Adopted budgie!

[Marianne Marlow]

Email from Holly to me

"Hi, I recently uploaded a post the other day about my budgie that I've adopted and got great information back. I was just wondering if everything in her cages looks like it is in the right place? I just wanted to make sure that her cuttlefish and mineral block look like they're in a good place that she can get to them as I've had her for 3 months now and she still hasn't touched them? As she isn't tame yet and it's still going to be a long progress I can't seem to get her to try anything other than her seeds in her food bowl.

From holly:-)"

[jellybean]

Hi Holly, welcome to the forum. If you don't mind me saying Bonnie's cage is too small, it looks more like a travel cage to me, she's got no room to move about and stretch her wings. How does she access the seed pot on the left? Looks like she would have to jump onto the floor first.
I would buy feeders that could attach to the cage bars to allow the food to be a bit higher up, she also needs to have Oystershell grit. I also noticed that you have sand sheets on the bottom of the cage floor, these are really bad for their feet and can give them a condition called Bumblefoot.
Keep trying to offer her fresh veg, she will eventually get curious and have a go. Also try her with hard boiled egg mashed up, if she won't eat fresh, you can buy dried eggfood, the eggfood is great for when they are moulting as they need extra protein.

[hollybonnie]

Dec 16, 2016 13:38:02 GMT jellybean said:

Hi Holly, welcome to the forum. If you don't mind me saying Bonnie's cage is too small, it looks more like a travel cage to me, she's got no room to move about and stretch her wings. How does she access the seed pot on the left? Looks like she would have to jump onto the floor first.
I would buy feeders that could attach to the cage bars to allow the food to be a bit higher up, she also needs to have Oystershell grit. I also noticed that you have sand sheets on the bottom of the cage floor, these are really bad for their feet and can give them a condition called Bumblefoot.
Keep trying to offer her fresh veg, she will eventually get curious and have a go. Also try her with hard boiled egg mashed up, if she won't eat fresh, you can buy dried eggfood, the eggfood is great for when they are moulting as they need extra protein.

This is the cage that the family' I adopted her from, she used her bars and the perch from the middle of the cage get to the food and water pot. I did think that it was too small but being someone that has never owned a budgie I hasn't really an idea on it. Could you maybe suggest to me a good sized cage for 1 bird? I was thinking about buying her a new one but then the thought of ''how would I get her in it when she doesn't like my hand'? All information is welcome as I'm quite new to this! Thank you:)

[jellybean]

Buy the biggest cage you can afford Holly. She will love you for the extra space to move around. I have 2 budgies and bought mine a "Hamberley" which they love. It will depend on whether you intend to keep a single bird or maybe get another for company at a later date, or if she will have free flight time, or locked in for long periods if you are out at work.
The Hamberley is certainly the best cage I have ever come across for the money.

[hollybonnie]

Dec 16, 2016 18:45:25 GMT jellybean said:

Buy the biggest cage you can afford Holly. She will love you for the extra space to move around. I have 2 budgies and bought mine a "Hamberley" which they love. It will depend on whether you intend to keep a single bird or maybe get another for company at a later date, or if she will have free flight time, or locked in for long periods if you are out at work.
The Hamberley is certainly the best cage I have ever come across for the money.

I have sent you an inbox, I hope I'm not being too much trouble for you! Think have found the perfect cage for her. Just need a bit of advice from someone that knows more about budgies than I do! :-)

[Marianne Marlow]

Please post asking for advice here if possible, rather than by private message. It's more useful for people and more people will see your post.

[Hezz]

For my two bobs' worth, as long as your little budgie is fit and healthy, has no problems moving about, climbing the cage bars etc, then you don't need to worry too much about where you position things in the cage. What is important about positioning is making sure her food and water are not going to be contaminated by droppings, so making sure they are not directly under a perch. In fact the harder you make her work for her food etc, the more exercise she is going to get. If you are trying to get her hand-tame, then the cage you have her in is fine for the moment. It allows you easy access to her and she doesn't have heaps of room to flap about avoiding your hands, causing her to become more stressed.

hollybonnie, you don't have to apologise for asking questions; questions are much better than mistakes, which can be fatal, and all we all want is for you and your little bird to be happy with each other.

As for getting her to try fresh foods, does she eat millet? If she does, you can try hanging up some greens (leafy is best at this stage) with the millet, but make sure what you hang up isn't huge and overwhelming to her. Cuttlebone and shellgrit she will eat or not as she needs them; it could be months, it could be never, but they need to be kept available. You can also try adding a bit of finely chopped veggies to her seed pot, sprinkled over the top so she has to go through the greens to get to her seed; it can work, or she might simply unceremoniously toss them out! It is worth a go, but you will need to remove the fresh food after a few hours. You can also moisten the veggies and sprinkle seed over them so that the seed sticks to the veggies and try to trick her that way. Good luck.