• Welcome to Avian Avenue! To view our forum with less advertisments please register with us.
    Memberships are free and it will just take a moment. Click here

Am I Fit For A New Budgie?

MoonyBird

Sitting on the front steps
Joined
1/20/21
Messages
16
Real Name
Moon
I had a budgie, but he died about a month ago. I think he may have been sick, but I live with my parents and they didn’t want me to spend the money to find out. I am a high schooler with not way too much free time, but I’m working on getting more free time atm. I was thinking about adopting 2-3 new budgies from my local pet shelter, and I wanted to know if I have enough free time to properly care for these wonderful birds.

My daily schedule is
Wake Up 5:00am
Jazz band/show choir 7:00am-8:00am
School 8:00am-3:40pm
Swim Practice 6:00-8:00pm (depending on the season)
In Bed 10:00pm

Weekends are free with the exception of concerts, extra rehearsals, and swim meets.

That means I would have around 1 hour each morning, about 2 hours in the afternoon, and 2 hours at night. This is 5 hours of free time each school day, with 1-2 hours taken off for showers/eating. I would have around 4-6 hours a day on weekends.

TLDR; Is 3 hours a day (on weekdays) and 4 hours a day (on weekends) enough time to care for 2-3 budgies


Sorry for the long message! Any help is much appreciated.
 

Cockatoo-Dust

Rollerblading along the road
Avenue Veteran
Avenue Spotlight Award
Joined
9/9/14
Messages
1,314
Location
TN
Real Name
Skylar
Hi! i do think that is enough time, however i would definitely plan for the future cause these little guys can easily live to 20 with the right diet and care! so just think about things like, what will happen to them when you wanna move out, and who will watch them when you take a trip? can you afford to take them to the vet? if not affordable right now, will your parents pay for a vet trip? those are all the important questions, i got a 3 month old umbrella cockatoo at 13 and haven't regretted a second, but planning for the future involves making sure he has a flight room for 80 years! he goes to the vet every year and it comes up to around 90 dollars each time if he's healthy. if he is sick it can easily rack up 300, 500, 1000 dollars of debt if you aren't prepared with a savings plan in case of emergency.

i got really lucky in my situation, with the fact my parents love the birds too and would do anything for them just like i would, so worst case scenario and i have no money they can still get what they need and i pay my parents back. if your parents aren't too into the birds, in that case i would make sure to thoroughly plan financially for the birdies!
 

MoonyBird

Sitting on the front steps
Joined
1/20/21
Messages
16
Real Name
Moon
Hi! i do think that is enough time, however i would definitely plan for the future cause these little guys can easily live to 20 with the right diet and care! so just think about things like, what will happen to them when you wanna move out, and who will watch them when you take a trip? can you afford to take them to the vet? if not affordable right now, will your parents pay for a vet trip? those are all the important questions, i got a 3 month old umbrella cockatoo at 13 and haven't regretted a second, but planning for the future involves making sure he has a flight room for 80 years! he goes to the vet every year and it comes up to around 90 dollars each time if he's healthy. if he is sick it can easily rack up 300, 500, 1000 dollars of debt if you aren't prepared with a savings plan in case of emergency.

i got really lucky in my situation, with the fact my parents love the birds too and would do anything for them just like i would, so worst case scenario and i have no money they can still get what they need and i pay my parents back. if your parents aren't too into the birds, in that case i would make sure to thoroughly plan financially for the birdies!
Thank you so much for the reply! With my other budgie, my parents were able to help with all the expenses. My parents aren’t super into birds, but my mom loves animals and isn’t upset about pitching in if needed. Again, thank you so much!
 

tka

Rollerblading along the road
Avenue Veteran
Celebirdy of the Month
Mayor of the Avenue
Avenue Spotlight Award
Joined
4/4/17
Messages
4,433
Location
London, UK
At your age, the main problem is that your life is going to change in a few years in ways that are both predictable and less predictable. You may not yet know yourself whether you plan to go to university, start work or complete vocational training or an apprenticeship, but all of these will be time-consuming and you are likely to have a much less predictable schedule. You may find that your accommodation doesn't allow pets or is unsafe for birds: if you live with housemates, it is near impossible to prevent them using teflon, fragrances, candles and so on. You may not earn a salary that would allow you to pay for unexpectedly expenses like vet bills. You may want to travel, study or work abroad, or take part in activities that don't leave much time for your birds.

All too often, birds end up in the care of a reluctant family member or rehomed - not a nice situation to be in.

I really would recommend not committing to a long-lived pet until your situation is more stable. Enjoy being young and commitment-free, and get your birds when you are ready to settle down.
 

Shezbug

ASK ME FOR PICTURES OF MY MACAW!
Super Moderator
Avenue Veteran
Celebirdy of the Month
Mayor of the Avenue
Avenue Spotlight Award
Joined
4/28/18
Messages
25,823
Location
Vic, Australia
Real Name
Shez
Given you say your parents did not want you to spend money on your last bird for medical care and it is no longer with you I personally think you are best waiting till you are more independent.
 

MoonyBird

Sitting on the front steps
Joined
1/20/21
Messages
16
Real Name
Moon
At your age, the main problem is that your life is going to change in a few years in ways that are both predictable and less predictable. You may not yet know yourself whether you plan to go to university, start work or complete vocational training or an apprenticeship, but all of these will be time-consuming and you are likely to have a much less predictable schedule. You may find that your accommodation doesn't allow pets or is unsafe for birds: if you live with housemates, it is near impossible to prevent them using teflon, fragrances, candles and so on. You may not earn a salary that would allow you to pay for unexpectedly expenses like vet bills. You may want to travel, study or work abroad, or take part in activities that don't leave much time for your birds.

All too often, birds end up in the care of a reluctant family member or rehomed - not a nice situation to be in.

I really would recommend not committing to a long-lived pet until your situation is more stable. Enjoy being young and commitment-free, and get your birds when you are ready to settle down.
Thank you so much for your comment! Its much appreciated.
 

MoonyBird

Sitting on the front steps
Joined
1/20/21
Messages
16
Real Name
Moon
Given you say your parents did not want you to spend money on your last bird for medical care and it is no longer with you I personally think you are best waiting till you are more independent.
Thank you for your reply! They didn’t say they wouldn’t, and they did pay for it, they just wanted to make sure it was necessary so they weren’t wasting money. I’m sorry if it seemed like I was saying they wouldn’t pay for it, they were absolutely okay to pay for his needs. Again, thanks for the reply!
 

Cockatoo-Dust

Rollerblading along the road
Avenue Veteran
Avenue Spotlight Award
Joined
9/9/14
Messages
1,314
Location
TN
Real Name
Skylar
At your age, the main problem is that your life is going to change in a few years in ways that are both predictable and less predictable. You may not yet know yourself whether you plan to go to university, start work or complete vocational training or an apprenticeship, but all of these will be time-consuming and you are likely to have a much less predictable schedule. You may find that your accommodation doesn't allow pets or is unsafe for birds: if you live with housemates, it is near impossible to prevent them using teflon, fragrances, candles and so on. You may not earn a salary that would allow you to pay for unexpectedly expenses like vet bills. You may want to travel, study or work abroad, or take part in activities that don't leave much time for your birds.

All too often, birds end up in the care of a reluctant family member or rehomed - not a nice situation to be in.

I really would recommend not committing to a long-lived pet until your situation is more stable. Enjoy being young and commitment-free, and get your birds when you are ready to settle down.
this is true too! i would definitely think about whether uni is happening for you, and what will happen with the birds then? are you willing to get a job to stay off campus, and make a class schedule that may last a year longer if it means you'll have time for the birds? living with roommates will be hard if they don't love birds too, and that puts them at a lot of risk to be exposed to things like tka is saying.

Personally i didn't go to uni and don't really plan to, however it's taken a lot of options away housing wise having birds. an apartment would never be feasible for me and the birds, no rentals because they're destructive, and so I'm having to extensively budget, save, and plan specifically to get a house with an entire extra bedroom just for the birds. comes down to whether or not you are mentally prepared for that kind of commitment, you've gotta think of it like having a kid. would you have a baby now?

something i planned for was stability in my bird's lives, too. do you think you'll end up having to move more than once or twice within 10 years? the stress of moving can be so much for a bird- and if you think you'd rather spend time traveling the world, go for that first. don't let all this scare you, it IS possible to pull it off with the right mindset, planning, and commitment to an incredible degree. you'll have to be willing to sacrifice things for the birds, but its definitely possible to do
 

Lady Jane

Ripping up the road
Avenue Veteran
Mayor of the Avenue
Avenue Spotlight Award
Joined
8/25/12
Messages
26,569
Location
Maryland
Real Name
Dianne
What @tka said. You have many years ahead of you.
 

Sparkles99

Biking along the boulevard
Celebirdy of the Month
Mayor of the Avenue
Avenue Spotlight Award
Joined
8/9/20
Messages
6,315
Location
Ontario, Canada
Maybe a naturally shorter lived pet would fit the bill right now, like a betta or a hamster. :)
 

MoonyBird

Sitting on the front steps
Joined
1/20/21
Messages
16
Real Name
Moon
Maybe a naturally shorter lived pet would fit the bill right now, like a betta or a hamster. :)
Thanks for the ideas! I had a betta a couple years ago and decided that fish life wasn’t for me, but I do keep a couple empty planted tanks :)

I’ll do some research on hamsters and see if it seems like a good fit for my situation! Thanks so much.
 
Top