Hello! Brand new Budgie owner(s)!

[Hasumomo]

Greetings!
I'm Amie, and I'm new here to the forums and to the budgie owning world.
This introduction will probably be very long, as I have many questions and concerns, so please bear with me. :p

So, just yesterday, my husband and I purchased our very first pet budgie.
We had been thinking about getting a budgie for several weeks prior to this, although he has been thinking about and wanting one for much longer than I had. After some researching and plenty of trips to observe them, I finally caved and gave the "OK" to my husband that we could get one.

We are new to owning birds, but not new to owning pets in general. I have had experience with budgies, but unfortunately this was many years ago and I was much younger when my parents owned them. We both have experience with owning dogs, cats and fish. I also personally owned a hedgehog for over a year, until I gave her to a new home as I was moving to another state.

As far as the newest addition goes, his name is Inko and he is a beautiful shade of a periwinkle blue. He is a younger budgie, according to what I've researched; his iris' are still black, and he still has stripes going all the way to his cere. His wings were clipped (I think that's the word), but they are starting to grow back, which is kind of worrying me, as I don't want him to be a far flyer for safety reasons. He has a band on his leg, of course, and it's a grey colored band (I believe, he's sleeping right now, so I don't want to disturb him to check).

He is in a good sized home cage; stocked with food and water containers, two perches, a perch ladder, a bath and some toys. We also have a cuttlebone for his beak and bought a fleece blanket for nighttime cover up and draft protection. The only thing I'm worried about with his cage is the possibility of him learning how to open the cage doors, which would not be good!

Unfortunately, there have been some things about our new addition that is worrying me, and I'm requesting any kind of tips or help or what have you to ease my mind and allow a successful transition for all of us.
First off, our apartment is a studio apartment, and is 300 square feet exactly. Not very sizable, but we're willing to make it manageable.
There are some things I've read that I'm worried on, and here are some of the things:

- Non-stick cookware: This is the thing that is petrifying me, and is actually what caused me to join the forums so I can get some tips on how to handle this. Everything we have is non-stick, except for one stainless-steel pot. So obviously, you can see why I'm so worried. I'm afraid to cook anything at this point, even if (which I know I have to) I switch my cooking ware. The vent hood above the stove doesn't really work (it makes this awful rattling noise instead of actually venting), but that's something I will be looking into hopefully getting fixed. In the mean time, all I could do for ventilating is the ceiling fan, and opening windows and the front door (and no, I wouldn't have him out of the cage during any of that). Fumes in general worry me.

- Mirrors: I've gotten mixed reviews from this. One side I hear say that they love mirrors, others I hear say that it's their worst enemy. Going more in depth with that, I've heard that they'll bond more with their reflection than with the human, and I'm a little conflicted as to what I should do about it. I only have two things directly in his cage that has mirrors on it, in which one is a toy and the other is his bath. Also, I've heard that they will fly into large mirrors and they can get hurt. Unfortunately, the closet doors are mirrors, and very large ones at that. I've hated them being there from the get-go, but since this is an apartment (and the mirrors are installed in and not able to be taken out) there's been nothing I can do to change them.

Other things I'm worried about are temperatures, diet, behavior and other basic normal worries for a new pet owner.

One thing I know is that although we aren't living the picture perfect location for Inko, I want to make it work as best as possible. Nothing is more discouraging then being told that we can't fix or work with something, or being told that should've just not gotten him because not everything is perfect. We put a lot of money and thought into getting him, and I don't want to see this go to waste.

Sorry that this was so long, I'm just a concerned new owner is all.
Any tips, tricks, suggestions or help of any kind is greatly appreciated.
Thanks!

[marie83]

Welcome to the forums and congratulations on your new budgie.

Please let his wings grow back, unless you are careless with windows and doors he is far far safer being able to fly.
Regarding the teflon on your pans, get rid of them today, it only takes once to accidently forget and let it boil dry, then you wont know about it until it is too late. Either just cook with one saucepan, use the microwave or eat cold until you can replace them.

I would be really interested to see a picture of your cage set up to see why you think he may escape. The rest of it sounds good but I would suggest adding a couple more perches, 2 isn't really enough and if they are wooden dowells or plastic perches then you need to replace them otherwise they can cause discomfort, arthritis, bumblefoot etc.

Personally I'm not a big fan of mirrors, they can cause problems. I think this is a case of personal preference and if you choose to provide a mirror then knowing if it should be removed....

Most indoor housing temperatures are just fine for a bird, really sharp spikes should be avoided but the main issue is the bird being in a draft, drafts are not good for our birds.

What concerns do you have about diet? A pelleted diet with loads of fresh food is best, seeds can be used as well but in small quantities. There are some foods which should never be given such as avocado, chocolate etc.


Hope this helps a bit. It might be worthwhile starting some threads on the appropriate boards if you have more specific questions.

[Polarn]

Welcome to the forums.

As for the cage, as marie said 2 perches isnt really that much and well its hard to advice on any changes to the cage unless you've seen it but ill just add my two for Maries comments about smooth dowels or plastic perches.

As for mirrors, the way I see it is them bonding with the mirror more than me isn't really a problem (but i do think birds should mate with birds and interact with its caretakers, but thats a different story) now back to the mirrors, the main issue with a mirror is that some of the social skills of the bird might be lost, as it never gets a proper reaction back on what it is doing but only its reflection it renders the social skill of the bird to an awkward thing so interacting with other birds may become problematic. Like my special friend named Ed its hard for others to understand what he's saying and he might have a hard time understanding what others are saying... now to make it short, yes personal preference but personally I think the drawbacks (true or not, as it is a risk if it isnt proven.. etc ...) is greater than the benefits I have chosen not to use mirrors for my fids, and I wont place a cage so that they can see themself in a wallmounted mirror etc.
As for them flying into mirrors, well yeah by the time they see their about to hit another bird(themselves) its prolly too late, and even if it isnt the other bird will stear the same direction to avoid a hit... but they probably learns the mirrors as they learn windows... but I suspect a crash or two unless you can hang something over it, or put vinyl stripes over it making it look like cagebars or whatever...

As for clipping, I honestly doesnt even understand why this is debatable.. I think I'll start amputating dogs legs couse they run to fast and too far... Basically a bird is ment to fly and its needed for excersise and mental health, short: clipping makes me go mad...

As for cookwear, yeah toss em out, give em away, anything... couse you wont be using nonstick in your house for the next 15-25 years, and that is if you doesnt get another bird... So what I'm saying is that any nonstick you have wont even really be worth keeping really...also look through heaters, your owen (self cleaning one, big no no). lots of things to figure out, check, replace and well aquire.

If there is anything you wonder about, try search it at the top and if no satisfying answer comes up (or if the question is specifically related to your bird or w/e) feel free to post a new thread in a suitable forum.

[Hasumomo]

Would Stainless-Steel be okay to use?
I know cast iron is best, but we don't have the money right now.

[marie83]

Stainless is safe but hard to clean. I'm using stainless til i can afford a new set of cast iron. If it makes it easier just buy one thing at a time rather replacing the lot in one go. It is hard but it is do-able to manage on one pan for a while if you revise your menu and don't cook for many people.