Questions About Budgies?

[Claudettebillie]

I'm thinking about getting a budgie in the near future. I've been researching, but I have a few questions.

1. First, I have a question about cages. I know that the minimum cage size is like, 18"x18"x22". What I don't understand, though, is that when I go online, I see stuff like this:
Grreat Choice&#153 Pagoda Style Cage - Cages & Stands - Bird - PetSmart
Prevue Pet Products Madison Bird Cage - Black - PetSmart
I get that the 2nd one is a bit bigger, but why would it cost SO much more than the first cage? Would the quality of the 2nd cage be better? I'm considering the 2nd one if the quality is better. 20x20x29 seems kind of small, though. Is that big enough?

2. Second, besides chocolate, coffee, and avocados, are there any foods I can't give him? We have chickens, and we give them just about anything. We have a list of what not to give them. Do you think the same "bad food" list would apply to the budgie?

3. Finally, I've looked all over online, and can't find a shelter or a breeder for birds in my area, and by area, I mean I was willing to travel 5 hours one-way. Would a pet store budgie be okay? I feel really bad about it.

 

[Kalidasa]

If price is an issue, you could always get one from other sources, such as thrift stores, garage sales, or private pet shops that re-sell cages. All's you have to do is clean it to the point of sterility, and use all new bars, food cups, etc. I found a huge budgie cage at a garage sale for 20 bucks some years back, never used for birds, only decor (they had flowers in it). Keep your eyes open, there's lots of cages out there.

 

[Claudettebillie]

Price isn't too much of an issue. I would probably be willing to spend around $150, give or take. The issue, though, is size. I don't really like the looks of stands and wanted to put it on a table or desk, but there aren't many good size cages without a stand it seems. Not only that, but it can't be ginormous. With the Ferret Nation in the house, too, my parents would probably complain that I was taking all of the space!

 

[crimson]

I've owned the first cage for my canaries and had budgies in it as well.
both were fine, plenty of room. what I liked about the cage is it has four doors for seed cups. one for water, seed,fruits/veggies, grit,herb salad, etc....then the big door.

The second one doesn't look as nice as the first one.even though there is more space, and has a bigger door.
by the time you get the toys,perches, maybe a sleepy hut in there, you are correct, space can be limited for both cages.
I have my budgies in a 24x24x24, on the upper part of a double stacker cage, and all they do is sit. I could put them in a smaller one, but at least they have the room to fly if they want to, and move around.....and they are right by a window and get plenty of sunlight.

if your not happy with either, just keep looking, you'll find one.

As for store bought budgies, try and find a local breeder, if you can't then consider rescuing a budgie from a store. I have many times, more than I'd ever admit, and never had a problem. just make sure that the store takes proper care of the birds.

 

[Claudettebillie]

Thanks!

I really like the color of the Prevue Hendryx one, but I'm still on the fence. I found it on Amazon in a sandy color for $100. It's good to know that someone's had a budgie in a cage that size with success. It's hard to judge the size of something based on just measurements!

 

[Kalidasa]

I've always felt the bigger the cage the better, go as big as you can comfortably do (without getting in trouble!) and please watch out for the ferrets, they eat budgies like tic-tacs!

 

[weco]

Claudette, you might want to keep looking at cages, because a ferret can easily get into either one of those cages, with the white cage being easy for one to get in any of the doors.....with the black cage, a ferret can force its way into the side of the bridge door, into either of the food cup doors & would be able to slide the bottom tray out.....think of a ferret as a larger version of a mouse...if it can get its head into a space, it can get all of its body through.....

Since you do have ferrets, you have to look a possible cages for designs that can be made to exclude the ferrets, rather than keep the birds from getting out.....

While we enjoy onions & garlic, none for your birds...no processed meats (with nitrites or nitrates) small amounts of cooked meat is OK.....

Take a look through petfinder.com.....just took a quick perusal & there's 'keets in Methuen, MA; Boston, MA; Middlebury, VT; Brockton, MA; Centerville, MA; Leverett, MA.....didn't look further, but maybe those will give you a pretty good selection.....

Good luck.....

 

[Claudettebillie]

Thanks, everyone!

I realize the danger of ferrets with birds, but I'm extremely confident that the bird won't be in any danger. One of mine was raised on whole prey, so I'm very aware of their capability of killing. The ferrets are always in their cage or in my room, both of which they have never gotten out of since I've had them, which was 5 years ago. Not only that, but my room is in the basement, and the bird would be in the living room upstairs. So, the ferrets would have to escape the room, have the attention span and balance to get up the stairs (which they don't), get past the closed basement door, cross the entire house (passing the cat and dog which would be great distractions/squeaky toys), and get up onto table with no material around it to climb (mine can't climb anything unless they can get their toes or nails around it). Frankly, they would probably kill themselves before they managed to do any of that, considering that they have to pass the fridge, the washer/dryer, the pellet stove, the dishwasher, and all of the fun plugged-in cords to get to the living room.

I checked Petfinder, Craigslist, the local newspapers, and a local book that we have that is published weekly with items people are looking to sell, and I couldn't find a budgie. Massachusetts is farther than my parents would let me go- we live in Northern Maine, so it takes us a 7 hour drive just to get out of the state. Fortunately, I did talk to a friend who used to work at a pet store chain in Southern Maine. She said if you call the store, you can request a specific color, sex, and age for a bird, and they contact one of their hand-feeding breeders that they get their birds from and get that bird in their next order. It's a 4 hour drive to the Augusta area, but it's only an hour further than we initially planned, so it's not all that bad. I'm so excited!

 

[MonicaMc]

Got a Petco?

Petco Designer White Finch Flight Cage - Finch Bird Cage and Flight Bird Cage from Petco.com


I prefer the style of flight cages myself... although some of the smaller flight cages do not have removable grates.