[jamas]

Hi. My daughter (11) wants to get a budgie, and we are trying to see what is the best place to get one. Are there "rescue" budgies, like other animals? Are there ethical issues, around wild caught / imported vs locally bred ones as there are with other non native animals? Is the local pet shop the best place to buy one? Should we get one or two? She is planning to spend a good bit of time with it, and hoping to teach it to talk etc. However, realistically we are out between 9-5 weekdays. All advice gratefully recieved. Thanks

[mymo]

I personally wouldn't go to a pet shop, there are breeders and shows for budgies.
I would try to find out about a breeder or a show coming up and go along and ask questions, find out about the care direct from breeders, you'll get a feel yourself for someone who does it right.

Here's a site that might give some info
http://www.budgerigars.co.uk/forum/s...d-Show-Winners

[Knine]

Hya

I keep budgies as pets. They make excellent pets. Once tame they are extremely curious and sociable and love playing with their toys and human interaction. However they are very noisy at times and also leave a mess with their feathers and food being scattered everywhere. I have a Hagen Vision cage which helps prevent some of this mess landing on the floor.

The best place to get a budgie is off a breeder but these can be hard to find. You can also find quality budgies in some of the better petshops as breeders sell their surplus here. It is very important that you buy a baby budgie, one that is younger than 3 months old. Adult budgies are very hard to finger tame. You can recognise a baby budgie as it will (depending on colour) have bars of darker colour extending down its face to its cere. Its eye will also be black rather than having a white ring iris on it. Other signs are some dark colour on its beak.

I would suggest you first get one budgie, get it finger tame by encouraging it to hop onto your finger and feed it with treats such as fruit and veg. Then when you have this one tame, get a second bird and tame this one too. Solitary birds do tend to imitate sounds or voices much better than a pair but due to the fact you are out most of the day, it would be cruel to get just one bird. Also it is great to watch them interacting with each other.

I prefer male budgies as they are friendly, less likely to nip and dont have the high pitched screech of the females. Male or Cock budgies have blue ceres (or pink in certain colour varieties such as recessive pieds) and females or Hens have brown ceres but an out of breeding condition female can also have a bluish cere. Baby budgies have a pinkish cere but you can still tell the females as they will have some whiteish colour around their nostril. The cere is the fleshy area above their beaks. If you get one of each sex they will not breed if you don't place a nest box in with them. 2 male budgies will live happily together.

I buy as large a cage as I can afford and then replace all the plastic perches with natural wood perches which can be got from http://www.zooplus.co.uk/shop/birds/.../perches/14421

Best of luck with your search!

[tallaght01]

Is it really right to keep a bird in a cage???

get a bird feeder and a bird table for your garden, and let her see birds in the wild, like they're supposed to be.

[carraghsgem]

i would also suggest keeping the radio on during the day while your out, and a mirror in its cage or next to its cage.

i would suggest buying her some books before she gets the budgie and the largest cage you can afford, a cockatiel cage is ideal, wood perches are best but make sure they are from a fruit or nut tree (hazel is easy to find)
toys are a must and also grit. millet is a popular treat and there are books on how to train parakeets.

[username123]

Originally Posted by tallaght01

Is it really right to keep a bird in a cage???

get a bird feeder and a bird table for your garden, and let her see birds in the wild, like they're supposed to be.

+1.

My MIL has a budgie in a cage and the poor thing just sits there listlessly - for years now. She doesnt really take it out much.

I just dont agree with caging any animals, but especially birds - its just extremely cruel if they cant get out and fly in the open air or a very large aviary.

I had a rabbit in a hutch myself as a child and although I took her out regularly I was actually glad when the animal passed on as I became more and more disgusted at the fact that the poor creature was confined to a small area for extended periods of time.

[tribalwings]

Well I have a budgie in a cage, must be about 6yrs old now. He gets out to fly around the kitchen every couple of days. He flies from light to light and when he's ready to go back into his cage, he lands on the architrave waiting to jump on my hand

[Whispered]

My sister has a budgie and he's free to fly around the room, with his cage usually open. He goes in and out of his cage and happily sits in there talking away even with the door open. I'd say it's no worse than keeping other pets, but I do thing it's important to allow them a lot of outside the cage time. I saw playgrounds you can get for them etc.

OP fair play for doing this type of research. I would have never thought of it if I was buying a bird.

[ppink]

I really would like someone to tell me why it is ok to keep a bird in a cage.....and i am not being smart saying that! I just have no other words to use. Even letting them fly in a room, when their natural habitat is so vast, seems harsh to me..is it?.
I love birds, dont get me wrong, and I have minded my family members birds regularly...and for prolonged periods. I just cant get my head around taking them from the sky. I see all "my" little birds feeding outside my window and I feel so sorry for all the ones in cages in the pet shop.
sorry this is off topic. OP I am glad you are researching before you get you new pet, like whispered said i never would ahve thought of researching for a bird either.

[Whispered]

It's funny ppink, I always did feel like that about birds, but seeing oscar (my sisters fella) and how happy he is with his life, I've sort of come around to thinking that with correct stimulation they can be perfectly happy as pets. Much like a high energy dog I suppose, if you can stimulate them and allow them exercise their natural instincts then they can be perfectly happy house pets. Although in both cases there is probably more work involved than I'd have thought .

Actually, I feel sorry for my mothers 12 year old gold fish in his bowl all alone, all his life (well except for the other fish that he ate a few years ago).

[jamas]

Thanks for all the info .. and debate. We will try and find some breeders locally. We are in Tipperary by the way

[Irishchick]

Skip the petshop and go to the breeders as others have said.

Try this forum www.parrots.ie There are some nice people on their and youll find a good budgie breeder who will hand rear one.

Hand reared budgies make excellent pets and are great for someone who has nor previous experience with birds. Buy yourself a book now and start reading about care and nutrition ( too man people have birds on a junk food seed diet)

A hand reared one will be a great companion and need spend very little time in the cage if thats what you want. My African Grey only goes in her cage to eat and sleep. She spend the rest of her time with us ot playing with toys on her playstand.

If you have any questions feel free to message me.

[dancingqueen]

Research is key in getting a bird - just be prepared for a wait if you want a hand reared budgie. It's not easy to get them, because they are bought so cheaply; some breeders just don't bother.

I have had budgies and a parrot in recent years. I understand people's concerns in "taking a bird from the sky" but these birds are bred from generations of captive birds and they know nothing else. It isn't as though you are capturing a robin, and putting him into a cage.
A Hyacinth Macaw for example, would be almost extinct (still is almost extinct in fact) if it wasn't for breeders.

The fact that a bird has been hand reared, also means that the bird sees a human as his parent, and therefore will see a human as his lifelong mate. This is what makes a bird such a fantastic pet to bond with.

They take a lot of cleaning up after (dust, feathers and seeds) and getting a young nestling would mean you can have the best chances of taming a bird.. A lot of birds in shops are said to be "hand reared" but if you went near it, it would fly into the corner of the cage.

Try contacting Eddie Drew in Kilmacanogue, Copsewood Aviaries.. he might know of people hand rearing budgies.

Hope it works out for her - great for a child to have a sense of responsibilty. I totally believe in children having pets.

[Feargal as Luimneach]

Originally Posted by dancingqueen

I have had budgies and a parrot in recent years. I understand people's concerns in "taking a bird from the sky" but these birds are bred from generations of captive birds and they know nothing else. It isn't as though you are capturing a robin, and putting him into a cage.
A Hyacinth Macaw for example, would be almost extinct (still is almost extinct in fact) if it wasn't for breeders.

The Hyacinth Macaw is an endangered species due to overcollection for the cage bird trade and habitat loss. Alot of parrot species are endangered because of collection for the cage trade

[username123]

Originally Posted by dancingqueen

I understand people's concerns in "taking a bird from the sky" but these birds are bred from generations of captive birds and they know nothing else. It isn't as though you are capturing a robin, and putting him into a cage.

Just because his anscestors were kept in a confined space is no justfication for keeping a living creature in a cage that roughly equates to a person my size being kept in a room the size of my bathroom.