Why are budgies treated so differently?

[Sherbert.the.Bird]

I was thinking earlier about this thread and my little girl, Sherbert. I was thinking about how the attitude and knowledge (or lack thereof) of parakeets plays a role in people's opinions of the bird. With the name parakeet, I feel people categorize little budgies into another bird class entirely. Before I got Sherbert, I didn't even know parakeet were parrots. If you've ever ventured into a pet store, which I'm sure most of us have, you would see a large cage stuffed with 15+ birds. As general knowledge goes, most parrots are housed individually. When people see all these birds put together, I believe this plays part in the ideology that parakeets are classified more as the "look, but don't touch" category along with finches, canaries, and the like. As its been stated before, with the bird mills pumping out tons of parakeets, most parakeets don't get the one on one interactions that most larger parrots are accustomed to. This also leads them to be more timid when seen in most pet stores and therefore also categorized into the "look, but don't touch" file and consequently considered less valuable than the larger parrots that want that human interaction right from the start at the pet store.

 

[BoomBoom]

They pet store/mill budgies are genetically poor and many only live a couple or few years like my first budgies did. I only got them in 2012 and they've been gone for a year or two now.

This is alarming and sad. I got my 2 budgies from a pet chain (back when I knew no better). Does proper diet and care have any impact at all or is this pretty much a death sentence?

 

[xStatic]

Thank you all for your wonderful comments. I was so happy to read everyone's opinions and sympathy with my point.

I'm very grateful to have my little budgie. He has a wonderful personality and is clearly an intelligent little being. I'm sad to know the fist 1.5-2 years of his life were spent in poor conditions (breeding facility, petco, and then kept in a tiny 12"x8" cage for another year). Now he get's out every day, holds conversations with me, explores the house, gets lots of different healthy foods and treats, etc.

I want to introduce more people to Shiro so they can see budgies for what they really are and realize they are as much of a parrot as a conure or a cockatoo. He has a little bit of an advantage because people are drawn to his all-white albino coloring, and sometimes people don't immediately recognize him as a parakeet/budgie and ask me what type of bird he is. Also the fact that I keep him in a huge cage with lots of toys makes people take a second look because they're so used to seeing budgies in tiny bird cages.

A week ago my brother was over at my place and he was shocked when he noticed Shiro was riding around on my shoulder just like a "real parrot." I was like, "HE IS A REAL PARROT!" He likes sitting on my shoulder as I move around the house because he's intelligent and friendly and he enjoys human company--all things that a lot of people think budgies are incapable of, but my little buddy can prove them wrong.

 

[Kentuckienne]

When I was in college, I was walking with a friend and noticed some tiny flowers on a tiny weed growing next to the sidewalk. We inspected them, and my friend remarked that they were just as pretty as big flowers. We concluded that big flowers exist so that even unobservant people could see them. Not a very charitable viewpoint, but there's a kernel of truth in it. Not just that budgies are small, but also most people have seen them all their lives in pet stores, as opposed to the big parrots we usually encounter rarely, so the brain sees the little thing and says oh, just a parakeet, move on, nothing to see here.

Come to think of it, I've mostly ever seen parakeets in mass cages in pet stores. My aunt had one that stayed in a cage, whistled, and said a couple things but it wasn't handled and treated like a real parrot. I don't know much about them at all other than what I see on YouTube.

 

[Katu]

My mother was the one who introduced me to bird ownership. Our first family bird was a canary named Tweety. He was allowed out of his cage to bathe and eat/play lettuce. This was over 50 years ago. Later on we got a budgie, RickyBird, who was also allowed out of the cage and was quite affectionate towards me especially. Our birds were flighted. I didn't realize really that other people didn't treat birds the same way or tame them.

Save​

 

[Puck]

I actually built an indoor/outdoor aviary years ago where I had quite a few budgies all living happily and that I loved deeply--but I rarely mention it when asked online about my "parrot experience" for the very reason that uneducated people will sneer and claim I had no bird experience! It wasn't until I came here that I found REAL bird people online who recognized budgies as the awesome little birds they are! They are still some of my favs. I totally agree that any reputation as a "look don't touch" bird probably comes from pet shop budgies, who are scared and aggressive due to circumstance and raising. (Wouldn't you be scared if you lived in a giant pen with twenty other humans and every hour and enormous monster stuck a hand in and tried to grab you, LOL? My first budgie as a child was from a pet shop and I called him "Nipper."). Budgies rock!!!

 

[RavensGryf]

They pet store/mill budgies are genetically poor and many only live a couple or few years like my first budgies did. I only got them in 2012 and they've been gone for a year or two now.

This is alarming and sad. I got my 2 budgies from a pet chain (back when I knew no better). Does proper diet and care have any impact at all or is this pretty much a death sentence?

I think it depends on what the ailment is. I'm sure many mill budgies get dealt a good hand and end up living a decent lifespan against the odds. With random colony breeding with poor quality birds, it's a gamble. Pix was doomed from the beginning. He did convert to a good diet, but at less than a year old he started having problems with several different body systems. He grew fatty tumors all over until he was morbidly obese despite the healthy foods offered in moderation as recommended by the avian vet. I took him to to two avian vets, one of them who works exclusively with birds. Hundreds of dollars later and he couldn't be saved. He passed at about 2 1/2. So many people would think I was crazy for spending that much money trying to save my cheap pet store budgie. But he was still a much loved animal family member like the others. Twigs, the budgie I got along with him lasted about 3 1/2 years and dropped dead out of the blue without warning. Playing, eating, singing and flying one moment.. the next time I went to the budgie cage he was face down passed away. Must've had a sudden stroke or heart attack.

I hope you have longevity and good luck with your Pewpew and Kiki .

 

[BoomBoom]

They pet store/mill budgies are genetically poor and many only live a couple or few years like my first budgies did. I only got them in 2012 and they've been gone for a year or two now.

This is alarming and sad. I got my 2 budgies from a pet chain (back when I knew no better). Does proper diet and care have any impact at all or is this pretty much a death sentence?

I think it depends on what the ailment is. I'm sure many mill budgies get dealt a good hand and end up living a decent lifespan against the odds. With random colony breeding with poor quality birds, it's a gamble. Pix was doomed from the beginning. He did convert to a good diet, but at less than a year old he started having problems with several different body systems. He grew fatty tumors all over until he was morbidly obese despite the healthy foods offered in moderation as recommended by the avian vet. I took him to to two avian vets, one of them who works exclusively with birds. Hundreds of dollars later and he couldn't be saved. He passed at about 2 1/2. So many people would think I was crazy for spending that much money trying to save my cheap pet store budgie. But he was still a much loved animal family member like the others. Twigs, the budgie I got along with him lasted about 3 1/2 years and dropped dead out of the blue without warning. Playing, eating, singing and flying one moment.. the next time I went to the budgie cage he was face down passed away. Must've had a sudden stroke or heart attack.

I hope you have longevity and good luck with your Pewpew and Kiki .

I wanted to say earlier how glad I am to see you still active and contributing in the forums, Raven! Sorry to hear about Pix and Twigs I know what you mean about being made to feel weird or crazy for spending money on birds (more so the smaller ones). I got used to it and now wear the crazy bird person badge with pride. It's the kind of thing only bird people would understand

Your Pix sound like Pewpew. He is only 2 years old. A month ago, his beak started growing long, very quickly. Also had dark spots on the beak and nails which from my reading sounded like fatty liver disease. Vet didn't think so but gave him a calcium med prescription for 30 days instead. I started them on a high veggie diet and also started using milk thistle and later, aloe vera for the possible FLD. Vet also found benign fatty tumors on his chest. Beak is still growing but I'm hoping for the best.

It's the little ones that really worm their way into one's heart.

 

[IndySE]

I may own a green cheek conure right now, but hands down budgies are probably my favorite type of bird to own. I actually had logic'd myself OUT of the conure, and was intending to get a budgie or cockatiel... but well, the conure choose me and I had the ability to care for her so the conure was what I got.

My very first bird was a budgie from the "budgie bins". He choose me. I was about 8 years old and he was following me around this massive cage filled with 15+ parakeets, no matter which angle I went. Once we brought him home, he loved to be on my shoulder and hang out. He was very friendly. He was named Blueberry because of his colors -- and would you believe it, that stinker ate blueberries (kindly leaving all the skins behind on the bottom of the cage floor). Sadly the bird passed away after only a year of pet ownership, maybe from poor genes or lack of knowledge on our end, but I have loved him for years and years afterward. He was maybe one of the most special birds I ever owned.

Parakeets are real parrots <3 I love them dearly and they have all the same potential as any other bird. I think their temperament is far milder than most other parrots and I don't understand why that is a bad thing.

 

[xStatic]

In the spirit of the thread, here's a picture of me and Shiro hanging out this afternoon

 

[PetoftheDay]

Thank you all for your wonderful comments. I was so happy to read everyone's opinions and sympathy with my point. .... ....-all things that a lot of people think budgies are incapable of, but my little buddy can prove them wrong.

You should soooo nominate him for Pet of the Day, and help educate the world that they are "real birds" too!


Tell the world about your pet! - Pet of the Day

 

[Crayfish066]

It's probably because they're so common, cheap and look visually pretty different to most other parrots.

Before I become a parront I was oblivious to the fact that budgies were also parrots.

 

[clark_conure]

I don't want to hijack the thread but quick question, a local store had some finches, a few varieties in fact, and I was kind of like, um ok....I looked it up and everything I looked at was contrary to something else someone had said. They aren't in the parrot family and if it was a crow or raven something known to be smart, maybe smarter than some parrots and hand raised I'd understand it, but most the general consensus is finches don't like being handled, but then again some parrots don't like to be handled. Are they just for pretty or has anyone tamed one like a social-able parrot?

 

[SailBoat]

I know a long time Breeder of Finches. He clearly has a relationship with them and they with him! You may not have long talks or develop a love to sing with each other. But to say that they avoid interaction, not true. I have watched them come to him and he handle them. In what I saw, everyone was comfortable with and enjoyed each other.

FYI: Sorry to the OP!

 

[FlyBirdiesFly]

It's so sad that they are often sold as a pet for kids, just like a hamster or goldfish or any other "starter" pet. They are cheap and the parents don't want to take them to the vet, so they only end up living a couple years and then being replaced. They are often kept in a tiny cage, never let out, fed a seed mix and water and their newspaper changed once a week. But what people don't realize is that they are REAL parrots, not birds that simply sit in a cage and look pretty, they have PERSONALITY. Now I have to say, my budgie is not really bonded to me, but she is far more than a colorful little bird that sings a pretty song. People don't bother to hand feed budgies because they're so cheap which is why most of them aren't friendly. Parrotlets, lovebirds, quakers, cockatiels, GCCs... are treated like real parrots, while budgies are not. Why is it that people do not understand the true nature of budgies?