pets. It sounds like you're doing a great job with taming them.

if your after a bigger cage look out for them on ebay. i found my one (80cm x 50cms x 80cms) for ?35 on there. It was advertised as a Chinchila/Rat cage though.

 

 

Claire

xXx

Edited April 29, 200520 yr by monsoon

Okay, I did do a lot of research. Right now I guess I'm just looking for them to be tame. Bringing more babies in could ruin what I've done is some ways. And I really have been trying to convince my dad to get a bigger cage, and I did read somewhere on this one site about the cage thing. The cage we have is OKAY. But I know we need a better one. Well if I'm able to convince my dad about getting the cage before they breed, then I'll reconsider breeding.

Good luck with breeding Nefas, I hope it all goes well. :glare:

Thanks, I couldn't convince my dad to get the bigger cage. So I have no choice but to breed them. So I'm gonna be doing tons of research :book: here and there so that nothing could go wrong. And thanks for all the help you all gave me. I couldn't ask for more from you guys.

Actually Nefas theres alot more you can ask from us, if you ever get stuck or have any problems with your breeding were always here to help.

Thank you so much! :(Laughing out loud): I don't know what I would do if I never found this site. :parrot:

If you can not convince your dad they need a bigger cage for two birds, your choice is not to breed them so they will be even more overcrowded, your choice is to save up for a much larger cage.

 

If you want to breed them eventually, Please re-read devvle's post, she gave some sound advice. I can't stress this enough - don't breed them until they are about a year and a half old, you are certain they are not related, you have good homes for them first, and you have the time and ability to potentially hand raise the chicks if necessary, and the funds to ensure that no matter what happens they will have adequate veterinary care. And please do a lot of research first. You just got them! Enjoy them a bit first. Yes, breeding is very rewarding and quite an experience. I loved it, but luckily I also did not have anything go wrong. And I found that the more I read, and the more I observed, and the more I learned, and the more I experienced, that there are many more things to think about regarding bringing more baby birds into the world that you would never normally think about. Overpopulation and genetic defects, and your responsibility regarding them being a few examples. Downer subjects, yes, but still things to research and think about. But good luck in whatever you decide, we will be here to try to give you good and accurate advice to any of your questions.

Thanks, I couldn't convince my dad to get the bigger cage. So I have no choice but to breed them. So I'm gonna be doing tons of research  :book:  here and there so that nothing could go wrong. And thanks for all the help you all gave me. I couldn't ask for more from you guys. 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

There's no such thing as not having a choice to breed. If that's the only way you can convince your dad to buy a larger cage then maybe you should try to solve the problem by earning some extra money (do chores, mow lawns, something) to buy the cage yourself. If that doesn't work, just give them as much out of cage time as possible.

 

No matter how much you research, something could go wrong. Your dad said no to a larger cage, will he say no when your female becomes egg bound and needs a vet? How about when the parents decide to injure one of their chicks if they even survive?

 

Please think about this. Researching doesn't ensure that nothing goes wrong. Researching not only helps prevent things from going wrong but it also prepares you for when they do. You can read all the books in the world and still end up with an egg bound hen or a splay-legged chick. And if that happens, sure, everyone here will do their best to help you but you know what it would boil down to? The answer most people will give you in a case like that is "go to the avian vet!" because most of the time, there's nothing you can do at home to actually fix medical problems such as those.

 

Getting a bigger cage is a very bad excuse to let your birds breed when neither them or you are completely ready. I have a feeling that if your dad knew how much avian vet bills can be he'd think twice about letting you breed. They cost a lot more than a large cage.

Thanks for the advice all. Look, I put my words together weird but I don't always mean 100 percent what I say. When I said, "I have no choice but to breed them" this was not an intention of doing it just so they have the larger cage. When I first got the birds, my intentions came to be and we decided to breed them after a while. My dad also has tons of experience with birds and breeding. Back before I was even born, my dad had done the same thing that were doing now, they got 2 budgies, male & female, raised them eventually, they got into it and finally had a cage like, a little bigger than the average bathroom. And with about 20 birds. There were also stories of my older brother going inside the cage and playing with them! :glare: :(Laughing out loud): I'm not the kind of person that will defend and always agree with my dad or friend or family member with whatever they say and not listen to anyone else if they backsas them. I'm a very fair person and I use common sense with other peoples words, if I can tell my dad is wrong from true facts, I will disagree with him. If I can tell you guys are wrong from true facts, I will also disagree with you. But that rarely happens with either of you. But I've noticed this amazing ability my dad has with our birds. They trust him, not like, oh its some "magic ability" my dad has. No its just like, whatever he does the birds understand. Whatever the birds do, he understands. And I've seen amazing results. So I'm positive that he has a ton of knowledge about birds. Woo! My fingers hurt... Well I think I got my point across. But I DO disagree with him when he says not to get a bigger cage right now. But he also said that when they have babies, we'll get the bigger cage. The cage they have right now is okay for them. So they don't need much right now. But if and when they have babies, I promiss you we'll be looking out for them.

Personally, I think you should work on upgrading their living space before encouraging them to breed. And then ensure that they're old enough, NOT related, and make sure they have no history of health issues that could be passed on to the chicks. Inbreeding and poor breeding have caused budgies enough suffering so please do this the right way. Also, find an avian vet BEFORE breeding. You'll need one eventually whether or not your birds breed.

 

I hope you take my advice to heart. I'm just looking out for the best interest of the budgies. Babies are wonderful and cute but they're also a lot of hard work unless you do things carelessly.

Edited May 2, 200520 yr by devvle

Thanks for all the help. I deeply apreiceate it. (However that's spelled)