Getting A Budgie!

[The_Dude]

It's going to be my first bird. My family has been saying that a bird would never shut up, and I really don't care. I love lil' birdies, and the singing would be nice. I'm just wondering if anyone had any pointers and budgies or aviculture in general. I would appreciate it greatly.

 

[big mick]

Budgies dont sing, they just tweet. If you want singing get a canary but budgies are better for hand taming.

 

[monica]

Budgies are loud. I have three. And trust me, they never do shut up *rolls eyes*
But they are very good for sitting on your finger and such, but the males are best. The males are the most friendly. You can teach them to talk if you have one, and only one. Because with three, it would take you ages. with 2 you can usually teach them to whistle. Females bite. Males nibble.
Budgies tweet and Squawk but are overally little cuties. Get a colour you like, because you watch them a lot. Be sure to get a cage that is big enough for them to fly around it, and give them free flight time (flying around a room) for at least 1 hour a week (best to be more). Be sure that their bars on their cage aren't wide enough to let them squeeze their bodies through (it hapeneded to me).
And Tame them right when you get them.

 

[lilfishie]

i have a pair (male and female) they both never stop talking, both very tame and very lovable, they love coming out to fly around then will go back in there cage when there ready, my two are so social they are never more than a few cm apart, we got the male first taught him to talk then got the female and he taught her lol. they are a great addition to the family IME

 

[Synirr]

On the plus side, to me at least, the noises budgies make are not annoying and I actually enjoyed hearing mine tweet all day, back when I had a couple
Of course, maybe that's just by comparison to my mom's lovebirds, who scream constantly, hehe.

 

[The_Dude]

They sound like fun. I loves lil' birdies!

 

[-cAtFiSh-]

Budgies are great little birds. I've had my one for about 6 years now. I originally thought it was a male but now I'm thinking it's a female going by the colour of its cere (the little coloured bit above the beak). I still call it a 'he' though haha.

I definitely recommend them. They don't need AS MUCH attention as other, bigger parrots need, though obviously they do require a little bit of work. Easy to look after, easy to tame and the best company They are a lot of fun.

Just one thing, a couple of times a week feed them some vegetables (a little bit of fruit is ok but not too much). Mine likes broccoli, spinach, beans, carrot...pretty much anything. Though NEVER feed birds avocado. It is toxic to them.

 

[oddball_lover]

Definitely think about getting more than one though - they are extremely sociable birds and can get very lonely on their own

 

[The_Dude]

Oh definitely, I'm gonna get another. But, then again, My mom is home a lot, and I'm home a lot. But I will get another, and a mirror with a little bell on the bottom.

 

[pica_nuttalli]

My mom is home a lot

if that's the case and your mom doesn't like constant tweeting, maybe you should just stick to one of them until she falls in love with the first one

 

[The_Dude]

Indeed. I'm condering that option too. I'd very much like to train him to say a few words as well.