Is an English Budgie the right bird for us?

[IttyBittyBirds]

As some of you know I have recently adopted a Senegal who has been through at least three homes in his short life. Luckily him and I have majorly bonded and things are great!!

He is terrified of my kids though who want nothing more than to be his friend. They are super well behaved and gentle, but I respect him and don’t want to force anything. He loves when they sing to him and will sometimes take treats so nothing terrible, but they are now obsessed with the idea of a bird they can hold.

Soooo my friend knows all about this as we talk birds all of the time. She breeds English Budgies and offered us a male just out of the nest (when he is ready). I know my dad had Budgies growing up and even though he has big parrots now, still always talks about how awesome they were.

Do you think that a single male budgie would be ok? I can always add another male later if he seems lonely. I would be the main caretaker, and happy to be the sole caretaker of for any reason the kids loose interest, and all interactions would be supervised. Also, I know our Senegal can’t be out when the budgie is out and the dangers associated.

Also, I am finding so much conflicting info on feeding. Are pellets ok in addition to seeds and fresh? What do you all feed your budgies?

Sorry for the novel, just want to make sure we are making the right decision! A few other species I have been researching are some of the smaller conures, specifically Black Capped Conures and also Canary Winged Bee Bees/Parakeets. I don’t want a cockatiel because my son does have allergies, so wanting to stay away from the dust to be safe. Do you think a budgie is a good choice for us?

 

[IttyBittyBirds]

Well we are on the way to a big bird store to meet and greet some of the species in person and see what my son does well with before we commit. Also shopping for Waldo With us luck!!!

 

[Fergus Mom]

I am hoping that a budgie will be good for you and your family. You sound like a great bird parront!
Mine eat seed, Zupreem fruity blend pellets (the x-tra small for canaries), and greens and veggies. Can't wait to see an update here after your pet store trip.

 

[Zara]

I hope the kids do well with the birds there and enjoy interacting with them.

 

[IttyBittyBirds]

I am hoping that a budgie will be good for you and your family. You sound like a great bird parront!
Mine eat seed, Zupreem fruity blend pellets (the x-tra small for canaries), and greens and veggies. Can't wait to see an update here after your pet store trip.

Thanks so much! We just got home...it was a LONGGGG day and drive! Sadly they don’t have Budgies anymore, as their supplier passed away. We did meet a bunch of Bee Bees who were no where near as friendly as I remembered. My song loved the Green Cheeks and the baby black capped was adorable, but sooooo young I was nervous to put a deposit on it.

Also, my daughter probably wouldn’t handle the nippyness as well as my son did with the green cheeks, so I think we will stick to the original Male English Budgie plan!

We had a blast though and got a bunch of food and toys for Waldo, so all in all it was a great day! My friend said she should be able to sex her youngest clutches in a week or so so hopefully I will have an update soon!

 

[IttyBittyBirds]

I hope the kids do well with the birds there and enjoy interacting with them.

Thanks! It was soooo fun! We were there for hours and basically had to drag my son out! LOL

 

[Lady Jane]

How old are your children? Birds generally don't like to be around youngsters. Why? Because of the loud voices, fast movements and hands moving at them. Older children approaching teens do better.

 

[IttyBittyBirds]

How old are your children? Birds generally don't like to be around youngsters. Why? Because of the loud voices, fast movements and hands moving at them. Older children approaching teens do better.

My daughter is 4 but very quiet, gentle and calm. My son is 8 and is great with birds. We live on a farm and have all sorts of animals. They handle day old chicks (even button quail) so know that they need to be very calm and careful around animals. They are extremely respectful of all animals being that they were raised around them. Everything is always supervised as well

 

[Lady Jane]

Good to know.

 

[karen256]

Budgies are wonderful wonderful little birds, and English budgies are relatively laid back, but they are still budgies and.. well, a little crazy and sometimes high strung. Also, they are naturally not birds that like to be touched or petted, except sometimes head/cheek scritches. It's just their nature, they aren't super cuddly to other budgies either; a budgie pair will sit near each other and preen each other, but won't snuggle against each other as lovebirds, conures, ect. do. Basically, I'm saying that, wonderful as they are, they may not be the best birds for little kids who want a bird they can hold and pet.
Even with handfed babies, you need to earn their trust, and grabbing at or trying to pet a budgie will only frighten or upset it. That said, once the trust is earned, they are very friendly and very affectionate in their own ways, males especially. They will fly over, climb all over their people, investigate and play with everything, talk and sing, and rarely bite (males anyway). My first budgie, Pippin, would fly over whenever he was called - or even if I just made eye contact or held out a finger. They can be high strung and easily stressed or upset but rarely for very long.
If your kids will be patient and respectful about earning trust, then budgies are some of the best birds.
But if you want a bird that's a little more forgiving, a cockatiel might be better. Also ringneck doves, while less common as pets, do make docile pets that kids can handle easily.

 

[Lady Jane]

I find my EB are not high strung and my female is loving human touch. Also my two have never preened eachother nor fed eachother which means they will not mate which is find with me. Each and every EB is different when it comes to personality. Females tend to be the boss. One other item my two seldom fly away from the cage except when they circle the living room for exercise.

 

[IttyBittyBirds]

Thanks so much everyone! They aren’t expecting a cuddly, petting type pet, and understand how birds are. If they could even just have one that flies to them or sits on their heads or shoulders they would be thrilled. They still love Waldo even though the most he will allow them to interact is to take treats from them on occasion.

As far as cockatiels go, I would love one, but my son has pretty bad allergies and I am nervous about the dust/dander they produce. He gets allergy shots and it is totally maintained with meds if needed, but I know Waldo doesn’t bother him and I would be a bit nervous a cockatiel may, and I would never want to have to rehome a bird. Maybe I can find a breeder who would let up come handle some and see how he does? The ones at the pet store near us sell out before they are old enough to handle so he hasn’t ever been able to interact with one. When we went to the big bird store last weekend we talked to the sales staff, but they said to deff stay away with his allergies. Plus out of all of the birds there they seemed terrified of people even though they were all handfed babies.

Doves are beautiful and I love their sounds, but a little less interactive than we would like. They are so sweet and calm, but I am partial to parrots/parakeets.

 

[Lady Jane]

Be aware budgies can have a little dust sometimes. And when it comes to molting season like it is now the feather fall! They have over 2,000 feathers.

 

[EnglishBudgMom]

Thanks so much everyone! They aren’t expecting a cuddly, petting type pet, and understand how birds are. If they could even just have one that flies to them or sits on their heads or shoulders they would be thrilled. They still love Waldo even though the most he will allow them to interact is to take treats from them on occasion.

As far as cockatiels go, I would love one, but my son has pretty bad allergies and I am nervous about the dust/dander they produce. He gets allergy shots and it is totally maintained with meds if needed, but I know Waldo doesn’t bother him and I would be a bit nervous a cockatiel may, and I would never want to have to rehome a bird. Maybe I can find a breeder who would let up come handle some and see how he does? The ones at the pet store near us sell out before they are old enough to handle so he hasn’t ever been able to interact with one. When we went to the big bird store last weekend we talked to the sales staff, but they said to deff stay away with his allergies. Plus out of all of the birds there they seemed terrified of people even though they were all handfed babies.

Doves are beautiful and I love their sounds, but a little less interactive than we would like. They are so sweet and calm, but I am partial to parrots/parakeets.

I might as well chime in since I have allergies and asthma, and own an English Budgie! I have an air cleaner in the birds room (got it cheap off off craigslist) just in case, but Bubbles doesn't appear to bother me much. She is molting and going through bird puberty at 7 months old, so she's kind of crabby right now. She likes head scritches occasionally, isn't horribly loud (she tells off her toys a lot-but in bursts), and is a sweetie once she's out of her cage. When I took her to our Avian Vet, she said to avoid Cockatiels and doves (anything in pigeon family), and Toos. She said doves are the worst for dust and allergies.

I also bought a small plug in stick vac for the bird room so I can suck up detrius daily. Which I do. With the molt there are feathers EVERYWHERE!

I have an 11 year old son, and he loves Bubbles, and Bubbles loves him. She sits on his shoulder while he plays on his computer and nibbles on his ear. He sometimes wishes she was more cuddly (like this Senegal we saw at our local bird specialty shop), but he's satisfied for now. We might get another EB in the future OR a different type of bird, but for now I'm waiting or Bubbles to mature to make any further decisions. I don't want to deal with eggs/mating/bickering between birds who don't get along either.

 

[IttyBittyBirds]

Thank you both so much! I knew pigeons were really bad, so it makes sense about the Doves. We are REALLY leaning twords an English Budgie. My friend has a young green male who is GORGOUS that she offered us, just need to figure out when I can fit in a 6 hour round trip with the holidays coming! Here is a pic of him for fun

 

[Zara]

Here is a pic of him

He´s a beauty!

 

[IttyBittyBirds]

He is! Just having a hard time decicding what to do! It is such a commitment!

 

[PhoenixAKANix]

Absolutely adorable I cant wait for my budgie I plan on getting him once I can drive so if everyone is out of the house I can still take him to the Avian Vet if an emergency happens.
Already have a name hence my Username. I hope you and your kids love your english budgie.

 

[Lady Jane]

OH I live the lemon, lime budgies.