Adopting a little BOY budgie on Monday!!! HELP....

[Beanurita]

So I currently have a yellow sided GCC, Orly (she's 6.5 yrs) & a seagreen american cinnamon LoveBird, Pickles (she is 17 weeks on Monday). On Monday I will be getting a new arrival! A BOY green/yellow budgie about 4m old as the cat in his current home keeps trying to get him even while he is in his cage
So this will be my first budgie......any advice would be appreciated!

The little Guy is currently on a seed/millet diet and I plan on changing that. My current birds are daily on fresh fruits/veggies, chop, home made mini birdie muffins filled with chop and other healthy stuff for birds, pellets, with seeds/millet occasionally. In the meantime how do I safely convert the budgie over to a better diet?

Also, though his currant house has several toys I don't care for the size....I know biggest is best and my current birds each have their own flight cage (31x22x34) and they use every inch of them, I just don't have room for another flight cage. So what is the absolute minimum for a single budgie that I can use as a starting point? 18x18??

Lastly, of all the birds I have had, I have only gotten girl (luck of the draw)....and this is a BOY! We are stuck on boy names!! I'm wanting to make a list of options so we can find a name that fits him once we spend some time with him. The only name we have so far is Yoshi.......so send me some names PLEASE! We need help here!

Any other budgie advice welcome as well....I want to do right by this little guy!!!!! Thanks!!!!

 

[Beanurita]

 

[KimKim]

Oh my, he is a cutie!

 

[KimKim]

I like yoshi

 

[Beanurita]

Oh my, he is a cutie!

Thank you KimKim! Yoshi means respectable....but my kids like it because he is green and little like Yoshi from Mario....that is until he gets a power boost!

My old stomping grounds!! I'm from San Diego too! My parents live is my childhood house still now for 40 years (since I was 3)!

 

[Beanurita]

BUMPING.......for possible boy names for a little budgie coming home on Monday!!

 

[Lady Jane]

Happy for you. First thing I would do is a vet visit for a wellness check so you know what if anything is going on. Budgies are one of the species that need to eat seed. Please do not cut it out of the diet altogether.
They are also picky eaters and any new food will be suspicious to them. Good luck

 

[MyAussieFriends]

Happy for you. First thing I would do is a vet visit for a wellness check so you know what if anything is going on. Budgies are one of the species that need to eat seed. Please do not cut it out of the diet altogether.
They are also picky eaters and any new food will be suspicious to them. Good luck

Picky eaters? Tell that to my guys

 

[Cyreen]

I think every flock needs a rooster. In my house, that's Jake; everyone else is female. I've never had a problem converting diets, probably because I have multiple birds and rely somewhat on the others encouragement (well, if she's eating it... it must be food); seems to work.

 

[MyAussieFriends]

My advice.

- I always like to advise people getting a budgie that they really thrive with other budgies. Is he hand tame? From the looks of the picture he seems pretty friendly. A tame budgie is going to do a lot better then a wild one. If you are planning on giving a lot of time with your budgie, he will do fine being a single budgie.

- For a cage, the bigger the better. But as you said, space is limited. When looking for a budgie cage, you will want something longer as opposed to something tall. I would go for something larger than 18x18. This cage: Prevue Pet Products Barn Style Bird Cage | Cages | PetSmart would be a bit more appropriate in housing a single budgie at 23.5"L x 15"W x 23.5"H.

- For toys, my flock really ignore most plastic toys. They like things they can DESTROY. Lots of shredding toys. Those finger poppers, popsicle sticks, balsa and yucca are big hits. Try to avoid toys with mirrors and reflective surfaces, because they will cause behavioral problems.

- Budgies do well on a diet comprised of pellets, seeds and fresh foods. I feed mine a mixture of living world cockatiel seed, roudybush pellets, and an assortment of fresh foods.

 

[Beanurita]

My advice.

- I always like to advise people getting a budgie that they really thrive with other budgies. Is he hand tame? From the looks of the picture he seems pretty friendly. A tame budgie is going to do a lot better then a wild one. If you are planning on giving a lot of time with your budgie, he will do fine being a single budgie.

- For a cage, the bigger the better. But as you said, space is limited. When looking for a budgie cage, you will want something longer as opposed to something tall. I would go for something larger than 18x18. This cage: Prevue Pet Products Barn Style Bird Cage | Cages | PetSmart would be a bit more appropriate in housing a single budgie at 23.5"L x 15"W x 23.5"H.

- For toys, my flock really ignore most plastic toys. They like things they can DESTROY. Lots of shredding toys. Those finger poppers, popsicle sticks, balsa and yucca are big hits. Try to avoid toys with mirrors and reflective surfaces, because they will cause behavioral problems.

- Budgies do well on a diet comprised of pellets, seeds and fresh foods. I feed mine a mixture of living world cockatiel seed, roudybush pellets, and an assortment of fresh foods.

- He was bought at a pet store by the current owners but he is only about 4 m old (still has bars on his forehead and most off his baby throat spots are still there. I was told that he doesn't like hands in his cage but does well once out of his house. He will need some training but what bird doesnt? I'm pretty confident that I can work with him helping him to be comfortable and confident over time

- I plan on getting a house longer vs. taller.....I was thinking on these as possibilities
Amazon.com : Prevue Pet Products Clean Life Triple Roof Cage, Green and White : Birdcages : Pet Supplies
Amazon.com : HQ's Opening Scroll Cage, Small Parrot Cage With Cart Stand, 1 Per Box, 22x17x55"H, Black.. : Bird Cage : Pet Supplies

-I have an box full of shareable toys & other fun stuff and another box coming soon! No shiny stuff or mirrors other than bells Also have to play areas outside their houses and creating a hanging play area from the ceiling

- looks like I have the right idea an the food for him!

- I.don't have plans for another budgie at the moment but he will be out of his house most the day once gets settled. M GCC has her door open most of the time as she knows the rules. My Lovbird is aboutthesame age as the budgie but has been with me since 5weeks old (now 16.5 weeks old) and gets an open door sometimes and more as she learns the rules....so in due time so will the budgie. Of course always supervised

 

[MyAussieFriends]

I definitely like the looks of the HQ cage better.

Sounds like you are definitely prepared for this little guy!

 

[cassiesdad]

He's got scamp written ALL over him! As I was looking at his pics, the name Sherman just popped into my head...

 

[MyAussieFriends]

I like the name Yoshi

 

[camelotshadow]

-
M GCC has her door open most of the time as she knows the rules. My Lovbird is aboutthesame age as the budgie but has been with me since 5weeks old (now 16.5 weeks old) and gets an open door sometimes and more as she learns the rules....so in due time so will the budgie. Of course always supervised

I like Yoshi too esp since it means something to the kids & he is stoic.

I'd like to know the secret on how to get birds to learn the rules?
Mine always seem relentless in getting there own way.

Any tips appreciated!

 

[lotus15]

Congratulations He's adorable and still quite young with those baby bars. I think the biggest you can go cage-wise will be best... I started with an 18" x 18" cage with mine as well and very quickly learned that it was far from adequate. Try to get something with more width (24" is a better minimum in my opinion). I also agree on shreddable toys-- balsa wood, yucca, cork, etc. are all big hits, and natural wood perches are important. Be very careful with a lot of the standard budgie toys as they are often dangerous and have so many places where they can get their tiny heads or tinier toes stuck. One trick I also learned is that my guys LOVED veggies when I just hung them about the cage like decorations!! When I'd hang some nice fresh carrot tops, freshly washed, in the cage, or some kale or chard, they'd go crazy climbing it and eating it too. They loved their leafy greens. Baby carrots wedged between the bars were also a big hit.

 

[cassiesdad]

Congratulations He's adorable and still quite young with those baby bars. I think the biggest you can go cage-wise will be best... I started with an 18" x 18" cage with mine as well and very quickly learned that it was far from adequate. Try to get something with more width (24" is a better minimum in my opinion). I also agree on shreddable toys-- balsa wood, yucca, cork, etc. are all big hits, and natural wood perches are important. Be very careful with a lot of the standard budgie toys as they are often dangerous and have so many places where they can get their tiny heads or tinier toes stuck. One trick I also learned is that my guys LOVED veggies when I just hung them about the cage like decorations!! When I'd hang some nice fresh carrot tops, freshly washed, in the cage, or some kale or chard, they'd go crazy climbing it and eating it too. They loved their leafy greens. Baby carrots wedged between the bars were also a big hit.

A grat idea- hanging the veggies! My budgies also love their leafy greens. We actually had a budgie that would roll himself up in the leaf- and eat it while he was rolled up in it! All you could see was this little beak going round and round...

 

[lotus15]

A grat idea- hanging the veggies! My budgies also love their leafy greens. We actually had a budgie that would roll himself up in the leaf- and eat it while he was rolled up in it! All you could see was this little beak going round and round...

That's too funny! My budgie Charles would always climb up them and hang upside down, then eat!!

 

[MyAussieFriends]

The way I introduced fruits and veggies into my Budgies diets was to sprinkle some seeds on top of the fresh stuff. They went in for the seeds, but got a taste of fresh foods. Now they eat anything.

 

[Beanurita]

I definitely like the looks of the HQ cage better.

Sounds like you are definitely prepared for this little guy!

I hope I'm prepared for this little guy! I feel like I am for the most part at least! I'm sure in time he will eat fruits/veggies.....I got my love bird and hand fed her for about 3 weeks while she was supposedly weaned to seeds but she is doing well eating all kinds of good stuff now. Still need to move a tiny amount of seed into her fresh foods to get her to forage but it's a very tiny amount so not to worried about it....so cute when she looks at me with her beak covered with fresh food all over herself! I like the HQ cage as well but I hope to find something similar that I like better that also has a rolling stand. Makes it easier for cleaning the area

I like Yoshi too esp since it means something to the kids & he is stoic.

I'd like to know the secret on how to get birds to learn the rules?
Mine always seem relentless in getting there own way.

Any tips appreciated!

My 6 yr old YSGCC is pretty mellow and easy going so she always stays on her cage or on 2 play areas if she is not on someone so she's pretty easy. But my 17 week old needs to learn some majors still. She is pretty needy but I've known her since about 2 weeks old by visiting the clutch and holding/helping to care & hand fed her and 2 siblings....I picked PICKLES because of her sweet need to be with me and she special needs which I have a soft spot for since 1 of my kids is special needs. The breeder was gonna keep her but saw how much we got along so agreed to let me have her She has splay leg but it doesn't stop her. I'm trying to teach her that it's ok to be on the play areas & learn to be a bit independent by placing her back on the play gyms when she flies to me or the kids and praising her when she stays or flies to a play area on her own....she is learning slowly that she will survive when playing on her own. We also have play time on a blanket with her daily where I get out her toy box of foot toys....she loves it and is learning to play quite well that way

Congratulations He's adorable and still quite young with those baby bars. I think the biggest you can go cage-wise will be best... I started with an 18" x 18" cage with mine as well and very quickly learned that it was far from adequate. Try to get something with more width (24" is a better minimum in my opinion). I also agree on shreddable toys-- balsa wood, yucca, cork, etc. are all big hits, and natural wood perches are important. Be very careful with a lot of the standard budgie toys as they are often dangerous and have so many places where they can get their tiny heads or tinier toes stuck. One trick I also learned is that my guys LOVED veggies when I just hung them about the cage like decorations!! When I'd hang some nice fresh carrot tops, freshly washed, in the cage, or some kale or chard, they'd go crazy climbing it and eating it too. They loved their leafy greens. Baby carrots wedged between the bars were also a big hit.

Yes! I plan to go bigger for this house when I find the "right" one I don't care for all the plastic toys he has in his current cage either so once he get settled I will be switching out toys every couple of days as to not stress him out with a complete change all at once. I will try hanging his veggies to spark interest. My love bird like me to clip large pieces to the side all went for her to play in & nibble on so I'll try that with the budgie as well. She also loves to take baths in a bed of whole basil and water which is her favorite way of bathing!