any tips for me?

[budgiebuddy]

Well I am thinking about breeding my budgies and i just wanted to know if anyone had any tips for.I also have 1 question to ask does any body know how many times budgies can breed and when they usually mate and all the stuff that goes along with that?

[Michael]

Don't do it.

[budgiebuddy]

Why. Is something wrong with breeding budgies?

[Michael]

Well for a starters, assuming all worked out, what would you do with them?

Were you thinking of hand raising? Do you have any idea how much work and care goes into early hand feeding?

[bmsweb]

I also have 1 question to ask does any body know how many times budgies can breed and when they usually mate and all the stuff that goes along with that?

No idea on budgies but if you're interested in breeding bird I would go for it. I can't help you with any information about breeding Budgies, but we've got a pair a Green Cheek Conures and i basically went out and purchased 5 books on Conures, two of which are only on breeding.

If you want to get serious about it, books are you best option as most of the information on the web is going to be very hit and miss.

Well that's my 2 cents worth.

Cheers
Paul

[budgiebuddy]

Well for a starters, assuming all worked out, what would you do with them?

Were you thinking of hand raising? Do you have any idea how much work and care goes into early hand feeding?

I was thinking i could sell them to a local petstore and yes i know how much work it is that is why i am doing all my research now (today I am sick) and over the summer when school gets out try to have them mate.I don't know if I am going to hand feed them though it depends on what the petstore wants.If they don't care then i won't but if they would like them hand feed then i will.

[bmsweb]

I don't know if I am going to hand feed them though it depends on what the petstore wants.If they don't care then i won't but if they would like them hand feed then i will.

You may still need to hand feed them and you may even need an incubator. If something happens to the female during or after the egg laying and for some reason she can't incubate them, then its up to you so save the eggs.

We now have an Incubator which I hope I never have to use.

[budgiebuddy]

yeah...I probably will get one in case that were to happen wicth i really hope it doesn't!!!!! Can you gat small incubators instead of really big ones???? And since it sounds like you know some stuff about breeding would you happen to know a way of pricing them if you sell them??????

[pchela]

I agree with Michael. Don't do it. Budgies are very difficult to hand feed first of all. Secondly, hand feeding any bird is not something to jump into lightly. It's very easy to kill a baby bird. The formula has to be just the right temperature or you will burn the birds crop and kill him or if it's too cool it will not leave the crop and will sit there and go bad and cause infections which can kill the bird. You have to know just how to feed the bird with a syringe so that you don't aspirate him. You have to weigh the birds twice daily on a gram scale and know what to do if the bird is losing too much weight. You have to learn how to properly wean a bird through abundance weaning and be prepared to have lots of baby birds flying around because they have to fledge. Third, what will happen if the parents won't take care of the babies (which often happens)? Are you prepared to hand feed tiny chicks with a dropper every hour to two hours (even through the night) for a couple of weeks and every 4 hours after that? Are you prepared to take baby budgies to the vet if there is something wrong? The vet can get expensive. Fourth, after all of the effort you put in you can expect to get paid about $5 per budgie or less. Hand fed budgies might get you $15 or $20. That's a lot of hard work for very little money. Also, is your budgie hand tame? If you put two budgies together and try to breed them, you will lose their friendship. They will only want to be with each other. Lastly, it is not easy to breed birds in the first place. They require special circumstances and care.

I'm really not trying to be a downer but a student trying to breed and raise any kind of bird is a bad idea. Just enjoy your budgie, be his friend and if you still want to be a breeder later in life, learn how to do it properly by working at a pet store that hand raises birds or volunteering for a breeder etc. Good luck.

[entrancedbymyGCC]

I also wonder if breeding budgies is like breeding cats or dogs or horses in the sense that there are already plenty of unwanted animals out there and that unless you have top-quality breeding stock you are likely just adding to that number. If you have good breeding stock and you are breeding an animal to keep, that's a bit different.

Sorry, we are a bunch of wet blankets.