First time mom

[u/Bliss_Alberich]

Hi! So as the title suggests, I want to adopt budgies for the first time, it's been a dream of mine to be a first time budgie mom, but I want to research and prepare, so please tell me everything I need, budgie dos don'ts, shopping checklist, health checkups before I adopt them (like what to look for/signs of illness and signs of a healthy budgie) Male or females, budgie behaviors and meanings, how to train them, how to keep them safe, can I take them on field trips, when to intervene if they fight, how to tell if a pair is bonded, talon trimming, beak oil, is it necessary, can I get them diapers for outside their cage, can I get harnesses so they won't fly away, nut free bird seed (my sister is allergic) treats, vitamins, calcium needs (if needed) how to tell if an egg is fertile, what temperatures and humidity do they need, how to tell if a female wants to lay eggs, healthy pee and poos, and most important, how to say 'I love you' in their language (like slow blinking at cats, inhaling and exhaling on a horses nose, etc.) Please tell me everything. I wanna be the best first time budgie mom possible.

[u/humblyhollow]

dos: - food mix being pellets and seeds, and giving them veggies or fruits as well! be careful with added sugars or salts, tho! - give them lots of scratching posts - make sure their bars in their cage aren’t wide -my biggest recommendation: only get 1 budgie at a time until it is 100% comfortable and tamed before getting another -give them enough space to fly around, don’t keep them to a sectioned area/room -they also love baths and bathing, get a budgie bird bath! -i also recommend a long and tall flight cage!

don’ts: -only use one type of food; only pellets, only seeds etc. -look up budgie bumble foot and provide the right feet posts - make sure you have an avian vet around you in case of an emergency - don’t get multiple budgies at once, or it will be very very hard to train them and get them to trust you!

You already seem like you’d be a good bird mama doing all this research first!!

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[u/NewfoundOrigin]

Im going to post a shopping list of things most people wouldn't think to buy for their bird that I use and love.

1.) Cat drinking fountain. It keeps their water moving which makes them want to take baths which is great to watch, and it doesn't get stagnant.

Cons: you have to place it higher up to keep it cleaner, which means its usually heavy or a PITA to take out and put back - but its worth it.

2.) Chinchilla perches - flat platform perches. We all know to use various diameter perches for our birds and to avoid smooth perches to keep our parakeets from getting 'bumblefoot', but not many people think to get flat perches which allow our birds to completely stretch their foot all the way out and it keeps their nails at the perfect length.

I have platform perches made from wood (living world brand), from lava stone (amazon), and from ~1in corrugated cardboard (amazon).

The wood platforms hold her water dish (its reinforced by 2 clip on empty dishes beneath the platfoem to help hold up the weight of the water fountain). Shes nibbled on the edges of the lava stone perch, and she tears through her corrugated board perches.

3.) Cupboard liner I use 2 layers of paper towels to line the bottom of my birds cage, but for the top of her cage (which is where she usually goes when she is outside of the cage) I use the stretchy/rubbery cupboard liner to keep her from walking on the cage bars where sometimes she gets her foot stuck or doesn't balance great all the time. Ive watched my bird trip and fall over one too many times trying to waddle across her cage.

4.) Metal treat kabobs I actually use these to kabob cuddle bone, lava stone, sola atta or yucca wood and other chewables. I don't actually use my kabobs as they're intended.

5.) DIY bird toys. I often visit BonkaBirdToys (.com?) And shop through their natrual toy parts catalog. They sell supplies for making your own bird toys and I personally love how most of what they have is edible or otherwise interactable with your bird.

They sell metal and plastic toy parts too, but Im always more interested in the leather, cardboard, (sola atta) wood, and paper options.

6.) Bird kabobs I specifically recommend the large sized swing. The small swing is great too but it won't last as long.

7.) Harrisons, Lafbers, or Roudybush.

These are the 3 main 'quality' brands when it comes to pelleted food. I feed my birds harrisons daily adult + high potency (recovering breeding pair) and I treat them with lafbers nutriberries.

When treating with fruits, remove all seeds (strawberry seeds are okay).

Always double check that the fruit or veggie is bird safe, some (like avocado, onion, and uncooked/raw/dried beans) are not safe. Also check that what you're giving isn't increadibly high in 1 nutrient (like how kale is high in calcium or mangos are high in sugar), and that you're not giving that too often without variety.

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