Hi everyone could you guy's set me straight on what wieght is the best for a Budgie? Sqweakie wieghs 58 grams yes you read that right. My vet say's she is obese and has given me this new stuff to feed her it's called ZuPreem Avian Maintenance "Natural" Premium Bird Diet for Canaries and Finche oh and it is pellets. I'm wondering is that right? Have any of you ever fed your Budgies Finche and canary pellets? I'm curious to know.Oh and one more question,do female Budgies act any particular way when they go through their what normally would be their breeding time? I think you know what I mean. Any info will be appreciated.

I'm going to try and post a photo of her I hope I can do it.

 

:rip:

If she is the smaller "pet" type budgie, she should weigh in around 28-32 grams, depending upon her build. 58 grams is big for that type of budgie. If she is the larger "English" type budgie, 58 grams isn't overly heavy. I have some that used to have weight problems too. Most of them are down to better weights, but one or two are more stubborn than the others. Is she the bird in your profile? She is a pretty bird. How old is she? Getting the weight off is one of the best things you can do for her. She will feel better, look better, and become more active. Not to mention her overall health will improve and her heart and other organs won't have to work as hard to keep her going.

 

The finch and canary pellets are okay - a lot of budgies won't eat the budgie-sized pellets because they are too big. A lot of people have better luck with the smaller pellets. The Zupreem Natural is good, I think it doesn't have the questionable preservatives some manufacturers put into the food. Does she eat pellets already? I feed pellets as part of my birds' diets too, it helps prevent nutritional deficiencies.

 

As far as breeding mode goes, they will act different. Your hen might increase her chewing and destruction of perches or toys. She might get grumpier or some get more loving and want more attention. She will probably become a little more vocal, increase her head bobbing and warbling - I can't describe what that sound is like in the printed word, LOL, and finish off her vocals with more clicking sounds and this sound that I describe as "tut, tut" accompanied by a head shake that looks like she is saying "no". If she is tame, when she is on your finger or arm she might start tapping her beak against you while she talks to you, and her head feathers will get fluffy. At least that's what mine do. Is any of that familiar behavior to you?

If she is the smaller "pet" type budgie, she should weigh in around 28-32 grams, depending upon her build. 58 grams is big for that type of budgie. If she is the larger "English" type budgie, 58 grams isn't overly heavy. I have some that used to have weight problems too. Most of them are down to better weights, but one or two are more stubborn than the others. Is she the bird in your profile? She is a pretty bird. How old is she? Getting the weight off is one of the best things you can do for her. She will feel better, look better, and become more active. Not to mention her overall health will improve and her heart and other organs won't have to work as hard to keep her going.

 

The finch and canary pellets are okay - a lot of budgies won't eat the budgie-sized pellets because they are too big. A lot of people have better luck with the smaller pellets. The Zupreem Natural is good, I think it doesn't have the questionable preservatives some manufacturers put into the food. Does she eat pellets already? I feed pellets as part of my birds' diets too, it helps prevent nutritional deficiencies.

 

As far as breeding mode goes, they will act different. Your hen might increase her chewing and destruction of perches or toys. She might get grumpier or some get more loving and want more attention. She will probably become a little more vocal, increase her head bobbing and warbling - I can't describe what that sound is like in the printed word, (Laughing out loud), and finish off her vocals with more clicking sounds and this sound that I describe as "tut, tut" accompanied by a head shake that looks like she is saying "no". If she is tame, when she is on your finger or arm she might start tapping her beak against you while she talks to you, and her head feathers will get fluffy. At least that's what mine do. Is any of that familiar behavior to you?

 

 

 

Hi Rainbow and thank you in advance for your reply. Yes she is the Budgie in my profile cute isn't she? She has been with me 1 year this last October 05 and she was just a little baby when I got her. She was a gift from my sister. As for the pelletts she doesn't like them yet but I'm mixing half seed and half pelletts untill she likes the pelletts. I have been trying to get her eat veggies and stuff but she so far hasn't taken to them. But I'm not giving up as I know that it's healthier for her if she does. So I'll keep trying, any suggestion's? Oh and back to her behavier alot of the things you descibed match her pretty good,she is also rubbing her beadk from side to side on her favorite mirror,that silly baby. She isn't tame yet but she is getting close to it. She will climb onto whatever I am wearing on my head and onto my camera when I'm trying to take pictures of her. But so far she won't stay on my shoulder or fingers. Well only for a second or 2 just long enough to get herself onto another platform. Oh yea and her feathers around her beak and cere are puffed out she looks like she has a beard or a fat mustache. She looks funny. But she just isn't as playfull as she usually is or as friendly.I hope thats all that it is, and I will continue to work on her wieght problem as much of it is probably my fault (too much millett and goodies. No more though. Again thanks.

 

:parrot:

The budgie in your profile is very pretty. So she is a seed junkie, eh? I can relate to that. I had a few of those too. The heaviest topped out at 56 grams. Just keep trying with the pellets, and once you see her eating them gradually reduce the amount of seed you mix in. She will probably always eat the seeds first. Don't fill up the seed cup either - ideally you should only put in as much food as will be gone at the end of the day. If you have seeds left over you are feeding too much. Pellets I wouldn't worry about as much now, your bird won't eat as much of the pellet as she does the seeds even when she is converted to eating them. Make sure she always has pellets in the cage, even if her ration of seed is gone already. I would remove the honey treat sticks and millet for now. Go with what your vet tells you. I had to really restrict the amount of seed my birds got when they started their diet, but they were already eating a lot of other things. It was trial and error, as they were losing too much weight at first and I had to increase the amount of seeds they got. Now I usually hand-feed them seeds in the evening, and will mix a small amount of seeds in with the pellet mix on random days. They don't have them in the cage all the time. But don't do that unless your bird is eating the pellets and veggies too - some budgies would rather starve than eat something unfamiliar. The rate of weight loss needs to be slow too, maybe only a gram or two a week. It will take time to lose the weight. Besides fruits and veggies, you can try a cooked diet like Beak Appetit or Crazy Corn or something along those lines. A lot of it will probably be wasted at first, but those two are made will human grade ingredients so unless your bird steps in it like mine do, you can eat it if you want, LOL. What veggies have you tried to get her to eat? If you offer broccoli or carrots, you might try cutting them into pieces smaller than your bird's head before you clip them to the cage - a huge piece of food can be intimidating for small birds. Sprouted seeds are good too, they are more nutritious than straight out of the bag. Best of luck to you! There have been a few people here that have had to put their birds on diets, so if you haven't looked through many of the posts in the Food and Nutrition section do that for more ideas. Each bird is different so you will probably have to tailor what you do to how your bird reacts to the diet change.

 

**edit**

I forgot to tell you - you will need to weigh your bird at least once a week to make sure she is not losing too much. Either get a gram scale of sorts, or if your vet is close see if you can take her in for weekly weighing. It is a bad thing if she loses weight too quickly. Watch her droppings! If they start to turn blackish, she is not eating and needs more food. They may change color once she is eating pellets to a brownish or rust color, or even darker green once she eats veggies, but black is a bad color for them to be when they are fresh.

Edited November 10, 200519 yr by Rainbow

The budgie in your profile is very pretty. :oliveb: So she is a seed junkie, eh? I can relate to that. I had a few of those too. The heaviest topped out at 56 grams. Just keep trying with the pellets, and once you see her eating them gradually reduce the amount of seed you mix in. She will probably always eat the seeds first. Don't fill up the seed cup either - ideally you should only put in as much food as will be gone at the end of the day. If you have seeds left over you are feeding too much. Pellets I wouldn't worry about as much now, your bird won't eat as much of the pellet as she does the seeds even when she is converted to eating them. Make sure she always has pellets in the cage, even if her ration of seed is gone already. I would remove the honey treat sticks and millet for now. Go with what your vet tells you. I had to really restrict the amount of seed my birds got when they started their diet, but they were already eating a lot of other things. It was trial and error, as they were losing too much weight at first and I had to increase the amount of seeds they got. Now I usually hand-feed them seeds in the evening, and will mix a small amount of seeds in with the pellet mix on random days. They don't have them in the cage all the time. But don't do that unless your bird is eating the pellets and veggies too - some budgies would rather starve than eat something unfamiliar. The rate of weight loss needs to be slow too, maybe only a gram or two a week. It will take time to lose the weight. Besides fruits and veggies, you can try a cooked diet like Beak Appetit or Crazy Corn or something along those lines. A lot of it will probably be wasted at first, but those two are made will human grade ingredients so unless your bird steps in it like mine do, you can eat it if you want, (Laughing out loud). What veggies have you tried to get her to eat? If you offer broccoli or carrots, you might try cutting them into pieces smaller than your bird's head before you clip them to the cage - a huge piece of food can be intimidating for small birds. Sprouted seeds are good too, they are more nutritious than straight out of the bag. Best of luck to you! There have been a few people here that have had to put their birds on diets, so if you haven't looked through many of the posts in the Food and Nutrition section do that for more ideas. Each bird is different so you will probably have to tailor what you do to how your bird reacts to the diet change.

 

**edit**

I forgot to tell you - you will need to weigh your bird at least once a week to make sure she is not losing too much. Either get a gram scale of sorts, or if your vet is close see if you can take her in for weekly weighing. It is a bad thing if she loses weight too quickly. Watch her droppings! If they start to turn blackish, she is not eating and needs more food. They may change color once she is eating pellets to a brownish or rust color, or even darker green once she eats veggies, but black is a bad color for them to be when they are fresh.

 

 

Thank you so much for all the info Rainbow,Sqweakie is now eating fruit and some veggies and getting better all the time.I'm so pleased with her it's almost as if she knows she has to eat differently now.Cause before this I couldn't get her to touch anything at all and I tried lots of different stuff.Now magically she wants to try everything . :bluebudgie: She is so much better now and so am I. Thanks again :angel1: