I need a crash course in Budgies (parakeet)! My friend found one.

[My Peanuts]

My ex brought a budgie into work and said, "Here ya go, he's your problem now." It sounds mean, but it wasn't. I'm the one that takes care of all the lost animals. So anyway, I have to find the little guy a home, but until I do he's with me. Can someone give me the basics or direct me to a good place to find out the basics of budgie care? I have cockatiels and I'm pretty knowledgeable about them, but I need to know the differences.

[IRescue452]

Better check the paper and local shelters for an owner. Not much different from any other bird I guess.

[Chilli]

Hmm... I think Budgies are pretty much the same as tiels when it comes to care.
Just get him good quality food and a cuttlebone. And change his food and water everyday. (You know that already, since you own tiels^^.)
I hear the *minimum* cage size for one budgie is 20"X12"X18"... of course Norri has a much bigger cage since he isn't tame.
Toys are nice to try. Some don't play with toys, though. Norri has 2-3 toys in his cage, though he doesn't play with them. He loves his swinging perch, though!

See? Basically the same as a tiel.

[CathyBogart]

Very similar in care to a 'tiel. Lots of good food, fruits and veggies, toys, and whatnot. Check the newspaper for lost bird ads. Perhaps if you find his owners you can show them how to keep his wings trimmed. Congrats on your temporary feathered friend.

Important: You should probably keep him quarantined from your 'tiels for a week or two.

[My Peanuts]

Thanks all. I plan to call the area vets tomorrow, but if he isn't claimed my family wants to keep him. I'll post pics if it becomes official. He's living in my teils "starter home" from years ago. Plenty big for a budgie. He looks like an Easter Peep so they are calling him Mr. Peep, plus he was found on Ukrainian (my dad's side) Easter which was yesterday. He IS a he. I read about it online and he has blue nostrils which indicates he's a male.

I gave him cockatiel seed and pellets until I can get him budgie seed and pellets. He's eating the seed. Do you think that's ok for now?

[My Peanuts]

Also, I am trying to quarantine him as best as possible. My house is kind of small, but I'm doing my best. When I got my tiels I quarantined them for a month each time.

[My Peanuts]

Ok, I called my area vets, my avian vet, and the closest bird shelter (which isn't really that close about 30 min away.) My area doesn't have any close shelters. Where else should I call to find his owners? How long do I wait until I make the "new addition" post? What's a respectable amount of time? I'll give him to his owners even if they show up a long time from now though as long as they can describe him.

[Chilli]

Maybe you could run an ad in the classifieds about a found bird? I'm unsure of how much it costs where you live, though.
You might give it about a month before you officially adopt him.... it sounds like a good ammount of time to me.
Good luck!

[My Peanuts]

I was thinking about a month too. My home pc is getting fixed but when it is I will post pics of him. I think he's pretty young. He's a lucky guy. It got a lot cooler here last night with hale. He wouldn't have made it through the night.

To be honest, I don’t think anyone will be looking for him because they probably think he died. I’m going to keep trying though. If one of my birds was out I’d be calling EVERYWHERE.

I'll look into the newspaper ad. Thanks for the idea.

[My Peanuts]

No one has called about the little guy yet. I want to find his home and I did everything I could, but there is a big part of me that doesn't want the phone to ring so I can keep him.

[CathyBogart]

Hehehe, they do wiggle their way into your heart pretty quickly don't they?

[sirrahved]

Hmm... I think Budgies are pretty much the same as tiels when it comes to care.
Just get him good quality food and a cuttlebone. And change his food and water everyday. (You know that already, since you own tiels^^.)
I hear the *minimum* cage size for one budgie is 20"X12"X18"... of course Norri has a much bigger cage since he isn't tame.
Toys are nice to try. Some don't play with toys, though. Norri has 2-3 toys in his cage, though he doesn't play with them. He loves his swinging perch, though!

See? Basically the same as a tiel.

My budgie and tiel live together. What do you feel your tiels? If you feed them a mix of seeds, pellets, and fruit, the budgie can just eat that same seed mix (s/he will just avoid the bigger pieces) Besides the size of the food, everything else in their care is exactly the same!

Have fun!

[My Peanuts]

I feed my tiels everything! Well almost everything. They get seeds, pellets, veggies (they don't really like fruit), and a variaty of other things like pasta and basically anything within reason.