Budgie Care 101
All The Basics Plus More!
So you are considering getting a budgie and are wondering about budgie care. Well this is the page for you! I believe that the place to start when considering caring for your budgie(or horse or dog or pig…) is to learn a bit about where they come from originally. Their origins will tell you what sort of food they are designed for, what type of habitat they suit and also explain a lot about their behaviour. So, where do they come from and what does that tell us about budgie care?
Budgie Basics
Budgies are parakeets that originated in Australia. Whilst this country has the full range of habitats, from deserts to rain forest to alpine, budgies primarily live in the grassland areas. They are nomadic, moving to new areas in search food and water. This means they can be found in many parts of Australia, from the inland desert areas to some coastal regions.
Wild budgies live in flocks that can vary from a few birds to huge, noisy flocks. When there is plenty of food the wild budgies will breed prolifically, producing three clutches of up to seven or eight chicks, although four is the average. However the outback of Australia can go years without rain and reach temperatures of 49°C (120°F), burning up any food or water. In these times the budgies do not breed, and many die.
Below you will find information on diet, accomodation, toys, companionship, safety and health. If you wish to read a little more about budgerigar parakeets first then simply click here.
Now, how does this information help us plan our budgie care?
Diet
As you now know budgies live in grassland areas. This means that their diet is mostly made up of seeds. They have access to a variety of grasses, including Mitchell grass, spinifex grasses, wild oats, canary grass and many others. These supply the budgie with seeds of varying development from newly formed and unripe, through to fully ripe dry seeds like those we see in pet shops.
They have access to a range of trees that provide them with leaves, buds, fruit and bark to chew on. Budgies are also known to eat the charcoal from burned trees on occasion, which is believed to help in times of
illness. As far as drinking goes, budgies access water wherever they can find it from natural sources such as ponds and puddles, to man made sources such as cattle troughs. In times of extreme heat large flocks of budgies descend on water sources, sometimes piling upon each other to get to the water. This results in many drowning and the water supply being fouled.
This information can help us with our budgie care, so lets plan a healthy diet for our budgies.
Once you are happy with the main part of the diet you can start to experiment with a few home made treats.
Once you are happy with the main part of the diet you can start to experiment with a few home made treats.
Accommodation
As budgies are nomadic they need to be able to fly a long way in search of food and water. This means they are very active little parrots with energy to burn and curiosity to match!
You should try to supply your budgies with as large a living area as possible. This means the largest suitable cage you can afford, or a flight or aviary.
The cage or aviary should be furnished with safe perches, feed and water bowls and a few carefully selected toys. You can line the bottom of the cage with paper to make cleaning it easier. However be aware that if the budgie has access to the base of the cage it will chew on whatever it finds there. Many cages have a grill to prevent this.
Entertainment
Budgies are very agile and playful pets and you can easily keep them entertained with a few well-chosen toys. These must be safe for your bird so when selecting them take care. Anything that the budgie can catch a foot, toenail or beak in should be avoided or only used under supervision.
You should also be aware that your budgie will at least taste, and at most try to chew to pieces, anything you give it! So avoid anything coated with potentially poisonous substances. If you don’t think it would be good for a child to chew on, then do not give it to your budgie!
Companionship
As budgies live in flocks they have a need for social activities. This means that unless you are home most of the time and are able to give your budgie regular time out of its cage with you, you would be better to get another budgie for companionship (or two or three…it can be hard to stop with just one).
Tame budgies are absolutely delightful to have out of their cage with you. They will climb all over you, chew the page you are writing on, attack the tip of your pen or pencil and generally make it difficult to ignore them! So if you can only have one budgie, make it a tame one so it can avoid a life locked up in a cage without friends. Better still have two or more tame budgies that can come out of their cage and have races around the room, but still keep each other company when they have to go ‘home’.
Safety
It pays to be aware of potential hazards to your curious, agile and intelligent little pets. They will find a toilet to fall into, pot of hot mashed potato to land in (yes, I have had budgie foot prints in my dinner), a previously unnoticed window to fly into and the solitary stray piece of thread in the house to get tangled in!
There are simple ways to avoid some of these events, however at one time or another something is bound to go wrong. So please supervise your budgie whenever it is out of it cage, and double-check anything you put in their cage.
As far as yoru budgie care goes, safety should come first.
Health
The life of a wild budgie is not an easy one. As mentioned above the inland areas of Australia can become incredibly hot and dry, with many birds and animals dying as a result. What this means for us, when considering budgie care, is that pet budgies are very hardy. They can kept in many different environments, from the very hot to outside aviaries where it snows.
However, this is not an excuse for poor budgie care! Making sure your budgie has a good varied diet, access to clean water and plenty of exercise and mental stimulation, is the best way to ensure it stays healthy.
Get used to observing your budgie so that you can tell if it is looking different than usual. This could be a sign that all is not well. In the wild predators would single out the sick budgies, so they will try to look normal for as long as possible. This means that if you budgie looks sick you should act immediately. It pays to find out before hand if there is a vet nearby who is used to dealing with birds in case of an emergency.
The basic signs of a sick budgie can be any of the following:
Looking hunched, with feathers puffed up (not to be confused with a sleeping budgie which will usually have its beak under its wing),
Diarrhoea, a messy backside, or funny coloured droppings (this can be caused by a new food),
A discharge from its nostrils, eyes or beak (not to be confused with regurgitating food, which is part of the breeding process),
Sitting on the bottom of the cage looking unhappy
The basic first aid for a sick budgie is put it somewhere warm and dark so it can rest quietly until you can get it to a vet.
I have been given a guide to a basic first aid kit for budgerigars, written by a very knowledgeable budgie breeder. It was written with budgie breeders in mind so some of it may not be applicable for the pet budgie owner (or should that be pet budgie owned person!). A large part of good budgie care is being ready for any eventuality, so have a read and be prepared.
No comments:
Post a Comment