Help Please! Soon To Be Budgie Parront!!!

[budgies123]

PLEASE ANSWER ALL MY QUESTIONS IM VERY CURIOUS THANK YOU GUYS!
hey guys! my other thread was dying as no one else responded and i was dissatisfied a bit So heres my new thread on questions about my soon to be budgie!

im in a new situation where all the budgies were sold for the "winter occasion" and 6 week old budgies will be coming in this wednesday or thursday apparently when i asked the lady that worked there. the problem is that i dont know if they are hand tame. probably not... anyways the budgie i held before is now gone. so i wanted to ask if any of you guys have 6 week old budgies and can i see pictures of them? i want to see how young they are because the images on google have no specific picture i can rely on. is 6 weeks young? the only reason i go there is because there are no bird rescues in my area aswell as breeders (which is wierd because budgies are often found easily hmm . anyways as a summary ill sum up ALL my questions.

QUESTIONS IF YOU WANT TO KNOW MY SITUATION SHORTLY:

1. Is 6 weeks young for a budgie? what stage should they be in if they are 6 weeks old?
2. can i see pictures of 6 week old budgies to see how old they are?
3. what to expect?
4. any other advice?

Thank you! i might have missed a question so if i did ill start a new thread sooner or later...




(its a local store so its not a chain store and its really well taken care of. they get there budgies from a nice breeder they told me. (not 100% sure if its true or not )

 

[Reggie]

... the problem is that i dont know if they are hand tame. probably not... is 6 weeks young? ...

QUESTIONS IF YOU WANT TO KNOW MY SITUATION SHORTLY:
1. Is 6 weeks young for a budgie? what stage should they be in if they are 6 weeks old?
2. can i see pictures of 6 week old budgies to see how old they are?
3. what to expect?
4. any other advice?


(its a local store so its not a chain store and its really well taken care of. they get there budgies from a nice breeder they told me. (not 100% sure if its true or not )

"the problem is that i dont know if they are hand tame. probably not."
Unless someone specifically specified that the budgies that are coming in are hand tame, there's a good chance they're not. Especially if they're coming in at six weeks old.

"is 6 weeks young?" / "1. Is 6 weeks young for a budgie? What stage should they be in if they are 6 weeks old?"
Six weeks is right in between when a budgie fledges (grows their first set of feathers) and is weaned. Honestly if the store you're talking about is selling budgies at 6 weeks old I would be wary. Budgies don't normally wean until 7 weeks (or so I've been told). You should definitely check and make sure your budgie is completely weaned before you bring it home, because hand-feeding can cause serious damage if done incorrectly.
(I'm no expert and I've never bred the birds though, so take what I say with a grain of salt.)

"can i see pictures of six week old budgies to see how old they are?"
I don't own any six week old budgies, and as I've stated before I've never bred budgies.
But it looks to me (looking at breeding threads from another bird forum I used to be apart of) 6 weeks is right toward the end of when they grow feathers, with pin feathers still visible in some areas.

"what to expect"
Expect the bird you're getting to go back on its previous weaning, and need to be hand-fed. Expect there to be some hiccups in the hand-taming department. Expect a needy little bird, who is going to be significantly lonelier than when it lived with the breeder and the rest of its clutch.

 

[budgies123]

"the problem is that i dont know if they are hand tame. probably not."
Unless someone specifically specified that the budgies that are coming in are hand tame, there's a good chance they're not. Especially if they're coming in at six weeks old.

"is 6 weeks young?" / "1. Is 6 weeks young for a budgie? What stage should they be in if they are 6 weeks old?"
Six weeks is right in between when a budgie fledges (grows their first set of feathers) and is weaned. Honestly if the store you're talking about is selling budgies at 6 weeks old I would be wary. Budgies don't normally wean until 7 weeks (or so I've been told). You should definitely check and make sure your budgie is completely weaned before you bring it home, because hand-feeding can cause serious damage if done incorrectly.
(I'm no expert and I've never bred the birds though, so take what I say with a grain of salt.)

"can i see pictures of six week old budgies to see how old they are?"
I don't own any six week old budgies, and as I've stated before I've never bred budgies.
But it looks to me (looking at breeding threads from another bird forum I used to be apart of) 6 weeks is right toward the end of when they grow feathers, with pin feathers still visible in some areas.

"what to expect"
Expect the bird you're getting to go back on its previous weaning, and need to be hand-fed. Expect there to be some hiccups in the hand-taming department. Expect a needy little bird, who is going to be significantly lonelier than when it lived with the breeder and the rest of its clutch.

i see! ill make sure to ask if the bird is fully weaned or not. thanks for your advice! my dad used to hand feed birds a lot so that shouldnt be too much of a problem. if it is ill take him/her to the vet and see what i can do once i get him/her. do you have any other advice for budgies in general?

 

[SandraK]

I'd suggest you read through this - Budgie Boulevard | Avian Avenue Parrot Forum This might also help you - Age Of Weaning - Breeders Discussion - The Budgerigar Breeders Club Inc. Budgie Community Forums

 

[SandraK]

I am presently fostering 2 very small budgies for a friend - they were surrendered to her the weekend of New Year's Eve and I was closest to the location where the person could meet. One is banded, one is not and neither are hand tame. In fact they are very, very skittish and there is basically no history on either of them. Their ceres don't even have enough colour yet to be able to tell what they'll be when they mature. They came with about 5 plastic toys, all with mirrors. Had no clue what a treat stick was for 2 days and don't know what to do with millet. They both freak out if anyone walks past the cage even though it's in an area of the house with little to no traffic. Covering them scared them as did uncovering though they are getting used to a schedule and my saying "nite nite" or "good morning".



I moved them into a larger cage as they came in one of those God awful cutesie house shaped cages where they didn't even have room to move. Dowel perches.



This cage isn't ideal but at least they have a little more space. They've been dying to get out as they can hear my other birds but that isn't likely to happen as my chances of catching them again is not only unlikely but would also stress them out way to much for my liking. Not to mention that I don't want them anywhere near my bird room.

 

[budgies123]

I am presently fostering 2 very small budgies for a friend - they were surrendered to her the weekend of New Year's Eve and I was closest to the location where the person could meet. One is banded, one is not and neither are hand tame. In fact they are very, very skittish and there is basically no history on either of them. Their ceres don't even have enough colour yet to be able to tell what they'll be when they mature. They came with about 5 plastic toys, all with mirrors. Had no clue what a treat stick was for 2 days and don't know what to do with millet. They both freak out if anyone walks past the cage even though it's in an area of the house with little to no traffic. Covering them scared them as did uncovering though they are getting used to a schedule and my saying "nite nite" or "good morning".

View attachment 241970 View attachment 241969

I moved them into a large cage as they came in one of those God awful cutesie house shaped cages where they didn't even have room to move. Dowel perches.

View attachment 241972 View attachment 241973 View attachment 241974

This cage isn't ideal but at least they have a little more space. They've been dying to get out as they can hear my other birds but that isn't likely to happen as my chances of catching them again is not only unlikely but would also stress them out way to much for my liking. Not to mention that I don't want them anywhere near my bird room.

i see. Are they young budgies? ive had skittish budgies before

 

[SandraK]

Since we got no history on them and they are small I am assuming that they are young specially since their ceres do not have any colour. Plus they are scared stiff of people.

 

[budgies123]

Since we got no history on them and they are small I am assuming that they are young specially since their ceres do not have any colour. Plus they are scared stiff of people.

i see. does no color on their ceres mean they are young?

 

[Reggie]

does no color on their ceres mean they are young?

Yes. The cere in a budgie changes color as the budgie matures. A white to tan cere means the budgie is a female and a blue to purple cere means the budgie is a male. If the budgies' ceres still have not developed, that means they're less than 4 months old (that's when - in my experience - a budgies' cere begins to darken).

 

[budgies123]

i see interesting. thanks for your reply!

 

[allie136]

My new baby is ready now at 8 weeks old and has just fledged. I've looked at a lot of breeders and not seen any advertise birds younger than 8 weeks so I would be wary of your store selling them at 6 weeks tbh.

 

[lotus15]

I'm a fellow budgie lover! In my opinion, 6 weeks is too young. I would wait until they are 100% fully weaned, probably closer to 8 weeks or so. At 6 weeks, they could still need frequent feedings, and even if your dad is experienced in hand feeding, is he going to be around 24/7 and carefully observe them to make sure that they aren't going hungry and/or regressing? A simple two week wait could mean much healthier and happier budgies!

As for what to expect and general advice, I would say that budgies are wonderful little guys who have the most pleasant chirps, but in my opinion, are so often overlooked and undervalued. Please observe minimum cage sizes for them-- for one budgie, at least 18" x18"; for two, at least 30" x 18"; for more, a flight cage is always a great idea. They love their toys-- my guys loved lots of variety, from jingly bells to shreddables to soft woods (balsa, yucca, cork, willow bark). And my guys always relished lots of out of cage time to stretch those beautiful wings and fly. As for taming and training, some millet spray was a great motivator!

 

[Sky&Sunshine]

budgies aren't to difficult to hand tame altho i doubt they would already be tame before you get them.

 

[Sky&Sunshine]

Also i'm not sure if six weeks is a bit young??? im probably wrong as i am no expert. I got my budgies a bit older than six weeks tho. more around a year old.

 

[budgies123]

My new baby is ready now at 8 weeks old and has just fledged. I've looked at a lot of breeders and not seen any advertise birds younger than 8 weeks so I would be wary of your store selling them at 6 weeks tbh.

oh! i see maybe i should wait till theyre 8 weeks? ill look to see if they can eat and stuff by themselves completely. although i think ill still wait a bit

 

[budgies123]

I'm a fellow budgie lover! In my opinion, 6 weeks is too young. I would wait until they are 100% fully weaned, probably closer to 8 weeks or so. At 6 weeks, they could still need frequent feedings, and even if your dad is experienced in hand feeding, is he going to be around 24/7 and carefully observe them to make sure that they aren't going hungry and/or regressing? A simple two week wait could mean much healthier and happier budgies!

As for what to expect and general advice, I would say that budgies are wonderful little guys who have the most pleasant chirps, but in my opinion, are so often overlooked and undervalued. Please observe minimum cage sizes for them-- for one budgie, at least 18" x18"; for two, at least 30" x 18"; for more, a flight cage is always a great idea. They love their toys-- my guys loved lots of variety, from jingly bells to shreddables to soft woods (balsa, yucca, cork, willow bark). And my guys always relished lots of out of cage time to stretch those beautiful wings and fly. As for taming and training, some millet spray was a great motivator!

thanks for your advice! ill try to get the biggest cage possible although i may need one of those small cages as a temporary because some of the bigger cages in the store are expensive! so ill probably order a bigger flight cage or something online and see what i can do. did you know that a medium cage at the store was about 200 dollars? it wasnt even a flight cage

 

[budgies123]

Also i'm not sure if six weeks is a bit young??? im probably wrong as i am no expert. I got my budgies a bit older than six weeks tho. more around a year old.

ah i see i think ill wait a bit. although i think they may have a bit more older budgies about 10 weeks as i saw before. hmm ill probably wait

 

[lotus15]

thanks for your advice! ill try to get the biggest cage possible although i may need one of those small cages as a temporary because some of the bigger cages in the store are expensive! so ill probably order a bigger flight cage or something online and see what i can do. did you know that a medium cage at the store was about 200 dollars? it wasnt even a flight cage

You can often find good deals online, especially with some of our vendors here

 

[budgies123]

You can often find good deals online, especially with some of our vendors here

ah thanks! ill check the vendors out! although ive seen pretty good deals on amazon. would you recommend in trusting people on amazon?

 

[Sky&Sunshine]

males are normally louder than females but this can also depend on the bird. males are preferably better to go with because females can get egg binding. altho this is not ALWAYS true.