Should I order food online? Or from a pet store?

[tanja]

Hi everybody,

I don't have a budgie yet, but I am wondering if I should get a seed mix in the shop where I buy the budgie from,
or if I should order a seed mix like Trill online a few days before I get a bird? 

How long can the bag stay unopened? I mean I need some kind of food when I get a baby budgie, but I have no
idea how long it takes, when I order a mix online. I want to have the food here before the bird arrives. How did you
manage this with your first budgies?

I mean if I order a bag today and get it like in 2-3 days, can it stay a long time unopened? Since I do not know when I get the budgie. I need to wait with that, until my new office room is ready to move in!

[mizloco]

I use trill as it has a good mixture of everything and then I give them veggies and egg food too.

[ffiscool]

I also have trill and he gets dried egg food sprinkled on once a week. Important things are the cuttlebone and iodine block, which the pet shop will sell. As for other type of food, others on here will advise. It took a while but Bailey now eats a little apple, orange, carrot and broccoli, which I alternate. And red pepper. I think it's the orange/red fruits and veg that are better for them.

[tanja]

That's good to know, that you guys use Trill as well. Great I guess then I can order it online, since I did not see it anywhere in a shop yet. But how long can it stay if unopened? I mean if I buy a bag or 2 today and get it in around 2-3 days, can it stay a long time, without opening the bag? Also thanks for the tips with the veggies! I will remember that! We always have fresh veggies and also fruit at home!

[ffiscool]

If you are buying trill, it has a long shelf life if unopened. Ones here seem about a year. If you are buying pellets or other seed, then I am not sure.

[tanja]

Oh that's great to know! Then I will probably order 2 bags of it right now. So once here, I do not need to worry about this part anymore The only source for the US that I found online was this: Amazon - Trill

I hope that's okay, or do you have other sources for this specific food?

[stace]

For one bird, they don't eat much seed each day. And it's really good to try to get them experimenting with veggies and fruit early, so they get a taste for it when they are very young. It's really hard to get them eating diverse foods later on. They can be awfully stubborn.

One bird, dependent on size, will eat around 2 to 4 teaspoons of seed each day. I give mine around that much fresh each day. Some people blow the husks off, but I find it easier to just biff out the old stuff and give fresh daily.

Once opened, I put my Trill into a tall tupperware (plastic) container with a tight seal. I buy it at the local supermarket in 500gram boxes every few months.

If you've got fresh seeding grass growing nearby, that's a bonus. They love it and it's really good for them. (Don't collect near busy roads or where animals poop)

Watch out for pet stores trying to sell you an older bird. If you don't know already, get a feel for what a young bird looks like - it should have big eyes with no iris rings on them yet, and striped bars all across its head. Choose one that looks inquisitive, adventurous and alert, with bright eyes and healthy glowing feathers. Boys are a little easier to handle if you're new to birds.

[tanja]

Hi stace,
thank you for the information. So probably one bag would be enough for now, hm?
Well we have fruit and veggies fresh each day anyway, so that would not be a problem!

I read a lot about Budgies and know how to see if a bird is still young. The only problem I
still have is to see if a young bird is female or male. It's confusing that females can have
blue/pale Ceres when they are very young. Today I visited the budgies in the store Petco and
they have mixed budgies. Young and older ones. There was this green, yellow budgie who was very active, flying around each time
pulling my attention on him. But he has not complete black eyes, no bars on the complete head
and is definately older. There were also a few young budgies, but most of them were asleep or just not
very active. So I could not really see their Ceres. Since a few of them put their heads in the back feathers lol

Well I will visit the stores a few times to see all of them hopefully when they are awake! Yes, I would love to get a boy!

[stace]

Middle of the day is often the less active time for budgies. They tend to rest in the heat of the day. Mornings and late afternoons are usually the more active periods. This is when they'd head off searching for grass seeds to feed on and then head back home.

[tanja]

Then this is strange. Because I was in the store around 10:30 AM this morning. So it's funny that they were sleeping around this time. I mean not all of them were asleep, mostly the younger ones. The older ones however were flying around or hopping around the perches.

[stace]

Nov 9, 2013 0:46:54 GMT tanja said:

Then this is strange. Because I was in the store around 10:30 AM this morning. So it's funny that they were sleeping around this time. I mean not all of them were asleep, mostly the younger ones. The older ones however were flying around or hopping around the perches.

Might be because they are young, or that the store environment mixes up their body clocks. Not sure. 

[tanja]

Nov 9, 2013 1:12:10 GMT stace said:

Might be because they are young, or that the store environment mixes up their body clocks. Not sure. 

well that makes sense. I just try to visit the store a few times the next week different hours. At some point I must come to the right time :-) I mean I saw a few very beautiful ones, but since they had their heads in the back feathers, I could sadly not see the Ceres color

[budgiepercy]

My avian vet recommended pellets so we are switching to pellets because:

1) Seed mixes usually only have 4 of the 13 vitamins they need

2) Seed mixes are 40% fat when pellets are only 9%

We got Harrisons pellet mix or something like that and you can buy it online or your avian vet might have it. Your budgie probably not know what it is so I would start by just mixing the pellets into a normal seed mix, adding more and more each time. You don't want to starve your birds so make sure his droppings have the black part in them to make sure he is eating. HOPE THIS HELPS! If you are getting a young bird, they will probably be more willing to try new foods.

[tanja]

Nov 10, 2013 22:33:32 GMT budgiepercy said:

My avian vet recommended pellets so we are switching to pellets because:

1) Seed mixes usually only have 4 of the 13 vitamins they need

2) Seed mixes are 40% fat when pellets are only 9%

We got Harrisons pellet mix or something like that and you can buy it online or your avian vet might have it. Your budgie probably not know what it is so I would start by just mixing the pellets into a normal seed mix, adding more and more each time. You don't want to starve your birds so make sure his droppings have the black part in them to make sure he is eating. HOPE THIS HELPS! If you are getting a young bird, they will probably be more willing to try new foods.

Hm it's interesting, because many people say pellets are not good for budgies and they say seed mixes are much better. Probably this is something that can be discussed forever. I guess people learn for themselves which food is the best for their birds. But anyway do you have a photo of the bag from Harrison's pellet mix? So I can see which one and how it looks like? I looked it up online, but there are so many different types for Conures, Amazons etc. BTW thank you very much for the information! I will keep that in mind when I provide food for my baby budgie. [as soon I have one, I mean]

[ffiscool]

I think you are right, there are pros and cons of both. I do think the pellets offer more nutrients and less fat, but it is still processed I believe, which is the bit I imagine, that some don't like. I think if you only give seeds, then it's a consideration if the bud eats veg and fruit, then I guess not as bad, as vitamins coming from other sources