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Post by celeste on Aug 11, 2009 20:34:10 GMT 10
I have 2 budgies, a yellow male and white&blue female (according to the owner). I keep them in a circular cage about 1 metre or 3/4 metres high, with 2 perches inside and a suspended perch (swing perch?). a) how can I keep them warm? b) is worming or removing ticks necessary? c) how should I put the nest box in if I ever decide to breed them? i realise i have a long way to go and i dont think i can buy another cage. d) my yellow is always eating, is that good? and I never see them drink. e) Do I need to give them something that maintains their health? f) How do I know how old they are? I dont know how to identify the features, but they are both young. If you can direct me to a website or something similar, or if you have any of your own advice that would be greatly appreciated  thank you |
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Post by Lewis on Aug 11, 2009 21:54:55 GMT 10
1: keep them inside and put a cover over them at night
2:worming is definatley needed i do notn know about ticks
3:you can not breed them in the circular cage i dont like the type of cage you have for any bird but a canary or finch.
budgies will only breed in the right condition and i wouldnt think they woudl ever ever breed in a circular cage
4:he might be eating alot because he is not getting enough when the hen is eating try putting to feed containers in there and 2 water containters as the hen might not be getting enough food if the cock bird is eating alot of food and try and give them vegertables and fruit never feed avacado and lettuce
5with the health just give them daily veges of
corn
peas
carrot and what ever else they like frozen veggies are fine for them
6: you cant really tell how old a budgie is
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Post by starreys on Aug 11, 2009 22:04:26 GMT 10
its very easy to tell a baby budgie from an adult , their bars on their head go all the way to their beak. Also baby budgies beaks are darker.If they are adults then you need to check if they have a ring on their foot.
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Post by Lewis on Aug 11, 2009 22:31:35 GMT 10
thanks sarah forgot about that
as sarah says if they are young they will have a darker beak
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Post by Robyn on Aug 12, 2009 7:16:07 GMT 10
Celeste,
a] Just wrap a blanket round the cage at night to keep out the draft.
b] When i had budgies i only wormed 1 a year being in a suspended cage, as far as i know birds in captivity don't get ticks. Only Lice & Mites.
c] I hung my nest boxes from the outside of the cage. You can pick up a budgie nest box from a Pet shop. A round cage is no different than a square one for budgies providing it has some size to it. My budgie cage was round but very big & hung from a beam on our back deck.
d] Budgies will drink early morning & last thing at evening, a shallow dish of water in the bottom of the cage for their bath. As far as eating they are good at that. They love green leafy veggies, you can also grow the left over seed that you throw out, they love the fresh seed heads. Some do like corn. And egg & biscuit is a favorite when they have babies in the nest.
e] Now age, its easy while the birds are young. Females have a pale cere, the fleshy bit where the nostrils are, once they get into breeding mode the cere turns a brown color. Males have a very pale blue cere which turns darker as he matures. Although you stated you have a yellow male in which case if he is lutino his cere will stay a mauvy pink. They are mature at around 12 months sometimes earlier than that. By the time the birds are around 4 months you should have a good idea what sex they are.
Hope this helps, by the sounds of things you have not long had them.
Cheers
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Post by vankarhi on Aug 12, 2009 17:06:26 GMT 10
Birds kept inside don't normally need to be kept warm except as Robyn said to put a towel or blanket over their cage.
Worming of inside pet birds is not normally needed unless you bring a new bird home or they have access to wild birds.
A young or more specifically a baby budgie that has just weaned has bars on its head right down to the cere (nose/beak). A very young baby male has a pinkish purpleish coloured cere while a very young baby female budgie as a more pinkish whitish cere. As an adult the male has a blue cere and the bars have disappeared and they usually have a lovely coloured patch of feathers above their cere to about halfway across their head. The adult hen has a brown cere. When they are ready for breeding their cere's apparently darken.
If you "google" budgies I am sure you will find heaps of pics and info to help you. Make sure your birds have plenty of fresh fruit and veges too and they like to shower under a mist spray or even to roll on a wet lettuce leaf or wet washed silver beat leaf too.
Good luck
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Post by vankarhi on Aug 12, 2009 17:07:38 GMT 10
oh and young birds have black eyes and I think as an adult they develop a white ring around the eye (pupil....not skin around the eye)
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Post by avinet on Aug 12, 2009 20:31:38 GMT 10
I have never really understood the circular cage is bad argument. I used to have some circular cages, and kept both cockatiels and budgies in them, and had budgies happily breed away without problems. We only moved on from them when we began to appreciated the desirability of providing larger cages. We still see circular cages brought into us with birds for boarding, and again the occupants of these cages appear to be free of any hang-ups from being in a circular cage. Probably because no one has told them they are supposed to be bad I have always believed the "circular cages are bad mantra" to be yet another Internet urban legend. Like the "horizontal bars are better than vertical bars" mantra. cheers, Mike |
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Post by vankarhi on Aug 13, 2009 7:20:33 GMT 10
oops I just realised you have a yellow/lutino budgie in which case he will not have bars on his head at all.
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Post by celeste on Sept 13, 2009 11:06:18 GMT 10
Thank you everyone so much! I have had my lutino yellow for longer than my blue/white. My lutino (melody) has a pinkish cere, except the middle of his cere is blue. My blue (lyric) has a tan/pink cere, with bars on her head that goes to her beak, but I am still not sure of their age. I have had melody for at least 2/3 months, and both of my birds have pure black eyes. Their eyes are so tiny I strain to see them xD If I put a nest box in, will they breed even though they are too young (am not sure if they have matured) I feed them romaine lettuce (they love it a lot), cabbage (they dont seem to like it.) and seed everyday. Changes their water once or twice a day. Im going to worm them for the first time tomorrow or the day after that, yes I know its a bit late. Im also going to try red beans/beans/corn/eggshell. Do you think this is a good idea? |
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Post by vankarhi on Sept 13, 2009 11:53:08 GMT 10
There is no value in lettuce what so ever and i rarely give lettuce to my birds. I have read not to give cabbage to birds......I don't anyway just because mine get heaps of other things.
Try to give them a bit of silver beat leaf, maybe a bit of bok choy leaf. Try them on some apple/pear/strawberries/passionfruit/rockmelon/watermelon/corn on the cob etc etc. My birds just love all of these things and they are good for them A bit of boiled egg with the shell still on is good for them too from time to time and cuttle fish bone. Sprouts are good too they love freshly sprouted seeds etc.
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Post by finchperson on Sept 20, 2009 12:31:28 GMT 10
8-)To keep my 2 budgies warm i put a cover over them at night.
In my opinion budgies are the best birds ever!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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thank you
