How do I convine my mom to let me take good care of a budgie?

Question

My mother knows that I am responsible, she loves birds herself and she doesn't mind the noise. The only problem is that she says they smell. I am aware of the fact that there is this white type of fluff that gets released out of the budgie's feathers after they fluff their wings, but does that cause an odor? Also, the actual p**p from the budgie may not smell but the bacteria that forms AFTER the budgie releases stools does. Is there anything I can buy to make the budgie smell less bad? Does a budgie really smell that bad? I have friends that have budgies and whenever I come near the cage it smells, they are unaware of the fact that it smells because they are used to it and therefore cannot tell it really does smell bad. These are some REALLY responsible budgie serious people and absolutely love their pets and treat them with great care making sure they are clean. I have been researching on budgies for months now and am now officially ready to take care of them. What should I do?

Answer 1

HAHA! I had the SAME problem, and i got permission to get the budgies today! I just read and read and read books, websites, and ANYTHING i could get my hands on about budgies. They DO NOT smell that bad, actually. The only time they smell is if you dont clean out their cage for more than 2 days.

Answer 2

Borrow a skunk or other really stinky pet and pretend you are keeping it, then laugh after she freaks and say" It's okay Mom, this is ( your friends name here)  pet , but I did bring home this budgie, and I bought  a bag of volcanic rock to absorb any odd odors that will emit from his cage:) - BTW-The rocks recharge in the sun and you can get them at Bed,Bath and Beyond. Relax it was a joke. Babysit one for a friend and care for it to show your Mom it is not as bad as she thinks. The lava rocks help without harmful fumes.

Answer 3

I never thought my cockatiels smelled bad. It's true they have kind of a warm, dusty scent, but it's faint, not at all unpleasant, and I find it hard to believe anyone would be finicky enough to not get a bird for that reason. The bird's cage can smell if it isn't cleaned often enough, but this isn't necessarily a problem so long as you're careful with the upkeep and have the time to clean the cage often enough. The key is discipline: not ignoring a dirty cage because you don't feel like cleaning it, which can be hard if you've had a tough or particularly tiring day of school/work/etc.

Never use sprays, scented candles, scented anything--birds have very delicate respiratory systems that are quite different from ours. Heck, they can't even cough if they need to, because they don't have a diaphragm. Scented candles and air fresheners--even nonstick cookware--are lethal to birds, and even some fresheners that say they're bird-friendly are labeled as such simply so that they will sell better, and will kill your bird just as quickly as any other. If you want something that is safe for your birds, keep a boquet of fresh flowers in the room, or all-natural popourri.

Answer 4

Budgies are not as bad as any other birds.  To be honest, whenever it starts to smell, you can always change the cage.  The smell doesn't affect much--maybe 1 sq ft of space around the cage, but it really doesn't smell that bad.  I lived with tiels and budgies in my bedroom for 6 years--and my parents never noticed a thing.  Tell your mom that you will keep the bird in your room, and that you will change the cage every other week to be sure that nothing emits any odors.  You can always remove the bird (and the cage) and spray air freshner in that area, and after it has settled, you can replace the bird.  There are also some sprays you can purchase for odorous birds and rodents.

Best of luck,

Phoenix

EDIT: Jade...you can clean them less than 2 days.  2 days is just a waste of paper and energy.  You can wait ever 2 weeks, 1 month at the very most.  There've been times when I didn't' change the cage for 2 months and it never smelled terribly (Yeah, I know.  Bad pet owner).