Wellensittich

Budgies are swarm animals. Therefore, keeping them individually is absolutely taboo. At least two budgies must live together so that they also feel comfortable. In their native Australia, budgies live together in flocks of between 20 and 100 birds.

Size:
15 – 20 cm
Weight:
0,03 – 0,04 kg
Origin:
Australia
Lifespan:
5 – 10 years
Color:
green, yellow, yellow-green, white, gray, blue
Suitable as:
!-suitable-as-!
Character:
FCI groups:
!-fci groups-!
Character
calm, communicative, sociable, eloquent, trusting
Attitude
Cage keeping or aviary, bathing and playing possibilities, keep in pairs, free flight possibilities
Price
10 – 90 €
Activity
Maintenance
Employment
Noise
Suitability for beginners
Language talent
Intelligence
Playfulness
Sociability
tame
    little:

    much:

Budgie

Budgerigar / © 123 RF boyenigma[/caption ]

Cage

Budgies need a lot of freedom and space. However, not every apartment can provide the feathered friend with a separate room or aviary. When buying a cage, some points must be considered. Regarding the minimum dimensions for the cage, the minds argue. Some experts think that a cage of the size 70 cm x 40 cm x 50 cm (length, width, height) is sufficient for a budgie couple. Other budgie specialists specify a length of 120 cm as a minimum dimension. In the width then the cage should measure 50 cm and the height is recommended with 80 cm. Basically, for the budgie cage, the larger the better. The cage is not only a safe haven for the feathered friend. He is at the same time:

  • Sleeping place
  • Dining place
  • Playground

The Equipment Of The Cage

For this reason the cage should be equipped accordingly. At least one door should be able to be opened downward, in order to be able to offer a safe landing surface. The bottom tray should preferably be made of plastic, so that cleaning is particularly easy. Pull-out drawers allow for quick sand changes. Food and water bowls should be arranged appropriately in the cage so that the contents are not soiled too quickly by the budgies.

It is very important to replace the supplied perches in the cage. Most of the time, these are round perches that are provided. It is even worse if plastic perches are provided in the cage. Preferably, natural branches should be used so that the budgie has different branch thicknesses available to grasp. Otherwise, the feet will suffer from the same stresses sooner or later. In addition, natural perches serve as nibbling objects. Therefore, it is important to use only non-toxic and unsprayed wood. Preferably suitable are:

  • Fruit trees
  • Hazelnut
  • Beech
  • Maple from the home garden

As possible toys can be offered to budgies bells, ladders, climbing rings, swings and the like. Mirrors and plastic birds should be absolutely avoided. Before toys are attached, they should be checked in advance for risk of injury. With cotton ropes it can happen for example that loose ends are present and the budgies with the claws in it could catch.

Wellensittich / © 123 RF Kiril Matanov Budgie/ © 123 RF Kiril Matanov[/caption ]

Diet

Budgies should always be offered a balanced, healthy and varied diet. Otherwise, some budgie diseases may occur. Proper nutrition is one of the most important conditions for a long and happy bird life. Mainly budgies feed on seeds. In addition to the seeds, other feed ingredients and possibly feed supplements should be offered daily.

Feed ingredients Feed supplements
Fresh fruit (untreated) Grit
Fresh vegetables (untreated) Mineral stones
Various herbs Healing earth
Ribwort Vitamin preparations

In this way, your feathered friend will enjoy plenty of variety on the menu and will also be supplied with all the necessary and important minerals and vitamins. Feed supplements are not necessarily always necessary. But especially during the moult, the mineral requirement is higher than normal. Cucumber, for example, contains important minerals that prove to be particularly beneficial. If sufficient minerals and vitamins are supplied, deficiency symptoms can be prevented in most cases.

If the Wellis are particularly weak, one should ask the veterinary surgeon for advice and be given, for example, the additives listed in the table. Grit, mineral stones and healing earth provide the budgie with a good supply of important minerals. If vitamin supplements are given to the budgie, they should not contain vitamin K3 (classified as carcinogenic).

Fruit juices (without preservatives and unsweetened) can be mixed with the water if necessary. Giving some brewer’s yeast to the actual food (every two weeks) is also a good choice. This will provide the budgie with B vitamins.

Although budgies drink very little water, fresh water should always be offered…. This way, the feathered friends can decide for themselves when they want to drink water. Of course, it is also important that the water is changed every day. This ensures that budgies can always take clean water.

Wellensittichpärchen / © 123RF Duncan Noakes Budgiepair / © 123RF Duncan Noakes[/caption ]

Attitude

Budgerigars are swarm animals. Therefore, single keeping is absolutely taboo. At least two budgies must live together, so that they also feel comfortable. In their native Australia, budgies live together in flocks of between 20 and 100 birds. As a pet, it has become accustomed to not having this crowd around. However, a budgie can never be alone. Humans can’t provide 24-hour companionship. Therefore, it is important to always keep two conspecifics. The sociable animals need attention and occupation. If the animals live alone, the following phenomena may occur:

  • show behavioral disorders
  • cannot exercise their social behavior

Budgies should always be offered sufficient free flight. Preferably, the cage door should always be open so that the budgie can decide for itself when to fly and when to return to the cage. The free flight is important so that:

  • the musculature strengthens
  • the budgie remains more agile
  • the health of the budgie is promoted

To tame a budgie requires a lot of patience, togetherness and affection. Once budgies have built up trust in humans, they will not be afraid to sit on the outstretched hand. Basically, budgies should be talked to often in order to win the feathered fellows over.

Budgerigars can also be kept together with other bird species. Kindred parrots offer themselves as an excellent company. These include cockatiels and grass parakeets. Larger parrots, zebra finches, canaries and spitzbills, on the other hand, are unsuitable.

Employment For The Budgerigar

The best way for a budgie to occupy itself is with a conspecific. Also important is the free flight, here your budgie can let off steam and use its full flight potential. You must make sure that the room is bird-proof. This means that all doors and windows should be closed and heat sources should be secured.

Useful toys

There is a lot of useful toys on the market, which is guaranteed to give your budgie a lot of fun and new challenges. Here are a few examples for you.

Cotton hanging swings: They challenge your budgie, because he has to keep his balance on the swing. At the same time, the swings are also a comfortable place to sit. In the free flight area they represent ienen good landing place.

Astrolls: They are a real challenge for your budgie, which they rotate around their own axis and your budgieso must try to keep on them.

Grid balls: Grid balls in which is a ball, animates the birds to push the ball back and forth again and again. Especially in free flight, these balls are recommended because the budgie can move them over a large area.

Wooden toys to fill: With this you can challenge your budgie again and again by filling the wooden toy again and again with something else. You can fill the wooden toy for example with fruit, millet or rusk.

Unsuitable Toys

When it comes to parakeet accessories, there are of course also unsuitable toys, from which you should rather keep your hands off.

Often it happens that one does not have the money or the desire to acquire a second bird. Then many people resort to a plastic bird, which they put in the cage with their budgie. However, this partner substitute leads to behavioral disturbances. The budgie tries to feed the bird and communicate with it, but since the plastic bird does not accept the food, the budgie swallows it and later regurgitates it to try again. This can lead to throat irritation and crop inflammation, which can lead to death. Exactly the same applies to a mirror, the budgie does not see itself in the mirror, but another congener and tries also him to FEED and communicate with him.

Also toys made of raffia are not suitable for your budgie, because he can get caught very quickly in it and can no longer be happy on his own.

Tame Budgie

Budgies are initially very shy towards us humans. However, they can become hand-tame with a lot of patience.

Like all birds, budgies are naturally shy animals and not tame. Some of them even have little positive experience with people. Because at the breeder or in the zoologist they are often caught and held by hand when being moved, thus their trust in us is very disturbed and must first be rebuilt. With a lot of patience, however, the budgies can become hand-tame and also land trustingly on their owner’s shoulder or eat out of his hand.

Also With Group Attitude Budgerigars Can Become Handzahm

The group attitude is very important, because budgies are swarm animals and need for a species-fair life always the company of a kind comrade. Group or pair keeping does not stand in the way of taming. If one of the budgies has confidence to the human, also his conspecifics get the confidence to the owner and become more trusting.

To create a proper beginning, the cage should be at your eye level, so that you do not seem even bigger to the birds than you already are to them. Very loud music or Tv programs, can unsettle the birds. So you should find a quiet place, at least in the beginning, for your birds. A too quiet environment will also unsettle the birds. They like light background noise the most.

Getting Budgie Used To Voice Or Call

During the taming stage, voice is a very important component. Budgies can memorize recurring sounds and associate words with a certain action. Therefore, it is recommended to repeat a word to attract when hand-feeding. This way you create a good basis of taming.

When the budgies have accepted the hand in the cage, the first big hurdle has been overcome. you can now try to let the budgies sit on your hand and take them out. Don’t be discouraged if your budgies immediately hop back into the cage, with a lot of patience it will definitely work out!

Then, when your budgies move outside the cage, you can use the decoy call to put them back in their cage. They will land on your finger and you can comfortably bring them back into the cage. If you give them a treat for it, the action will stay positive in the birds’ memory and it will work better and better.

Do All Budgies Learn To Talk?

Whether a budgie can be stroked always depends on the character of the bird. Some do not like it at all, others very much. This is also true for talking, some budgies are true language talents, others can only be understood with great difficulty and tend to hold back. Here, too, you should have a lot of patience and understanding.

FAQ About The Budgie

How old does a budgie live?

Budgies live for 5 to 10 years.

How much does a budgie cost?

Depending on species, color and Depending on the origin, a budgerigar costs between 10 and 90 euros.

How long does a budgie live?

A budgie lives about 5 to 10 years.

What is a budgie?< /strong>

The budgie is a species of bird that belongs to the parrot family.

How old can a budgie live?

5 to 10 years can a budgie live .

How much does a budgie cost?

A budgie costs between 10 and 90 euros.

Where does the name budgerigar come from?

Due to the pattern of its plumage, the budgerigar was called u0022Melopsittacus undulatusu0022. Translated, this means: Wavy song parrot. This is where the German name Budgie came from.

How much does a budgie weigh?

A budgie weighs 30 to 40 g.

Feed the budgie how often?

A budgie needs about 2 spoonfuls of grains a day. You can give him the entire portion in the morning, or split it into 2 portions.

Budgie escaped – what to do?

Under no circumstances should you panic. Open your windows wide so that the bird has the best possible chance of finding a way back inside. Search the area. If you find him, try to lure him in and gently catch him again. Hectic and panic scare away your budgie. Remain calm during the action.

Where did the budgerigar got its name?

Due to the pattern of its plumage, the budgerigar was called u0022Melopsittacus undulatusu0022. Translated, that means: wavy singing parrot. This is where the name budgerigar came from.

What needs a budgie?

A budgie needs a cage with enough space and fresh water every day and enough food. You should also give him the opportunity to fly in a bird-proof room for several hours a day.

What does a budgie eat?

In addition to grain and millet, budgerigars like various green fodder, fruit and vegetables.

How big does a budgie cage have to be?

The cage for a couple should be at least 100 m long, 50 cm wide and 80 cm high.

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