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kasia
Bappie
Joined: 25 Jun 2007
Posts: 97
Location: Canada |
| Budgies as begginer pets |
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[size=9]Hi there I'm Kasia, and I was wondering if you would have any information on budgies, and if you do please reply and tell me the followings:
1.price
2.maintence
3.vet cost
4.feeding
5.colours
6.housing
And if any other information then please tell me, also if you don't have enough info then try the best to fill them in
Thank you
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Tuesday June 26, 2007 2:47 am |
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shirin
Moderator
Joined: 27 Apr 2005
Posts: 7399
Location: Canada, Toronto |
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I'm not an expert in budgies, but I can answer some of the questions as far as costs here in Canada 
On average budgies cost about $25-$30 here in Canada. A good size cage for a budgie is around $80-$100, like this one http://images.google.ca/imgres.....n%26sa%3DN I don't recommend anything smaller than that (20" x 20" x 47.5"), unless your budgie is going to be out of the cage for most of the day.
Vet costs are $65 for regular check-ups, with that what you get is basically the vet looking at your bird, weighing him, and also any type of grooming that needs to be done, like wing clipping, and beak and nail trimming. It's also recommended that you do an annual wellness check, which includes blood samples and fecal testing for diseases, just to make sure your bird is healthy. The wellness check costs $137 in addition to the $65 exam fee. I also recommend having some money saved up in case of emergencies, if your bird ever does get sick or injured, because then prices can run really high, like from hundrends of dollars to thousands.
I'll let Cheeta answer your other questions, she's a real expert on budgies  |
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Tuesday June 26, 2007 9:48 am |
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Cheeta
Moderator
Joined: 06 Apr 2005
Posts: 7952
Location: Australia |
| Re: Budgies as begginer pets |
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quote:
Originally posted by kasia
Hi there I'm Kasia, and I was wondering if you would have any information on budgies, and if you do please reply and tell me the followings:
1.price
2.maintence
3.vet cost
4.feeding
5.colours
6.housing
And if any other information then please tell me, also if you don't have enough info then try the best to fill them in
Thank you
To answer your questions...
1... Price.. not sure what they are in Canada, so my guess is Shirin would know how much they cost better than me. Over here you can get them from $5 up to $3000 or more (for a good quality show budgie).
2... Maintanance... They are generally a very low maintanance birds. In terms of cleaning, for one bird, you can get away with cleaning the paper once every two days if the cage has a grate over it, and give it a thorough cage clean once a week or so. get all the poop stain off. If the cage doesn't have a grate and the bird has access to the bottom, then change the paper everyday is good as I've found that budgies tend to LOVE chewing up their poop.. I don't know why, perhaps it's because they are grass budgies and it's just part of their instinct to chew up things on the ground, poop or not... eeekkk..
3... Vet Cost... not sure how much it cost over there, but generally a regular check up is recommended. I think Shirin has given you some good point here regarding vet costs.
4... Feeding... Well my budgies flatly refuse to eat pellets, but to be honest, I would rather them eat seeds and a wide selection of fresh veggies and grass/weed around the house then eating pellets and no seeds diet. They are grass parakeets, so they do actually need to eat seed to supplements their diet if the are on a pellets diet. all pellets (plus vegs and fruits) arent the healthiest diet for budgies. remember seeds.
I give my budgies leafy greens, and also they absolute adore raw corn on the cob. They go mad for it... I try to give them soft food (egg food) sometimes, but they want nothing to do with it. I've tried sprouting seeds, but they seems to prefer it after it's actually grown two inches long, and they like to munch of the leave, rather than just sprouted seeds, which by the way is the most nutritious stage of the life of seeds/plants.
5... Colours.. in terms of colours, there are two colour base, white or yellow, and with that you can have three different body colour... Blue, green or grey (with varying shade of colours)... There are many mutations (type) out there, check out my homepage for a few different type of mutations of budgies mutations.
6... Housing... Shape of a cage for Budgies is very very important... Never get a round cage as this doesn't provide a corner for them to 'hide' to feel secure and safe. Budgies likes to to snuggle up to a side when feels threaten and unsecure. and also, a long cage is better than a tall cage. As budgies are choppers, they don't hover, so having tall cage means that most of the space will be wasted... I made the mistake of buying a tall cage thinking that it's a great big cage, but in the end, the bird just hung out on top. but however if the cage was long enough then having the space upwards is good as they have the space to actually fly back and forth and and up and down that way, rather than straight down, there's a 'gentle' slope to get down....
Other things to knows... Budgies are in fact a very prolific chewers, they will chew wood, and other stuff. so I give my budgies a whole lot of safe twigs to munch on and chew up a storm. they love it! and grass, they love grass, just make sure they are on the safe list and haven't been sprayed with chemicals of any sort. My budgies love dandelions, leaves and flowers, and they are good nutrious food for them too.
Mineral supplements... I give my budgies mineral supplements in the form of calcium blocks or other sort of mineral block, they do like to chew up cuttle bones, but I find that they don't get much of the calcium from that, so I supplement them with fine calcium powder, which I mix in and lace the seeds with the extremely find powder, so when they hulk the husk, they get the powder as well.
Worming... I worm all my birds once every three months or so, this generally keeps the wormies away especially if they are eating grass and grass seeds that I get from the garden.
Toys... budgies LOVE toys, they love to be little goofballs. So far my budgies fav toy is the olympic rings.. they would play hours on end on that thing... and also bells... and oh Mirrors.. but I don't recommend mirrors if you want to keep you bird tame. As they find their reflection an interesting bird to mate with, so they'll choose the reflection over you. Little wiffle balls with bells inside works a treat. Make sure though you check it constantly for wear and tear.. that goes for all toys, especially toys with cotton thread in it. This could easily gets little toes caught tangled, and cut off the blood circulation and also the toe as well.
Well let us know if you have anymore questions... I'll be more than happy to answer it. |
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Tuesday June 26, 2007 2:56 pm |
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kasia
Bappie
Joined: 25 Jun 2007
Posts: 97
Location: Canada |
| Budgies |
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Thank you so much, it was lots of help!
I'm definetley looking into budgies |
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Tuesday June 26, 2007 7:01 pm |
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Cheeta
Moderator
Joined: 06 Apr 2005
Posts: 7952
Location: Australia |
In my opinion, though small, in size, budgies sure make up in their personalities.. They are little clowns, and they make me laugh all the time. and if you get a single bird as pets, chances are it'll start talking very quickly as they are known to be one of the best talker bird around. |
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Wednesday June 27, 2007 4:44 am |
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Yupra
Flying tumbler
Joined: 05 Feb 2006
Posts: 2206
Location: CA |
I agree with Cheeta Although you have to remember there are the odd few birds who 'don't play by the rules' so to speak I've had my budgie for over a year now, and he hasn't picked up a hint of human gibberish He has, however, learned bluejay  I definately enjoy my little guy's clownish antics |
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Wednesday June 27, 2007 3:18 pm |
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Cheeta
Moderator
Joined: 06 Apr 2005
Posts: 7952
Location: Australia |
quote:
Originally posted by Yupra
I agree with Cheeta Although you have to remember there are the odd few birds who 'don't play by the rules' so to speak I've had my budgie for over a year now, and he hasn't picked up a hint of human gibberish He has, however, learned bluejay I definately enjoy my little guy's clownish antics
Budgies are one of those really weird bird... they can either talk really well, or not at all... nothing in between... it's odd... I visit this budgie forum, and those that has budgies that can talk, they generally talk quite well, but those thatcan't, just can't.. it's odd.. |
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Wednesday June 27, 2007 3:37 pm |
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kasia
Bappie
Joined: 25 Jun 2007
Posts: 97
Location: Canada |
Really thats funny!
I guess they can be kind of odd now can't they? |
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Thursday June 28, 2007 5:17 pm |
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homebird
Flier
Joined: 09 Apr 2006
Posts: 435
Location: Toronto, Canada |
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I just saw this thread. Where was i???
I hope that Budgies are for you..As you know there are lots of other wonderful Birds of similar size.
~ Bourkes Parakeet, [sometimes considered a grass parakeet - but is in it's own division like the Budgerigar.]
~ Lineolated Parakeet,
~ Parrotlets
~ & Love birds.
I've probably left some great species out....
I was told by a friend who had Amazons to get into Budgies. He knew us & our home environment. I kind of resisted at first but read so many positive things about them i finally got one.
I think the others covered everything quite well.
I'd like to add that i got my 1st bird, Laker, from a local shelter & he came flighted, mature & not talking. I love him to bits. Although i'm happy for my friends who have talking Budgies it doesn't suit me as i'm a big reader & I'd hate to be trying not to listen to him.
Our second bird came from a small home breeder - because we were worried a bit about an effective quarantine in our apartment + we thought a baby would be Ok for our other bird to get used to another - it is incredible the mental gymnastics one goes thru & the silly stuff you think!  In the end another shelter bird would have been fine. The baby bonded to Laker very well but has been difficult to tame. I didn't pick him out from a group - so his tameness was never an issue.
There are lots of shelter Budgies out ther & i recommend them. Getting a mature pet - you see what it is & how it is. If it's a frightened bird it will be that way for a while. Laker was not frightened in the least & very inquisitive.
Hope you got our bird - i don't see your homepage. |
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Thursday September 20, 2007 11:25 pm |
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Cheeta
Moderator
Joined: 06 Apr 2005
Posts: 7952
Location: Australia |
sorry to hear that you're having a much more difficult time to tame Rio.  if it comforts you, most of my budgies are wild!!! LOL... oh they don't like me anymore since they all move into the nice big aviary! Grrr..
hehehe |
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Friday September 21, 2007 12:49 am |
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homebird
Flier
Joined: 09 Apr 2006
Posts: 435
Location: Toronto, Canada |
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Little ingrates! I guess they love their freedom.
Rio needs lots of one on one. I've had to cage Laker & move him out of the room. Then i focus on getting Rio to step-up & even to let me near. I must say this isn't a great practice tip or anything - but when he's worn out from flying all over the room he steps up nicely & we sit & chat.
He was doing this at night too much - who wants to pursue a Budgie around & around the room? - while the tame Budgie [Laker] is happily roosting in his own cage.
 Strangely the last 2 evenings he's been very crabby at night - maybe worn out from the training sessions. The nights are getting longer again so roosting time comes quickly & we keep forgetting -  OOps - Budgies sitting in the dark! At ant rate, Rio has been nippy - but while he's nipping me I've just scooped him into my hand & transfered him quickly to his cage. He's in the cage before he realises it. But i think we'll get there.
He's smart but very willful. Laker on the other hand is much gentler & more willing. |
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Friday September 21, 2007 4:34 pm |
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Cheeta
Moderator
Joined: 06 Apr 2005
Posts: 7952
Location: Australia |
Hehe, oh that Rio sounds like some of my budgies. I've given up trying to tame a lot of my girls. They are so determine to bite their little head off.. I got bitten so many times in the process of moving them from their small aviary into the big one that they are in now.
Sounds like you're making progress with little Rio. Thats great.. oh I do that to my budgies.. pick them up when they are absolutely exhausted from flying around. hehehe... |
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Tuesday September 25, 2007 3:59 am |
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homebird
Flier
Joined: 09 Apr 2006
Posts: 435
Location: Toronto, Canada |
We have found a solution for Rio not wanting to go to bed.
We moved his bed closer to Laker's, where the play gym is during the day - means relocating the gym, but hey, it has worked. Guess he also hated being by the window at night while Laker was on top of the bookcase. Now the 2 lads sing to each other as they roost. We bed Laker first - he makes sure Rio is out of his cage before he hops in & then when we put Rio's cage on the dresser he waits on top of it for his turn.
Boy am i glad he's happy - so are we.
I think an aviary is a wonderful thing for your birds - but i can see they'd get kind of wild & bossy - especially over time. I had heard the girl Budgies are crabbier -  I guess they have to take control of their space.
Maybe one day I'll get a female or 2. |
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Wednesday September 26, 2007 4:37 pm |
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