Does anyone have experience with budgies?

[FishFinatic77]

I think the oldest living budgie was 29 years old!!

Yes, I heard that. Crazy!

 

[Tonymolly]

Hey everyone, 3 months ago, i adopted an adult budgie and hes doing great. Hes comfortable in his new home and is very active and happy. I realy want to tame him to be able to perch him on my hands and shoulder. But hes very scarred of the hands. I have tried for last 3 months to show him that my hands are not a threat but it doesint seems to work. I start with showing my hands first, i keep my hands a little far from the cage and slowly and gently move closer and keep on his cage. And then after few minutes will slowly open the cage and gently put my hands inside. I have been doing this for a couple of times. But no luck. Hes a male and over 1 year old. I have noticed that when i show him my hands, he goes from puffed up to a tight/slim state, showing fear.. and when i move closer to him i can notice his wings kind of shaking/shivering. Hes only scared of the HANDS but not me, i can go near him without showing my hands and he would be just fine doing whatever he was doing. As soon as he sees my hands, he walks towards the corner of the perch. If anyone has any tips if anything that i am doing is wrong or if i wont be able to tame him (because hes an adult already?) Anything usefull would be appreciated.
Also, hes not clipped and i tried to let him just fly around the room on his own, i left the cage open for about an hour but hes not bothered about it at all. Any information would be appreciated. Thanks.

 

[evanb]

I used to use millet spray to tame them. They absolutely love it. If you start with poking it through the cage and letting the bird eat and then move to having the door open on the cage and letting it come and take it from your hands they will soon lose their fear and realize your hands are not something to fear. Millet is also a great treat to just peg onto the side of the cage. Others might have different ideas of how to tame them but this is the way which I found worked best for me.
All the best!

 

[Jan Cavalieri]

I've owned budgies and larger parrots off and on my entire life.

I don't think budgies make good pets.
- They do not easily bond to humans
- They are excessively noisy especially in groups
- Ideally they should have a flight cage - meaning one that's both tall and wide. People get a $20 bird that really needs a $60-$100 cage to be happy.
- They are more likely to talk if they are male and the only bird in the house. Sexing them is difficult unless you get the original green budgie then you can judge by the color of it's cere (blue vs pink) but most have been so cross bred it's not a great indicator.
- You are unlikely to find a breeder - locally - these are bred like chickens, not like beloved parrots (and even with those finding a breeder can be hard)

Here is my proposal - save up your money and get a Cockatiel.
They make a MUCH better first bird. Not very hard biters. You will pay a lot more for a hand-fed one than a parent raised bird but they are so friendly and gentle they are easy to tame either way
- They are less good at talking than other parrots but are AMAZING whistlers
- They are more of a companion parrot than any other species as far as I'm concerned.
- They love to shred things, my last cockatiel shredded my whole collection of Hemmingway novels.
- Be 100% sure you are ready to commit to what could be a 30 yr relationship (budgies today only seem to live 5-8 yrs but I gave one to a friend that lived well into her 20's - she got eggbound at age 20 and K-State University did surgery on her - she lived several more years after that. But this was the old "English Budgie" - bigger and plumper than it's poorly bred American cousins. )
- Again this is a HUGE commitment to take on ANY bird don't let them end up being stuck in a cage all day - they need at least 5-6 hours of supervised out of cage time each day. If you can't do that then get a huge flight cage and 2-4 budgies - the noise level will be very high but you get used to it.

Frankly, I don't believe birds belong in the pet trade. I had to re-home my African Grey due to my disability - we were both depressed. He was the love of my life but I placed him in a wonderful sanctuary and he is so happy now. But sanctuaries are getting over-run with Parrots that out live their owners, or the owners become elderly and disabled, or you don't have the time commitment and start ignoring the bird. There are LOT's of unhappy caged birds in this country. We don't need any more. You could also look at some of the sanctuaries in your area that adopt out - especially their smaller birds. You may have to have a home visit or show them you can commit - they don't want constant rehoming - it's too stressful on the bird. Most sanctuaries will only adopt out budgies and cockatiels - rarely will they adopt out a larger parrot. My sanctuary has a Macaw that is documented to be 98 yrs old! It had been passed down through the family for decades - but they ran out of relatives - he's learning to be happy in the sanctuary - but it's very stressful for him.

So - my advice - don't get a bird unless it's a cockatiel and you can afford a super sized cage and have the time each day for out of cage time. . And be prepared for a lot of devotion. Parrots are very high maintenance and very messy. They belong in the wild, not in a cage.

 

[Jan Cavalieri]

Oh and clipping their wings is CRUEL - it makes them very scared since it's their primary survival mechanism. It's like declawing a cat. BTW Cockatiels are good flyers even with clipped wings. When you are trying to tame them, catch them with a soft cloth and take them into a small room so they aren't flying all over the place. A chased budgie is likely to run into walls or windows and break their beaks. You can't find many hand fed budgies so none of them are tame. Unlike a cockatiel which is just born tame.

 

[Gypsy Tart]

. They belong in the wild, not in a cage.

Yes. I think that birds should not be kept in cages.

 

[FishFinatic77]

Hey everyone, 3 months ago, i adopted an adult budgie and hes doing great. Hes comfortable in his new home and is very active and happy. I realy want to tame him to be able to perch him on my hands and shoulder. But hes very scarred of the hands. I have tried for last 3 months to show him that my hands are not a threat but it doesint seems to work. I start with showing my hands first, i keep my hands a little far from the cage and slowly and gently move closer and keep on his cage. And then after few minutes will slowly open the cage and gently put my hands inside. I have been doing this for a couple of times. But no luck. Hes a male and over 1 year old. I have noticed that when i show him my hands, he goes from puffed up to a tight/slim state, showing fear.. and when i move closer to him i can notice his wings kind of shaking/shivering. Hes only scared of the HANDS but not me, i can go near him without showing my hands and he would be just fine doing whatever he was doing. As soon as he sees my hands, he walks towards the corner of the perch. If anyone has any tips if anything that i am doing is wrong or if i wont be able to tame him (because hes an adult already?) Anything usefull would be appreciated.
Also, hes not clipped and i tried to let him just fly around the room on his own, i left the cage open for about an hour but hes not bothered about it at all. Any information would be appreciated. Thanks.

Obviously, I don't have experience with birds yet. But, there is a youtube channel called Elleandthebirds which I really enjoy. She has a great video on how to hand tame birds.

 

[FishFinatic77]

I've owned budgies and larger parrots off and on my entire life.

I don't think budgies make good pets.
- They do not easily bond to humans
- They are excessively noisy especially in groups
- Ideally they should have a flight cage - meaning one that's both tall and wide. People get a $20 bird that really needs a $60-$100 cage to be happy.
- They are more likely to talk if they are male and the only bird in the house. Sexing them is difficult unless you get the original green budgie then you can judge by the color of it's cere (blue vs pink) but most have been so cross bred it's not a great indicator.
- You are unlikely to find a breeder - locally - these are bred like chickens, not like beloved parrots (and even with those finding a breeder can be hard)

Here is my proposal - save up your money and get a Cockatiel.
They make a MUCH better first bird. Not very hard biters. You will pay a lot more for a hand-fed one than a parent raised bird but they are so friendly and gentle they are easy to tame either way
- They are less good at talking than other parrots but are AMAZING whistlers
- They are more of a companion parrot than any other species as far as I'm concerned.
- They love to shred things, my last cockatiel shredded my whole collection of Hemmingway novels.
- Be 100% sure you are ready to commit to what could be a 30 yr relationship (budgies today only seem to live 5-8 yrs but I gave one to a friend that lived well into her 20's - she got eggbound at age 20 and K-State University did surgery on her - she lived several more years after that. But this was the old "English Budgie" - bigger and plumper than it's poorly bred American cousins. )
- Again this is a HUGE commitment to take on ANY bird don't let them end up being stuck in a cage all day - they need at least 5-6 hours of supervised out of cage time each day. If you can't do that then get a huge flight cage and 2-4 budgies - the noise level will be very high but you get used to it.

Frankly, I don't believe birds belong in the pet trade. I had to re-home my African Grey due to my disability - we were both depressed. He was the love of my life but I placed him in a wonderful sanctuary and he is so happy now. But sanctuaries are getting over-run with Parrots that out live their owners, or the owners become elderly and disabled, or you don't have the time commitment and start ignoring the bird. There are LOT's of unhappy caged birds in this country. We don't need any more. You could also look at some of the sanctuaries in your area that adopt out - especially their smaller birds. You may have to have a home visit or show them you can commit - they don't want constant rehoming - it's too stressful on the bird. Most sanctuaries will only adopt out budgies and cockatiels - rarely will they adopt out a larger parrot. My sanctuary has a Macaw that is documented to be 98 yrs old! It had been passed down through the family for decades - but they ran out of relatives - he's learning to be happy in the sanctuary - but it's very stressful for him.

So - my advice - don't get a bird unless it's a cockatiel and you can afford a super sized cage and have the time each day for out of cage time. . And be prepared for a lot of devotion. Parrots are very high maintenance and very messy. They belong in the wild, not in a cage.

I definitely see your point. But, I think budgies are better for me right now. I definitely plan on getting a cockatiel in the future, but not now.
I did actually find a breeder near me who sells hand raised budgies, so they will already be tame when I get them.
I'm also fully prepared for the commitment of owning birds. I don't mind the work at all.

 

[FishFinatic77]

Oh and clipping their wings is CRUEL - it makes them very scared since it's their primary survival mechanism. It's like declawing a cat. BTW Cockatiels are good flyers even with clipped wings. When you are trying to tame them, catch them with a soft cloth and take them into a small room so they aren't flying all over the place. A chased budgie is likely to run into walls or windows and break their beaks. You can't find many hand fed budgies so none of them are tame. Unlike a cockatiel which is just born tame.

Don't worry. I won't clip their wings. They will be able to fly freely in the room their cage will be going into, for several hours each day.

 

[FishFinatic77]

Oh, and I will also be getting a nice, big flight cage for them to live in. They will have plenty of room for when they aren't out, flying around.

 

[Jan Cavalieri]

OK - I once had a cockatiel and a conure and I left them outside their cages all the time (I was a newbie to bigger birds). That's how I got my Hemmingway collection shredded. Since it was on the top shelf of a very large bookcase I didn't even notice for months. So good thing I hate Hemmingway or I'd be pissed. My conure who was usually very shy and glued to the top of the cage one day decided to shred a huge amount of wallpaper in the dining room of a house we were RENTING - totally not cool - actually a major disaster since we couldn't fix that and it was beautiful and expensive paper. My African Grey destroyed every door frame or top of window in any room he was in - he was so fast I couldn't usually catch him. He totally destroyed the window frame on the window next to his cage from while he was INSIDE his cage. In fact he could also unscrew parts of his cage to make them fall off. Do NOT underestimate the damage that can be done even by a budgie. Hope it's a tile floor with a drain in it otherwise you'll be cleaning up poop for hours each week. They poop about once every 20 minutes. Birds don't poop at night while they are asleep but that first poop of the morning can be very large. Now Budgie poop is usually kind of dry but if their diet is what it should be their poop (which is actually a mixture of poop and urine) can be very colorful and often the stains do not come out.

Once you allow a bird unsupervised access to anything (window sills, drywall, wallpaper, flooring, curtains, curtain rods, curtain hooks - they are all easily damaged or destroyed. You think they are small and can't do damage - think again. Collisions in the air and even a nightmare in their cage and you can get a broken bloodfeather - a mess in any bird, it hurts and there is a large blood supply. A budgie could even die with a broken blood feather.

They can also have collisions with walls and windows. My African Grey actually got a hairline fracture on his beak when he had a collision (once the bleeding stopped - beeks bleed a lot - then I put some superglue on it and had to handfeed him for 2 weeks until the beak healed. Don't think it's only larger birds that get into things - my budgies figured out how to open one of the doors to their flight cage and there was a poopy mess all over the floor when I came home.

Don't put them in a room with carpet unless you plan to get rid of the carpet.

These are the realities of birdkeeping. Oh - I had a budgie that acted ill so I took him to the vet. $60 for the initial exam and $90 for bloodwork = he had cancer, so another $60 for anti-inflamatories and pain medication. I hand fed him for over a month giving him his medicine twice a day. He died in my hand on night. Avian vets are hard to find and very expensive. Non-avian vets will try and treat a bird but how good they are depends on their experience, Egg-binding can be a problem in budgies and even more so in cockatiels - there is lots of internet info on egg binding or compulsive egg laying. It happens a lot in smaller birds.

Do NOT put your bird on a seed diet - they should have about 50% fresh fruit and vegetables and the other 50% nuts, seeds, pellets (if they've never had a pellet died they won't recognize it as food and starve so introduce it slowly) One fun thing I used to do was use a metal kabob wire and string small pieces of different things that could be cut up. Slice up a corn cob and they'll love it, grapes, sweet potato. melon.peppper, apple slices, carrot slices. . There will be a lot of waste (you need to change this daily).

I used to make budgie muffins and mix seed into their muffin mix along with the entire egg and shell (for the calcium) shred in some carrots or whatever and cook them up - freeze them since you won't go through them very fast - then thaw them in the microwave and put on on a skewer or set it on a table. Don't put fresh food in the bottom of their cage - it will just get pooped on = a budgie walking on the floor of his cage is a sick budgie - they don't do it.

For bathing - if you have a table or stand next to their cage, put a round cake pan or pie plate on the table and fill them about 1/2 full of warm water. Eventually they'll learn to bathe in it. If they are super tame you can even take them in the shower with you (let them stand on top of the door or buy a suction cup perch. The water and steam is good for them. Theses are desert birds so don't be surprised if they aren't sure what to do with water. They are massive pests in Australia because they destroy so much crops.

So have I talked you into NOT getting a bird yet? Just want to make sure you go in with open eyes and don't think it will never be "your bird" that has a problem.

 

[evanb]

that's what comes of posting a bird thread on a fish forum! Haha.
Everyone's like pro fish anti bird.
Suppose fish don't chew doorframes I could be wrong though.

 

[FishFinatic77]

OK - I once had a cockatiel and a conure and I left them outside their cages all the time (I was a newbie to bigger birds). That's how I got my Hemmingway collection shredded. Since it was on the top shelf of a very large bookcase I didn't even notice for months. So good thing I hate Hemmingway or I'd be pissed. My conure who was usually very shy and glued to the top of the cage one day decided to shred a huge amount of wallpaper in the dining room of a house we were RENTING - totally not cool - actually a major disaster since we couldn't fix that and it was beautiful and expensive paper. My African Grey destroyed every door frame or top of window in any room he was in - he was so fast I couldn't usually catch him. He totally destroyed the window frame on the window next to his cage from while he was INSIDE his cage. In fact he could also unscrew parts of his cage to make them fall off. Do NOT underestimate the damage that can be done even by a budgie. Hope it's a tile floor with a drain in it otherwise you'll be cleaning up poop for hours each week. They poop about once every 20 minutes. Birds don't poop at night while they are asleep but that first poop of the morning can be very large. Now Budgie poop is usually kind of dry but if their diet is what it should be their poop (which is actually a mixture of poop and urine) can be very colorful and often the stains do not come out.

Once you allow a bird unsupervised access to anything (window sills, drywall, wallpaper, flooring, curtains, curtain rods, curtain hooks - they are all easily damaged or destroyed. You think they are small and can't do damage - think again. Collisions in the air and even a nightmare in their cage and you can get a broken bloodfeather - a mess in any bird, it hurts and there is a large blood supply. A budgie could even die with a broken blood feather.

They can also have collisions with walls and windows. My African Grey actually got a hairline fracture on his beak when he had a collision (once the bleeding stopped - beeks bleed a lot - then I put some superglue on it and had to handfeed him for 2 weeks until the beak healed. Don't think it's only larger birds that get into things - my budgies figured out how to open one of the doors to their flight cage and there was a poopy mess all over the floor when I came home.

Don't put them in a room with carpet unless you plan to get rid of the carpet.

These are the realities of birdkeeping. Oh - I had a budgie that acted ill so I took him to the vet. $60 for the initial exam and $90 for bloodwork = he had cancer, so another $60 for anti-inflamatories and pain medication. I hand fed him for over a month giving him his medicine twice a day. He died in my hand on night. Avian vets are hard to find and very expensive. Non-avian vets will try and treat a bird but how good they are depends on their experience, Egg-binding can be a problem in budgies and even more so in cockatiels - there is lots of internet info on egg binding or compulsive egg laying. It happens a lot in smaller birds.

Do NOT put your bird on a seed diet - they should have about 50% fresh fruit and vegetables and the other 50% nuts, seeds, pellets (if they've never had a pellet died they won't recognize it as food and starve so introduce it slowly) One fun thing I used to do was use a metal kabob wire and string small pieces of different things that could be cut up. Slice up a corn cob and they'll love it, grapes, sweet potato. melon.peppper, apple slices, carrot slices. . There will be a lot of waste (you need to change this daily).

I used to make budgie muffins and mix seed into their muffin mix along with the entire egg and shell (for the calcium) shred in some carrots or whatever and cook them up - freeze them since you won't go through them very fast - then thaw them in the microwave and put on on a skewer or set it on a table. Don't put fresh food in the bottom of their cage - it will just get pooped on = a budgie walking on the floor of his cage is a sick budgie - they don't do it.

For bathing - if you have a table or stand next to their cage, put a round cake pan or pie plate on the table and fill them about 1/2 full of warm water. Eventually they'll learn to bathe in it. If they are super tame you can even take them in the shower with you (let them stand on top of the door or buy a suction cup perch. The water and steam is good for them. Theses are desert birds so don't be surprised if they aren't sure what to do with water. They are massive pests in Australia because they destroy so much crops.

So have I talked you into NOT getting a bird yet? Just want to make sure you go in with open eyes and don't think it will never be "your bird" that has a problem.

Thank you for all this information. No, you have not talked me out of getting a bird, but you have definitely given me an idea of how I will have to bird proof the room they will be going into.
They won't be free flying in the room unsupervised. I spend several hours a day in that room anyway, so I'll be able to watch them.
I'm totally aware of how destructive birds can be. I have chickens, and I have watched them destroy many, many things, including one of my shirts (not one I particularly liked, thankfully). I guess that's just a bird's natural instinct. But, I am fully prepared to deal with whatever they can throw at me.
Also, thank you for the info on the feeding and bathing. I will definitely try the kebabs and the muffins.

 

[Colin_T]

Have the birds cage on a table near you when you are at home. The bird will be able to watch you and see you moving your hands. Don't try to pick it up or grab it now, just give it a few weeks to get use to being near you and having your hands move around near its cage.

Offer small pieces of fruit and green grass seeds to the bird through the wire. Do this for a few weeks and when the bird is happy to grab bits of fruit or grass seeds, then open the cage door and put your hand on the edge of the cage and offer fruit and grass seeds. Do this for a few weeks so the bird gets use to your hands offering it nice thing.

When the bird is happy taking food from your hand while it is on the edge of the open door, then move your hand inside the cage and have it on one side of the cage near a perch so the bird can go to the opposite end if frightened. Off the food and if it comes over let it take the food. If it doesn't take the food after a minute, them remove your hand from the cage and shut the cage door.

Once the bird is happy to take food from your hand while it is in the cage, start putting both hands in the cage with food. See if the bird will take food form either hand. If it does, that is great. If it is nervous, then go back to having one hand in the cage.

When the bird is happy with both of your hands being in the cage and it takes food from either hand, then put one hand in the cage with your finger pointing out and hold your hand parallel to the perch with your finger about 1 inch away from the perch. With your other hand, offer the bird some food. Try to encourage the bird onto your finger while offering food with your other hand.

Once the bird hops onto your finger for food, then do that for a week or so before slowly moving your hand away from the perch while the bird is sitting on your finger. Move your hand slowly and just let the bird sit on your finger eating the food you are offering it. After a few weeks of that, you should be able to bring the bird out of the cage while it is on your finger. Keep offering it food while doing this.

If you can get the bird out of its cage while it is sitting on your finger and it eats, then do this for a bit and slowly encourage the bird to sit on a table or your shoulder. Offer it food to do this.

After a few more weeks then start to slowly move your hand towards the bird but from underneath it so it hops onto your fingers. Then use your other hand to gently touch its belly. Slowly work your finger around its body so it gets use to being touched. After a bit of time it should be more comfortable and you might be able to gently rub its head. If you get this far then you should be fine from here on. If the bird doesn't let you near it after a couple of months, or more of offering it fruit and green grass seeds, it probably never will. But be patient and persistent and most birds will usually tame down if you are calm and don't make any sudden movements.

Hopefully over time the bird will get use to your hands and will be less afraid of them. It was probably grabbed by someone before you got it and they were rough with the bird.

---------------
These training sessions should take place for a minute or two, several times a day. But don't make them too long or too often if the bird is showing signs of stress. Just go slow and don't make sudden movements or do anything to startle the bird. Don't have people gathered around when doing this. Approach the cage from one side and let the bird back away if it wants to. You have to show the bird you can be trusted and there is nothing to fear.

 

[FishFinatic77]

Have the birds cage on a table near you when you are at home. The bird will be able to watch you and see you moving your hands. Don't try to pick it up or grab it now, just give it a few weeks to get use to being near you and having your hands move around near its cage.

Offer small pieces of fruit and green grass seeds to the bird through the wire. Do this for a few weeks and when the bird is happy to grab bits of fruit or grass seeds, then open the cage door and put your hand on the edge of the cage and offer fruit and grass seeds. Do this for a few weeks so the bird gets use to your hands offering it nice thing.

When the bird is happy taking food from your hand while it is on the edge of the open door, then move your hand inside the cage and have it on one side of the cage near a perch so the bird can go to the opposite end if frightened. Off the food and if it comes over let it take the food. If it doesn't take the food after a minute, them remove your hand from the cage and shut the cage door.

Once the bird is happy to take food from your hand while it is in the cage, start putting both hands in the cage with food. See if the bird will take food form either hand. If it does, that is great. If it is nervous, then go back to having one hand in the cage.

When the bird is happy with both of your hands being in the cage and it takes food from either hand, then put one hand in the cage with your finger pointing out and hold your hand parallel to the perch with your finger about 1 inch away from the perch. With your other hand, offer the bird some food. Try to encourage the bird onto your finger while offering food with your other hand.

Once the bird hops onto your finger for food, then do that for a week or so before slowly moving your hand away from the perch while the bird is sitting on your finger. Move your hand slowly and just let the bird sit on your finger eating the food you are offering it. After a few weeks of that, you should be able to bring the bird out of the cage while it is on your finger. Keep offering it food while doing this.

If you can get the bird out of its cage while it is sitting on your finger and it eats, then do this for a bit and slowly encourage the bird to sit on a table or your shoulder. Offer it food to do this.

After a few more weeks then start to slowly move your hand towards the bird but from underneath it so it hops onto your fingers. Then use your other hand to gently touch its belly. Slowly work your finger around its body so it gets use to being touched. After a bit of time it should be more comfortable and you might be able to gently rub its head. If you get this far then you should be fine from here on. If the bird doesn't let you near it after a couple of months, or more of offering it fruit and green grass seeds, it probably never will. But be patient and persistent and most birds will usually tame down if you are calm and don't make any sudden movements.

Hopefully over time the bird will get use to your hands and will be less afraid of them. It was probably grabbed by someone before you got it and they were rough with the bird.

---------------
These training sessions should take place for a minute or two, several times a day. But don't make them too long or too often if the bird is showing signs of stress. Just go slow and don't make sudden movements or do anything to startle the bird. Don't have people gathered around when doing this. Approach the cage from one side and let the bird back away if it wants to. You have to show the bird you can be trusted and there is nothing to fear.

This is super helpful information. Thanks!