first time budgie person.....

[rochyne]

hello all,

wondering if you could help me, i am very interested in getting a budgie, but theres a number of things i am unsure about....... first off ive decided that a male would be more to my liking, as they are more sociable........?

i would like him to interact with me, but i wont be able to dedicate my whole day to him, to have a succesful relationship, how would i go about that?

one or two budgies??


i am a student, and so the budgie(s) would technically have two homes, is this doable?

i have two big rat cages about 3 feet by 1 and a half then just over 3 feet tall, would this be suitable?

how do they react to travelling, probably max an hour in the car.....

ive kept rats and guinea pigs mice terrapins etcetc before but they are obviously less sensitive to there surroundings, than birds? so i can keep animals fairly well but ive never kept birds.....

how do they cope if their owner goes on holiday?, my mum would take up the feeding watering bit, but not so much the sociable bit?

do budgies and dogs mix?

yup, so any help would be brilliant

thankyou

Rochyne

[Ryan.W]

personally because of your situation i would get two, so they can keep each other company. Two males are probably best for numerous reasons.

[rochyne]

i was thinking of that, but doesn,t that make them less sociable with people?

[rochyne]

and i do quite want to be friends with my budgie(s) orrrr if i spend enough time with them will they still be as friend with humans ie me thankyou for the help

[rochyne]

would a radio or the tv be good enough company, or is another bird a must?

[Hezz]

This thread can answer some of your questions.

budgerigarsforum.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=talk&action=display&thread=750

[rochyne]

ok..... my problem is i want one to interact with me, but then i dont want him to become bored or lonely when im not there
if you get two at the same time, the bond with the owner will never match that of the bird to bird bond, what if you get 1, then say a year later get the second?

[loulou]

Hmm your last question i can offer some advice on. I had a male budgie who became very tame and wanted to spend all his time with me. After a year or so i decided to get him a friend - what i thought was another male but turned out to be female - and the new bird became his new best friend.

On one hand i was a little sad that he rarely came to me anymore, but on the other hand the pair of them were very happy with each other and were like the terrible twosome

From my experience it was hard to keep the first one tame as soon as i got the second one but the way they interacted with each other was lovely and it gave me just as much joy.

Edit - it is totally possible to train two budgies at the same time but it takes a lot of time and patience. Unfortunately i had plenty of patience but my second budgie, Bob just never wanted people contact, and still doesn't even after the male died. She's a bit of a nutter

[Hezz]

My experience was totally different, Lou. Blue was very tame, one of the boys. He stayed just as tame once the second budgie came along, but they never really became friends, so that may be why, but I don't think that was it. When I got my third (cock) the two boys became firm friends and Blue was just as tame. Different birds, different results. Just because one behaves one way, there is no way of knowing which way your bird is going to go until you try it.

[rochyne]

ok, so it sounds like i have no way of knowing what will happen haha ive been speaking to a local breeder and i am going to visit them, hopefully tomorrow, you guys have all been very helpful

[sarah*glittergirl2212]

Hi Rochyne, glad you are visiting a breeder to get your budgies. You might see two that are already very friendly and would love to be homed together! The breeder should advise you, and don't be afraid to ask everything you want to know about your potential new friend(s)!! I wouldn't use a rat cage as the shape and size, and type of feeding pots etc aren't the same. Zooplus do a lovely range of cages and you should get the biggest you possibly can. I have several budgies and I think they have the best of both worlds- budgie friends and human friends and never lonely.

[rochyne]

thankyou for all the help, i have went with one budgie for now, he is settling into life at home very well, the rat cage is 3 foot tall, 3 foot long and about a foot deep, the only none bird bit, would be the pull out drawer bottom, ive stripped them out, filled them with perches, hanging things so will be lots of birdy fun, the breeder was very helpful, and it was certainly an experience visiting him if my budgie is unhappy with not having a budgie friend, i would be more than happy to get him a friend