Just bought a bird home

[budgieben]

Hi all,

We just bought our new baby home.I know general advice says dont buy shop birds.....but we did. Shop birds need love too right? The bird looks young and still has black lines down to the cere. I think he is a male but i will get some pics when he/she has calmed down and settled.
Just after some advice regarding the cage setup.

When i was in the shop i pretty much forgot all i had read and ended up letting them sell me what i "needed"

We bought seed, Grit, sand paper sheets (that i just read i dont need) and millet spray. They were out of cuttlefish so we are going out again tomorrow to get some.

Anything else? Do we mix grit with seed or have a seperate bowl of grit? Shall i take the sand paper out and just put newspaper in the cage? The cage has a grill on the bottom if thats of any significance.

Super excited anyway, even if we will have to work a bit harder to hand tame

[suesbird]

Brilliant, some Pet shops are good, some bad, just like some breeders and Welcome.

I took the grill off the bottom as Jo likes to play on the bottom of the cage and it hard for her feet. I buy the chip shop paper for the bottom, definitely no sand paper. Lots of people use newspaper but I don't have any papers delivered. Grit in a separate bowl. Use millet as a treat when training, don't put it in just for he/she to eat as Hezz says it is like beefburgers for use! Iodine block and cuttlefish as well. No sand paper perches. Perches of different thickness is good for their feet, they all love a swing and I have a few of the Trixie bendy cotton perches which Jo loves.

Balsa wood toys for them to chew. Some good sites for toys and things are The Natural Bird Co, Northern Parrots, Scarlet parrots and Amazon. Now this is where it gets costly because you really must buy her this toy and that toy.

All the other more experienced ones will be about and they have better information than me.

[OP]

Hi Ben and welcome to the forum, glad you found us. There is absolutely nothing wrong with buying pet shop budgies. Especially when one has done some research like you have done. You already know to use the sand sheets for something other than the bottom of the cage. The grit wants to be in its own receptacle so the budgie will get it when it needs it. Don't overdo the millet else he/she won't eat the seed. Allow your new friend to settle down and get used to you being around. It sounds like you are doing a fine job. Enjoy your new friend.

[budgieben]

I have been doing some more research since i got home and i believe the bird to be less than 12 weeks old which is good. As i said, it still has the black bars down to the cere and solid black eyes which i am pleased about. I have a spare bowl so i will put some grit in it and put it in and at the same time remove the sand paper (Glad that was only £1.59)
So it looks like i just need some natural perches and toys and i am set. Am i right in saying not to start hand taming until at least a weeks time? or should i start it earlier? I have read articles on getting them used to having a hand in the cage and then getting closer to them etc

Looking forward to the taming process and i may record the process from day one and post up the vids so you guys and girls can give me some pointers

[jellybean]

Hi Ben, welcome to the forum. Have you picked a name for your new little bird yet? Looking forward to seeing your pictures.

[budgieben]

Ha ha yes we have (actually my 2 year old daughter has)
She wants to call it scully after the bird in jake and the never land pirates

[OP]

A lot depends on how the bud has been tamed before you chose him/her. If it cowers in a corner at the sight of hands you will need to get it used to hands altogether. Start with the hands near the cage and keep talking softly. I would start as soon as he/she looks settled. If it freezes on the perch it is not settled so back off a bit. Talk to it every time you are near the cage so it gets used to you. There doesn't seem to be hard and fast rules for the taming. What you are looking for is a bond between you. Steady, repeated actions and you will get there. Don't rush. Blink and wink at your bud as well whenever you are talking to it.

[budgieben]

I started blinking and squinting etc and the bird is reciprocating which I hope is a good sign. When we let it out it was just clinging to the cage but fairly quickly found a perch and has been sort of chirping away. He/she seems happy enough. Going to try and get pics tomorrow

[OP]

If your budgie was clinging to the bars inside the cage then it isn't quite settled with you opening the cage. Give it a couple of days. Stand by the cage quite often and talk to him/her. Don't stare straight at him/her, wink and blink instead. The idea for the eye movement is to let it know you are not a predator. Eyes facing forward could be a predator. When it stops going for the bars when you open the cage it is getting to know you.

[Hezz]

Hi budgieben and welcome to you and your family, particularly your budgie, Scully.

Cuttlebone is a must, but don't be surprised if you don't see Scully using it. Some birds love them, others seem to not touch them. Whether this is because they don't need them, so be it, but make sure they are available anyway. The same goes with the shell grit - make sure you have soluble grit, or oyster grit, shell grit - not all quite the same but doing the same job for your budgie, and yes, in a separate feeder is the best. Some seed does come with shell grit added; you would need to check yours to make sure.

Put a small piece of millet spray into the cage and let Scully explore it for himself. Once he knows it is food - some budgies don't get it as babies and are scared of it when they first see a spray - the chances are he will gobble it up. This is where you don't replace it in the cage but use it for training. Most budgies will sell their grandmother for a free feed of millet.

Put your newspaper over the grill on the bottom of the cage, not underneath. If you wish you can put enough sheets down to last a week and each day simply take off the top layer and immediately you have a clean cage again. If you are in a position to acquire some natural branches of apple and willow, particularly, use these for perches. They are great for the buds to chew on as well, big hunks of willow bark are also good for their beaks, keeping them worn down. Natural branches for perches will keep the claws trim as well.

For toys, most budgies love a swing or two, and invest in some stainless steel (liberty) bells. They cost a bit to buy, but being stainless, you will have them forever. Stainless steel is the only safe metal to have in your cage; everything else rusts. If you see any rust on anything of Scully's toss it immediately. Heavy metal poisoning will kill your bird quick.

I think that is probably enough to get you started.

[budgieben]

Thanks for the advice. We are off out to crews hill later today to buy toys etc. Can i just go to a local forest and take apple or willow branches? Is it just these two trees that are safe?
I have some trees in my garden but to be honest i have no idea what they are. I can look that up though. Scully is chirping up a storm this morning !

[Hezz]

There are plenty of on line sites giving safe and toxic lists for plants and trees, for budgies. Just make sure you check out a two or three as some will say one thing is no good and another that it is fine, an example is garlic. Garlic is on one list as being not safe, but there are plenty of people who feed this to their budgies on a regular basis. If you can confidently have your trees identified, then great. I am sure you will have something there that can be safely used for the buds.

Something else to get working on straight away is feeding fresh veggies. Sprouting your own seed is a good way to go as well. The sooner you get him eating a range of fresh foods the more success you will have introducing new ones further down the track. This might give you ideas of where to start:
budgerigarsforum.proboards.com/thread/509/fresh-foods-offer-budgie

[Shirls]

Just one more thing budgieben, (welcome btw ) it makes the budgie feel safer if you cover, say, the back of the cage, or if more practical one side, just so that he/she has a 'safe' corner if he/she feels threatened. It just keeps the a bit more calm. Then of course cover completely at night time.

[budgieben]

[jellybean]

What a handsome boy you are Scully.