First off, we never intended to own a bird.. but at noonish on July 4th, I found this little guy sitting on our car in the driveway - he was so hungry, he was licking pollen off the windshield. After about an hour and a half we were able to catch him and bring him inside.

 

 

Since we had no 'facilities' in which to house the bird, I had to run out and buy a cage and seed.

 

My wife and I have generally been averse to the idea of keeping a bird caged, this guy INSTANTLY took to the cage and felt very safe within. After burying his head in seed and getting his fill, he snoozed for quite a while (completely understanding, no telling how long he was outside)

 

We spent about a week trying to find his owner - exhausting all attempts.. The idea of keeping him as a pet began to sink in, and we decided to take him to the vet.. Unfortunately during all this time, he was in his cage as there was concern regarding psiticosis (we have two young children) - I would talk with him, but felt bad about cooping him up.

 

We took him to the vet and $129 of tests later, we brought him home for another 5 days of cage-quarantine while we waited for the psiticosis blood test - which of course, came back negative.

 

He's generally hand-tame, but much prefers my shoulder or handing out inside/on top of the cage. Now that everything looks good, we bought him a bigger cage, named him Sol and I'm trying to wean him from an all seed diet to Zeem fruit pellets.. (a very slow process, as he's picking through the zeem and eating the seeds.)

 

We have no idea of what his age is - here's a picture from today of him sitting on my monitor:

 

 

 

 

A few things:

 

* He doesn't like bird baths (although I haven't tried the misting method, I'll try that)

* He doesn't talk a whole lot - occasional chattering.

* I took out a mirror I had left in the cage while he was quarantined so he wouldn't be lonely - he doesn't appear to be interested in bonding with humans as a result, I'm considering getting a second budgie to keep him company

* Initially I didn't use a cage cover, now I do... from about 9pm until 8am - he seems to get a better rest as a result.

* When he gets stressed, he appears to pant, and then gradually calms down.

* His wings are clipped, but I like to allow him to explore (as long as my kids aren't trying to chase him down, thereby freaking him out, which is an on-going challenge) otherwise while I'm home, I like to have him on my shoulder.

 

 

Any suggestions beyond what I mentioned for this little guy? we are BRAND-NEW to keeping birds.. but I've definitely been absorbing as much as I can about the budgerigar species.

 

 

I'll post pics of his current cage soon, I'd like to get opinions on it (is it too small, etc)

 

 

Thanks much!

Sounds like he is very lucky to have found you.

 

I am not sure why you are trying to take a bird whose main diet is seed and put him onto a pellet diet. I think leave the seed and introduce some fresh fruits and veges a couple of times a weeek.

 

Other than that, Sol sounds like a lucky little guy.

Hi Drew, welcome to the forum!

 

This is a great place to learn all kinds of things about keeping budgies.

When I got my first pair, I knew nothing about them, and I started reading those little "how to care for your budgie" books you can find in pet stores.

They helped a little, but after I found this forum, I realized that the information in those little books is very lacking, and some of it is misleading.

 

For instance, the common advice is to switch your bird from a seed diet to a pellet diet.

I think this is marketed to those of us who are used to cats and dogs, and who are convinced that a bag of premium kibble is a complete and balanced nutrition, therefore, we want the equivalent of a 'perfect diet' for our birds, too.

Another reason for this is because veterinarians almost always recommend pellets over seeds. (I bet yours did )

 

But after I found this forum, I learned that birds need a varied diet that includes lots of fresh vegetables, as well as seeds, and sometimes supplements like calcium and vitamin D. Pellets can be a good part of a balanced diet for a budgie, but not the sole source of nutrition.

 

This is just one example of the many, many things you will learn here!

So browse around, especially read the faq's section, and enjoy the forum.

 

By the way, it's great to see another American here- all the more people to be awake at the same time as me!

Lucky budgie is all I can say. Lucky he found you and didnt become a cats dinner.

He isnt very old. I would say around 10-12 months old....leaning more towards ten months.

I am with the others on a seed plus fruit and vegies diet. Too many vets are brainwashed these days about so call "complete diets" for all kind of animals and they all recommend pellet type diets. I wouldnt recommend an all dry food diet for my cats or dogs, so I wouldnt for a budgie either. A quality seed with extra vegies makes for a healthy bird. Exercise where you can for him and a cage big enough for him to fly across it..........wider rather than a tall cage.

This photo shows he is a dominant or clearflight pied but others who are expert in that kind of pied will narrow it down for you and give you his exact mutation

I would throw out the mirror....they affect a birds mental state. You may then have a budgie that bonds with you rather than a mirror or needing a budgie friend.

 

Welcome to our forum

Edited July 24, 201014 yr by KAZ

He is a beautiful little bird and he is very lucky to have found you!

wow, what a beautiful Budgie. We have a male similar to him. I was hooked on him the first time I saw him and talked the wife into buying him, well it did not take much convincing. The petshop owner told us he was a fluoro Budgie,boy did that get alot of laughs on here,lol. We as a rule do not put mirrors in the cages as to the mental issues that can possibly develop. We have seven pairs of Budgies and amazingly I can tell by the sound or screech of the chirp, I can tell exactly which Budgie made that sound. Enjoy your Budgie and welcome the forum.

I do not have mirrors either. Don't trust what the pet store says, check it out on here.

Very cute little fella you've got there

He's a handsome boy and looks quite young....not baby but not old for sure.

 

Yes, he is lucky he found your home but it is going to be your family that bless the day he arrived...budgies are so much fun you are just going to love him.

 

I dunno about pellets - my fella gets seed, seed still on the stalk, lots and lots of veggies, boiled egg (when he moults...a tip I picked up here only about a month ago!) and he is the picture of health so would recommend that for yours as well.

 

Best of luck with Sol, he's beautiful

Thanks for all the kind words for our new budgie - below are a few pics of his new cage (Sol is sitting on top so you get a perspective of the size)

 

A few questions - he's doing a good job of bonding with everything but us humans (mirror, that hanging toy you see in the first cage picture, his millet container)

 

We play him sounds of budgies from youtube and he just about chirps out of his feathers (we've stopped, as it's a bit like torture, methinks)

 

We're considering getting him a buddy.

 

1. Is this cage big enough for two? (assuming we get separate sources of food for each of them)

 

2. If we do get a second budgie, obviously we would slowly allow them to get acclimated to each other (separate cages far apart, slowly moving them together over time and then in one cage) but if the new one is not hand tame, will Sol pick up bad habits from the newcomer? (i.e., bite, etc)

 

3. How concerned should we be with getting a second budgie checked by the Vet? We were led to believe that we HAD to get the first budgie to the vet for a Psittacosis test, only to find out there hasn't been a case in our state in 25 years. $129 is quite a bit to spend.

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks!

 

-Drew

Edited August 4, 201014 yr by Drew

Hi Drew!

 

I think if you get a second budgie, chances are Sol will bond with it, instead of you. Which is okay, but if you want him to bond with you, I would give it some more time.

 

You would need to quarantine the new one for 30 days, during which time you could be working on taming them individually. A lot of times you can tame them when you have more than one in a cage, but it takes more work.

 

There is no need to automatically take a newly purchased budgie to the vet. Just keep them separated for 30 days to make sure neither one has any symptoms. (If you see signs of illness, that's a different story.)

 

Oh, and I think your cage is a little on the small side, but hard to tell, unless you give us the dimensions. It looks like a tight fit for two.

Edited August 4, 201014 yr by Finnie

I agree with Finnie on all counts

Edited August 4, 201014 yr by KAZ