Caring For Your Budgie

Whether it is for yourself or one of your children you seriously need to read the following checklist before making any decisions about buying a budgie.

1. Budgies can live up to 10 years old. Do you have enough time daily to give love to and care for a budgie continuously without forgetting or losing interest?

2. Budgies are soulful creatures and are most comfortable in a swarm. Just like people also need a little company. A person is no substitute for another budgie and neither is a plastic bird! So please don't keep a single budgie even for a short period of time. It is also possible to tame two birds or more so that they come on your hand, despite rumors to the contrary.

3. Budgies often make lots of noise. Putting a competitive sound in the same room (i.e. a radio, television) will only cause them to be louder and won't mask the sound. It may also cause aggression.

4. Budgies need lots of free-flight and I recommend once a day if possible. Can you manage that? There is also a danger that they will gnaw at the wallpaper and other objects or bomb some droppings on the floor. Make sure they have enough places to land.

5. Budgies need a lot of love and you need to spend some time every day talking to or playing with them. They should also have the possibility to play. (i.e. a birs playground) But as I already said...NO PLASTIC BIRDS...NO MIRRORS....It's bad for their mental health.

6. Do you have time or motivation to take the bird to the Vet if it gets sick and can you afford the costs?

7. Remember that with food, grit, toys cage etc. it can get quite expensive to keep a budgie.

8. Birds also make a lot of dirt and the cage and water must be cleaned daily. The feathers and dander can also build up in whatever room you are keeping the birds.

9. Children are particularly loved by these birds. Can you take over caring for the budgie if your child loses interest?

10. After the birds have a free flight they need to return to a large cage. This should have thick wooden perches for the birds to sit. Plastic perches only cause damage to their feet after a while. It is possible to make them from tree branches. Budgies love real branches.

11. The cage must be situated in a good sheltered place. Not in the kitchen, not in the bathroom and not in a hall or corridor. The birds shouldn't be in a draft as this can be deadly for them. They also shouldn't be up high on a cupboard of on the floor. A good height is at about a persons chest or eye level.

12. One should not smoke cigarettes in the same room as the budgies as they are hyper-sensitive to smoke and other toxins.

13. There shouldn't be any poisonous plants within reach of the birds.

14. Who will look after the budgie while you are on holidays?

15. Are there other pets in the house which would endanger the bird? (i.e. a cat)

16. Also make sure that no-one in the household is allergic to our feathered friends. This is quite a common ailment and one of the most aggressive reaction allergies.

Please only buy a bird if you can responsibly answer "YES" to the preceding statements. If you have any other doubts or questions please feel free to contact me or ask the staff at your local pet store.

Labels: bird feed, birds, budgie care, budgie pictures, budgie stories, budgies