Of course, everyone wants their pet to live happily ever after. Such a life is impossible without some effort on the part of the owners. You will learn about what you need to do to ensure that your budgerigar is properly cared for and maintained at home and thereby help your bird live as long as possible, you will learn in this article.

What do you need to know before making a purchase?

A new pet in the house is not only a joy, but also a great responsibility. In this regard, you will have some problems and limitations. Therefore, before answering the question of how to maintain and properly care for a budgerigar at home, I will tell you about the restrictions that the owners of these birds have. There are several facts to consider here:

1. budgerigars get up early and excellent sing. Therefore, every morning you will hear a cheerful song of your bird.
2. You will have to clean up the room where the pet lives every day, as it will litter a lot feathers, various scraps of papers, husks from food, droppings and the like.
3. If your house has a lot of flowers or other plants, then you will need to remove them from the room where the bird will live. The fact is that when you release the parrot, it will probably be nibbling the leaves of plants, will taste the earth. All this can lead to poisoning and helminth infections.
4. Keeping and caring for budgerigars at home will force you to stop using various perfumes, aerosols, fresheners, smoking, painting nails, cooking, etc. in the room where the bird (birds) lives. Budgerigars (both females and males) have a very sensitive respiratory system . Therefore, such aromas can cause serious harm to their health.
5. Morally and financially, be prepared for the fact that parrots may have various disease. You may also find yourself allergic to a feathered friend. All this wastes time and Money because timely medical assistance is indispensable.
6. In no case don't leave the bird alone on the for a long time. If you decide to go somewhere to rest, then the duration of the rest should be no more than two days. Otherwise, you need to find a person in advance who could take care of the pet for some time, and introduce them to each other.

Readiness for such circumstances shows that the acquisition of a budgerigar is for you. Next, let's talk about what are the rules for the care and maintenance of such birds.

What things do you need to have to care for a budgerigar at home?

For a favorable mental and physical development birds need to create comfortable living conditions for her in the house. Nothing should threaten the health of a feathered friend.

Prepare a place for a cage, for the residence of a new pet, you need in advance, before you bring it home. To avoid possible injuries when walking a parrot around the room, remove all objects that can be in any way dangerous to his health: chemical substances, various crayons, markers, broken and small things, wires.

It is imperative to carry out proper care and maintenance of budgerigars at home, you need to buy cells. They must be comfortable and properly equipped. Namely - include a drinking bowl, a feeder, a bath, poles and toys. Special attention when buying, pay attention to the shape of the bird's dwelling. I advise you to buy large copies, rectangular shape. Since in nature these birds often fly from branch to branch, in order to feel comfortable they need a lot of space.

Bird housing should be located in a suitable for favorable mental and physical condition bird spot. Therefore, first of all, think not about the aesthetic beauty of the room, but about the comfort of the parrot.

What conditions are suitable to properly care for budgerigars?

The cage must be at home in quiet place. That is, where no one will interfere with the wavy, where he will not hear loud voices and sounds. Of course, the bathroom, kitchen or hallway are the worst options for its placement. In general, moving is a very stressful situation for birds, they see new places, strangers. Therefore, they need time and rest to adapt.

Climate the room should also be suitable for the comfortable living of the bird. In no case should you put a cage next to windows, with heating devices. Drafts should also be avoided. Necessary temperature regime is approximately - 22 - 25 degrees. Average percentage of recommended humidity in the room - 60% .

If it is warm enough outside, you can put the cage on the balcony. For the health of the parrot, being in the sun and outdoors will be beneficial. However, when keeping budgerigars, one must also take into account that they do not like too much high temperature, heat, heat. Direct rays from the sun should not fall on the bird, so cover half of the cage with a light cloth. Then your feathered pet will be able to hide in its shadow from straight lines. sun rays.

Food

If you properly care for a budgerigar (boy or girl) after purchase (purchase at a pet store or from hands), then he can live up to about 15 years. Balanced feeding (or the necessary diet) is an important component of the competent maintenance and care of parrots. These birds have a high body temperature (about 41 degrees) and, accordingly, have a fast metabolism. In this regard, the pet must eat in the right way in order to replenish its body with all the necessary nutrients in a timely manner.

You can feed a winged friend:

• granular food,
• vegetables,
• seeds,
• cereals,
• fruits.

Sometimes in small amounts you can give:

• pasta,
• bread,
• boiled chicken,
• sweet pastries.

Wherein do not often give sweets! Their use leads to excessive activity.

Do not under any circumstances give salted, pickled and fried foods, avocados, strawberries, papaya, alcoholic dairy, tea and coffee drinks, cocoa, chocolate, meat and fish products.

The parrot should always have clean water in the drinker. Also, in addition to fresh water, he needs vitamins and minerals, which contain large quantities phosphorus and calcium. Therefore, it is recommended to give the bird limestone. Also, the presence of grains of sand and small pebbles in the diet of a parrot helps the work of its digestive tract. Therefore, make sure that your feathered friend can receive these elements that are important for his health.

How many times a day should I feed my budgerigar?

Usually, once a day is enough. During the day, the bird eats a special mixture of grains, the amount of which is approximately two or two and a half teaspoons.
If you notice that this feed rate is not enough, that the bird does not eat up during the day, then there are 2 options:

1. add another 1/2 teaspoon;
2. feed 2 times a day, divided daily allowance in half.

Do not feed your feathered pet only dry food! In nature, they do not feed on dry grain. They should have a varied diet!

Communication

The conditions for keeping, breeding and caring for budgerigars at home provide for communication. Budgerigars need to communicate either with a person, or with relatives. It is better if the bird has the opportunity to spend time with both the owner and other birds. Monotony, boredom, lack or lack of communication lead to health problems. The pet may begin to suffer depression and pluck its feathers.

So every day, talk and play with the bird. Also let go so that she can fly freely in the room.

Before releasing parrot in free flight, check the closedness of doors, refrigerators, windows, washing machines and so on. In addition, it is first necessary to hide or close all objects containing water. For example, bathroom and toilet room. Open aquariums and filled glasses also do not belong in a room where a parrot will fly. The fact is that, perhaps, he wants to swim, choke and drown.

Keep an eye on the parrot so that nothing happens to him. And, of course, if you have other animals at home (cats, dogs, etc.) that are not averse to playing or hunting a bird, remove them from the room with the parrot.

Of course, you will not always be with your feathered pet, so make sure that he has toys. Great happiness for a parrot can be brought by the settlement of another bird to him, which would become him couple. Properly caring for budgerigars means not only looking after them, but also looking after their offspring. That is, to create all the conditions for the birds to take care of their chicks. If you have a male and a female, then they will need a nest box with a nest for chicks.

Cage Care

Clean the cage every week at least two times. To do this, use warm water. It should not contain any substances that you usually use in your home to clean or clean anything. That is, do not use powders, floor liquids, etc. to care for the parrot's home. Make sure you have a cleaning brush. For these purposes, for example, an unnecessary, used toothbrush is perfect.

After you wash all the things that are in the cage, do not forget to wipe them with a dry cloth. The dirtiest part of the bird's dwelling is the pallet. So clean and wipe it thoroughly. When the cleaning is completed, you can place on the bottom of a clean cage new paper or sprinkle with special sand bought at a pet store.

Bird care

Periodically, parrots need sharpen one's claws and beaks. For this purpose, they need objects made of wood. It can be some kind of wooden toy, a small toy tree, a stick, a floor feeder, a wooden drinker, etc. The owners must take care in advance that their birds can easily satisfy the need for grinding claws and beak.

Parrots also have seasonal molt. Useful information about these difficult periods in the life of feathered friends and about.

Monitor your pet's behavior. If he behaves differently than before, and you do not know the reasons for this behavior, seek help from a veterinarian. This should be done as soon as possible - in the presence of the first suspicion of the disease.

Monitor the condition of bird droppings. Liquid droppings for a long time may indicate that the parrot is sick.

I hope that this article helped you find everything you were interested in about the life, care and maintenance of budgerigars at home. And now you know what all owners of these winged pets need to know.

I also post below interesting video on this topic. I highly recommend watching it.

Please tell us in the comments how you take care of your budgerigar?

Budgerigar belongs to the parrot species and is the only representative of wavy birds. When purchasing a budgerigar, for starters, you should decide on the purpose of his stay in the house. It can simply act as a beloved pet that will become a great friend, or the purpose of acquiring it may be to further breed these birds.

It is on this criterion that the care for the budgerigar.

Rules for caring for a budgerigar, how to choose a feathered friend

Most people who are going to buy themselves budgerigar, absolutely do not know what to look for before buying and how to keep your pet in the future. In order for a feathered friend to grow up healthy and cheerful, one should dwell on this issue in more detail.

How to choose a budgerigar?

Worth the maximum seriousness deal with this issue. It is best to purchase a budgerigar from a specialized breeder rather than from a bird market. This will provide an opportunity to inspect the place where the budgerigars live. Moreover, in such a place, the risk of acquiring a sick bird is much less than in the market.

The bird you like should be visually inspected. A healthy individual is active with clear eyes, the plumage is glossy and does not bulge in different directions. Each paw should have 4 toes. Two of them in front of the foot, two behind. A sick budgerigar, as a rule, sits motionless, he is not interested in what is happening around him, the plumage is fluffy, and the area around the cloaca may be smeared with liquid feces.

Optimal age for the acquisition of poultry is considered a period of 2 to 4 months. It is during this period that budgerigars quickly get used to the person and the place in which the bird will live, which will greatly simplify the process of further maintenance.

Age determination

In order to avoid deception on the part of the seller about the age of the bird, you should be able to independently determine how old the budgerigar is. For this, there are certain signs:

It should be noted that these criteria are not suitable for colorful birds, the entire color of which is always white or yellow. In such individuals, the eyes are always black, and the beak is light.

Determining the sex of a budgerigar

You can distinguish parrots by gender by the color of the wax. While the birds are still young, both sexes have a light purple cere. At 4 months, the area above the beak in males acquires Blue colour, and in females this part of the beak becomes beige. But after puberty, and this is the age of 9 months, in females, the cere begins to darken down to brown.

Budgerigar care and maintenance, choice of housing for budgerigars

For prosperous keeping a budgerigar at home, he needs not only the availability of high-quality food, but also correct placement cells.

How to choose the cell location?

The best place where the cage will be located is the bright part of the room. It is not recommended to install a cage on the windowsill, since budgerigars are susceptible to drafts. However, for budgerigars, the presence of daylight is vital: in summer time at least 12 hours a year winter period from 10 o'clock. That is why in the cold seasons, when the daylight hours are quite short, the owners should additionally illuminate the cage. In order for a pet to quickly get used to its owner, it is necessary to place the cage at the level of human growth.

Cell selection

In order to correctly select a cell, you need to pay attention to the following criteria:

Cage Equipment

In order for the parrots to feel comfortable in their home, it is necessary to put at least two perches of different diameters, drinkers, feeders and various toys.

All perches should be positioned in such a way that the parrot can easily fly from one to another.

drinkers must be made of glass or porcelain. In such drinkers, the water stays fresh much longer. Every day the drinkers must be washed in hot water. For cleaning, you can use soda, which then needs to be thoroughly washed off and wiped with a dry cloth.

Should be a minimum two. One will contain dry food, the second fruit and vegetables.

Especially in hot summer days bath should be placed in the cage. The water in the bath should not be too cold or hot. As soon as the bird has freshened up in the bath, it should be removed from the cage.

If only one parrot lives in the cage, then a small mirror should be placed in the upper part of the cage. It will help the budgerigar not to feel lonely.

Budgerigar: care, maintenance and diet

The diet of these birds includes a large number of various fruits, vegetables and dressings.

Cereals mixtures consist of oats, flax and millet. It is best to purchase such a mixture in a sealed package, on the surface of which there is a transparent area. This will help to visually assess the quality of the purchased product.

Parrots get vitamins mainly from fruits, vegetables and various berries. They are very fond of nibbling carrots, cabbage leaves and cucumbers. As for fruits, apples, oranges and peaches are ideal. The berries included in the diet of the budgerigar are blackberries and raspberries. However, parrots will not refuse strawberries either.

In order for parrots to grow up active and shine with health, they should be given mineral top dressing. Chalk or sand can be used as organic top dressing. These substances are filled with calcium, which is necessary for the body of birds.

The first days after acquisition, the bird should be kept separately from other birds, if any.

A change of scenery can create stressful situation for the bird. Therefore, the main rule for caring for a pet is to protect it from external irritating factors. These factors include loud noises. In no case should you raise your voice to a parrot. When talking to him, you should make your voice as gentle as possible. No need to try to forcefully take your pet into your hands. This will only aggravate the situation, and the adaptation process will be delayed for long time. But, as soon as this barrier is overcome, you can begin to teach your bird to talk.

For a normal life and good health? How to properly care for this bird?

Budgerigars need Fresh air, clean cage, good quality food and light. At the same time, when choosing a place in an apartment to install a cage, it is worth considering that parrots are afraid of drafts and do not tolerate stuffiness. You need to place the cage at the level of human growth, away from heating devices, a computer and a TV. The light day of a parrot should be 15-16 hours, which means that at night they need to turn on the light. Optimum temperature air for budgerigars is 18-20C.

The feathered cage should always be clean. General cleaning is done once a month. During this cleaning, the cage is thoroughly cleaned of all dirt and washed. For disinfection, the cage must be washed with soapy water, then rinsed well in clean water and rinse with a decoction of chamomile. The usual cleaning of the cage is done once a week, unless there is any reason to do it more often. The feeder and drinker must be kept clean and washed daily with detergent.

Since all birds have a fairly fast metabolism, even a short fast can lead to the death of a bird. That's why proper feeding plays a very important role in their care. Considering that both hunger and overeating are dangerous for parrots, you need to give them enough food so that they eat up, but at the same time they do not choose tidbits from what they receive, but eat everything. Over time, you will be able to know quite well the amount of food your pet needs and stick to this norm.

The main food for parrots is a grain mixture. You can buy this mixture at any pet store. However, this is not enough to fully provide the bird's body with everything necessary. You have to give more mineral feed, and additional food in the form of cereals, boiled eggs, white bread, cottage cheese.

Cottage cheese is given to parrots in a dry form; egg finely chopped and mixed with semolina or crushed crackers, fresh carrots are rubbed on a fine grater, and also mixed with semolina.

Greens play an important role in the nutrition of parrots - this is a source of vitamins and minerals. Of all the available greens, parrots especially prefer apples, lettuce, dandelion leaves and cabbage. At the same time, in no case should parrots be given parsley - for them it is poison. It is necessary to constantly monitor the purity of the water in the drinking bowl, it must be changed every day.

Like all birds, parrots are subject to molting. The first molt in budgerigars occurs at the age of 4-6 months. If the molting is too intense, it is necessary to feed the parrot with eggshells, canary seed, give more greenery - all this contributes to more rapid growth plumage. Soda baths will also help in this case. To do this, a teaspoon of soda is diluted in a liter of water and the bird is carefully immersed in water, while trying not to wet her head.

Budgerigars love to bathe, so you can put a bath in the cage, or sometimes give the birds the opportunity to rummage through the wet grass, previously placed in a spacious bowl.

Parrots are always pecking at something. To meet this need, twigs must be placed in the cage deciduous trees. In addition, solid food and twigs help the parrot wear down its rapidly growing beak. And to improve digestion, there should always be clean sand in the cage (it is sieved and changed daily).

It is necessary to select the perches in the cage correctly and in size. If the perch for the parrot is too thin or, conversely, too thick, this contributes to the rapid growth of too long nails which will need to be shortened. For this, it is better to purchase special tweezers in advance.