More budgie questions!

[Giselle]

Originally posted by tikeyas_mom


How long should it take to tame him enough that he will climb onto my hand etc, and how should I go about it? clip his wings first.. you will never be able to tame him if his wings are fully grown.

Not necessarily I breed budgies (mainly for color and temperament) and Apricot was parent-raised and is full flighted and he's as tame as ever! In fact, he LOVES to play with my hands. Whenever I toss the bell around his cage, he'll give the signs of happiness (fluttering, doing the feather shake, clucking, head bob) and climb over my hands with ambition and exuberance. Clipped wings certainly do speed up taming and training, but it isn't impossible

As for your questions, allow me to write my novel

1. How long should it take to tame him enough that he will climb onto my hand etc, and how should I go about it?
It usually takes from a couple weeks to a couple months depending on the frequency of the training. Ideally, training should happen multiple times *each day*. In a perfect world, one should interact with the budgie each day, around 2-4 times a day for 5-15 minutes. I admit, most people cannot keep this rigorous training up, so this sets taming and training back a week or two. To train your budgie, I agree with Tikeyas_mom's link. The very first thing to do is to get the budgie to trust and be excited about your hands (via feeding seeds by hand). Then, so on and so on as is descripted in the link :-P

2. What size cage should I buy, and what things do I need in the cage?

The BARE MINIMUM for a single budgie is 14"x14"x14", granted the budgie is let out frequently throughout the day. However, a more comfortable cage size would be 16"x16"x16", though an 18" cubed cage is wonderful as well What should you buy? TOYS!!!!! Budgies LOVE bells and shiny objects like mirrors and keys. You can find budgie-safe toys at your local pet shop.

3. Are they happier with another budgie to keep them company? If so should I get another males, or a female? (Also what size cage for two??)
If you plan to keep this budgie as a sole companion and want him to bond strongly with you, then I'd advise you to not get another budgie. However, if you simply cannot allow the budgie time outside of his cage regularly and you can't give him more than 20-30 minutes of your time each day, then yes, I'd advise a budgie friend. Now, what's greyt about budgie males is that they tend to be more gregarious and jovial. Therefore, you can opt with either gender- male, female, it doesn't really matter. However, when dealing with female budgies, you need to prevent the pair from mating and producing fertile eggs. Also, even though a female budgie doesn't need to mate to produce fertile eggs, she can still produce blank eggs which can cause her to egg bind (and die, if not treated quickly). As for a suitable cage for a pair of budgies: 18" cubed sounds about right.

4. Re temperatures, what is a good temp to keep them at - we have the aircons running as it is very hot here, but some parts of the house get a bit cold

Since you have a 3-4 month old budgie, I'd suggest keeping the temp at a steady low 70 degrees Fahrenheit. I also agree that you should protect the cage from drafts. To avoid drafts, avoid placing the cage in hallways, near windows, and doors. Also, if you want to know if a certain place is drafty, light a candle and examine the smoke. If the smoke frequently shifts, do NOT place the budgie's cage in that area. If the smoke is straight, this place is presumably draft-free.

5. Should he be covered at night for sleep?

Sure, why not? It's really your choice, but it is advised to cover the cage at night. Use a dark color like black or brown (use neutrals).

And I noticed some people are talking about cuttlefish bone. Cuttlefish bone and mineral blocks are highly recommended for all budgies and, imo, no budgie should be without one. Cuttlefish bones provide an excellent source of calcium while mineral blocks provide trace minerals absent in a seed only diet. Which brings me to my next topic...Food! I highly suggest finding some pellets (brands include Lafeber, Roudybush, Zupreem, Harrisons, and KayTee). You can pulverize these pellets and dump them into a separate food cup for your budgie to nibble at every now and then. Meanwhile, continue to feed a good budgie-specific seed with nutritious and yummy dark greens (this includes kale, occasional spinach, bok choy, etc. etc. NOTE: Iceberg lettuce has very little nutritional value as it is mostly water).

Whew! I hope I didn't bore you

Edit: Is Mr. Budgie in a cylinder cage? If so, I'd advise to go out and buy a square or rectangular cage as soon as possible. Round cages confuse and upset birds, as well as cause the chafing of their wings.