Apr 17, 2015 18:00:17 GMT
pjld
Normal Violet
Posts: 136
|
Post by pjld on May 2, 2015 7:00:23 GMT
Hi. We have got some scales and are planning to weigh our budgies each week as we have heard this is a good indicator of health - if they are gaining or losing weight. But what is a normal weight range? Thanks for your help Patrick
|
|
|
Post by samwiseg on May 2, 2015 7:50:10 GMT
Hi pjldDepends what sort of budgies you have - i.e. domestic budgie or an exhibition budgie as the size can vary quite significantly. Usually a rough guide is between 30g - 55g at an educated guess but again it does depend on the size of the bird. Murph is my largest bird and he weights 61g! But he is an exhibition type and is VERY long so not overweight but they are bred to be big I Hope that helps a bit!
|
|
Apr 17, 2015 18:00:17 GMT
pjld
Normal Violet
Posts: 136
|
Post by pjld on May 2, 2015 7:57:20 GMT
They are domestic budgies - and the one we managed to weigh yesterday is 42g so that is about right - they are young. At what kind of age do they reach being 'fully grown'? Ours are now about 11 weeks.
|
|
|
Post by samwiseg on May 2, 2015 8:08:13 GMT
That sounds perfect! If I remember correctly it is after they have had their first moult that they have gone into adulthood as they lose their baby bars But they still act as teenagers for that time
|
|
|
Post by suesbird on May 2, 2015 8:31:56 GMT
Jo is 48 gms, Pippin was 42 about 4 weeks ago, now he does not sit still long enough for me to weigh him
|
|
|
Post by Hezz on May 2, 2015 10:04:39 GMT
In my opinion they take about 12 months to reach their adult size/weight. If you start weighing them now you should only see an slow upward trend for quite some time. Any weight loss needs to be examined. During a moult they might lose a bit - I haven't really made any study of that, but it makes sense when you think about it.
Weight range is so dependent on the birds' sizes, it is much better to look for trends rather than their individual weight.
|
|
|
Post by JennyB on May 4, 2015 0:24:21 GMT
Funny this question was posted after our vet trip yesterday. Our vet has commented on Pippin's weight on three separate occasions. First she said "rotund" then "plump" and yesterday "fat" : O
They eat a sensible amount of Trill so it's exercise we need to help with. Usually they'll run around in the top of their cage while they'll out. I can see I'll have to increase flying time by getting them on my finger and walking a few feet away so they fly back to where they want to be. Pip is 53g Merry is 47g. They've never had honey bells etc. I'm trying to increase their veg intake too. If it's on a kebab stick on their perch I think they see it as something to destroy as it's the same place they have balsa wood at other times. If I shred carrot for example into their food dish they seem to eat more of it as well as flinging some out for good measure of course. I'm going to try sweet corn next.
|
|
|
|
Post by Hezz on May 4, 2015 7:32:02 GMT
JennyB, take him down the hall way and make him fly to the other end ....... well, at least see if he can. I have done this with a fatty, Marianne has done this with a not-so-good-flier. It does work.
|
|