Budgie Talk

[Lady Jane]

 

[Sunni Tiel]

I love it! People really need to be informed. Impulse buying is such a problem.

 

[Lady Jane]

If you purchase a budgie or other bird in a pet store I bet people have not researched nutrition before getting the bird. Before you know it the sales person has handed you a bag of Kaytee seeds. Ugh...............

 

[Sparkles99]

I have an unopened bag of Kaytee seeds from lockdown prep when they were out of their regular mix. Are Kaytee seeds bad?

 

[Destiny]

Kaytee products aren't the best, but they aren't the worst, either. If I was in a pinch, I would feed their seed to my flock, but I have better options available. The bigger problem is if that's ALL you are feeding your budgie.

Pet store employees are notorious for telling new parakeet owners to feed their birds a seed-only diet. No mention of offering fresh veggies or looking for a good pellet brand. Just give them seeds and that's it. Unfortunately, that's a big part of why fatty liver disease is so darn common among pet budgies. It doesn't help that many of those same pet stores will also clip your bird's wings and encourage you to keep them clipped. Really hard to burn off all those extra calories when your bird can barely hop from one perch to the next without falling flat on his beak.

Too much seed and too little exercise are a potentially fatal combination.

Also, be sure to check the expiration date, since sometimes Kaytee products have been sitting on the shelf for a long time. Seeds lose nutritional value over time, especially if they are exposed to heat. You can extend the shelf-life by freezing your excess seed.

 

[Shezbug]

I don’t think half as many people would buy small birds so willingly or impulsively if... they were aware that their new pet, over the time of its life, should cost them much more money than the initial purchase, as well as learning the truth regarding commitment, time and effort these pets deserve, unfortunately most bird newbies get told something like... a small bird such as a budgie only needs a tiny cage that fits neatly in your bookshelf, only needs watering and feeding like most indoor plants etc. If people knew and believed these little weeny fluff butts really require a much bigger cage, with different perches, a better variety of foods, to receive vet care etc- pet stores who rely on these high turnover sales would go broke. Cute easy to care for birds sound just like bringing home an ornament.
Until the wider public learns to challenge their own thinking, and of course the advice of pet store employees, I think fish, smaller birds, rabbits and guinea pigs are going to continue to be treated like disposable and easy low maintenance pets.

Pet stores are a business.... businesses are there to make money legally.

Until welfare laws regarding these smaller living creatures change I don’t feel that pet stores will be honest about the responsibility level involved in properly caring for these tiny creatures- they give enough information for these animals to survive a while but not live a life they really deserve.

 

[Sparkles99]

Okay, well I'll keep the seeds. They're not expired. I always check dates before buying. The struggle continues to convince these guys to eat pellets & veggies too. I have Harrison's.

I agree that pet stores downplay the commitment, both in time & money, that most pets require. Rabbits really rile me. They're not "small" & they're more work & money than a cat for numerous reasons. But that's not how they're marketed.

 

[kayosa]

Petstore employees are retail workers, they aren’t trained zoologists or pet fanatics. They get All kinds of things wrong, I can’t even begin to list all the problems with Just their fish department in a five page essay.
they are starting to get better pet care sheets in petsmart at least, but they could be better. Like more then one page too

 

[Lady Jane]

Kaytee as a company has a dark history of bird mill breeding so the pet stores will sell more of their foods.

 

[Fergus Mom]

. The struggle continues to convince these guys to eat pellets & veggies too. I have Harrison's.

I can relate - when I first put veggies in F&F's cage they acted as if I was trying to poison them! I just kept adding millet to the veggies and voila - yipppeeee! Now they don't even require millet in their veggies - yaaaaay - finally! But pellets? I really don't think I've ever seen them eat the pellets at all, and I'm thinking of switching to a different one, or discontinuing them entirely.
Mine also like Cheerios, although I'm not sure those have much nutrition. I will switch to the multi grain Cheerios next time.

 

[AussieBird]

Budgies are birds that are so miss understood. These little guys, in my eyes, are just as complexed as a 'too, but in their own way.
Education is key. I know i didn't understand proper care when i started with birds, but i continued to research and stumbled upon AA.
People need to start thinking. I always reasearch before getting a pet, and people need to understand Youtube isn't research. In fact it's the worst kind of 'research'. More people need to find places like AA.
I hate it when people say budgies are not 'proper parrots' or 'the bigger birds are more intelligent'. Budgies are amazingly intelligent little parrots.

 

[Budgie33]

Unfortunately, Indie came from a home where the person was literally doing everything wrong.

She was kept in a tiny cage because "she would be scared if they got her a bigger one". ​

​

She was on only Zupreem Fruitblend Pellets, except most of her diet was millet spray. ​

​

Her only toys were a little mirror and a hand-me-down little pom pom toy. It was covered in dirt and grime. ​

​

She had never been to a vet, and her friend died after falling from his perch and being left paralyzed on the floor. ​

​

She was extremely antisocial and was terrified of hands. ​

​

Her feathers were full of pinfeathers and she was plucking.​

Luckily, Indie is such a great bird today. She looks amazing and has learned to look forward to her morning meal of vegetables and sprouts. She falls asleep against her favorite person's (My dad ) hands. She even flies to our shoulder when we wistle.

 

[Dorcas George]

Unfortunately, Indie came from a home where the person was literally doing everything wrong.

She was kept in a tiny cage because "she would be scared if they got her a bigger one". ​

​

She was on only Zupreem Fruitblend Pellets, except most of her diet was millet spray. ​

​

Her only toys were a little mirror and a hand-me-down little pom pom toy. It was covered in dirt and grime. ​

​

She had never been to a vet, and her friend died after falling from his perch and being left paralyzed on the floor. ​

​

She was extremely antisocial and was terrified of hands. ​

​

Her feathers were full of pinfeathers and she was plucking.​

Luckily, Indie is such a great bird today. She looks amazing and has learned to look forward to her morning meal of vegetables and sprouts. She falls asleep against her favorite person's (My dad ) hands. She even flies to our shoulder when we wistle.

UGH! And hooray for great improvement!

 

[Lady Jane]

When i worked for Purina stationed at a large Petco the bird care person was exceptional. She sometimes talked people out of buying a bird when she knew it was a bad match. One time she noticed a tiny budgie with the other budgies attacking it. It was bloody and in shock. She took it out and told the manager i am off to the vet. Poor little one died anyway. She spent a great deal of time educating customers too. We both brought in greens for the birds to eat. After about a year we went our ways in different directions.

 

[Sparkles99]

I opened the seeds last night. The budgies rejected them. They refused to eat even this morning. I've tossed them. Some were clumped together... It was very odd. I washed their dishes & opened the next bag (their regular food) & they went back to eating. I'm never buying them again.

 

[Angelbear]

I don’t think half as many people would buy small birds so willingly or impulsively if... they were aware that their new pet, over the time of its life, should cost them much more money than the initial purchase, as well as learning the truth regarding commitment, time and effort these pets deserve, unfortunately most bird newbies get told something like... a small bird such as a budgie only needs a tiny cage that fits neatly in your bookshelf, only needs watering and feeding like most indoor plants etc. If people knew and believed these little weeny fluff butts really require a much bigger cage, with different perches, a better variety of foods, to receive vet care etc- pet stores who rely on these high turnover sales would go broke. Cute easy to care for birds sound just like bringing home an ornament.
Until the wider public learns to challenge their own thinking, and of course the advice of pet store employees, I think fish, smaller birds, rabbits and guinea pigs are going to continue to be treated like disposable and easy low maintenance pets.

Pet stores are a business.... businesses are there to make money legally.

Until welfare laws regarding these smaller living creatures change I don’t feel that pet stores will be honest about the responsibility level involved in properly caring for these tiny creatures- they give enough information for these animals to survive a while but not live a life they really deserve.

Its true even smaller reptiles are treated as throw aways hermits are notorious for this. They are the betta of the small reptile world. They need as much care as an exotic with food varied diet salt and fresh water ECT... As a quick research showed me when I was handed them as a classroom pet with a tiny kritterkeepr and calcium sand which not inly stinks when wet ans thet need ot wet but is deadly to them.