:S worried about my budgies

[16kimjenny]

Hi! I'm new here (very new) and I have been a budgie owner for around I guess around 9-10 months. And I'm worried about my budgies. I am a (junior) high school student and because of my busy schedule [I'm planning to try taming them on the summer break... if I can (yay! no school)], I haven't tamed/trained my two budgies named Papillon and Bonbon. (They're both males and they scream (?) pretty loudly and our whole family can't concnetrate especially me) I'm worried that I won't be able to raise them to full health and into happy little bundles of joy. My parents aren't really keen on them (the budgies) and they don't find any importance in their health per say. When I try to tell them their cage is to small and they need to get their nails trimmed, they say it's fine. But I don't think so at all. If I keep up raising these budgies at this rate, I feel like they won't be happy. (Also, I can't get them out of the cage, I'm afraid they won't come back in even though people say they do. I'm a first time bird owner so... I'm afraid). I would appreciate if someone could help me decide what to do. Thank you~~~

[Eric&Rebecca]

Perhaps they could consider that they let you get the budgies so its also their responsibility to help with their care. They can't give you permission to have them and then not take any interest in their care. I mean children scream and cry and need medical attention like you did but I'm sure your parents still took care of you! That's part of the decision they made by letting you have them and you and your parents need to take that responsibility.

Perhaps they are screaming out of frustration of being in a tiny cage. If they had more time out to fly and were in a larger cage this may be alleviated and you can't just keep birds in a cage, its fundamentally cruel. Birds won't come back unless you train them, you need to spend time training them before you can let them come out the cage. That's why you let them out either in the house or in an outdoor avairy. You can't let them go free outside and fly unless they are thoroughly trained and even then I wouldn't rely on it.

These things should have been researched BEFORE getting the birds but as you have them now you need to tell your parents that:

YES birds need medical care just like tiny children
YES they do need a bigger cage
YES birds make noise
YES birds need to come out the cage
YES they do need special diets not just seeds

and
YES this will cost money, time and effort but that's the decision you all made when you decided to have birds.

I'm being harsh but they don't become bundles of joy, you have to make them that way. So no at this point unless you ALL step up the birds will not be happy or healthy. Read up more on what a budgie needs together as a family... then decide what you have the ability to do. Its sad if they have to head for a rehome because its very rewarding bringing up birds.

First a bit of advice:

Male budgies do scream and make noise, more so than females but females can too.
Budgies need fresh fruits, vegetables and seeds for a good and complete diet
You need to train as soon as possible, use Michael's training guides
You need to go train now, not when you have time, because you need to train every day for quite a while before you can leave it
The birds need to be able to fly... if they've never been out of the cage they will be overweight and eventually be susceptible to psychological and and health problems; birds who are completely caged will eventually have atrophied wings where their wings essentially wither and become unsuable.
DO NOT clip your birds wings, there are many reasons and no it does not keep your bird safe or stop them flying away.
You need an avian vet to take care of your bird
Your birds need a bigger cage and a variety of perches made of natural wood not jsut those silly wooden dowels that come with most bird cages
They need to be cleaned out everyday
The full cage needs to be sterilized at least 1 per week with a bird safe disinfectant, household products are toxic
Teflon pans are also toxic alongside perfumes, air freshners and sprays


Any more advice or questions reply to this thread or PM me I'll be more than happy to help. You're parents can even write to me if you want or you can show them my replies. I really want you to have those bundles of joy but you have to create a better environment.

[16kimjenny]

Thank you for actually taking your time reply to me! I don't find it harsh in fact, it's the truth and I do agree with you. But my parents are reaally hard to convince. I'm even thinking of trying to giving them (the birds) away to someone who can actually take care of them better (much much better) than I do. It's probably best for Papillon and BonBon (and maybe me). I've had bad experiences with pets so, guess it's better not to have a pet at all. : P (But I love pets. And I am a person that can give up in even one day so..... yeah..)(I'll need to do some hardcore thinking. Thank you yet again for replying! Means a lot to me!!!) :T...

[Strawfrawg]

Hi there.

Rebecca gave you great advice. There's not much more to be said except that you should give it some thought and time before rehoming them. I don't know what "bad experiences" you've had with pets in the past, but you seem like you're a caring person who is willing to do some research and put some serious time into them so this may be able to work. Can you make a deal with your parents to earn the money for a larger cage? Maybe get the money up front with a set plan to repay them? The larger cage will make a huge difference for them, as a start. The commitment you show to your birds can only make you more credible to your parents. Maybe you can show them the information you find about what your birds need to be healthy and happy, to show you know what you're talking about. If you show them you're seriously willing to do your part, maybe they will be more open to doing theirs. Try adding this to your speech: "I want to be a responsible owner to these birds. They are living things and they depend on me, and I want to do right by them. You let me get them and I have made the commitment to take care of them. I won't ask for much help from you, but I do need a little." Parents love it when their kids are responsible.

It is kind of scary bringing flighted birds out of the cage when you have no experience. You don't want to scare them or hurt them, but of course you have to be able to retrieve them! I think Michael's instructionals will help you a lot. Don't be too hard on yourself...the birds and you will both be learning together. Good luck...ask lots of questions here and keep us posted!

[Pajarita]

Sweetie, where do you live? I am in Northern New Jersey and have a flight cage I can give you. It's not new but the only thing wrong with it is that it doesn't have a stand (so you need to put it on a table or something like that) and the bottom door lock is broken (but I just put a plastic tie to hold it close and use the top door). I have my handicapped tiels in it right now but I just bought them a brand new cage so you could have that one. Do you keep them in your room? Because, if you do, you can shut the door and open the cage door and let them out. Do this in the evening BEFORE the sun starts to go down, take all the food out of the cage an hour or so before you are going to let them out and, when you do, put some seeds on a paper plate at the bottom of the cage and a perch right outside the open door. They will learn to go out for a good flying session and then go look for their dinner in the cage when the sun is low and then all you have to do is close the door. They might not do it the first or second day but if you wait until it's almost completely dark, it will be easy for you to grab them with a wash cloth (be careful and don't squeeze them). They are actually very smart little things and will soon learn the routine.

As to screaming, that's because you have two males. I have both males and females and although they do chatter all day long, they never scream.

[16kimjenny]

Thank you for your offering but sadly, I live in Canada (Toronto) so no luck there. I got to convince my mom in the morning . Very happy. Thank you for helping out so much!!!! I'm just wondering how do you get your birds to eat veggies and such? I got my birds in a pet store and I think they're only used to seeds and pellets. I tried giving them veggies (sticking them between bars and putting them in their food cup) but they just avoids them and eats their seeds only. Also, do you HAVE to clip the birds' nails?
This is totally unrelated to birds (just curios) but can those small birds (that look kinda like chickadees)beat robins? There's a nest beside (outside) my room and .... those small birds... kicked the robins out of their own nest and they're living in it. Thank you :3

[Eric&Rebecca]

Most birds nails won't need clipping if you provide good perches... natural wood and java wood perches have varied widths and shapes will help grind the nails into an adequate length. I've never trimmed my birds nails and they've never overgrown, the only thing I do though is take the very very tiny tip off, literally about the size of a pin head just to prevent them getting caught on jumpers and such- its called blunting. They can still use them to climb and everything but it just keeps them a bit safer.

Most budgies and cockatiels shouldn't need their toes clipping (larger parrots are different!) but there are several bird diseases that can cause this and also elderly birds tend to have this problem. The foot should be able to rest flat on a surface, if it can do that the nails are fine. You will need to get an avian vet to show you how to do this. Don't do it yourself as birds can't coagulate and they can blled really badly if the nail is cut too short.

If you give them the choice the will go to the seeds. Try well cooked brown rice, with steamed broccoli and a sprinkle of fresh chilli powder, let it cool to room temperature then remove the seeds and give them that. See how they get on.


Sometimes its about the right texture and temperature, you need to try everything grated, mashed, steamed, cooked, raw... but you can't keep the seeds in there at the same time. This will be a lot easier once they tame because ou can get them to eat from your hands. its often more about the texture with birds than they don't like veggies. How about fruits? Have you tried some mango?

Yes some birds will snatch nests.

[16kimjenny]

Thank you for that, I'll try that . I saw on another site that you should divide the days so that for four days, you give them seeds, and for the other 4 days, give them just veggies. Would that work? I think that that's kind of mean... Feels like you're starving them and forcing them to eat the veggies. :/

[Pajarita]

Budgies are not what you would call good eaters of fruits or veggies but they do LOVE greens. Take two leaves of romaine lettuce (don't use iceberg, it has very little nutrition), rinse them thoroughly and place them, dripping wet (and I do mean 'DRIPPING'), in the cage. One at the top (either hanging down from the 'roof' of the cage so they can stand on a perch and reach it) and one at the bottom -this one should be laying down on the 'floor' of the cage because some like to eat it and some like to 'bathe' in them (they rub their entire body on the wet leaf -it's the cutest thing!). You should try to give them as many different greens as you can but no spinach, beet greens or collard greens and very little Swiss Chard (all these are very high in oxalic acid which binds calcium). You can do all kinds of lettuces except for iceberg (green leaf, red leaf, romaine, boston, butter, frisse), escarole, chicory, cabbages (red, green, Savoy, nappa), bok choy, and lots and lots of dandelion greens (very good for them). They also like corn, baby peas, cooked and diced carrots and sweet potatoes but it takes quite a while to get them to eat these so just keep on offering them even if they don't eat because, eventually, they will.

[16kimjenny]

I tried hanging wet lettuce in between the bars, but they ignore them -_-... At the end, the lettuce is all dry and uneaten. Would they eat it, if there is only lettuce in the cage?