Ricky and Sandi

[Wulfgeist]

So I went and bought a pair of budgies from the pet store today, a male who is blue and I think a female who is a very bright neon green with a yellow head. Sorry, I don't know the colors/mutations of budgies. I got them a cage which is like 26" long, 14" deep and 21" high thereabouts. The girl also showed me a tall cage with a stand..I liked that it came with a stand but I didn't like the tall cage. I'm glad I didn't go with that because I read it would probably be a wasted space. Glad I got the wide one. I'm sad at losing Tico but it's sort of fun picking out new things for new birds.

Now I haven't had budgies since I was a kid and that was quite a few decades ago. I got them a kabob chew thing because I have yet to have a bird who doesn't like them. I'm guessing budgies aren't near the chewers though that conures are? And do they need grit? I remember buying a box of grit and had a special little cup to put it in. I got cuttlebones, I recall the ones I had back then liking them even though Tico or Jasper never touched those or the mineral block things. I got a little swing and a stone perch (ugh pink was all they had left) and a manzi-whatsit wood branch perch. The girl told me they were eating some Kaytee food, I got them zupreem fruit pellets. If they don't eat that I guess I'll have to go buy the stuff they are feeding them to try to gradually switch them. What does everyone here feed their budgies for a staple?

Right now they are doing the "I'm a statue you can't see me cause I'm not moving" thing. Poor little Ricky though is on a perch directly under Sandi, he's probably going to be getting his head pooped on. Being from a pet store too they are not tame at all I don't believe. I guess the only thing there is patience? They have their wings clipped but I will likely let them molt out and not reclip. Maybe. Tico did fly out the door but I got him back. Just being in one big room has some disadvantages.

So if anyone has any advice or anything lay it on me.

[Turquoise]

Congrats on you budgies RJ. They sound really pretty, you will have to post photos of them when you can. :)

My budgies don't like very many veggies or fruits, they much prefer leafy greens and lettuces and broccoli heads to nibble on for fresh foods. Mine also will not eat any kind of pellets, so just to keep them in their bowls just in case, I feed mine the seed diets that have the tiny pellets mixed in as well. Maybe some of the folks on here have had better luck with their budgies eating pellets and various veggies, but mine are in good condition. In years past it was thought budgies needed grit to grind the seeds up in their crops, but I read a few years ago that this is not true and it is not needed. I don't offer mine any and have not had any problems due to them not having it.

With two the wide cage is a better choice I think. I have nine budgies, so I keep mine in a large flight cage all together that is tall & wide. Mine prefer swings to most toys and will chew on very soft wood like Popsicle sticks. They do chew on rope toys a bit, but not much else.

Good luck with your new flock and I look forward to hearing how they are coming as they settle in.

[Honesty]

Congrats on your new budgies RJ. Look forward to seeing pics!

[Wulfgeist]

Here they are..Ricky isn't a bright blue, he has sort of a slate like tone..Sandi I think is a girl? Poor mites are so scared. De'Andrea what brand of food would you recommend?

16471648

[spiritbird]

RJ I am so happy for you. They make an adorable pair. Budgies are easy to care for. Here is a list of what I feed:
Volkman's parakeet seed, Goldenfeast petite hookbill legume mix, Australian blend. Harrison's high potency extra fine pellets and unhulled sesame seeds for calcium. A cuttle bone is good too. They will not eat fruit but love the greens wet and hung from top of cage with a clip. Kale, dandelion, romaine lettuce, broccoli, and pea sprouts. I am starting to sprout with a kit from MSBS. I let them fly out of cage 2 or 3 times per day while kitty is in a different room. I would love to make you a siggy with larger, closer photos. Holiday hug to you.:christmas3:

[Turquoise]

Ricky and Sandi are beautiful!! Very nice choice in colors. :)

Dianne covered the good brands of food, any one of those will give them all they should need.

We will need to see more of these cuties! Mine are so hard to photograph, of all my birds they are the camera shy ones.

[Honesty]

Ricky and Sandie are adorable :) Beautiful colours!

[Wulfgeist]

Thanks, Dianne. Every bird is different and I appreciate hearing from experienced guardians. They aren't as young as I would have liked but I am hoping with a bit of patience and encouragement they grow to trust me. I appreciate the food tips as well because I want to make sure they are getting the things they need from the start like the veggies and such.

[Honesty]

I have Harry and Sally. I tried to give them fruit each day for weeks with no joy. I then tried squashing it all up and mixing it in with their seed. They now love it:) I have found it trial and error with them!

[Wulfgeist]

Thanks, Wendy. Tico was always afraid of fruit when I tried giving it lol. I will just keep getting stuff and hanging it in there, maybe sooner or later they will try it. I'm putting together a msbs order, I guess I should look for clips too. Going to wait until tomorrow and see if she has any sort of after christmas sale or something.

[MomtoPercy]

Congrats on your new birdies! They're lovely. I especially like Ricky's colouring - very different from what I've seen but I'm not that experienced with budgies. I've only had Jack (his nest mate, Jill, died three years ago). Jack is the average blue colour.

I just love budgie footsies - so dainty and delicate :)

[spiritbird]

RJ no grit should be fed. The petite hookbill legumes by Goldenfeast used to be on MSBS but I had to do a search to find the last one. It has so many good things in it for them. [Users must be registered and logged in to view attached photos or hyperlinks] I often refer to this web page for information/learning [Users must be registered and logged in to view attached photos or hyperlinks]

[Wulfgeist]

Thanks, Dianne and thanks for the link!

[coltfire]

congrates on your new additions RJ , as i have found with all my budgies and food, is some eat fruit and veg and others just eat the veg , but all of them love pea's, with them being older birds , it will just take you a little more time for them to warm up to you, mine were aviary birds, and they all settled down quite nice a few of them now will sit on shoulder and fingers, they just need to be spoken to softly and sooner or later they will settle , i also found handling them daily just letting them climb through my hands one after another settled them ,as they finally worked out i was not going to harm them, i done this as i took them out of cage before letting them have a fly around and using millet is a quick way to get them to come back to you as feathers first showed us all in one of her video's on here.

[Blancaej]

Congrats on your two new budgies they are beautiful!! :)