I think I'm going to buy budgies...?

Question

i have always wanted a pair of them. im trying to research on how to take care of them. i have some small questions.

first, should i buy both at once or should i buy one and then wait a couple months for the other? i heared that if i buy two at once it will be very hard to get the birds to exept me as one of them.

and what do they eat? i read that normal parakeet food from the store can be unhealth and can cause tumers? additionaly, should i leave the food in there all the time or put it in for about 20 minutes and take it out? i read that i should do this twice a day. also, should i have seperate dishes for both birds?

thanks for your time

Answer 1

Firstly, you should buy them both at once when they are VERY LITTLE. You will have to feed them and they will be loyal.

Secondly, you can put the seed tray there the whole day, the budgie won;t go overweight. They know their limits. I do this to my budgies and they are not overweight.

They can also eat apples, raw vegetables. No papaya and avocado for them. Chocolates are definetly no too.

Answer 2

well if your going to have family round then buy them both but if not one would be sufficient for a meal.

usually i fatten them up with loads of food and definitely feed them chocolate.another trick is to feed them raisins for half a day then for the next day give them nothing but water...bloats them right up!

i prefer a budgie stew or a roasted budgie with some potatoes and cat-flavoured gravy.last week for lunch i had grilled budgie then the next day i made sandwiches with the left-overs.

your choice!

Answer 3

i would buy one at a time.they can get attacted to one another and hate you.parakeets are very frightned bird and can take weeks to gain there trust.always have food and water in there cage and refresh it every day.make sure you get a bird that is from a good store some store's sell wild birds i recomend going to petsmart they tame there animals it may cost a little more but its worth it good luck!

Answer 4

You should buy one budgie, then the other. It gives the first one time to get to know you and become well trained, then the second would mainly be for when your away and he gets lonely. As far as food goes, I've never had any problems with nor heard of any store bought food giving birds tumors. What you should do is put the food in for about have the day, then give it a little shake so that all the empty bird seed shells rise to the top, then, blow off the top layer of the food lightly into the trash can. Refil the food to the top after that. And, I don't think you should have seperate dishes. They wouldn't care which is theirs or their buddie's food, they'd just eat out of both. Make sure your birds always have clean water as well; they can die if they p**p into it and then drink the polluted water, or so I've heard. best of luck with your birds!

Answer 5

Buy both at the same time. Parakeets can get very territorial in a short time and will fight if you add another at a different time.

You want to leave the food in there all the time because parakeets can starve quickly. One bowl is fine for both just make sure it is large enough for both.  As far as food goes you will want to ask what the store is feeding their birds and start them on that. If/ when you switch foods you will need to wean them on to the new food. If you switch it too fat it can cause health problems.

You can also feed them baby carrots, grapes or apples and remove it after 4 hours.

Good luck =)

Answer 6

Buying one at a time won't guarantee that they will bond to you, as a bird who has been kept as a single bird for years is just as likely to suddenly reject his owner upon getting a new cage mate. It is also a lot harder to get the birds to accept each other if one has established the home/cage as his territory, because he will see the new bird as an interloper... whereas if you buy them at the same time and from the same place, they will probably already have been flying around in the same cage at the pet store for weeks, and their relationship will be that of casual acquaintances who have each other for support.

I don't recommend that you buy very young birds, as this is generally a ploy for an irresponsible breeder who wants less work to do himself. Buying a bird that you need to hand-feed can be very dangerous, especially for a small species like a budgie; it is very easy to have an accident and hurt your bird, choke it on the food, etc. Only experienced breeders should try to feed young birds. A good breeder never lets someone take home a bird that isn't weaned, they should always make sure the bird is eating okay before they send it home with someone. When I bought my first cockatiel he was fully grown and not hand-tamed at all, but with a little time and patience he became a perfectly tame, sweet bird.

A lot of parakeet food is unhealthy; all-millet diets are like feeding a little kid nothing but candy, and all-seed diets in general are unhealthy because they contain mostly fat. When you go shopping for bird food, look at the back of the box/bag/container at the ingredients. You want something that has very little additives, ie. mostly seeds and/or pellets and as little weird preservatives as possible. Currently, there are differing opinions as to whether or not pellets (which look like tiny, colorful kibble) are better for a bird than seeds, but they do have nutrients that seeds don't have, and most sources I've read say to feed your bird half seed and half pellets. Most grocery stores carry these 6" clear plastic cartons with a seed-pellet mixture. I don't remember the brand name, but it's pretty good stuff, doesn't have a disproportionate amount of millet in it, and they make different varieties for different kinds of birds, ranging from macaws to conures to budgies to finches. The cartons are a bit more expensive for their size than the big bags of seed but it's much better quality food.

I don't know why anyone would take food away from their bird, I've always left it in the cage all the time; birds have high metabolisms so they need to eat frequently, and if it's an option they will often just take little nibbles throughout the day. They don't gorge themselves like dogs and cats will. There's really no need to have a dish for each bird, they will eat out of whichever dish has cleaner or more food in it. My 'tiels generally preferred to eat out of the same dish simultaneously--I guess they like the companionship--but two dishes can be useful if one bird likes to bully the other out of his "turn", or if the dishes are too small for them both to eat out of at the same time.

Answer 7

Well Helios,

I personally would not take them on in the first place.

I have a freind that introduced male & female in the same cage, and was in turmoil with their constant bickering & fighting.

They were obviously not suited to each other.

This is apparantly a hazard with budgies.

Plus they won't shut up unless asleep, and c**p everywhere.

Not enough meat on them for a stew, either.

Get a couple of gekko lizards. The two that live with me, Marlon & Marilyn, get on well together, have the run of the house, and nip out together foraging for bugs.

Fascinating behaviour, as Marlon might stick himself to a bedroom ceiling, while Marilyn glues herself to a bookcase.

They always "go to the loo" outdoors, and are self-sufficient.

Budgies ? not a good idea I reckon, so best of luck.

Bob