You Should Know Before You Choose A Pet Budgie Parakeet

Introduction

We all plan a great deal before bringing a little human baby home. We check out in detail the financial, physical, mental, nutritional, and other requirements for him. Similar is the case when we decide upon adding a baby bird into our family. We need to consider many such things in case we choose to bring home budgie parakeet.

Social Birds

Budgies are very social birds and require constant interaction in one form or another. You will have to devote sufficient time with your pet to satisfy his social needs. Even if you buy budgies in pairs to help them company each other, you need to spend some time with them daily to develop a bond with them.

Recommended age

Always ask for the bird’s age from the pet store owner before you buy a budgie. If he is smaller than eight weeks, he is too young to be kept as a pet. You shall avoid bringing one home. If he is older than six months, you will possibly find it difficult to deal with him during training and taming sessions. He is a grown-up bird now and has his own set ways of doing certain things.

Special arrangements

You need to make special arrangements before bringing him home. An appropriately sized cage should be arranged with all the facilities for providing food and water, collecting droppings, providing toys and perches, and a dark roosting space. The cage and its accessories shall be checked for any toxic material.

Training and Taming

You will have to take out sufficient time to train him for his life ahead. There are numerous techniques to be taught to him to make him understand your commands in emergencies. Expect to devote at least an hour daily in parts of 10-15 minutes each for such training sessions. Such lessons will go a long way in building a healthy bond with your new pet bird.

Nutritional Requirements

Budgies might be infamous for eating seeds, but their diet consists of a lot more than that. They need fresh fruits and vegetables, greens, an iodine-rich diet, and high-quality seed mixes to get a balanced diet.

Budgies can sing

It is interesting to know that budgies can efficiently mimic sounds. They can learn to talk and sing with some training provided by you. Repeat the words you want to teach them during training sessions and they will pick them up very soon. They admire music a lot and become instantly interested in a song or rhyme. You can try repeating a few rhymes in front of them in the same tone every day and let them copy words along with the tone from you. You can also make them hear your favorite music while singing it to them or via radio and television. Soft music is generally recommended.

Entertainment needs

Budgies are very curious little creatures. You need to keep them engaged and entertained at all times. You will be needing to buy some toys for them to make them happy. There are different types of toys available for both physical and mental stimulation. They could range from ladders, colorful balls, chimes, textured surfaces, balls to huge hanging feeders and multi-story climbing frames. You will also be required to inculcate in him the habit of playing with these toys by rewarding him with treats whenever he plays. Expect to spend some time playing with him outside the cage too. He needs your company daily to remain happy.

Budgie Bites

A very important fact about budgies is that they are going to bite you when you will try to hold them in your hands. They bite when they are nervous or afraid. You will be a stranger to them and they will try to shoo you away with their biting behavior. In the initial days, cover your hand with a towel while approaching your pet bird and you’ll be good to go. After sufficient training, they will learn that you are a friend rather than a predator.

Budgie Baths

Unlike puppies, your pet budgie will enjoy bathing every now and then. Take a bath together and he’ll love it. It is a good way to bond with him and make him happy.

Potty training

Budgies are an intelligent species and can be trained to do anything that involves repetition. Though it is hard to train a budgie to poop at a specific place, yet it is possible. In the beginning, you can start giving him verbal and physical instructions to poop at a specific place, say a poop-plate. Whenever he is about to release, you can place the plate under him and say something like ‘poop away’. With time, he will start understanding your intentions and you can then leave the poop-plate in his cage itself. He will recognize it and fly to it for any droppings.

Noisy Budgies

Since budgies are very social, they feel the need to talk all the time. They will create various sounds from time to time to attract attention from their owners. If you are sensitive to sound, you might have to drop the idea of bringing budgies home. You will also be required to check the noise-sensitivity of your neighbors since your budgie’s chirping might reach them too.

Suitable for Outdoor and Indoor

Budgies can be kept both indoors and outdoors. It depends on the space available with you and your neighbors too! If your neighbors are sensitive to sounds, you can consider placing him indoors. In case there are no such issues, you can safely set-up a home for him outside. It also depends on the house you are planning to provide for your budgie. A little cage would be suitable for indoors keeping in mind the space-restriction. If you plan to set-up a big aviary, an outdoor location would be the best choice.

Conclusion

Budgies demand time and effort on your part to get some care and attention. You will have to devote sufficient time daily to make a healthy bond with them. Keeping them entertained with lots of activities all day will suffice their social needs.