Budgies
Written by NECDET COKYAZICI
My pet budgies Jijik (left, white female - hen)
and Jibijip (right, blue male - cock).
Written by NECDET COKYAZICI
My pet budgies Jijik (left, white female - hen)
and Jibijip (right, blue male - cock).
A budgie or budgerigar (scientific name - Melopsittacus undulatus) is a cute little loveable bird of broad-tailed parrots - Platycercini. Closely related to Pezoporus and Neophema. Budgerigars are found in drier parts of Australia. Budgies are often called parakeets, especially in American English. A Small Parrot with long flat tail is called a parakeet. A Budgie is always a parakeet but parakeets aren't always budgies.
You can't buy budgies online, delivery or postal services don't deliver animals. You can buy budgies at pet shops or breeders. Here is a list of pet shop addresses in London where I got my budgies from, I got Jibijip from "The Pet Shop" and Jijik from "Pets Corner".
The Pet Shop
40-42 Amhurst Rd
London, Hackney, E8 1JN
(�25 each for blue budgies)
Pets Corner
130-132 Wood Street
Walthamstow
London
E17 3HX
(�25 each for white, �20 each for other colour budgie)
It's best to keep budgies in pairs in a big cage or in flocks in a heated aviary. I had a single male budgie (cock) at first but it kept chirping really loudly everytime it heard other birds outside or on the TV or on the computer and started looking around everywhere for the birds, and when it saw a picture of a budgie or a video of a budgie on the monitor it jumped on the screen, so I got it another female budgie (hen) and its a lot happier now. Budgies need a lot of time out of their cage, at least 4 hours a day, for excercise and play. And they need a lot of attention from humans.
When you first get your budgie it will probably be really scared and breath really heavily and keep closing and opening its eyes. You should cover 3 parts of the cage for around 30 minutes until it calms down. And remember to talk to it sofltly to calm it down as well. Also it might not be able to find its food and water straight away, so put a bowl of water and a bowl of food on the bottom of the cage until it finds it.
Budgies are usually very quiet when you first get them, give them time to start getting used to their new home. It usually takes around a month for them to start chirping, but it could take up to 6 months. It's nothing to worry about, just wait it out and eventually the budgie will start chirping.
Budgies nails can grow really long, you will need to cut it but be careful not to cut too deep, the white part of their nail is a part of their foot where the budgies toes extend into the nails and if you cut the nails too short you can amputate the end of their toes but whats worse is it'll start bleeding and a budgie can die if it looses more than a few drops of blood. So its better to get a pediperch for it to perch on which keeps their nails short.
Budgies beaks can grow long, so its best to have a or cuttle fish bone or cuttlebone in the cage. If it grows too long they wont be able to eat, so you'll need to get it trimmed by an avian vet.
For budgies to breed, you need a male (cock) and female (hen) budgie to mate. And in 3 days time the hen will lay eggs, the eggs should hatch in 20-30 days. A male budgie has a blue cere, a thing that looks like nostrils on the top of its beak, and a female budgie has a pink cere, which turns brown when its ready to breed. You will need a nesting box for them to breed otherwise they wont breed. You should have wood shavings in the nesting box so the chicks don't develope sprayed legs. You can get soft wood bedding at tesco in the pet section.
When the chicks hatch, the mother should feed them by regurgitating (vommiting/throwing up) into their mouths. If the mother don't feed them, then you would need to feed it yourself. You'll need a bent spoon or a hand feeding syringe and hand rearing formula you can buy. The chicks need to be fed until their crop is full every 2 hours 24/7.
Budgies need to take a bath once a week otherwise they get really itchy. To bath your budgie fill a sink with a little bit of warm water, but make sure the water is not too hot, and make sure the sink is clean. Pour a little bit of water on its head and wings, once its wings are wet it wont be able to fly. Then carry on pouring only a few handfuls of water at a time on the budgie until its clean. Make sure you dont use any soup or shampoo as it could be harmful to the budgie. Once you finshed giving the budgie a bath, blow dry it but make sure the blow dryer is on the lowest setting and not too hot, put the budgie in the cage so it wont fly away when you're blow drying it. Be sure not to leave them wet because they can get really cold and start shaking, and they can become ill.
When you get the budgie for the first time, it might not come to your finger and run away from your hand, so you'll need to let it get used to your hand. This can be done by chasing the budgie in the cage with your hand for around 2 minutes and taking your hand out, for about 5 minutes, and chasing it again for another 2 minutes. Repeat this for about an hour until it isnt scared anymore. Then, to teach your budgie to perch (stand) on your finger, touch its foot with your finger or push your finger against its belly softly, until it jumps on.
Main
Mainly Budgies eat budgie seeds like trill you can find in tesco or a pet shop. Their favourite treats are millet sprays which you can find at pet shops. Budgies can also eat a large variety of other foods such as:
Fruit
Apple, Pear, Banana, Pineapple, Grapes, Orange, Tangerine, Peach, Apricot, Kiwi, Melon, Fig, Strawberry, Cherry, Raspberry, Blackberry, Blackcurrant, Blueberry, Cranberry, Tomato, Guava, Lychee, Mango, Plum.
Vegetable
Grated Carrots, Small Peices of Broccoli, Lettuce, Boiled then cooled down sweet Corn, Brussels sprouts (sliced), Cabbage, Turnip, Cauliflower, Cucumber, Leek, Onion, Peppers, Pumpkin, Rocket (Roquette), Peas, Spinach, Spring Onion, Turnip tops (Turnip greens)
Meat
Chicken Breast, Turkey Breast.
Other
Raisins, Grated white part of Coconut, Boiled Chicken Eggs, Crushed Peanuts, Crushed Pistachio Nuts, Crushed Cashew Nuts, sunflower seed, Mint herb, Honey,
Leaves of certain plants, chocolate, avocado, alcohol, caffeine, potato are dangerous to budgies and it could kill them. Remember to remove the seeds of the apples, cherries, etc. the seeds of fruit are dangerous to them.
If your budgie has watery eyes or eye, then it might of scratched its eye or you might of touched its eye. You need to take it to an avian vet for eye drops or a cheaper alternative is buying budgie eye drops online but do not use human or dog eye drops. There was a case in which someone used eye drops for dogs on a budgie, the budgies eye got better but the budgie died from poisoning, so you should use eye drops designed for budgies. The only available eye drops for budgies you can buy online is Travipharma Eye Conditioner Drops. It also is useful for other types of birds, pidgeons and other types of animals.
If you budgie suddenly starts staying at the bottom of the cage all day long everyday and sleeping all the time, that means its ill, so you should take it to an avian vet as soon as possible.
If your budgie has a crusty beak it may be getting scaly face you should take it to an avian vet as soon as possible.
This is a tribute to my beloved blue baby boy Jibijip, who was such a loving and affectionate little budgie. Sadly he passed away and was buried on Tuesday the 17th of June, 2008. He passed on so suddenly and so unexpectedly. I tried absolutely everything within my power to save him, but it was my cute baby's sad fate that he had to go to the hereafter.
A Digitally Remastered version of the video of my pet budgie Jibijip chirping. Higher resolution, better picture, and 5.1 surround sound. The audio is also improved - no more eardrum bursting loud chirps, they've all been normalized.
A funny video of my pet budgie Bonjuk (Blue) eating my tshirt, my other budgie Jijik (White) joins in near the end. The funny annotations where done by my good friend Ali.
My pet budgies on my shoulder - Bonjuk (blue yellowface type I, baby male) and Jijik (white/yellow female).
Here is a video of my pet budgies Jibijip (blue male - cock) and Jijik (white female - hen) and eating seed together. The music playing in the background is Moonlight Sonata by Beethoven.
Here is a video of my pet budgies Jibijip (blue male - cock) and Jijik (white female - hen) eating seed and grated carrot together. The music playing in the background is the Main Theme of Final Fantasy VII, Aeries' Theme, and Anxious Heart.
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My pet budgies Jibijip (blue male - cock) and Jijik (white female - hen) were in love, they always groomed/preened each other everyday. I hoped they would mate and have chicks but sadly Jibijip died and was buried on Tuesday the 17th of June, 2008. He died of a problem in his digestive tract.
Rest in peace my dear sweet baby Jibijip. You're flying with the angels now, I hope to see you in heaven.
My pet budgies Jibijip and Jijik were moulting, this is a video of their feathers.
My pet budgies Jibijip (blue male - cock) and Jijik (white female - hen) on the window looking at snow in April.
My pet budgie Jibijip chirping.
My pet budgies Jibijip (blue male - cock) and Jijik (white female - hen) perching on my right hand's index finger.