Newbie from Lincolnshire

[naiad]

Good Afternoon all
We retired to the East coast 5 years ago and have decided we need another companion or 2 in the household!I will be picking your brains over the coming months regarding a variety of subjects but my immediate requirement is a suitable cage I like the look of the Liberta Lotus what are your thoughts please and should I have 1 or 2 male budgies?

Thanks for reading this post
Kind Regards
Tim


 

[jellybean]

Hi Tim welcome to the forum.
It is two male budgies that I have (brothers) and they are the best of buddies. As for cages, it depends how much you wish to spend, but a cage can never be TOO BIG for a budgie, so get the biggest one you can afford. I have a Hamberley cage and my two just love it, (if you wish I will post a link to let you have a look). If you have never owned budgies before, you're in for a treat, they are the greatest little creatures, and so much fun.

[naiad]

Thanks jellybean for your response

[OP]

Hello, welcome to the forum. Like Jellybean I have the Hamberley cage. As well as getting the largest cage you can afford, it is just as important to get one that will stand the test of female budgies, They like to chew, even the male budgies climb about the bars and can remove the coating with their beaks. This can expose the bare metal under the coating. A cheap cage is likely to rust and that can be fatal to a budgie. A lot to think about I know but in the end I spent more on getting the wrong cage than I would have done getting the right one in the first place. Good luck with your choosing. You will without doubt enjoy the company of the budgies.

[samwiseg]

Hi and welcome naiad!

A lot of research is a good idea, so am glad you found us and you are doing the right thing!

Asking yourself some questions to start with i.e. depending on your circumstances, are you going to be around all the time for a solitary budgie as they do need company and attention. If the answer is no then go for 2 as they will be company for each other.

The second thing to consider is where will you be thinking of getting them from? As if you go to a breeder they are more likely to sell you two as they are flock animals

And as OP has pointed out always try and get a cage the biggest you can afford - especially if you are going to be out and they are going to need regular flight time/exercise. When purchasing a cage you might want to also consider that birds dont fly up and down the fly side to side so your cage would be better being wider rather than taller.

Am so looking forward to hearing about your adventures, please let us know how you get on (pictures and updates essential)! And pick our brains with whatever questions you have and we will try to help

Welcome to the flock

[Shirls]

Welcome Tim. Please also remember the bad things that shops try to sell you when you are first setting up your new home for your budgies. Please don't get sand sheets (hurts their feet), so do the gritty perch covers. Natural wood perches are also far better than the dowelling or plastic types. You have come in 'on the ground floor' so to speak, so you can save money by not buying all the bad stuff. Toys with material tassels on are also a no-no.

There is loads of information on here for you to research and do not hesitate to ask questions, we may not all know the answer, but somebody will. We all still ask questions too, even though we've been members for ages!

Can't wait to see your newbies when they arrive and have fun doing all the research.

[Hezz]

Hi Tim, and welcome. I have just had a look at the Liberta Lotus cage, and I think there are plenty of much better cages around. While budgies can fly pretty much straight up to get to the perch they want, they generally do better with some angle to get the lift so a longer cage, rather than tall is the best. It also depends on how much time your budgies are going to have out of their cages to fly around; if they are out most of the time then a smaller cage will suffice as basically they will only be in it to sleep. If they are going to spend a good part of their day in the cage then you definitely need to consider getting one of the large flight cages. Budgies are long range fliers and without daily exercise they can and will become obese and/or develop health issues.

[naiad]

Thanks all for your warm welcome and your comments have been taken on board.

[suesbird]

Hello and welcome, we have the Rainforest Caracus cage, we bought 2 of them and my hubby cut the sides out and joined them together to make one Large cage.

We also have one male and one female budgie, who get on really well.

[mintysowner]

My two have the Ferplast piano 5 and love it. Just adding it in so you have a few to choose from! Make sure you shop around too, I got mine much cheaper online than from a store/aviary place

Edited to add: I would also look at the next one up which is a Ferplast Piano 6 as it has more feeders, so there hopefully would be less chance of fighting over food/water etc where as the 5 only has two. The 6 isn't much more money wise (not if you buy online from cages world anyway). They are a little more expensive than cheaper cages but the quality is very good and in my opinion will last much longer.

[Shirls]

I have a Ferplast Piano 6 for my four buds. It's brilliant.