Noisy, moving and funny budgies can be found in many homes of Russian birds. These cute birds are perfect for home keeping. They become attached to the owner, considering him a member of the pack. Care and maintenance of a budgie is not difficult, it is only important to know about the features of these babies.
A bit of history
For the first time these little fun birds were described by George Shaw in 1805. Around the same time, G. Nodder, his closest friend and colleague, painted this bird. D. Gould brought the budgies to Europe in 1840. Due to non-compliance with basic transportation conditions, many birds died. Fans of exoticism became interested in breeding budgerigars in captivity.
49 years later (1854), an article was published by Jules Delon, in which he wrote that the French bird lover Solnie managed to achieve successful breeding of parrots in France at home. Four years later, Karl Bolle reported similar success with German bird lovers. Budgerigars were brought to Russia from Western Europe. A little later, the birds began to breed in the main zoo of Moscow, and then at home.
External features
These are small birds: their body length does not exceed 20 cm, the tail reaches 10 cm, and the length of the wings is 9.5 cm. The maximum weight of the parrot is 45 grams. Visually, the bird seems a little larger due to the rather long tail.
Plumage
The colors of budgies are quite diverse. The main plumage is painted in protective tones. The throat and front of the bird's head are covered with yellow feathers. On both sides of the head there are purple oblong spots. Under them on both sides of the throat are three black spots. On a yellow background of the occipital part of the head of the parrot, as well as in the upper part of the back, there is brown wavy. It becomes coarser and wider from head to back.
At the tail are the two longest feathers, painted in dark blue. The remaining feathers of the tail are painted in a greenish-blue tint with a fairly wide stripe in the center. The first order of the feathers on the wings is painted in green tones, while on the outside they have yellowish hues, and the ends are outlined in black border. Yellow spots in the center form a strip below the fan.
The second and third orders of the feathers are brown-yellow in color with a yellow rim. In adults, the beak is yellow in color with a light green tint. In young individuals, it is darker. The sex of the budgerigar is quite simple to determine by the color of the waxberry located above the beak: in the female it is often colorless or brown, and in the male it is saturated blue.
How to choose a feathered pet?
If you plan to have such a charming feathered pet, then it is best to go after him to the nearest pet store or to a well-established breeder. The option of acquiring budgerigar chicks in the poultry market can be considered last, as no one will give you guarantees about the poultry’s health there.
Even in a pet store should be careful about the choice of pet. Pay attention to how the birds behave: in normal condition, they are energetic and agile, chirping cheerfully. If a beautiful and bright baby sits, laughing, indifferent to everything that happens around him - this may indicate that he is unwell.
The eyes of the budgie should be clean and shiny. The beak and the area of skin between the head and the beak (wax) are clean, without growths and signs of peeling. The feathers of a healthy bird are shiny, even, without bald spots and bald patches. Look at the baby's paws: they should be clean, with tight-fitting scales, without growths.
Budgerigar: maintenance and care at home
In order for your pet to please you with excellent health and good mood for a long time, you must follow the simple rules of maintenance:
- Do not disturb the bird during daytime sleep. In the evening, it is necessary to cover the cell with dense tissue, but its front should remain open.
- Parrots need at least 60% humidity. It is especially important to maintain this parameter in the heating season, when the air in the room becomes too dry. It can negatively affect the appearance of the bird, lead to a decrease in immunity, which ultimately leads to respiratory diseases.
- Feed and change the water in the drinking bowl should be daily, regularly clean the house for budgies. Sometimes you can let your pet out of the cage so that he can train his wings a little.
Now consider the basic content rules in more detail.
Cage and accessories
Today, pet stores can offer their customers a wide range of cages and accessories. A cage for a budgie should be spacious. The best option is a rectangular shape with a retractable plastic tray, which greatly facilitates the cleaning process. For one parrot, the minimum cage size is 50 x 30 x 50 cm, the distance between the rods should be no more than 12 millimeters.
A cage for budgies should be equipped with:
- hanging feeder;
- a drinker;
- wooden ladder and perches, swing;
- mineral stone;
- bell, ball and other toys.
Budgerigars negatively relate to frequent transfers from one place to another, so a permanent place for the cage should be determined in advance. It is better to place it in the living room, where all family members gather. It is necessary to put the cage in a corner or along the wall at eye level. It is not recommended to place it near heating appliances, in a draft, and also where direct sunlight falls.
Feeding
Keeping a parrot and caring for it requires proper nutrition. Breeders most often feed cheerful pets with ready-made mixtures, which include seeds of onion herbs, sunflower, millet, canary, oats. In addition to ready-made food for budgies, it is useful to include the following products in the diet:
- Porridge (oatmeal, buckwheat, pearl barley, rice, corn, millet). Porridge is boiled in water without sugar and salt.
- Sprouted grain.
- Greens (leaves of beet, radish, young shoots of grass, dandelion, plantain, clover).
- Fruits (oranges, bananas, peaches, kiwi, apples, apricots, plums, pears).
- Berries (mountain ash, currants, raspberries).
- Vegetables (cucumber, carrots, radishes, tomatoes, pumpkin, bell pepper, zucchini).
- Cottage cheese.
- The eggs.
Budgerigars are strictly forbidden to give:
- cilantro;
- basil;
- sorrel;
- dill;
- parsley.
All of these herbs are too spicy for parrots. Vegetables and fruits are given fresh or dried. They must first be washed and thoroughly stoned. Particular attention should be paid to the pet’s free access to clean drinking water. Tap water is not recommended. It is better to give your feathered friend purified bottled water. Every day you need to change it and clean the drinker.
Vitamins
How to organize the maintenance and care of a budgie so that your little friend feels comfortable and healthy? It is necessary, in addition to the main feed, to arrange mineral fertilizing - mineral stone and sepia. They are necessary for the bird to make up for the deficiency of mineral substances and sharpening the beak. Parrots need purified river sand for proper digestion. Special vitamin complexes for parrots should be added to the drinker - Beaphar Vinka, Radostin, BEAPHAR Trink + Fit Birds.
Bathing
Water buds are very fond of water procedures. The maintenance and care of such pets will be complete if you purchase a special bath for bathing. A plastic tray or plate can be fitted for this purpose. The water level in the tank should be only a few millimeters. When swimming, you must follow the basic rules:
- do not force the bird to bathe;
- the temperature of the water in the bath is about +25 ° C, of air - not lower than +20 ° C;
- do not let the parrot drink dirty water from the bath;
- clean the bath immediately after the procedure.
Some parrots love to bathe in moist leaves. To do this, put the leaves of plantain, dandelion or lettuce in the bath. For your pet, this will be great entertainment.
Temperature
The budgie feels comfortable at room temperature from +15 to +25 ° C. Such pets are not afraid of coolness, but do not tolerate sudden changes in temperature and drafts. In summer, you should arrange a parrot sunbathing. Such procedures begin with a five-minute stay in the air and gradually bring the walking time to half an hour. This should be done in non-hot hours - after 16 hours and until 10 in the morning.
Communication
Small budgies are endowed with a wonderful memory, they are very curious. They are well trained, quickly understand how to open and close a cell. If you want your pet to learn to speak, get active young chicks at the age of 3 - 5 months who chirp very loudly.
Experienced bird owners who know how to teach the budgerigar how to talk, are advised to start classes with simple and harmonious, melodic words. After they are mastered by your pet, you can move on to small sentences. Training is carried out in complete silence, in a relaxed atmosphere. Take care that the bird is not hungry, irritated or sleepy, so that the baby is not distracted.
When you are convinced that everything contributes to the lesson, you can begin. If you don’t know how to teach a budgie to talk, advice from experienced owners will help you. Training is carried out daily, for 15 minutes, preferably at the same time. Words should be pronounced with intonation and slowly - this is very important.
To find a common language with such a pet is quite simple, for this you just need to spend more time with the baby. After acquiring a chick, it is necessary to give him two to three days in order to get comfortable in a new place, then you can gradually begin to accustom the bird to his hands, gently talk to her, and not make sudden movements. Gradually, the baby will begin to trust his master and give him signs of attention.
Breeding
Probably everyone who is going to have such beautiful and sociable pets in their home is interested in how many budgerigars live at home. It depends on how well organized their care is. On average, life expectancy ranges from 5 to 15 years. Offspring can appear in birds, starting at ten months of age.
Budgerigars in captivity breed easily. To do this, you need to have a young heterosexual couple (10 - 12 months). It is important that the birds are friendly to each other. For successful mating, daylight hours are extended to 14 hours and birds are provided with a special diet - every other day they are given a protein “mash” - a mixture of carrots, chalk and eggs.
A nest box is installed in the cage. The female herself will prepare the nest, after which the laying of eggs will begin. There are from 4 to 12 pieces, depending on the age of the parrots.
How to care for a chick?
Chicks of budgerigars are born after 17 to 20 days naked and blind. Ten days later, the first feathers appear, and at three weeks of age, the chicks already look like adult parrots. At first, the chicks feed on the mother’s goiter milk, then she gradually transfers them to adult food. After a month, the kids leave the parent's nest and learn to eat on their own, at which time they are transplanted into a separate cage.
Budgie diseases
In the absence of proper care, parrots weaken the immune system, which provokes the development of various diseases. Knowing how many budgerigars live at home, it should be understood that often the owners are responsible for the poor health of their pets.
Veterinarians note frequent poisoning of budgerigars with household chemicals, chemicals treated with herbs. For treatment, crushed activated carbon is used, which is diluted in a small amount of water.
Budgerigars often suffer from various neoplasms. Thanks to the fast metabolism, the tumors in budgerigars grow rapidly in size and can appear in different parts of the body. They are treated quite difficult in an operational way.
Many diseases of budgerigars arise due to poor cleaning in the cage or in the room where the parrot lives, due to an unbalanced diet. These birds are susceptible to colds, especially if the cage is in a draft or in a room with a very low temperature.
Content Disadvantages
Before deciding whether to buy a budgie, think carefully about this step. With the obvious advantages of such a pet (energy, talkativeness), it also has disadvantages. Budgerigars are chirping quite loudly, and conversations can begin at 5 in the morning. These birds may not get along with pets (cats in particular). Possible allergies in family members to bird feathers.