Nestboxes

[Gohan]

My budgies are too small and there cage is full of toys. They are showing the signs of breeding like feeding each other and preening each other and stuff like that. Well the place I live there are very less pet shops and I cant find nest boxes the size I can fit in my cage so if I can make a nest box of a shoe box and cover it with more cardboard will it be ok for a nest box? And do I have to put anything inside it? and if it gets wet from inside then what should I do?

[EleriDragonfly]

From what I've read, the budgies have to be at least a year old and older before you breed them. You shouldn't try and have them breed to young. Also just because they are preening and feeding each other doesn't mean they're ready to breed. Just means they're bonding.
My two budgies feed and preen each other all the time, and Wheatley is nearly 2 years old, while Sugar is just over a year. But I wouldn't try to breed them untill Sugar is older. And even then they may not breed, they might just like being friends.
In terms of nest boxes, maybe look online? I've seen a few online on ebay and places. Or if you can't buy anything online, you can have a look at them and see what you'd need to make a decent nest box. But I'd wait first untill they were more mature.

[Pajarita]

My dear, think VERY carefully before you do something you might regret. Budgies are terribly opportunistic breeders and if you don't know what you are doing (and you need to apprentice with an expert for an entire season before you should attempt breeding birds yourself) you will be risking your birds' and the babies' health. I have several deformed budgies that came from people breeding them when they did not know enough...

[marie83]

And I would like to say please don't breed at all. There are far too many unwanted animals and birds out there already, not to mention you need a really good understanding of genetics, health and other problems.
I'm all for encouraging natural behaviours though to a point and I might suggest letting them lay then replacing the eggs with dummy eggs and letting the birds sit them until they get bored but you will need to make sure their diet etc is spot on. Also realise that whilst they are concentrating on trying to breed and hatch eggs they will probably not be "pets" anymore.