Budgies are docile birds, and their very arrival at a bird keeper’s home brings with it much joy. Small budgies are especially lovely because of their friendly nature. When you train a budgie well and patiently, the years the bird spends with you will surely be memorable. That’s why many people opt to tame them as their companion pets. They can learn a lot of things, including swinging their heads and making some particular stances.
They are also good talkers who can learn a handful of words. When done patiently as the bird acclimates to the new environment, the training session proves quite rewarding when the bird masters what you teach him. However, many people make many mistakes when taming budgies. These mistakes vary from swearing with the bomb words to giving the bird anything people eat. This article aims at helping you know what you should not do with your budgie this summer and the reason behind not doing it.
Cooking with the bird
Of course, your feathered friend can be the greatest companion you can have around, especially when he gets acclimated to the environment and earns your trust. Often, you will do many things together, and you will definitely find it fun. However, not everything is good for your avian friend, and you must avoid such things as cooking with the bird. Well, why should cooking with the budgie be considered risky when it can be funny? There are many reasons behind this. First, if you cook using Teflon or non-stick cookware, you should never even think of cooking with the bird. This cookware emits harmful fumes when they are heated. Even with the slightest heating, these cooking materials will produce those fumes. These fumes are dangerous because they can interfere with the bird’s respiratory system, triggering some infections. Besides, the fumes can also block the lungs and cause your budgie to suffocate. Worse off, the bird can die immediately.
The other reason why cooking with your budgie would be a good idea is the risk of what a kitchen usually has and what a cooking environment looks like. When cooking, you have hot water or food boiling in the kitchen. They are potential hazards to your feathered friend. For instance, when you were boiling water and then a phone rings, the sound could frighten the budgie (budgies can seriously freckle at phone calls). Out of anxiety, confusion, and fright, the bird could fly aimlessly, hitting things here and there, and could even land himself in the hot food or water. I don’t think it would be a good thing for you to see your budgie burnt and hurt, wouldn’t it? You don’t have to subject the bird to all this; just avoid cooking with it.
Smoking with the budgie
Just like cooking together with the budgie can be dangerous, so can smoking with or near your avian friend. While human beings have a strong immunity to stand smoking, budgies cannot. They have relatively weaker immunity and will not put up with the smoke and end up unharmed. It does not matter what type of smoke it is; it has the potential to harm the bird. The cigarettes, pipes, and all other types of smoking have to be avoided when dealing with budgies and other parrots since these animals cannot stand smoking. Are you wondering why that is the case? There are three major reasons why smoking with or near the budgie would be risky.
First, the smoke from the cigarette, pipe, or any other smoke one is having can kill the budgie. As mentioned earlier, budgies’ immunities are not as strong as what human beings have. Therefore, when a lot of cigarette smoke infiltrates where the bird is, and the bird definitely breathes it in, he could die. The second reason is the lowering of the bird’s immune system. We cannot compare birds’ immunity to what human beings have, but the truth is that birds have a weak immunity compared to human beings.
If the already weak immunity gets attacked by foreign stuff like cigarette smoke, the immunity weakens even more. In fact, if you keep smoking regularly, the bird’s immunity will weaken and eventually claim the bird’s life. The third reason why smoking near the budgie is not wise is the fact that the smoke lowers the budgie’s life expectancy. As seen in the preceding point, smoke weakens the bird’s immunity. With a weakened immunity, the bird cannot make it to life as expected. If his life expectancy was ten years, this would be greatly reduced depending on smoking frequency.
Entertaining junk food
One thing that you surely will not stand is your feathered friend going into the ‘pick me up’ stance when he sees you hold French fries or any other goodies. That’s why when you are taming budgies as your pets, you certainly must not entertain junk food, and if you must, do it away from the bird’s eyesight. These animals are sociable, and as a part of their sociable nature, they will want to share in everything you do, including eating junk food. While you may opt for junk eateries and find them okay for yourself, the same is not for the bird. The budgie must not be given even the smallest piece of junk food.
The main reason why the budgie should not eat junk food is the health impact the food places on the bird. Budgies are capable of becoming obese, and this can happen really fast. While many people give them pellets and nuts as treats, these can be harmful to the avian adventurer when it makes him obese.
Instead of giving the budgie junk food, why not offer him fresh vegetables and fruits? These fresh supplies go a long way to improve the bird’s health by supplying the necessary dietary requirements while still keeping the bird in keeping in shape. If you have a hard time saying ‘no’ to your bird’s luring request for goods, you can restock your fridge and substitute the goodies with healthy fruits and vegetables.
If you have an avian pet, such as a budgie, you must say goodbye to some things. For example, for the good of your bird, you will have to refrain from holding wild parties in your house. Why so?
Holding big parties
First, budgies suck at loud noises. Most wild parties are characterized by loud music, and this can potentially scare your bird. What follows next would not be something you are comfortable with- your bird will be scared of you and eventually lose the hard-earned trust he had for you. Besides, amid the party, some of your guests may get tipsy and move by hastily, which again scares the bird.
Furthermore, most parties have alcoholic drinks. When people drink such, you can hardly control their actions. Out of the excitement, one of your party guests may reach out for your bird and tries to pet him.
The bird may try to protest, especially if the petting and posturing is not something he is accustomed to, but your tipsy guest may not notice. If this continues, the budgie can even bite him, and you definitely know how such a frustrated bite can be painful. People often use the f-bomb word after getting drunk, and your feathered friend being so keen, will pick these words. You will be embarrassed when you hear him ‘speak’ the curse words picked from the party you held. So to have your peace and keep the bird calm, refrain from hosting parties that will make the budgie uncomfortable.
Spraying aerosols and painting nails
As mentioned previously, budgies will reach out to you as you do anything. Even as you go through your morning preparation routine, you might feel inclined to have your bird on a nearby spot. As you do this, you must understand one thing, sprays do not work well with birds. If you know you will have to spray anything scented, be kind enough to take your feathered friend to another room. Just like smoke from a cigarette, aerosols have the potential to trigger lungs and respiratory problems in your bird. If he does not withdraw immediately from this, his immunity and expectancy will be reduced.
Painting anything like nails is also not good for the bird. Have you given a thought to how strongly nail polish smells? Some people cannot stand those smells as they trigger allergic reactions, causing sneezing or chest pain. If you cannot stand it, can your bird with a relatively weak immunity stand it? Of course, no. Besides, the bird will surely enjoy chewing traces of paint that fall and dry on the ground, which is still unhealthy for him.
While we enjoy doing many things with our avian pets at home, there are other things that are a no-no for the birds. For instance, you may want to cook with the budgie, but the fumes from the Teflon cookware are not good for the bird’s health. Keep reading the article to know the other things that you must not do this summer with your budgie.
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