I couldn't believe it when I looked at Beka today - she is getting really fat. See picture of her alone and then picture of her with other budgies both taken tonight. She was not that big when I got her and it hasn't been that long.

 

I decided to let her out of the cage for the first time today to do some flying. She isn't tame so she has never been out before. She didn't fly much - spent most of the time on top of the cage with the others. But did fly when it was time to catch her. Had to resort to the net.

 

Any suggestions to reduce the weight other than flying?

 

awe she is so cute - her and Blinks would got together great since Blinks was called fat too. I remember 1 suggestion that Daz made was to switch to Canary food - it has less fattening seed in it but has all the seeds they need. So that can be a solution for everyone. Of course let her more time out but you have a huge cage so she should be flying in there so that probably won't help much. How much veggies does she eat? That is all I can think of, I am sure others will have more suggestions.

I'm wondering if Daz meant canary seed itself or an actual canary seed mix? Hopefully he will see this and drop in to elaborate. Seed mixes vary even for specific birds so if he could share the ingredients that would be very helpful, I'm sure. :ausb:

 

Personally, I've experienced that you run into very little problems with overweight budgies if you stick to a few key rules:

 

1) Flight time. (In clipped budgies, I've found that it is essential to make them flap those little wings even though they can't fly in the actual sense of the word. This is another topic in itself though.)

 

2) A balanced, varied, low-fat diet.

 

3) Stick to healthy treats rather than things like honey seed sticks or millet spray.

 

4) Weigh each bird weekly, especially if there has been a diet change or if the bird shows any sign of illness/change in behavior. This is important for monitoring health as well.

 

I have one budgie who was a bit overweight but as of tonight she's back to 35 grams. She weighed in at 41 grams just a little over two weeks ago. The only thing I've done differently is making her fly more. She's flighted but a bit on the lazy side. She's already more active on her own accord now though. Flight is by far the best exercise they can get but even a flighted bird can become dangerously obese if it is eating a diet of mostly seeds.

 

I highly recommend the book Feeding Your Pet Bird by Petra M. Burgmann, DVM. I am about halfway through with this and really think it's something every bird owner needs to read. There is a wealth of information, including species-specific info. It mentions budgerigars quite often in the book.

 

What diet are your birds on now? If you could give as many details as possible maybe we could pinpoint where the problem lies. Your budgie looks dangerously overweight as this increases her chances of fatty tumors and other complications by far. Budgies are genetically predisposed to these types of ailments so it's very important to keep them at a healthy weight.

Edited April 14, 200619 yr by eterri

he meant the Canary seed mixture - sorry about, clarifying. I wish I could remember which post it was, I remember Nerwen was involved on the conversation if she remembers.

Ah, okay. Would definitely help to find out exactly what ingredients are used and in what percentage and such. But it's good to keep in mind that all birds on all-seed diets are lacking in nutrition in many areas. No matter how low in fat a mixture is, the budgies are likely to pick out the tastier (often fattier) seeds and fill up on those. And because seed mixes are so lacking, budgies will eat more of them to make up for the energy they aren't getting by eating it in normal amounts. Eating in excess leads to obesity so the most important thing here will be trying to get these budgies on a varied, healthy diet where seed only plays its own small role.

 

Basically, as odd as this sounds, a fat budgie is often a very malnourished budgie because it has to eat extra to attempt to make up for the energy it's not getting as part of its regular-sized portions. A fatty diet just makes this even more dangerous.

The birds get gourmet seed mix (includes veggies and fruit), regular seed mix, fresh veggies daily - usually broccoli or romaine or cauliflower. No millet at all. They have been given some egg food and on occasion I throw in a boiled egg (but it is hardly touched). No treats at all. She is the only one of the 10 that seems overweight. I've seen her pig out on veggies but don't notice her at the seed tray any more than the others. I think she is a bigger bird overall than the rest but I just really noticed how "chubby" she looks.

 

My cage is big and the birds can and do fly around in it. But I don't recall seeing her fly much. I would love to let her out to fly more but I'm so scared of her getting hurt. She gets so scared. When the new babies are out of quarantine, I may put her in their cage, and work with her a bit so she can come out with the others.

 

What do you use to weigh the birds?

Edited April 14, 200619 yr by Shawna

All budgie seed mixes contain millet (and white proso millet is usually the first ingredient) so even though you don't offer it in treat form, she has access to this type and may be eating more of it than you realize. The difficult thing about seed mixes is that budgies pick and choose what they want to eat and often leave the rest. With so many budgies sharing a cage, it's impossible to tell who is eating what out of the seed mix.

 

Just looking at the picture, she seems very overweight but the only way to know for sure is to weigh her. If you can find a gram scale (just a normal kitchen one) that measures in one gram increments or less, you can find out exactly how overweight she is. Since she isn't tame, use a paper bag or other light container (that will allow airflow, of course) to weigh her in. Weight it first (or use the tare function on the scale) then add her and weigh again.

 

If you can manage to get a good sprout mix and sprout seeds rather than offering them dry, that may help quite a bit. Sprouts pack a lot more nutrition so it may keep her from eating in excess. A pelleted diet would also greatly help in getting her to trim down as she won't be able to pick and choose how much of each seed to eat as often.

 

I think it was a good idea to put her in a separate cage for a while. Even if it doesn't help with taming, it will help you keep a closer eye on her weight and figure out exactly what she's eating and how much.

They do get pellets too but nobody eats them. They chuck them out on the cage floor. I mix them in with the seed. What if I completely removed the seed and just left the pellets for her when I move her to the new cage. Would she eventually eat them? I'd be so scared she wouldn't and would starve.

 

I'm going to go to my local health food store and see if they carry any organic seed mixes and I'll try sprouting. I'm a little nervous about the sprouting because of the mold and stuff - just scared I wouldn't do it right. I haven't seen the aviclens around here.

 

I do have a scale so I will try and get her in a paper bag to weigh her. I'll keep you posted. Thanks for the info!

You're welcome, hope it goes well.

 

What type of pellets do you use? Most budgies don't realize that pellets are food at first and they won't eat them even if there is no other food available. You can offer only pellets for short periods every day though to try to entice her into eating them. maybe offer just pellets for two hours every day and once she starts eating them you can increase how long she has to go without her seeds.

 

Does she eat her veggies pretty well?

You're welcome, hope it goes well.

 

What type of pellets do you use? Most budgies don't realize that pellets are food at first and they won't eat them even if there is no other food available. You can offer only pellets for short periods every day though to try to entice her into eating them. maybe offer just pellets for two hours every day and once she starts eating them you can increase how long she has to go without her seeds.

 

Does she eat her veggies pretty well?

 

I'll try that. I think the pellets are Hagen. I chucked the bag after I mixed them in with the seed. She adores veggies and definately gets here share.

 

She weighs 48 grams.

Edited April 14, 200619 yr by Shawna

Just a quick update. I weighed some of the other budgies and all came in at around 30-35 grams. So Bek is quite a bit heavier at 48. In the hopes that she will get more exercise, I have completely rearranged the big cage moving everything down to the bottom half except two perches on either end. And what a difference that has made. The birds are flying around like crazy now - even Bek. So I'm hoping that will help along with some of Terri's suggestions about nutrition. I'll weigh her again next week and see how things are going.

My female budgie, Angel, is a bit heavey as well. I cannot recall exactly how much she weighed when I last checked, but I believe it was about 43 grams or so. I was told by my vet that it was a little heavy, but it wouldn't be a problem. She is fed harrisons pellets, as well as fresh vegetables and other foods frequently. I would agree that giving a better opportunity to exercise would be a great idea.

 

As for getting her used to seeds, I completely agree with eterri. I always introduce the pellets into their diet gradually, and for short periods of time I only offer them the pellets. I have had no difficulties with converting my budgies to pellets this way.

 

Good luck.

 

Shawna don't worry if your bird is 48 grams Ash tips the scale in at 74 grams 99% of my birds clock in between 40 to 80 grams.

 

The chicks that are leaving the nest at the moment have an average weight in the high 40. Poka tops it at 50grams. but before you say fat they are on a good diet.

 

Canary mix is the basis of the seed mix. It hasn't got any sunflower or oats. To that I add vegetables. The breeders get a protien crumble mix and what is not eaten goes to the others.

 

To have good breeders they have to be fit not fat.

 

50 grams at 28 days old.

 

41 grams at 21 days old.

 

49 grams at 24 days old.

 

Jazz on the left is 58 grams there

Bob on right is 51 grams.

you sure fed em up Daz! Are you planning on making a roast out of them? They weren't that weight when I had em were they?

 

I don't feed my birds anything that is not a natural food and I don't take note of what bird food manufacturers 'recommend' as they will always say that their product (pellets) are good. Ever see a pellet tree?

 

Vets will recommend anything that will make them more money especially from kickbacks.

I know people will argue that pellets contain all the protein & vitamins birds need and there's no waste etc. but, how would you like to eat protein pills instead of the food your species evolved with?

 

Give your bird plenty of toys, get her out and exercise her some even if she doesn't want to, feed her plenty of green leafy vegies and other veggies too. No sunflower seeds as they are very high in fat.

With the right amount of seed daily - 2 teaspoons for optimum pet bird weight - as much vegies as she wants combined with exercise and she will trim down. Maybe keep her in a separate cage as the others so she doesn't eat more than she should.

......... little roasts

 

Also let them fly. It's the best exercise they can get. :hap:

Well Easter is today for the Aussie's right - let us know how they roast up : -

(Laughing out loud). You guys crack me up.

 

Well the reogranization of the cage I think is going to make a tremendous difference with the exercise. They have to fly now to move around (or crawl on the side of the cage). They used to just hop from perch to perch. It really seems to have perked them up. Two have even crawled in a water dish for a bath - that has NEVER happened before. I'm still going to let the tame birds out to fly around and will try working with the four that are less tame.

 

Thanks everyone for the feedback. Happy Easter.

 

Shawna don't worry if your bird is 48 grams Ash tips the scale in at 74 grams 99% of my birds clock in between 40 to 80 grams.

 

The chicks that are leaving the nest at the moment have an average weight in the high 40. Poka tops it at 50grams. but before you say fat they are on a good diet.

 

Daz, you grow 'em big. Are they show birds or regular old budgies?

Edited April 15, 200619 yr by Shawna

I'm wondering if Daz meant canary seed itself or an actual canary seed mix? Hopefully he will see this and drop in to elaborate. Seed mixes vary even for specific birds so if he could share the ingredients that would be very helpful, I'm sure.

 

Personally, I've experienced that you run into very little problems with overweight budgies if you stick to a few key rules:

 

1) Flight time. (In clipped budgies, I've found that it is essential to make them flap those little wings even though they can't fly in the actual sense of the word. This is another topic in itself though.)

 

2) A balanced, varied, low-fat diet.

 

3) Stick to healthy treats rather than things like honey seed sticks or millet spray.

 

4) Weigh each bird weekly, especially if there has been a diet change or if the bird shows any sign of illness/change in behavior. This is important for monitoring health as well.

 

I have one budgie who was a bit overweight but as of tonight she's back to 35 grams. She weighed in at 41 grams just a little over two weeks ago. The only thing I've done differently is making her fly more. She's flighted but a bit on the lazy side. She's already more active on her own accord now though. Flight is by far the best exercise they can get but even a flighted bird can become dangerously obese if it is eating a diet of mostly seeds.

 

I highly recommend the book Feeding Your Pet Bird by Petra M. Burgmann, DVM. I am about halfway through with this and really think it's something every bird owner needs to read. There is a wealth of information, including species-specific info. It mentions budgerigars quite often in the book.

 

What diet are your birds on now? If you could give as many details as possible maybe we could pinpoint where the problem lies. Your budgie looks dangerously overweight as this increases her chances of fatty tumors and other complications by far. Budgies are genetically predisposed to these types of ailments so it's very important to keep them at a healthy weight.

 

What is considered a good weight for these little guys?

48 grams for a standard (pet/American/whatever) budgie is MASSIVE. The average weight for the show budgies (English budgies, if you prefer) is FIFTY grams and that is because of how they are built. They're larger and stockier. She is extremely overweight. Pet budgies generally weigh in at anywhere from 28 to 35 grams or so.

 

Daz, 70-80 grams is huge for even a show budgie. I have trouble picturing it as one of my cockatiels is only 85 grams and he's far bigger than even a show budgie. My other 'tiel is 96 but he seems quite large for me compared to other 'tiels. I would seriously consider re-evaluating the fat content of the diet you're feeding them as these are very overweight birds and it's quite dangerous. Show budgies should weight in at around 50 grams. A little bigger is understandable as that varies but 78 grams and 80 grams is definitely overweight.

 

Karen, pellets aren't the equivalent of a protein pill. Most of the ingredients in Harrisons are things you would find in a high quality seed mix. The difference is that the birds can't pick and choose what they're going to eat. The hardest part of feeding just fresh foods (and seeds) is balancing out the diet. Too much of one thing can cancel out the other. I do get annoyed when ANYONE calls a pellet or a seed a "complete diet" because that's a complete lie but they're very good for giving an owner the peace of mind that there is some balance to the equation.

Edited April 15, 200619 yr by eterri

48 grams for a standard (pet/American/whatever) budgie is MASSIVE. The average weight for the show budgies (English budgies, if you prefer) is FIFTY grams and that is because of how they are built. They're larger and stockier. She is extremely overweight. Pet budgies generally weigh in at anywhere from 28 to 35 grams or so.

 

Daz, 70-80 grams is huge for even a show budgie. I have trouble picturing it as one of my cockatiels is only 85 grams and he's far bigger than even a show budgie. My other 'tiel is 96 but he seems quite large for me compared to other 'tiels. I would seriously consider re-evaluating the fat content of the diet you're feeding them as these are very overweight birds and it's quite dangerous. Show budgies should weight in at around 50 grams. A little bigger is understandable as that varies but 78 grams and 80 grams is definitely overweight.

 

Eterri, I think you need to re think your weights in regard to show budgies. English breed there show budgies between 100 and 130 grams with some topping the scales at 180 grams...

The 2003 Standard for the perfect budgerigar is a bird that is 240mm in length.

 

70 to 80 grams here in Australia is about right in show condition.

 

Please also remember that Mussle weighs more than fat. My budgies are on a high Protean diet which adds Mussel not fat. Along with the vegetables and flighing conditions I hardly think they are "Fat"

 

The weights in regard to "Pet" (American) budgies are probibly high.

 

The difference is that the birds can't pick and choose what they're going to eat. The hardest part of feeding just fresh foods (and seeds) is balancing out the diet. Too much of one thing can cancel out the other. I do get annoyed when ANYONE calls a pellet or a seed a "complete diet" because that's a complete lie but they're very good for giving an owner the peace of mind that there is some balance to the equation.

 

I total agree terri. I can't stand the "Complete Diet" tag.

Edited April 16, 200619 yr by daz

48 grams for a standard (pet/American/whatever) budgie is MASSIVE. The average weight for the show budgies (English budgies, if you prefer) is FIFTY grams and that is because of how they are built. They're larger and stockier. She is extremely overweight. Pet budgies generally weigh in at anywhere from 28 to 35 grams or so.

 

wow, Terri, no offence, you either have really really small sized budgies (and tiel..my mum tiels come in at roughly 100...) or they are all underweight!! I have 19 budgies... of which Goofy and Hope (the one that I found hanging around my aviary outside) is the smallest in size. You can tell that they are a lot smaller as they are tiny to look at!! They both came in at 37g. Does that mean that all my birds are overweight?!?! I think not. the biggest bird I have comes in at 52g. and no she's not 'fat' she's just a big bird.. and no she isn't a show bird either. We just breed them big here in Australia. They are all Pet budgie. Mr Attitude (my grey spangle opaline...I've had pics of him in mutations regarding his mutations...) he came in freshly weighed at 49g. he isn't fat, in fact I'm worried that he's on the skinny side as I can feel his keel bone petruding alot more than my other budgies. I don't even want to know how heavy those show birds come in at... the ones i've seen are way way way bigger than my biggest, which is my creamino weighs in at 52. the heaviest of my aviary bird is 50g, and the lightest comes in at 39g. If I was to go by your average, that would mean, absolutely ALL of my birds are overweight!!! I really don't think so. Yes given that I know that ONE of my budgie out of 19 are overweight - Lemon. You can just tell how fat she is by looking at her.. she is about the same size as her brother Lime, Lime weighed in at 43, Lemon weighed in at 48.. which is not much different to Lime, so not that much overweight, but I realised that I need to get her weight down. She is the laziest of all my budgie which is why the weight gain not because I give them fatty food!

 

Like I said no offence there Terri, but I think the weight average may be a little different here than over at your place.

 

Oh I just measured one of my budgie head to tail length, he came in at around 220mm.... top of head to tip of tail... pretty big pet budgie there....

Blinkie is 34g and Oz is 38g. Just looking at the i'd guess my aviary budgies are anywhere from 28g-40g depending on if they're larger or smaller.

you sure fed em up Daz! Are you planning on making a roast out of them? They weren't that weight when I had em were they?

 

 

Sorry Karen I checked the records I keep on all budgies. I couldn't find the weight on the day 26th November 05

On 31st December - Lice treatment

 

Lisa - 48 grams on the 11th March was 56 grams

Bob - 47 grams on the 11th March was 51 grams

Jaz - 53 grams on the 11th March was 58 grams

 

Must be the water

Cockatiel weights vary quite a bit with 100 being average though I've seen some very small ones and then ones that seemed like giants.

 

I just can't imagine an 80 gram budgie, not even an English one.

 

My budgies are average size, even bordering on larger. Most of them stay at 35 grams. Peregrin and Pippin (when he was still with me) maintained at 29 grams but they are/were very young and smaller than my other budgies. The others, as I said, stay around 35. Pixel was heavier for a while but seems to be back to a better weight now.

 

It's hard to judge proper weight/size by simply looking at a budgie. For instance, it's very hard to tell when one is underweight without closely monitoring weight. If you notice a decrease without any change in diet or exercie, it's time for the vet.

 

On the other end of the spectrum, contrary to what a lot of people would think, a malnourished budgie is one that is overweight. This is because while seeds (and other junky foods) lack a LOT in necessary vitamins, minerals, amino acids, etc. they contain a lot of fat. In order to maintain energy, budgies eat more of the fat to compensate for the energy they aren't getting from better sources. The result is a budgie that is overweight but essentially still starving. (Starving in the sense that its body isn't getting proper nutrients, not in the sense that it is constantly hungry. You can stay full and satisfied off a diet of all ice cream but eventually you're going to die from lack of everything else.)

 

Most of the time, a budgie that actually looks like it's starving is one that is either sick (its body isn't able to make use of the food it eats) or it isn't eating at all. Obviously, they lose weight at a steady pace and by the time you notice the effects by looking at the bird, it is severely emaciated.

Edited April 16, 200619 yr by eterri

I agree with Terri. Budgerigars are finiky in how they live. You can give them a good balanced diet of seed, vegetables and additives (Crumble or soft foods) and they, like children, will eat what they like and leave the rest. You can feed them a mixture of seed with sunflower, oats, ect these are good to put on Bulk, Fat, for the cold winter months. But it is not good to consume only these types of seed.

 

Seed product promising a "Complete Diet" is incorrect as even the bird doesn't eat all the seed. He will eat too much of one type and not enough of another.

 

Here is a good study on the problems with "Seeds & Weight Gain"