Proper care of the budgerigar

Now as pet maybe not just a dog or a cat. Many animal lovers have budgies. But in order for a bird to live comfortably next to a person, you need to know how to properly care for it.

What budgerigars do

This species of parrots arrived in our country from Australia. They adapt well to life at home and are easy to care for. Their sizes are quite modest. The body grows to a length of about 20 centimeters, and the wingspan does not exceed ten centimeters. The tail has a stepped shape. Budgerigars have rather strong and tenacious legs, with the help of which they quickly run across flat surfaces and climb trees perfectly.

In natural conditions familiar to themselves, budgerigars have a green plumage, but birds are also found with a different color of feathers. Birds with yellow, blue and other plumage colors were bred artificially.

Wavy birds are considered quite sociable birds, they love to take water procedures, have excellent eyesight and hearing. They are easy to train, since they are naturally capable of imitating the singing of other birds, reproducing sounds or individual words. Budgerigars live on average about 15 years.

The content of budgies

Regardless of whether you are buying a wavy for a company or planning to breed birds for sale, it is best to buy a young parrot... The bird cage is best placed in the living room. In a large room, the parrot will be in full view of the owners and will have the opportunity to get acquainted with the situation. It is not recommended to put a cage with a bird in the kitchen. There, his health can be harmed by harmful vapors from household chemicals and drafts, since this room is often ventilated.

It is best to place the cage away from the window at a high enough height. So the parrot will have the opportunity to see all the residents of the apartment. The pet must be protected not only from drafts, but also from direct sunlight.

Also, do not place the cage in such a way that objects or shelves hang over it. Parrots do not tolerate this well. In natural conditions, they try to climb higher from the instinct of self-preservation. In summer, on sunny, windless days, the cage with a parrot can be displayed on the balcony, after making sure that he cannot open it. But don't leave the wavy lines unattended. An unexpected walk can be very stressful for the bird, then it will be necessary to move the cage to an apartment.

What to feed a budgerigar

When keeping a budgerigar in an apartment, the bird's nutrition should be as close to natural and varied as possible. In this regard, the diet should contain:

• Cereal feed about 2 small spoons per day. The trough should always be filled with grain mixture.
• Sprouted grains are essential for better absorption of nutrients. Before the first molt, the germinated mixture is given twice a week in a small spoon, then this type of feed is given less often. For soaking, you can take grains such as chickpeas, lentils, wheat, oats, millet, rapeseed and others. But it is better to refuse hemp and flax seeds in germinated mixtures.

• Mineral feed is needed for the normal development of bone tissue and feathers. This mixture consists of shell rock, crushed chalk, eggshells and charcoal. This mixture is sold in specialized departments and pet stores. It is placed in a separate container in the cage.
• To enrich the bird's body with mineral components and to turn the beak, budgies need a mineral stone or sepia.
• Three times a week, the bird should be given porridge boiled in water. It is placed in a separate feeder. Buckwheat, oatmeal or lentil porridge is suitable for budgies.
• Be sure to give your parrot fresh vegetables or fruits, as well as greens. They are an irreplaceable source of vitamins for the bird. Please note that birds are not allowed to feed basil, cilantro, St. John's wort, parsley, wormwood, celery and some other herbs.
• It is useful to give fruit tree branches to nibble parrots. They must first be cut into pieces and washed thoroughly under running water.
• It is imperative to give the parrots water. The drinker must be filled with clean water at all times.

Budgerigar cage

Parrots of this breed are very mobile birds. Therefore, their dwelling must be chosen spacious, wide and high. The cage should be made of very high quality durable materials. Better to make a cage in the form of a rectangle or square with a flat roof. But experts advise against buying round cells. In them, the birds do not feel protected. Optimal cell sizes:

• For one wavy 40x25x30 cm.
• For a couple of birds 60x30x40 cm.
• For two pairs of birds 60x50x60 cm.

Since parrots gnaw on everything, it is better to buy cages from durable steel that does not rust or oxidize. Choose items made from good, hypoallergenic materials that do not emit toxic substances as accessories and filler for the cage. Inside the cage, you need to place rings, a perch, a feeder and drinker, a bath and various toys. At the same time, there should be a lot of free space inside the cage so that the wavy can spread its wings and fly from place to place.

Feeders and drinkers must be sized to suit the size pet... They will need to be taken out of the cage and washed every day. Rings and perches are preferred from hardwood with a diameter of about 20 mm. Synthetic ones cause diseases of the legs. Volcanic pumice perches are also good, they are useful for turning the bird's claws.

Bells and other small musical items, rope ladders, rockers and ropes are suitable as toys. You need to be careful with mirrors. In some parrots, this can cause sexual behavior or aggressiveness.
For convenience, the cage should have a pull-out tray, which must be filled with special absorbent granules... It will absorb all the excrement of the wavy.

How to tame a budgerigar to your hands

It is much easier to make a budgerigar tame if he lives in a cage alone. From a lack of communication, the bird will go to contact faster. To do this, it is necessary to surround her with attention and care, more often to let her out into the room for communication. If the parrot is calm by nature, it will be more difficult for him to make contact, since he is not used to trusting others.

You can start taming parrots after the bird adapts to the new home and stops being afraid of people approaching the cage. In order for the wavy to sit quietly in the owner's arms, you need to let him know that this will only be for his joy. For example, reward the bird for doing the right thing with a treat. At first, you can stretch your hand with pieces of vegetables or fruits directly into the pet's cage. This should be done at least twice a day, because regular training is important here. Soon, the bird will begin to make attempts to move to the hand and eat the treat.

Budgerigar diseases

If the bird is not feeling well, it will be noticeable from the first days. In this case, she becomes indifferent, stops cleaning her feathers, refuses to eat. Heavy breathing appears, there may be discharge from the beak, the tail drops. Parrots are often taken to drink. Sometimes growths form on the beak and paws. If such signs appear, you must immediately start treating your pet.

The main help lies in therapies such as warming up. You need to install a lamp next to the cage and keep it at about 27 degrees with it. This will strengthen the budgerigar's immunity.

If the parrot does not have enough vitamins or he has liver disease, then the treatment is carried out with a 10% glucose solution. It is also helpful to give the bird a few drops of honey.

In case of diarrhea and poisoning, the bird is given adsorbents, for example, enterosgel or activated carbon. However, it is better not to engage in self-treatment of the bird, and at the first signs of malaise, contact a veterinary clinic.

How to determine the sex of a budgerigar

In chicks, the sex of the bird can be determined by the shade of the wax. This can be done in the third or fourth week of a parrot's life. The wax in males is evenly colored lilac, pink or violet. In some cases, males have inconspicuous circles of a light blue hue along the contour of the nostrils. In females, the wax is also colored pink, purple or purple, but they will always have a clear white rim around the nostrils.

In adult birds, sex determination is quite simple. The wax in females darkens as they grow up and becomes brown or beige. Sometimes there may be a bluish tint, but then a white rim will remain around the nostrils. In addition, females may have keratin growths and tubercles on the waxes due to hormonal changes.

In males, as they grow older, the wax becomes a rich blue hue. If some kind of disease begins in a bird, then the wax becomes brown, begins to peel off and peel off.

How to determine the age of a budgerigar

When purchasing a bird from a pet store, you must first consider the wavy area of ​​feathers on the head. In a young bird, this area with waves starts from the beak itself and extends to the entire head. Such waviness will be up to the first molt, that is, up to 3-4 months.

Then you need to examine the bird's eyes. Until the age of six months, they have no iris and the bird's eyes are completely black. If there is a wide light rim around the eyes, then the age of the bird is more than 1 year.

Another way to establish age is to pay attention to the color of the wax. Before puberty, it can be pink, purple, or lilac. But if the bird has already reached the age of six months, the shade of the wax becomes bright and saturated.

We also advise you to pay attention to the shape and size of the throat spots. In young individuals, their contours are uneven, but the older the bird becomes, the more correct the shape becomes.

Look at the paws of the bird, or rather, pay attention to the scales. In young parrots, they adhere very tightly to the surface of the paws and form a continuous surface. Over time, individual scales stand out more and more, and the surface of the legs becomes looser.

A lot can be said about a parrot's tail. Up to two months, the tail of a parrot is short. But in some cases, the bird loses tail feathers due to illness or injury.

How to teach a budgerigar to talk

If you decide to start training the budgie in human speech, then you should take into account the fact that for a bird our speech is just another song. The parrot will not communicate with speech, it just imitates new sounds. For the owner of the bird, it is necessary to help the wavy to master a new song for him. To do this, you need to follow seven simple steps:

1. To get started, try to get to know your parrot and develop an emotional bond with it. Otherwise, learning will turn into real stress for him and he will not want to listen to you.
2. First, teach the wavy one word. It is best to choose the name of the parrot itself for this. If it is difficult to master one word for a bird, then you can start by repeating individual sounds.
3. Say the nickname while looking directly at the parrot. Then he will understand that you are referring to him. Speak not quickly, but rather emotionally. It is necessary that the bird is interested in the word, and she wants to repeat it. The intonation should be the same all the time, so as not to confuse the parrot.
4. It will take a few seconds for the parrot to respond. To begin with, he will respond simply with sounds, but gradually the word will be heard more clearly. In a couple of months, you can teach him to pronounce his nickname.
5. Classes should take place daily, their duration should not exceed 20 minutes. It is advisable to conduct them at the same time of day, but depending on the mood and well-being of the pet, the lesson can be postponed.
6. Be sure to praise the wavy and treat him with goodies.
7. Do not be lazy to conduct classes. Only a systematic approach will ensure your success.

If you want to get a more detailed "speech" of the parrot, then you need to bind certain words to the situation, for example, greeting or feeding time. It is best to create a connection with a meeting or leaving, while saying the words of greeting or goodbye. It is necessary to create a real situation so that the bird has the necessary association with a real event.

Also take into account that the bird does not really understand the meaning of the word it utters. Therefore, instead of the usual "hello" or "goodbye", you can come up with something more interesting, but simple, so that the bird can easily repeat the word.

How many budgies live at home

On average, the duration of the wavy parrots' living at home does not exceed five years, but in some cases, under very favorable conditions, the life of wavy parrots can reach fifteen, or even twenty years.

The life span is primarily influenced by genetics. If bred incorrectly, parrots develop genetic diseases that significantly shorten their lifespan. For inexperience or for other reasons, breeders do not try to take into account all the nuances of the bird's pedigree, which, of course, negatively affects the health of the pets.

It is very important to feed the bird correctly and in a balanced way so that it lives as long as possible. Budgerigars have a tendency to develop various types of tumors due to improper nutrition. They may become obese or indigestion. Remember that obesity shortens the bird's life by 2/3.

It is also necessary to create favorable living conditions for the bird. The cage should be spacious and well lit. It is necessary to maintain a constantly optimal temperature and bring the daylight hours closer to the natural living conditions of the budgerigar. It is imperative to regularly clean the cage, change the feed and water for the poultry. All feed expiration dates must be in order.

To maintain optimal health, the bird must be regularly released from the cage to fly a little. This will allow the pet to maintain normal physical activity.

In addition to being in good physical shape, a budgerigar needs communication and attention for longevity. This will prevent the pet from getting bored and withering away. It is important not to expose your pet to stressful situations, to avoid injury. If this happens or the bird is sick for some other reason, you should immediately seek help from a doctor.

How much do budgies cost

Before buying a wavy, it is worth considering all the financial costs. The price for one bird varies greatly and depends on where you will buy it. For example, in specialized stores, the price of one individual can vary from 700 to 1000 rubles.

You can buy budgies and on the Internet, using the offers on message boards from people who are independently engaged in their breeding. In this case, you can save a significant amount on your purchase. But the chances are that the bird sold to you will be sick or old. Therefore, this option is acceptable only if you, without outside help, are able to assess the health and age of the bird.

In addition to buying the bird itself, you will also have to buy a cage, food and all the necessary accessories. In general, the costs will be about 3,500 rubles, or even more. This amount includes feed for the poultry, all the necessary accessories, and a cage.