[Fleecewife]

Does anyone on here keep Budgies? I had one as a child, which we found flying free - eventually it died when the cat gave it a fright  .  Recently, with reducing our livestock, I am considering a pair of budgies.  I don't really like to have birds caged so I would need to think carefully about that - an aviary perhaps.
Any info would be helpful. TIA 

[Bramham Wiltshire Horns]

we have a couple although they are caged they have free flow of the house on a Daily bases

kthe male is friendly and comes and sits on my shoulder and grooms my beard

they are nice to have around

i think the female is starting to nest

[Fleecewife]

Thanks BWH.  I have been reading a bit about them too and I wonder just how much care, and how much attention they need?  Are they OK with dogs in the house, barking?  If yours got out of the house, do you think they would come back?  That was always my fear with the one I found when I was a child, that someone would open the door when it was flying free. No budgie would last long outdoors here as we have sparrow hawks, peregrines and buzzards around, as well as all sorts of corvids. I shall keep thinking about it.....

[arobwk]

Ha ha!  Thanks for prompting a childhood memory of an Auntie's pet shop full of escaped budgies.  I have no idea, this far on, how the pandemonium came about or why I was there at that moment (No!, it wasn't my fault), but luckily the door onto the street was shut. 
And, of course, the memory of our pair - I seem to recall ours were called Peter and Paula !  They also got to have flights out of their cage which was on top of the kitchenette which might not have been the best place for it given that the kitchenette's drop down flap was where mother did all of her cooking preps.


Chris Packham's budgie piece on "Animal Einsteins" yesterday was interesting with it being suggested that female budgies chose a mate based on brain-power.  (I'm slightly sceptical though about how that works in the wild within huge flocks of birds !!!)

[Fleecewife]

Re Chris Packham; you have to remember that most experimental subjects are the ones that got caught, so might not be totally representative of the whole population, IQwise.  This could explain why the females in that case chose the more intelligent (by our standards) males over the most dapper, trying to pick the best of a dodgy bunch. Perhaps in the wild, it's just the bird which is flashiest that catches her eye.


I love the idea of your auntie's shop full of happy escaped budgies creating mayhem 

[LeeHambone]

We kept, bred and showed budgies when I was a kid. Very low maintenance outside the house. Inside they creat dust and scatter seed husks everywhere. They are fine outdoors all year as long as they have drought free housing. We heated ours but as long as they have all summer to acclimatise theyll over-winter just fine. Maybe better buying pet quality rather than the exaggerated show birds I see these days. 

There was a country house estate in the uk that kept free flying budgies. I think it was Longleat perhaps. The owner was very eccentric. Sparrow Hawks would probably be an issue. When any of ours escaped years ago they tended to go up and away. Never had any stick around. A rural setting may be different.

Mate of mine who shall forever remain nameless free flies a flock of lovebirds at the moment. Again, hawks are an issue.

[Fleecewife]

Thanks Lee.  I truly think it would be too cold for outside budgies here. We once had a Muscovey drake who froze his feathers solid after a pre-bed swim, and had to come into the house for the evening to thaw out.  He really enjoyed sitting on the arm of the settee watching TV  .  Outdoors would be great in the summer though, in an aviary.  In the winter, the cage could be by the window, which has a busy bird feeding station just outside, so the budgies could watch wild birds enjoying their freedom.....
Good advice not to go for show stock.
We once had a racing pigeon which moved in with us.  He spent his days sitting on top of the dresser in the living room and became known as Pooey Dooey for obvious reasons. Occasionally he would venture out for a bit of a forage but he never tried to get home. Eventually he was collected in a large and impressive Roller, where his cage had pride of place on the back seat.  It emerged he was the only survivor of this man's valuable racing pigeons after a long flight, where the rest were thought to have been attacked by peregrines.

[in the hills]

Hi Fleecewife. My daughter has always had a real passion for birds of any type. I have to admit that I'd never really liked the thought of keeping caged indoor birds but she did lots of research when she was little and we bought her a single budgie for her birthday. She'd read that you could tame them more easily if you had a single bird initially. That was our Joey. We travelled miles to collect him from a breeder of exhibition budgies. He was finger tame in no time at all and such a character and very clever.
When he was about one year old we bought his companion, Tilly, from a local pet shop. They lived in separate cages to start with until they decided to move in together.
We would open their cage door in the morning and they would fly around the lounge until they were ready to retire for the day. They were restricted to the lounge because of our cats and the possibility that they could escape through an open door or window.
Tilly never tamed really but we still have her now and she is a lovely little thing. Joey passed away a couple of years ago and my daughter decided that she would like a cockatiel and so Tilly now lives with Jerry and they get on very well.


Jerry, the cockatiel, is also good fun to have around and can shout his name and copies head bobbing etc. He doesn't like to be touched as he was aviary reared but does like to land on your head, chew whatever you're holding, take things off you and throw etc etc


They don't seem concerned about the dogs though ours don't bark much and they don't tend to be in the lounge much in the day when the birds are flying.
They are easy to keep .... just regular cleaning out. They don't make much mess really and I've been told by neighbours that today's cages seem of a better design and prevent a lot of the husk etc from falling out of the cage. There is obviously a bit of bird poo around by the end of the day but we have hard floors so do a quick wipe around. Clean water, bird seed, millet as a treat occasionally and their greens.

[in the hills]

I will add, Fleecewife, that they are much cleverer than I thought they would be and do make very interactive companions if given the chance.
I suppose it's the same with most animals if they are given the opportunity. Rabbits sat in tiny hutches don't seem very interactive or intelligent but if you keep house rabbits you see a very different side to them.

[Fleecewife]

Thank you inthehills for your history with budgies.  I'm sure you're right about their intelligence - I have found the same to be true with most of the animals we keep or have kept; sheep, pigs, dogs, cats, geese and hens.  Also rats, which are so very very bright, although we haven't deliberately kept them, they just seem to like us so much and are always around 


The more I hear and learn about budgies and taking into consideration that my husband is very set against 'yet another species', I am tending to think that budgies should be something I hold off on until we no longer have our dogs.  We rescued them earlier this year and they are great pets still full of life and fun, but they are both older so will not last forever, and I'm sure this time when they have both gone that it really will be 'no more dogs'! So meanwhile I shall learn as much as I can and plan for my future budgies     We do have wood floors too, so that's one good point in their favour, easy to clean up after     meanwhile i shall have a look at the various cage options.....

[LeeHambone]

NOW you're talking Fleecewife, pigeons are my thing. I have about 100 of the things!

The budgies would be fine outside in winter. I would just tarp, bubble wrap or polycarbonate the aviary sides when the weather is at its coldest or a strong wind is blowing. I do this on my pigeon aviaries. Although they don't really need it, it just makes me feel better! Keeping the interior dry is the key.

Good luck!

[macgro7]

More than budgies I like canaries - their singing in the morning is amazing 
Any parrots (including budgies) are lovely if hand raised and tame - if bought from pets at home or something of that sort they will most likely be wild for life and make noise...

[arobwk]

More than budgies I like canaries - their singing in the morning is amazing 
Any parrots (including budgies) are lovely if hand raised and tame - if bought from pets at home or something of that sort they will most likely be wild for life and make noise...

I noted one of my gardening client's neighbours had a shed-full of birds so I asked him if I could have a look.  He was v pleased to introduce me to his flock/stock of colourful African sparrows/finches (can't recall what species).  He even had colour variants bred by him of which he was very proud - lovely little birds and they sold, apparently, for very many tens of £s per bird - quite an income generator !  (I hope this doesn't prompt Orinlooper to start a new thread !)
I mention this because I reckon it's only independent breeders like this or the likes of Pets@Home that still offer/can provide small pets these days:  small independent pet shops are few and far between today and then rarely provide live animals (either by regulation or because of lack of demand !?). 

HOWEVER, the above is a long introduction to the fact that I've never seen a budgie for sale in a Pets@Home store. 
I ask, @macro7, what pet stores you know of that still actually offer budgies (and other birds) for sale ?

[macgro7]

I actually meant it's better to buy straight from the breeders like the above mentioned one 

[arobwk]

I actually meant it's better to buy straight from the breeders like the above mentioned one 

Yeah - I agree.