hi im laura and im new

i dont have a budgie yet but id like advice.i wanted a parrot but after some thought i decided against it because it would be abit hard me having never owned a bird in my life! so anyway can someone answer these qestions for me please

1.what types of cage do they like best( not an avery)

2.can you get them tobe very friendly and talk?(how?)

3.how many is best together(will they be tamer on thir own)

4.what food is best?

5.where is the best place to get one (pet shop?)

6.what do you put on the bottom of their cages

 

any other useful info would be helpful thanks! :parrot:

Hi welcome

Answers to questions in order...

1. The biggest cage you can get will be the best, and the best shape I think is rectangle.

2. Budgies can be very friendly and talk alot aslong as you spend alot of time with them.

3. 1 budgie will tame better then 2, but if your out most the day it would probably be best to get to budgies so they don't get bored.

4. Common budgie seed with healthy vedgetables is a good diet with a fe treats aswell, e.g millet

5. The best place to get a budgie is a breeder but if you don't live near one just try and pick out a hea;thy looking budgie in the petshop

6. Most people put bird sand paper in the bottem of their cages.

 

and theres lots of useful info on this site.

First of all, welcome! I'll try to answer your questions the best way I can but I'm sure others will chime in with more info later.

 

Oh, and to clarify something. Budgies *are* parrots. One of the most intelligent parrots, believe it or not. I think I know what you meant though, a bigger bird maybe?

 

1) The ideal cage is rectangular. Tall cages aren't that great because budgies will use more horizontal space than vertical. For a single bird I usually recommend a cage that is at least 18"x18"x18" And round cages are no good. They give the bird no feeling of security and they really don't provide much space.

 

2) Baby budgies are very easy to tame but older budgies can be more challenging. Males are known to be better talkers though females sometimes learn as well. But, no bird (not even an african grey) is gauranteed to talk. Talking should be low on your list of priorities. Repeating words and phrases helps to teach them but that won't always work. Consider talking a surprise bonus with *any* parrot that you buy.

 

3) It is easier to tame a budgie if you only have one. I think it's best to keep them in pairs but if you want a pet to really interact with you, start with one budgie and spend as much time as possible with him/her. If you decide later on to get a second budgie it will be much easier taming it if you have the first one very tame already.

 

4) The best diet is a variety. Budgies should get a good seed mix BUT also a good pellet. Seeds alone will lead to malnutrition and probably a shorter life span. Pellets have a lot more nutrition and you should look for a brand that is natural and doesn't contain colored dyes. I think the most important part of a budgie's diet is fresh fruits and veggies. They also like cooked foods like pasta and rice. These are very good for them and they can have pretty much anything healthy that we eat. A few things you shouldn't feed your budgie are the seeds from apples, chocolate, alcohol, or avocados. These are all very harmful. When in doubt about a food do some research and you should be able to find out whether or not you can feed it to your budgie.

 

5) I feel that the best place to get a budgie is a responsble breeder. Not all breeders are responsible. Go to someone who is careful with his/her birds and is picky with which birds are bred and when. Make sure their facilities are clean and the birds are healthy. Don't be afraid to ask questions. If something doesn't sound right to you, go home and do more research (come here and ask questions even). I think a really good breeder will make you feel at ease with buying your bird though. If you can't locate a breeder, try to go to a responsible pet shop. This is probably ten times harder than finding a responsible breeder as most pet shops are only interested in making a sale. My best experience so far has been with PetsMart. (If you're in the UK, apparently Pets At Home is the equivalent.) As with a breeder, ask questions and give the place a good look-over. If you see sick birds, bring it to the attention of the staff. If they do nothing, you don't want a bird from this store. (Bird diseases are very contagious to other birds and any budgie that appears sick should be immediately quarantined as well as any birds that shared a cage with it.)

 

6) Don't use corn cob bedding. It's popular but it can harbor bacteria and lead to diseases. Also, you really want to use a bedding that allows you to easily see your bird's droppings. Droppings help identify a bird that is ill so it's very important that you have a cage liner that makes it easy to monitor this. I use plain white paper towel but the cheapest and probably best liner is newspaper. Use the black and white parts, not any colored ads or anything.

 

I'm not sure when you're planning on getting your budgie or if you have a preference for a certain gender, but I do have a web page about sexing budgies if you're interested: http://devvle.com/budgiegender.html

 

I hope I answered your questions clearly enough and if you have any other questions, feel free to ask!

Hi Laura and welcome to you from W.Yorkshire,I think you've made a great choice there!

You've got some great advice there and if you do a search you'll probably find lots more but if you have a question and can't find the answer we'd love to help!

Julie

hi and welcome there are loads of breeders here in the north east in fact you have the president of the budgie society who lives in sunderland john herring you should have no problem finding a good healthy bird

thnaks everyone!i want a budgie because i feel i dont have the time or space for a bird like the african grey,and i want to start small and see how i go!i was tempted to rush out and grab the first one i saw but i joined here and i want to learn a bit about them before i go and get one

i dont think there are any breeders where i live and the best pet shop is pets at home!Thanks i thinki might get two budgies and a large cage so when i am out they wont be bored

Good luck, keep us updated on how it goes and mabe post a few pictures of your new budgie and cage.

look at the post before your last one

look at the post before your last one

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o thanks i never bothered reading it!thanks

ill get one but it usually takes me ages to make my mind up bcoz everything has to be PERFECT :(Laughing out loud): :parrot:

oo i love the blue ones.with little white patches!

The ones with white or yellow patches on their bodies are called pieds.

hi and welcome there are loads of breeders here in the north east in fact you have the president of the budgie society who lives in sunderland john herring you should have no problem finding a good healthy bird

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Hi there,I think hath meant to look at the post quoted above?

 

Please could you be careful not use text shortcuts.Thanks.

Julie

Hi Laura and welcome, I'm sure you will find the perfect bird, when you see it - you'll just know!! . I got mine from Pets at Home and have had no problems with them.

 

I must say a BIG thank you to Devvie for her guide to sexing budgies - it is the most easiest to understand I have read and the pictures illustrated it very well. And here was I waiting for my recessive pied's cere to turn blue for months - if I had read that first I would have known - thanks Devvie!

I must say a BIG  thank you to Devvie for her guide to sexing budgies - it is the most easiest to understand I have read and the pictures illustrated it very well. And here was I waiting for my recessive pied's cere to turn blue for months - if I had read that first I would have known   - thanks Devvie!

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Aww, my pleasure! I was hoping it would be easy to understand.

Devvie - perhaps you should that guide "pinned" somewhere - it's great! Or maybe it is "pinned" already and I missed it.

Devvie - perhaps you should that guide "pinned" somewhere - it's great! Or maybe it is "pinned" already and I missed it.

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That would really be up to the mods but it would be okay with me. I'm thinking of doing an entire website...really simple with that page included. Just something that would break things down a little better than some of the other sites do, especially the more complicated stuff. If I do I'll at least add it to my signature.