My first bird!

[realitycheck]

Some of the replies on here really make me angry. I recommend not taking advice from this generation of people.

''not a week goes by without a bird flying into my window'' I have 4 double full size glass sliding doors, and it never happens - do you know why? Ever thought of putting an antibird sticker on the window?

First, a bird has wings, that means it is meant to fly, just like you have legs to walk. If you want to go cutting the feathers - GET A RODENT OR A PLASTIC TOY. I wish someone would put you in a wheelchair before you go and advise that course of actions on other creatures you think 'you own'. A bird unable to fly to its full ability will instead put stress on its heart, lungs and muscles. This is perceived as an injury to the bird - injuries cause depression. It will be unbalanced, miscalculate the distance it can cope with and injure itself. This practice is roundly attacked by vetinary surgeons. But as long as you get your $10 worth out of your little slave! A bird who lives its whole life in cruelty is still a good deal for people like that. The other reader's cockatoo flew out and never came back? I am not surprised! I have lovebirds I let out in the garden - they are back in the evening because their home is a place they love not hate, because freedom is not something they get once in their lives.

''He previously had another budgie friend but that bird passed away. 12"x18"x18" cage with plastic perches. ''

Of course it did. No-one cares, because they don't want to see that they caused its death.

Plastic is not a material suitable for a bird. Plastic perches and small (my definition being any size cage, not sure what yours is), ornate pretty cages exist for two things - the selfish egotistical owner and the man making all the money selling them.

GUARANTEE - this bird will be maimed within 5 years if it has survived: it will no longer be able to use its wings and will fall to the floor. Do you know why so many of these people know about 'heavy lead poisoning' - it is because they have bought the cheapest smallest cages they possibly could, people that probably have huge houses but cannot spare a few extra metres for a bird. A bird does not want to touch metal bars of the cage - it probably tastes of metal and the birds bones are so delicate it avoids touch instinctively- it does this only because it has to - ie it cannot fly from one perch to another - ie the cage is TOO SMALL. But don't blame yourself, find an excuse not to get a bigger cage. You will feel better.

How much mental effort did you go through to think a cage is interesting for a bird that is used to 1000kms of open space with trees, changeable weather and contact with its own species?

And you all pretend to 'love' your birds ' not willing to 'do that' to them, how totally deluded you are! You only care about yourselves. MILLIONS of birds are dying every year from owners that lie non-stop that they 'love' their birds and have NO EMPATHY whatsoever. Of course a bird is going to go into a mirror or a window it did not know was there - so do people!!!! Do you actually think? You have to actually take the time to close the curtains, until it is familiar with the windows. Taking a bird around on the finger and introducing it to each object?? How many new birds are that tame?? A bird is a cautious creature unless it is mislead or panicked. Open the cage door and let it come out step by step, fully in control of what it wants to do. A bird will always fly to the highest perch - put a perch high up and the bird will be able to plan its route calmly without some idiot trying to catch it and panic it all the time. A bird with a long tail likes to fly distance - it wants easy places to land: if there is a lack of them, it will fly back to its departure perch. They know what they are doing, people trying to make out that a bird is not capable of flying are simpletons. It is you that don't know how to look after a bird.

The previous owners got this bird because it was a cheap toy, if they had any thought for its wellbeing they would have googled what it should eat at least. I dispair at the people on this forum advising vegetables for a budgie as a main food...are you insane? Do you think wild budgies are in Australia right now digging up carrots? Vegetable matter should be given sparingly - any more and the birds chemical balance will be destroyed, the bird will get diarrhea and lose weight. They come from a dry climate - they are seed eaters - look at their beak. A budgie mix with millet sprays, carrot leaves, alfalfa, sprouted mustard seed, the odd corn on the cob, cuttlefish and a mineral block, good garden soil and grit, this type of thing is their natural diet. Willow, fruit tree, oak branches and strong rope to sit on. Some sort of swing that is large enough not to be simply a decoration for the owner. A shallow bath..really all these things are so obvious to a child..

And, another thing, people HATE hearing, a budgie is dying of depression waiting all day staring through its bars, waiting for you to come back and scare it to pieces. When it calls, it is hoping there is someone of its own species out there. It knows the mirror is a mirror, but it is all it has got: proof, mirrors are ignored in avairies where there are other budgies. ONCE THERE IS ENOUGH SPACE, you should get it a companion that it can actually interact with. Use the cage you have with a pole lodged in the branches of a tree for sitting the bird out in the shade of the garden when the weather is good. Choose a 2m square area in a corner of your accomodation, use the money for a cage and buy strips of wood and mesh, and make (or buy) aviary panels for an indoor aviary that goes up to the ceiling. This is still a compromise. The budgies still need to be let out most days to fly. I did this when I was a student - a whole 2 hours work- and I was a lot poorer than the terrible examples of bird owners here.
If you cannot afford the money or the space, do the bird a favour and give it to someone who can give it a decent life.

 

[Scott]

Some of the replies on here really make me angry. I recommend not taking advice from this generation of people.

''not a week goes by without a bird flying into my window'' I have 4 double full size glass sliding doors, and it never happens - do you know why? Ever thought of putting an antibird sticker on the window?

First, a bird has wings, that means it is meant to fly, just like you have legs to walk. If you want to go cutting the feathers - GET A RODENT OR A PLASTIC TOY. I wish someone would put you in a wheelchair before you go and advise that course of actions on other creatures you think 'you own'. A bird unable to fly to its full ability will instead put stress on its heart, lungs and muscles. This is perceived as an injury to the bird - injuries cause depression. It will be unbalanced, miscalculate the distance it can cope with and injure itself. This practice is roundly attacked by vetinary surgeons. But as long as you get your $10 worth out of your little slave! A bird who lives its whole life in cruelty is still a good deal for people like that. The other reader's cockatoo flew out and never came back? I am not surprised! I have lovebirds I let out in the garden - they are back in the evening because their home is a place they love not hate, because freedom is not something they get once in their lives.

''He previously had another budgie friend but that bird passed away. 12"x18"x18" cage with plastic perches. ''

Of course it did. No-one cares, because they don't want to see that they caused its death.

Plastic is not a material suitable for a bird. Plastic perches and small (my definition being any size cage, not sure what yours is), ornate pretty cages exist for two things - the selfish egotistical owner and the man making all the money selling them.

GUARANTEE - this bird will be maimed within 5 years if it has survived: it will no longer be able to use its wings and will fall to the floor. Do you know why so many of these people know about 'heavy lead poisoning' - it is because they have bought the cheapest smallest cages they possibly could, people that probably have huge houses but cannot spare a few extra metres for a bird. A bird does not want to touch metal bars of the cage - it probably tastes of metal and the birds bones are so delicate it avoids touch instinctively- it does this only because it has to - ie it cannot fly from one perch to another - ie the cage is TOO SMALL. But don't blame yourself, find an excuse not to get a bigger cage. You will feel better.

How much mental effort did you go through to think a cage is interesting for a bird that is used to 1000kms of open space with trees, changeable weather and contact with its own species?

And you all pretend to 'love' your birds ' not willing to 'do that' to them, how totally deluded you are! You only care about yourselves. MILLIONS of birds are dying every year from owners that lie non-stop that they 'love' their birds and have NO EMPATHY whatsoever. Of course a bird is going to go into a mirror or a window it did not know was there - so do people!!!! Do you actually think? You have to actually take the time to close the curtains, until it is familiar with the windows. Taking a bird around on the finger and introducing it to each object?? How many new birds are that tame?? A bird is a cautious creature unless it is mislead or panicked. Open the cage door and let it come out step by step, fully in control of what it wants to do. A bird will always fly to the highest perch - put a perch high up and the bird will be able to plan its route calmly without some idiot trying to catch it and panic it all the time. A bird with a long tail likes to fly distance - it wants easy places to land: if there is a lack of them, it will fly back to its departure perch. They know what they are doing, people trying to make out that a bird is not capable of flying are simpletons. It is you that don't know how to look after a bird.

The previous owners got this bird because it was a cheap toy, if they had any thought for its wellbeing they would have googled what it should eat at least. I dispair at the people on this forum advising vegetables for a budgie as a main food...are you insane? Do you think wild budgies are in Australia right now digging up carrots? Vegetable matter should be given sparingly - any more and the birds chemical balance will be destroyed, the bird will get diarrhea and lose weight. They come from a dry climate - they are seed eaters - look at their beak. A budgie mix with millet sprays, carrot leaves, alfalfa, sprouted mustard seed, the odd corn on the cob, cuttlefish and a mineral block, good garden soil and grit, this type of thing is their natural diet. Willow, fruit tree, oak branches and strong rope to sit on. Some sort of swing that is large enough not to be simply a decoration for the owner. A shallow bath..really all these things are so obvious to a child..

And, another thing, people HATE hearing, a budgie is dying of depression waiting all day staring through its bars, waiting for you to come back and scare it to pieces. When it calls, it is hoping there is someone of its own species out there. It knows the mirror is a mirror, but it is all it has got: proof, mirrors are ignored in avairies where there are other budgies. ONCE THERE IS ENOUGH SPACE, you should get it a companion that it can actually interact with. Use the cage you have with a pole lodged in the branches of a tree for sitting the bird out in the shade of the garden when the weather is good. Choose a 2m square area in a corner of your accomodation, use the money for a cage and buy strips of wood and mesh, and make (or buy) aviary panels for an indoor aviary that goes up to the ceiling. This is still a compromise. The budgies still need to be let out most days to fly. I did this when I was a student - a whole 2 hours work- and I was a lot poorer than the terrible examples of bird owners here.
If you cannot afford the money or the space, do the bird a favour and give it to someone who can give it a decent life.

An interesting treatise, delivered from a member serious about their username!

Sigh.....

FYI there are many generations represented by this forum and indeed within this thread. Painting us all with a broad brush is obtuse and belies the facts. There are indeed members somewhat resembling your description, but the continuum is vast, and the overwhelming majority of us are conscientious and seek the best for our fids. That includes joining this and other sites to learn and in many cases change long-held assumptions.

The moderators and senior members of ParrotForums strive to be nonjudgmental when presented with sub-optimal circumstances. Our POV is that education is better than chastising only to lose any semblance of positive influence. However, when confronted with clear abuse, we will take the most direct actions possible given the format. All of this said, your debut post is thought provoking and some aspects have merit.

I note you have been a member less than one day, impossibly sufficient to broadly review the archives and obtain a feel for overall goodness and context. Please take the time for a comprehensive review, then we'll discuss your finer points!

 

[xStatic]

Some of the replies on here really make me angry. I recommend not taking advice from this generation of people.

''not a week goes by without a bird flying into my window'' I have 4 double full size glass sliding doors, and it never happens - do you know why? Ever thought of putting an antibird sticker on the window?

First, a bird has wings, that means it is meant to fly, just like you have legs to walk. If you want to go cutting the feathers - GET A RODENT OR A PLASTIC TOY. I wish someone would put you in a wheelchair before you go and advise that course of actions on other creatures you think 'you own'. A bird unable to fly to its full ability will instead put stress on its heart, lungs and muscles. This is perceived as an injury to the bird - injuries cause depression. It will be unbalanced, miscalculate the distance it can cope with and injure itself. This practice is roundly attacked by vetinary surgeons. But as long as you get your $10 worth out of your little slave! A bird who lives its whole life in cruelty is still a good deal for people like that. The other reader's cockatoo flew out and never came back? I am not surprised! I have lovebirds I let out in the garden - they are back in the evening because their home is a place they love not hate, because freedom is not something they get once in their lives.

''He previously had another budgie friend but that bird passed away. 12"x18"x18" cage with plastic perches. ''

Of course it did. No-one cares, because they don't want to see that they caused its death.

Plastic is not a material suitable for a bird. Plastic perches and small (my definition being any size cage, not sure what yours is), ornate pretty cages exist for two things - the selfish egotistical owner and the man making all the money selling them.

GUARANTEE - this bird will be maimed within 5 years if it has survived: it will no longer be able to use its wings and will fall to the floor. Do you know why so many of these people know about 'heavy lead poisoning' - it is because they have bought the cheapest smallest cages they possibly could, people that probably have huge houses but cannot spare a few extra metres for a bird. A bird does not want to touch metal bars of the cage - it probably tastes of metal and the birds bones are so delicate it avoids touch instinctively- it does this only because it has to - ie it cannot fly from one perch to another - ie the cage is TOO SMALL. But don't blame yourself, find an excuse not to get a bigger cage. You will feel better.

How much mental effort did you go through to think a cage is interesting for a bird that is used to 1000kms of open space with trees, changeable weather and contact with its own species?

And you all pretend to 'love' your birds ' not willing to 'do that' to them, how totally deluded you are! You only care about yourselves. MILLIONS of birds are dying every year from owners that lie non-stop that they 'love' their birds and have NO EMPATHY whatsoever. Of course a bird is going to go into a mirror or a window it did not know was there - so do people!!!! Do you actually think? You have to actually take the time to close the curtains, until it is familiar with the windows. Taking a bird around on the finger and introducing it to each object?? How many new birds are that tame?? A bird is a cautious creature unless it is mislead or panicked. Open the cage door and let it come out step by step, fully in control of what it wants to do. A bird will always fly to the highest perch - put a perch high up and the bird will be able to plan its route calmly without some idiot trying to catch it and panic it all the time. A bird with a long tail likes to fly distance - it wants easy places to land: if there is a lack of them, it will fly back to its departure perch. They know what they are doing, people trying to make out that a bird is not capable of flying are simpletons. It is you that don't know how to look after a bird.

The previous owners got this bird because it was a cheap toy, if they had any thought for its wellbeing they would have googled what it should eat at least. I dispair at the people on this forum advising vegetables for a budgie as a main food...are you insane? Do you think wild budgies are in Australia right now digging up carrots? Vegetable matter should be given sparingly - any more and the birds chemical balance will be destroyed, the bird will get diarrhea and lose weight. They come from a dry climate - they are seed eaters - look at their beak. A budgie mix with millet sprays, carrot leaves, alfalfa, sprouted mustard seed, the odd corn on the cob, cuttlefish and a mineral block, good garden soil and grit, this type of thing is their natural diet. Willow, fruit tree, oak branches and strong rope to sit on. Some sort of swing that is large enough not to be simply a decoration for the owner. A shallow bath..really all these things are so obvious to a child..

And, another thing, people HATE hearing, a budgie is dying of depression waiting all day staring through its bars, waiting for you to come back and scare it to pieces. When it calls, it is hoping there is someone of its own species out there. It knows the mirror is a mirror, but it is all it has got: proof, mirrors are ignored in avairies where there are other budgies. ONCE THERE IS ENOUGH SPACE, you should get it a companion that it can actually interact with. Use the cage you have with a pole lodged in the branches of a tree for sitting the bird out in the shade of the garden when the weather is good. Choose a 2m square area in a corner of your accomodation, use the money for a cage and buy strips of wood and mesh, and make (or buy) aviary panels for an indoor aviary that goes up to the ceiling. This is still a compromise. The budgies still need to be let out most days to fly. I did this when I was a student - a whole 2 hours work- and I was a lot poorer than the terrible examples of bird owners here.
If you cannot afford the money or the space, do the bird a favour and give it to someone who can give it a decent life.

Sorry... I'm not really clear on exactly why you posted this reply on my thread? You did understand right that the small cage with plastic perches and such were items that came with the bird from his previous owners? I am well aware of the fact that those are not suitable items for keeping a bird happy and healthy. Also, my bird has already been able to spend time with me outside of his cage in a budgie-safe room. His wings are not clipped and he has been flying, although I've been limiting that a bit because I believe his muscles are probably atrophied at this point and I think he needs exposure to this type of activity in small doses. He's already used to the layout of the room and has several high-up places where he likes to perch. When it's time for him to go back on the cage he steps up on my finger and allows me to carry him back. He feels secure in his cage at this point and often flies to the cage to let me know he wants to go back for a rest. In fact, at this moment he's been in his cage chirping and chattering happily for the past 30 minutes. He's still settling in and getting used to me and the new surroundings, but I think myself and everyone else on this forum are doing the best they can to give their birds the best lives possible.

 

[keakea]

Some of the replies on here really make me angry. I recommend not taking advice from this generation of people.

''not a week goes by without a bird flying into my window'' I have 4 double full size glass sliding doors, and it never happens - do you know why? Ever thought of putting an antibird sticker on the window?

First, a bird has wings, that means it is meant to fly, just like you have legs to walk. If you want to go cutting the feathers - GET A RODENT OR A PLASTIC TOY. I wish someone would put you in a wheelchair before you go and advise that course of actions on other creatures you think 'you own'. A bird unable to fly to its full ability will instead put stress on its heart, lungs and muscles. This is perceived as an injury to the bird - injuries cause depression. It will be unbalanced, miscalculate the distance it can cope with and injure itself. This practice is roundly attacked by vetinary surgeons. But as long as you get your $10 worth out of your little slave! A bird who lives its whole life in cruelty is still a good deal for people like that. The other reader's cockatoo flew out and never came back? I am not surprised! I have lovebirds I let out in the garden - they are back in the evening because their home is a place they love not hate, because freedom is not something they get once in their lives.

''He previously had another budgie friend but that bird passed away. 12"x18"x18" cage with plastic perches. ''

Of course it did. No-one cares, because they don't want to see that they caused its death.

Plastic is not a material suitable for a bird. Plastic perches and small (my definition being any size cage, not sure what yours is), ornate pretty cages exist for two things - the selfish egotistical owner and the man making all the money selling them.

GUARANTEE - this bird will be maimed within 5 years if it has survived: it will no longer be able to use its wings and will fall to the floor. Do you know why so many of these people know about 'heavy lead poisoning' - it is because they have bought the cheapest smallest cages they possibly could, people that probably have huge houses but cannot spare a few extra metres for a bird. A bird does not want to touch metal bars of the cage - it probably tastes of metal and the birds bones are so delicate it avoids touch instinctively- it does this only because it has to - ie it cannot fly from one perch to another - ie the cage is TOO SMALL. But don't blame yourself, find an excuse not to get a bigger cage. You will feel better.

How much mental effort did you go through to think a cage is interesting for a bird that is used to 1000kms of open space with trees, changeable weather and contact with its own species?

And you all pretend to 'love' your birds ' not willing to 'do that' to them, how totally deluded you are! You only care about yourselves. MILLIONS of birds are dying every year from owners that lie non-stop that they 'love' their birds and have NO EMPATHY whatsoever. Of course a bird is going to go into a mirror or a window it did not know was there - so do people!!!! Do you actually think? You have to actually take the time to close the curtains, until it is familiar with the windows. Taking a bird around on the finger and introducing it to each object?? How many new birds are that tame?? A bird is a cautious creature unless it is mislead or panicked. Open the cage door and let it come out step by step, fully in control of what it wants to do. A bird will always fly to the highest perch - put a perch high up and the bird will be able to plan its route calmly without some idiot trying to catch it and panic it all the time. A bird with a long tail likes to fly distance - it wants easy places to land: if there is a lack of them, it will fly back to its departure perch. They know what they are doing, people trying to make out that a bird is not capable of flying are simpletons. It is you that don't know how to look after a bird.

The previous owners got this bird because it was a cheap toy, if they had any thought for its wellbeing they would have googled what it should eat at least. I dispair at the people on this forum advising vegetables for a budgie as a main food...are you insane? Do you think wild budgies are in Australia right now digging up carrots? Vegetable matter should be given sparingly - any more and the birds chemical balance will be destroyed, the bird will get diarrhea and lose weight. They come from a dry climate - they are seed eaters - look at their beak. A budgie mix with millet sprays, carrot leaves, alfalfa, sprouted mustard seed, the odd corn on the cob, cuttlefish and a mineral block, good garden soil and grit, this type of thing is their natural diet. Willow, fruit tree, oak branches and strong rope to sit on. Some sort of swing that is large enough not to be simply a decoration for the owner. A shallow bath..really all these things are so obvious to a child..

And, another thing, people HATE hearing, a budgie is dying of depression waiting all day staring through its bars, waiting for you to come back and scare it to pieces. When it calls, it is hoping there is someone of its own species out there. It knows the mirror is a mirror, but it is all it has got: proof, mirrors are ignored in avairies where there are other budgies. ONCE THERE IS ENOUGH SPACE, you should get it a companion that it can actually interact with. Use the cage you have with a pole lodged in the branches of a tree for sitting the bird out in the shade of the garden when the weather is good. Choose a 2m square area in a corner of your accomodation, use the money for a cage and buy strips of wood and mesh, and make (or buy) aviary panels for an indoor aviary that goes up to the ceiling. This is still a compromise. The budgies still need to be let out most days to fly. I did this when I was a student - a whole 2 hours work- and I was a lot poorer than the terrible examples of bird owners here.
If you cannot afford the money or the space, do the bird a favour and give it to someone who can give it a decent life.

Wow. Not worth a response.

 

[Terry57]

Some of the replies on here really make me angry. I recommend not taking advice from this generation of people.

''not a week goes by without a bird flying into my window'' I have 4 double full size glass sliding doors, and it never happens - do you know why? Ever thought of putting an antibird sticker on the window?

First, a bird has wings, that means it is meant to fly, just like you have legs to walk. If you want to go cutting the feathers - GET A RODENT OR A PLASTIC TOY. I wish someone would put you in a wheelchair before you go and advise that course of actions on other creatures you think 'you own'. A bird unable to fly to its full ability will instead put stress on its heart, lungs and muscles. This is perceived as an injury to the bird - injuries cause depression. It will be unbalanced, miscalculate the distance it can cope with and injure itself. This practice is roundly attacked by vetinary surgeons. But as long as you get your $10 worth out of your little slave! A bird who lives its whole life in cruelty is still a good deal for people like that. The other reader's cockatoo flew out and never came back? I am not surprised! I have lovebirds I let out in the garden - they are back in the evening because their home is a place they love not hate, because freedom is not something they get once in their lives.

''He previously had another budgie friend but that bird passed away. 12"x18"x18" cage with plastic perches. ''

Of course it did. No-one cares, because they don't want to see that they caused its death.

Plastic is not a material suitable for a bird. Plastic perches and small (my definition being any size cage, not sure what yours is), ornate pretty cages exist for two things - the selfish egotistical owner and the man making all the money selling them.

GUARANTEE - this bird will be maimed within 5 years if it has survived: it will no longer be able to use its wings and will fall to the floor. Do you know why so many of these people know about 'heavy lead poisoning' - it is because they have bought the cheapest smallest cages they possibly could, people that probably have huge houses but cannot spare a few extra metres for a bird. A bird does not want to touch metal bars of the cage - it probably tastes of metal and the birds bones are so delicate it avoids touch instinctively- it does this only because it has to - ie it cannot fly from one perch to another - ie the cage is TOO SMALL. But don't blame yourself, find an excuse not to get a bigger cage. You will feel better.

How much mental effort did you go through to think a cage is interesting for a bird that is used to 1000kms of open space with trees, changeable weather and contact with its own species?

And you all pretend to 'love' your birds ' not willing to 'do that' to them, how totally deluded you are! You only care about yourselves. MILLIONS of birds are dying every year from owners that lie non-stop that they 'love' their birds and have NO EMPATHY whatsoever. Of course a bird is going to go into a mirror or a window it did not know was there - so do people!!!! Do you actually think? You have to actually take the time to close the curtains, until it is familiar with the windows. Taking a bird around on the finger and introducing it to each object?? How many new birds are that tame?? A bird is a cautious creature unless it is mislead or panicked. Open the cage door and let it come out step by step, fully in control of what it wants to do. A bird will always fly to the highest perch - put a perch high up and the bird will be able to plan its route calmly without some idiot trying to catch it and panic it all the time. A bird with a long tail likes to fly distance - it wants easy places to land: if there is a lack of them, it will fly back to its departure perch. They know what they are doing, people trying to make out that a bird is not capable of flying are simpletons. It is you that don't know how to look after a bird.

The previous owners got this bird because it was a cheap toy, if they had any thought for its wellbeing they would have googled what it should eat at least. I dispair at the people on this forum advising vegetables for a budgie as a main food...are you insane? Do you think wild budgies are in Australia right now digging up carrots? Vegetable matter should be given sparingly - any more and the birds chemical balance will be destroyed, the bird will get diarrhea and lose weight. They come from a dry climate - they are seed eaters - look at their beak. A budgie mix with millet sprays, carrot leaves, alfalfa, sprouted mustard seed, the odd corn on the cob, cuttlefish and a mineral block, good garden soil and grit, this type of thing is their natural diet. Willow, fruit tree, oak branches and strong rope to sit on. Some sort of swing that is large enough not to be simply a decoration for the owner. A shallow bath..really all these things are so obvious to a child..

And, another thing, people HATE hearing, a budgie is dying of depression waiting all day staring through its bars, waiting for you to come back and scare it to pieces. When it calls, it is hoping there is someone of its own species out there. It knows the mirror is a mirror, but it is all it has got: proof, mirrors are ignored in avairies where there are other budgies. ONCE THERE IS ENOUGH SPACE, you should get it a companion that it can actually interact with. Use the cage you have with a pole lodged in the branches of a tree for sitting the bird out in the shade of the garden when the weather is good. Choose a 2m square area in a corner of your accomodation, use the money for a cage and buy strips of wood and mesh, and make (or buy) aviary panels for an indoor aviary that goes up to the ceiling. This is still a compromise. The budgies still need to be let out most days to fly. I did this when I was a student - a whole 2 hours work- and I was a lot poorer than the terrible examples of bird owners here.
If you cannot afford the money or the space, do the bird a favour and give it to someone who can give it a decent life.

Wow, how is the air up there on your high horse? Reality check for you...you do not know the members of this forum well enough to judge anyone. When you post a nasty post like this, you guarantee that no one will even listen to you even if you make valuable points. As far as diet goes, I think you need to do some more research before trying to give advice.

 

[Inger]

Guys. Don't feed the trolls.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Honeysmom]

Welcome....... Like you I am a new member but I raised parakeets in my younger days and I was into color breeding. Just a few suggestions for u. First, let him get use to you and his surroundings. Bump up his nutrition by adding vitamins to his water and change it daily. Try new foods but in small amounts. Diarrhea in small birds is not a good thing. When you are sure he is ready and more comfortable in his surroundings be sure to clip one wing and only clip the 5 or 6 flight feathers on the tip of the wing. Also make sure there are no soft blood feathers. You do not want to cut one of these. This will make him more dependent in you and easier to tame. When the feathers grow back you can decide if you want to allow him flight. As in the other posts, there are risks involved but also benefits. I think your bird is a male and they are usually the talker. Because your bird is white he will not have a blue cere. The female will have a whitish ring around her nostrils. All of my male birds were able to chatter well. Good luck and enjoy your little buddy. My favorite bird.

 

[Anansi]

...be sure to clip one wing and only clip the 5 or 6 flight feathers on the tip of the wing. Also make sure there are no soft blood feathers. You do not want to cut one of these. This will make him more dependent in you and easier to tame...

I must respectfully disagree with you on this particular point of clipping a single wing on a bird, budgie or otherwise. While you are correct in that it will indeed make him more dependent upon you, that does not make it right. Consider, for a moment, why exactly clipping only one wing works.

Basically, when the bird in question attempts to take flight he is thrown off course. Every. Single. Time. He wants to go straight, but instead is forced left or right. He is denied control of his own flight, often resulting in a crash landing. In short, he is being made to distrust his own ability to fly. An animal whose signature characteristic is the ability to fly is being systematically traumatized into distrusting that integral part of who they are... and forced to depend upon their person, instead.

Please don't take this as an attack, because it is not even remotely meant as such. Fact is, you are not alone. There are a large number of people who engage in this practice. Not out of cruelty or lack of concern for their birds, but rather because they simply have never considered how the approach of clipping one wing actually achieves its objective. The psychological and emotional damage incurred just never occurred to them.

Personally, I never clip. I work with my birds and properly teach them about their surroundings. And in working with them, I develop a bond with them that renders forced dependence completely unnecessary. I build a relationship with them based on trust and love rather than need and fear.

 

[keakea]

...be sure to clip one wing and only clip the 5 or 6 flight feathers on the tip of the wing. Also make sure there are no soft blood feathers. You do not want to cut one of these. This will make him more dependent in you and easier to tame...

I must respectfully disagree with you on this particular point of clipping a single wing on a bird, budgie or otherwise. While you are correct in that it will indeed make him more dependent upon you, that does not make it right. Consider, for a moment, why exactly clipping only one wing works.

Basically, when the bird in question attempts to take flight he is thrown off course. Every. Single. Time. He wants to go straight, but instead is forced left or right. He is denied control of his own flight, often resulting in a crash landing. In short, he is being made to distrust his own ability to fly. An animal whose signature characteristic is the ability to fly is being systematically traumatized into distrusting that integral part of who they are... and forced to depend upon their person, instead.

Please don't take this as an attack, because it is not even remotely meant as such. Fact is, you are not alone. There are a large number of people who engage in this practice. Not out of cruelty or lack of concern for their birds, but rather because they simply have never considered how the approach of clipping one wing actually achieves its objective. The psychological and emotional damage incurred just never occurred to them.

Personally, I never clip. I work with my birds and properly teach them about their surroundings. And in working with them, I develop a bond with them that renders forced dependence completely unnecessary. I build a relationship with them based on trust and love rather than need and fear.

So true, I do not like the one wing clip either. My Vet insists on clipping this way and if I happen to have him clip my parrots nails (that is something I just do not like to do myself!!) I will let him do it and then I go home and copy what he did on the other side! He does it perfectly on the one wing and I have found that when I do the same on the second wing that the clip is perfect; the bird cannot fly completely, he won't stay aloft but will gradually come down and can glide with control for about 8 to 20 feet. I do not like it when a bird is clipped so that it drops like a rock!

 

[xStatic]

I've made a lot of progress with Shiro in the past couple of days. We're now starting the transition to the big cage. He willingly comes out of his cage onto my hand if I put some bird seed in my palm. He's learning the command for "kiss" through clicker training and taking individual grains of millet from the tip of my finger. He'll climb up my arms now but doesn't really like to sit in place on me unless he's being fed. I've introduced pellets to him and he's been trying them/nibbling on them. He's eating all sorts of greens like baby kale and spinach and he's pooping a bunch haha

I bought him a cement pediperch and he really likes that and has been using it to groom the tip of his beak. He also lets me pet his head sometimes and I think he actually enjoys it when I pet him on the beak.

 

[Scott]

I've made a lot of progress with Shiro in the past couple of days. We're now starting the transition to the big cage. He willingly comes out of his cage onto my hand if I put some bird seed in my palm. He's learning the command for "kiss" through clicker training and taking individual grains of millet from the tip of my finger. He'll climb up my arms now but doesn't really like to sit in place on me unless he's being fed. I've introduced pellets to him and he's been trying them/nibbling on them. He's eating all sorts of greens like baby kale and spinach and he's pooping a bunch haha

I bought him a cement pediperch and he really likes that and has been using it to groom the tip of his beak. He also lets me pet his head sometimes and I think he actually enjoys it when I pet him on the beak.

Fantastic update!! Time, patience, and love yield rewards!

 

[smbrds]

Welcome to you and your cute Budgie. So great that Shiro is making progress.

 

[SassiBird]

Thanks for the update. Solid progress. Keep up the good work!

I've made a lot of progress with Shiro in the past couple of days. We're now starting the transition to the big cage. He willingly comes out of his cage onto my hand if I put some bird seed in my palm. He's learning the command for "kiss" through clicker training and taking individual grains of millet from the tip of my finger. He'll climb up my arms now but doesn't really like to sit in place on me unless he's being fed. I've introduced pellets to him and he's been trying them/nibbling on them. He's eating all sorts of greens like baby kale and spinach and he's pooping a bunch haha

I bought him a cement pediperch and he really likes that and has been using it to groom the tip of his beak. He also lets me pet his head sometimes and I think he actually enjoys it when I pet him on the beak.