I want to get a budgie, is this a good idea?

[DonnaBudgie]

I AM SO HAPPY RN OMGGMGGGG

So what color do you want?

 

[Rico_Tiel]

So what color do you want?

At this point, I have no idea but I will avoid the ones that look like my previous babies Ice and Tea. I feel like that would be rather disrespectful to them, even after death and I would feel really bad about it. So anything but sky blue and a brighter version of the wild type. I’d have to go paler, darker, or pied if I wanted a blue or green. As of right now, I’m not sure which color anymore! Too many to pick!

 

[DonnaBudgie]

At this point, I have no idea but I will avoid the ones that look like my previous babies Ice and Tea. I feel like that would be rather disrespectful to them, even after death and I would feel really bad about it. So anything but sky blue and a brighter version of the wild type. I’d have to go paler, darker, or pied if I wanted a blue or green. As of right now, I’m not sure which color anymore! Too many to pick!

Take your time selecting one. When you start shopping for your new baby don't feel like you need to pick one at any one store. If none "call out to you", come back right after they receive their next "shipment" and see if you feel a connection with any of them. It's so exciting picking out a new budgie and I just love budgies so much that I'm always tempted to take them all home with me! That's when common sense must rule!

 

[Rico_Tiel]

Take your time selecting one. When you start shopping for your new baby don't feel like you need to pick one at any one store. If none "call out to you", come back right after they receive their next "shipment" and see if you feel a connection with any of them. It's so exciting picking out a new budgie and I just love budgies so much that I'm always tempted to take them all home with me! That's when common sense must rule!

This happened with Rico! Except it was a connection at first sight! I think I will take my time and wait. I do hope I find one though and I hope it’s a match made in heaven when or if I do. Luckily, these budgies come from a good breeder. Not sure who though but I can tell they are far better bred than the petco/petsmart ones. They just look and act healthier and have toys (not plastic chains) and a decent diet (seeds, pellets, and I have heard they provide a basic chop but I cannot confirm it) heck, they even have hamster wheels and swings! Talk about great budgie care! I might even get a hamster wheel for my budgie if it has one in its tank

 

[StormyPica]

I agree with Donna, get a male. Females can be super sweet OR feisty as heck. But the age doesn't really matter. I got Stormy at 1 year old or so, and he's been the best boy and a perfect fit for me. I love him so much. I know 1 year isn't that old, but I'm trying to say that you don't need to get a baby bird to have a tame, happy bird. If there is a rescue near you with a bird that you are interested in, I highly encourage you to adopt.

But please don't be upset or rehome the bird if you accidentally end up with a girlie. My Cossie used to be very aggressive to Apollo, but after some desensitization (so she associates Apollo with good things, not fear), target training (to redirect aggression), and other training (to show her I still love her and to keep her brain busy), she and Apollo are frequently seen perching and sleeping together. She is still somewhat possessive over food, but for me, that's not an issue. They each have their own food and water bowls. It took some time and commitment, sure, but I've found out how important it is to treat them like big birds, meaning:

-Trying to teach them to be calmer and less aggressive instead of saying "It's their nature, you can't change it".
-Having a growth mindset when interacting with them (knowing both you and them can change and learn, and being open to changing your techniques and learning from them), not saying "they can't ever do this, because they're budgies."
-Not grabbing them or annoying them because you know they can't rip your finger off.
-Seeing them as individuals.

And congratulations on getting your mom's approval!

 

[DonnaBudgie]

I agree with Donna, get a male. Females can be super sweet OR feisty as heck. But the age doesn't really matter. I got Stormy at 1 year old or so, and he's been the best boy and a perfect fit for me. I love him so much. I know 1 year isn't that old, but I'm trying to say that you don't need to get a baby bird to have a tame, happy bird. If there is a rescue near you with a bird that you are interested in, I highly encourage you to adopt.

But please don't be upset or rehome the bird if you accidentally end up with a girlie. My Cossie used to be very aggressive to Apollo, but after some desensitization (so she associates Apollo with good things, not fear), target training (to redirect aggression), and other training (to show her I still love her and to keep her brain busy), she and Apollo are frequently seen perching and sleeping together. She is still somewhat possessive over food, but for me, that's not an issue. They each have their own food and water bowls. It took some time and commitment, sure, but I've found out how important it is to treat them like big birds, meaning:

-Trying to teach them to be calmer and less aggressive instead of saying "It's their nature, you can't change it".
-Having a growth mindset when interacting with them (knowing both you and them can change and learn, and being open to changing your techniques and learning from them), not saying "they can't ever do this, because they're budgies."
-Not grabbing them or annoying them because you know they can't rip your finger off.
-Seeing them as individuals.

And congratulations on getting your mom's approval!

Girlie budgies can be terrific! Not quite as easy as the boys but they have great personalities and make very loyal, loving companions. Too many people give up on a female when they realize they don't have a male so of course they end up more wild. So would a boy if you gave up on him! You just need to be prepared for her to want to chew on everything, including sometimes, your fingers! But their nibbles are usually harmless though it doesn't feel that way when it's somerhing really sensitive like earlobes. Si I just put up the hood on my zipup when Rocky wants to play on my shoulder. Just last night when I had to get Rocky back into her cage at the hotel and she didn't want to I had to (GASP from y'all who think I traumatize budgies) put my hand over her body and pick her up in my hand to put back, she barely nibbled my hand, and we got to play "flying budgie going home" and soared her around the room while holding her body with her head out one end and her tail out the other! She didn't bite me and enjoyed the wingless flight back to her cage! This morning she still loved me when I fed her thep chop from the tiny hotel fridge, and now we are watching cartoons together as I try not to cough my lungs out!

 

[StormyPica]

loyal

Yes, loyal. Holy heck, girlies are loyal. Once they're tame, they can be ridiculously loyal to you. That doesn't mean obedient, but you likely will develop games with them. My favorite with Cossie is "boop the beak". I boop her beak and she boops my finger. But it's nice to have such loyal birds, since they will usually do as you ask and not give you a hard time. Plus, it's extremely cute to have a green nugget asking to be held every time you come in her room.

Males are great too, of course. But I find they're more "everyone birds". They get along with everyone, pretty much all the time.

 

[DonnaBudgie]

P

Yes, loyal. Holy heck, girlies are loyal. Once they're tame, they can be ridiculously loyal to you. That doesn't mean obedient, but you likely will develop games with them. My favorite with Cossie is "boop the beak". I boop her beak and she boops my finger. But it's nice to have such loyal birds, since they will usually do as you ask and not give you a hard time. Plus, it's extremely cute to have a green nugget asking to be held every time you come in her room.

Rocky is definitely NOT obedient! Much more like a cat than a dog. She does what she wants and everything in the room is hers! Fortunately she can't be too destructive but we must supervise her out of the cage. I've had boys that I could let free fly in my room with the door closed when I wasn't home but they didn't chew on things the way my girl Rocky does. They were content to sit in front of my makeup mirror and peck at "that other budgie", sit on the windowsill or top of the cage, play with the stuffed animals and not get into trouble. I can't take that chance with Rocky because she's into everything. Now that she's maturing at five months, she seems to be mellowing out a bit and isn't quite as rambunctious. She can sitting on my leg after breakfast and watching cartoons on the hotel TV, contentedly grooming and grinding her beak. Last month she would be trying to climb up my face, my glasses, and head, chewing on everything along the way which can get real tiring. I think she's approaching sexual maturity but I don't think hormones are going to be a problem even though I have four male budgies in the house that she socializes with through their cages. She's much more interested in hanging out with me and my husband than "those other birds".

 

[StormyPica]

P

Rocky is definitely NOT obedient! Much more like a cat than a dog. She does what she wants and everything in the room is hers! Fortunately she can't be too destructive but we must supervise her out of the cage. I've had boys that I could let free fly in my room with the door closed when I wasn't home but they didn't chew on things the way my girl Rocky does. They were content to sit in front of my makeup mirror and peck at "that other budgie", sit on the windowsill or top of the cage, play with the stuffed animals and not get into trouble. I can't take that chance with Rocky because she's into everything. Now that she's maturing at five months, she seems to be mellowing out a bit and isn't quite as rambunctious. She can sitting on my leg after breakfast and watching cartoons on the hotel TV, contentedly grooming and grinding her beak. Last month she would be trying to climb up my face, my glasses, and head, chewing on everything along the way which can get real tiring. I think she's approaching sexual maturity but I don't think hormones are going to be a problem even though I have four male budgies in the house that she socializes with through their cages. She's much more interested in hanging out with me and my husband than "those other birds".

Can she fly with that clip?

 

[DonnaBudgie]

I did a bit of research and if it isn’t a dark eyed (I think that’s what it’s called) it should be easy enough to tell baby apart from adult. Same with the cere and yeah, it’s just as you said.


I have done about 2.5 to 3 years of research before I got my budgies but I never really looked into color mutations much aside from the blue. So I do know quite a lot about care.


She didn’t agree only because of price. I had no clue about old and new world classing! But I have a feeling she will allow me to get a budgie. Just a little convincing is all.

It's not necessary to get a very young male (or female)- it's just easier to tame them because they haven't had asuch time to develop a fear of humans and their hands. After they are one year old and have never been out of the cage, never sat on or ate out of a human hand, and have had only other same-minded budgies for companionship, putting one in their own cage in a new place with no other budgies can be pretty traumatic to them and it will take a lot more time and effort to win their trust. There are exceptions of course and if you tame a very young budgie it will revert to being more wild and fearful if you don't keep up the taming and handling process. Even a hand raised baby bird can revert to wild pretty quickly if left in a cage and ignored.

 

[ctwo]

I figured I'd just toss this out there. The green budgie Kiwi in my avatar was my daughter's bird and kept in a separate room from my IRN and Tiel. Nonetheless, he would fly down the hall and through a couple of rooms to get to my birds, where he would then torment them by chasing them around, biting at their feet, and pecking at their face. Well, the IRN would not run away and tried his best to get him, which he did manage to get a couple tail feathers, but the Tiel is far more timid.

Kiwi on his own was a wonderful bird, learned to say several words and phrases, but was just too fast for his own good.

 

[DonnaBudgie]

I figured I'd just toss this out there. The green budgie Kiwi in my avatar was my daughter's bird and kept in a separate room from my IRN and Tiel. Nonetheless, he would fly down the hall and through a couple of rooms to get to my birds, where he would then torment them by chasing them around, biting at their feet, and pecking at their face. Well, the IRN would not run away and tried his best to get him, which he did manage to get a couple tail feathers, but the Tiel is far more timid.

Kiwi on his own was a wonderful bird, learned to say several words and phrases, but was just too fast for his own good.

This goes to show you that each bird has its own unique personality and all the generalizing in the world doesn't predict much!

 

[Rico_Tiel]

I agree with Donna, get a male. Females can be super sweet OR feisty as heck. But the age doesn't really matter. I got Stormy at 1 year old or so, and he's been the best boy and a perfect fit for me. I love him so much. I know 1 year isn't that old, but I'm trying to say that you don't need to get a baby bird to have a tame, happy bird. If there is a rescue near you with a bird that you are interested in, I highly encourage you to adopt.

But please don't be upset or rehome the bird if you accidentally end up with a girlie. My Cossie used to be very aggressive to Apollo, but after some desensitization (so she associates Apollo with good things, not fear), target training (to redirect aggression), and other training (to show her I still love her and to keep her brain busy), she and Apollo are frequently seen perching and sleeping together. She is still somewhat possessive over food, but for me, that's not an issue. They each have their own food and water bowls. It took some time and commitment, sure, but I've found out how important it is to treat them like big birds, meaning:

-Trying to teach them to be calmer and less aggressive instead of saying "It's their nature, you can't change it".
-Having a growth mindset when interacting with them (knowing both you and them can change and learn, and being open to changing your techniques and learning from them), not saying "they can't ever do this, because they're budgies."
-Not grabbing them or annoying them because you know they can't rip your finger off.
-Seeing them as individuals.

And congratulations on getting your mom's approval!

I would absolutely love to get a rescue but I haven’t had the best experience with rescues. My budgies were senior rescues (6 and 7, had been neglected for maybe a year?) and they had a lot of baggage which was a lot to handle at my age and for it being my first time ever having birds. As of right now, I do not think I can handle a rescue bird. I love the idea but know what comes with it.



I am definitely looking into getting a male again but I wouldn’t be upset or anything if I ended up getting a hen, but I would be here asking for some advice and I would be doing a LOT of research and reading in my avian vet book to learn about hens.



I definitely appreciate these tips! I will make sure to write this down and read it religiously in the end of may!
Thank you so much!

 

[Rico_Tiel]

It's not necessary to get a very young male (or female)- it's just easier to tame them because they haven't had asuch time to develop a fear of humans and their hands. After they are one year old and have never been out of the cage, never sat on or ate out of a human hand, and have had only other same-minded budgies for companionship, putting one in their own cage in a new place with no other budgies can be pretty traumatic to them and it will take a lot more time and effort to win their trust. There are exceptions of course and if you tame a very young budgie it will revert to being more wild and fearful if you don't keep up the taming and handling process. Even a hand raised baby bird can revert to wild pretty quickly if left in a cage and ignored.

Yeah, I plan on getting a young male but if it’s a female, oh well! No biggie! But these are fantastic tips! I really appreciate this!

 

[Rico_Tiel]

I figured I'd just toss this out there. The green budgie Kiwi in my avatar was my daughter's bird and kept in a separate room from my IRN and Tiel. Nonetheless, he would fly down the hall and through a couple of rooms to get to my birds, where he would then torment them by chasing them around, biting at their feet, and pecking at their face. Well, the IRN would not run away and tried his best to get him, which he did manage to get a couple tail feathers, but the Tiel is far more timid.

Kiwi on his own was a wonderful bird, learned to say several words and phrases, but was just too fast for his own good.

Yikes! That sounds kinda bad! I hope my budgie gets along with Rico and doesn’t go for feet like kiwi!

 

[DonnaBudgie]

Yikes! That sounds kinda bad! I hope my budgie gets along with Rico and doesn’t go for feet like kiwi!

It's pretty unusual for budgies, especially males, to be bullies but every bird is different. I wouldn't worry about it at all.

 

[DonnaBudgie]

Yeah, I plan on getting a young male but if it’s a female, oh well! No biggie! But these are fantastic tips! I really appreciate this!

Lutinos are gorgeous but as I said before, you are more likely to unknowingly get a female if you pick a young lutino or albino (or an opaline) because so many more of them are female, especially Lutinos and Albinos because they are more "rare" than opalines nowadays. Also much harder to determine age with Lutinos and Albinos- no head bars. There are so many other beautiful colors to chose from, too. If you want a mostly yellow one, a young recessive pied yellow/green male is pretty easy to find but you may have to look around for a couple months as they aren't super common. A mostly white recessive pied white/blue is also a beautiful budgie- my favorite budgie of all time, Buddy the First, was one and he was a wonderful companion and quite a talker- "who's your buddy" and "birds can't talk" were his favorites! I cried for what seems like weeks when he died. Buddy the 2nd was a yellow/green recessive pied and lived to be 13! Both had pinkish lavender ceres when I got them at about 8-10 weeks old and their ceres stayed that color for life. Dominant pieds are gorgeous too but with more green or blue than recessive pieds and their ceres "usually" follow normal budgie cere colors. I think ALL budgies are beautiful!

 

[Terry57]

Rico, I'm so happy that you're getting a budgie! It will be great company for Rico and you both

After reading some of the other posts, I'd like to share my experience with budgies. I've had males who were aggressive, and females who were sweethearts, and vice versa. All birds have different personalities, no matter the sex.
My females could be bullies to the males, but I've also had many males who were bullies.

I have never grabbed one and held it in my hand to see how hard they bite to try to sex it that way. Please don't do this, Rico.
Yes, there are times that we have to take them to the vet, or to transfer from the store to the carrying cage/box. These are necessities, but just to check the sex is not.
I've never heard of anyone doing this before until this thread, and am responding because I really disagree with this method.

Rico, I can't wait to see which budgie you pick! I hope you have an instant connection like you did with Rico, and if that connection is with a female then that's the one I would take.

 

[DonnaBudgie]

This happened with Rico! Except it was a connection at first sight! I think I will take my time and wait. I do hope I find one though and I hope it’s a match made in heaven when or if I do. Luckily, these budgies come from a good breeder. Not sure who though but I can tell they are far better bred than the petco/petsmart ones. They just look and act healthier and have toys (not plastic chains) and a decent diet (seeds, pellets, and I have heard they provide a basic chop but I cannot confirm it) heck, they even have hamster wheels and swings! Talk about great budgie care! I might even get a hamster wheel for my budgie if it has one in its tank

I have a very good lifelong friend and serious animal lover who used to work for PetCo in Phoenix Arizona and he disagrees about PetCo not having good birds and not taking good care of them (vet care, etc). He recalls spending a lot of time in vet waiting rooms while birds were being seen by an avian vet. He would be the first person to throw criticism at ANY business that didn't take proper care of animals- his loyalty is to animals. He used to be a marine mammal trainer and his priority has always been animal welfare FIRST! That said, I don't know if all PetCos have the same policies or the good management that his store did so it's very hard to make any generalizations. I heard horror stories, too, about chain pet stores. Unfortunately sometimes they are the only option people have. Here in Maine it's hard to even find pet stores that sell any birds, except in Portland and the largest surrounding towns. The stores near me 30 miles away won't sell any birds. Something about the local laws. I found a fantastic private budgie breeder locally via Craigslist. She's an 18 year old girl who breeds small scale out of her home and I've adopted three budgies from her. I've adopted four budgies over the past five years from our local bird rescue. I've bought a few budgies from PetCo and PetQuarters, too. I haven't bought any "bad birds" from any of these sources. Still, I wonder where these young budgies come from. How far were they shipped? I suspect most breeders for chain stores are in Florida, which isn't necessarily bad, and somehow they ship them up here and they get here alive and reasonably healthy or they wouldn't sell them at all due to shipping losses. I suspect they are colony bred, which I hate for many reasons, but it's not the budgie's fault and they deserve good homes, too.

 

[Keet_Krazy]

I think if you want a lutino, go ahead! Don't limit yourself by Male/Female or age.
When I first got budgies I wanted one day to have a recessive pied (preferably blue), and I ended up with my beautiful Snowflake. Later on a gorgeous Dominant pied fell into my lap too.
The only other colour I really wanted was grey and I had to search quite a bit before I found my Winston.
I still have a "wish list" of colours, but these days colours aren't as important to me as they used to be.

If you go with a lutino, I recommend you learn to correctly identify them so you don't accidentally get a DEC or DF spangle.