Keely's Keets™

Make sure your budgie has clean food and water throughout the day. Budgies can be offered a variety of foods. Special care must be taken to ensure that your budgies get a well balanced diet, as nutritional deficiencies are a common cause of illness and death.

Budgie mix can be purchased at the pet store and is a staple diet containing a mixture of millet, oat groat, and canary seeds. The seed we use is VOLKMAN'S AVIAN SCIENCE PARAKEET SUPER. The diet should also include a daily offering of fruits or vegetables and they should be thoroughly washed before you give it to your bird(s). The pet store has an assortment of seed bells and fruit sticks; all are fine as treats, but all this stuff is a little pricey and is not required for good health. Really, anything that you eat yourself, with the exceptions of chocolate, avocado, caffeine, and alcohol can be offered to budgies. You can offer your budgies: peas, bell peppers, lettuce, spinach, broccoli, parsley, sweet potatoes, carrots (cooked or raw, including tops), corn, apples, pears, grapes, bananas, peaches, melons, berries, cherries, and apricots. Cooked rice, biscuits, bread, and cereals are fine for budgies and make a great snack.

You can offer your budgie new foods by cutting the foods into different shapes, weaving it into the cage bars, putting it on top of the current food, or hanging it from the roof of the cage. Some budgies will only eat grated carrots and not diced ones and other budgies like to roll in wet salad greens. Remove wet food before it spoils because it could make your budgie very sick. Sometimes it takes a while before a budgie will try a new food, but if they regularly receive fruits and vegetables, they are usually quite accepting of a new food; if not, try again later. It's important for budgies to have calcium in their diet. Budgie owners should provide their bird with calcium by placing a piece of cuttlebone (the bone of the cuttlefish) in their cages and mineral/iodine blocks.

Note: Budgies shell the seeds when they eat. Therefore what may look like a container with food might be a container full of shells (hulls), don't be fooled and let your budgies starve. Never put new seed on top of old seed/hulls; discard the old food and shells first. Keep it clean because a dirty feed container is a breeding ground for bacteria. Remember to change the drinking water regularly since food will get into it or your budgie might decide to take a bath in it as well. You can sprinkle powdered vitamins over the seed or fresh food. Do not put vitamins in the water unless you are changing the water at least once a day.

General Care: Now that you have fed your budgie(s) you now have the by-products of that food. Meaning, it's cleaning time! The flooring choices for your birds' cages are almost endless. You can have nothing but the grate and the tray, pine shavings, paper, and many forms of each. You will have to decide what type of flooring you and your bird like best. We at Keely's Keets use a few layers of newsprint (plain paper with no ink) and peel off the top layers, about every other day. Food cups can be rinsed in soapy water everyday for the fresh food and when the seed cups need refilling. Perches and toys should be washed in soap and water when there is a build up of droppings/food. You can also clean them off with a product called 'Poop Off' or in white vinegar. Don't forget to wipe off the cage bars, they get soiled too.

Baths: Provide a container of water about 6 to 8 inches in diameter, with a water depth no deeper than 1 inch. Keep the bath clean because the bird will drink from it as well.

Water Bottles: keep a close eye on the water, make sure it's not gunky; you will have to clean it out reguarly. If you have a similarly styled water bottle to what we use, there will be a removeble washer under the cap and a floating turtle inside the bottle. Make sure you remove the washer and if the turtle can come out, take it out, then clean them out in hot soapy water, including the bottle. If you can, use a bottle brush to clean out anything caked on the inside of the bottle. Once the bottle and it's accessories are all clean and soapy you will need to wash off all the soap. The bottles may take a bit to get all the soap out. Once everything is washed off we recommend putting a tsp. of apple cider vinegar into every 16 ounces of water. The apple cider vinegar will help keep the water clean and it helps the birds' digestive track.

Number of Budgies: In the wild, budgies live in large groups and are very social. Therefore they need the company of other birds. It is best to keep budgies in pairs. However, if you only want one bird, then you have to become that bird's constant companion. By giving your budgie lots of attention, talking to it, and playing with the bird.

Sleep: A budgie needs 12-14 hours of sleep. Keep the bird in a quiet place away from TVs or radios. If necessary, cover the cage with a cloth to relax the budgie or keep out cold drafts. If you cover your cage, leave the cage partially open so that the budgie can see out to prevent night fright. Make sure the cloth does not have a strong smell of detergent since it may cause the bird to have difficulty breathing. Cover the cage around the same time every night so that your budgie can develop a routine sleeping time.

Exercise: Budgies need exercise everyday, especially if they live in small cages. They need to stretch their wings and fly around. Budgies that live in small cages should be allowed out of the cage for some exercise. Before you let your budgie out, you must make certain the room is clear of hazards. Make sure all doors, windows, and other escape routes are closed. Make sure ceiling fans or any other fan is turned off. Open flames, mirrors, transparent glass windows, doors, or cats and dogs; all can make your budgie a dead bird. You must also be aware of drinking glasses or any containers with liquid. You certainly don't want your budgie to drink something poisonous or take swimming lessons.

Cage Size: The general rule is that bigger is better. The space between the bars is also quite important. If they are too wide, the bird will get out. The budgie may also get his head or body stuck if it tries to squeeze through the bars. To prevent this from happening, make sure that the spaces between the bars are no wider than 1/2 inch.

New and Used Cages: Whether you just bought a brand new cage or an used cage there is some cleaning that needs to be done brfore introducing bird(s). New cages need the manufacturing oils and dust washed off. Running the new cage under hot water after a spary down of white vinegar, will be more than enough to clean new cages. Used cages need a little more work and care since they can carry diease and mites. Used cages need to be emptied of any attatchments, perches, and toys. The cage can then be rinsed off, sprayed down with some bleach, and then let sit for at least 5 minutes before the cages is thoroughly rinsed off with clean water. The metal or plastic accessories should be put into a solution of bleach water, soaked for a few minutes, then rinsed off and let to dry. If the used cage comes with wooden or rope perches/toys, consider throwing them away as they are hard to clean and often fall apart when washed. When cleaning the used cage disassimble it as much as possible, remove trays and grates. Pay close attention to joints, intersections of wire, and corners as these can hide Red Mites and other bugs. Once all clean, if you can, let it air dry. If you don't have the time to wait for the cage to dry, make sure it is dry and does not have any smell of bleach on the cage.

Quarantining is probably one of the most misunderstood necessities of owning birds. When one is quarantining a bird or birds, it is to protect the old flock as well as the new. Each group of birds live in their own unique environment, and have built up immunities to the germs (good and bad) that they are exposed to daily. Regardless of where a new bird is purchased from, how impeccable the husbandry, or the reputation of the seller, quarantine should be regarded as a very necessary practice.

The new bird is crated and taken from its ecosystem and placed in a totally new environment with a multitude of germs (good and bad) that it has never been exposed to. During this move to the new location some stress will be experienced. This stress can be very minor or it can be a major upset, depending on the nature of the bird, the difference in environment, and how the bird reacts to it. During this time of stress, the bird's immune system may become suppressed, and the bird may not be in as good a physical shape as when it left it's home. If the bird is not quarantined, it will be bombarded by millions of new germs and the immune system will need to kick in and respond to all these new germs (good and bad). With a compromised immune system the bird will not be able to surmount a good response and may indeed fall victim to a germ that normally would not be pathogenic (disease causing) in this bird in a different situation.

The new bird now becomes ill and starts shedding vast amounts of this now (new to him) pathogenic germ, and also starts shedding germs in vast amounts that the bird brought with him from his old environment. We now have millions of pathogens in the environment that the resident birds are being exposed to. Some are new germs and some are old germs that they already had immunities to, but the shear volume is more than they can handle. Now we have old and new birds getting sick and of course one believes this disease came with the newest arrival.

Obviously, if any of the birds involved had an existing pathogenic disease, the consequences would be much worse. Had this arrival been quarantined properly, his stress level would not have been so great and his immune response would have been able to build up to the smaller amounts of germs it was exposed to. After a gradual time of small exposures, the immune system can build immunities at a much more normal pace and not become compromised. This gradual transition into a new environment proves beneficial and necessary to all the birds involved. Germs don't read one-way signs.

How to quarantine: Keep them apart (separate). Most people will be taking their new budgie(s) home after buying them from a breeder or pet store. If you have other birds, immediately take the new bird to another room as far away as possible from your other bird. Be sure to wash hands after touching the new bird and before interacting with the other bird. During this time, look out for any signs of illness, such as sudden changes in behavior, fluffed up feathers, difficulty breathing, glassy eyes, poor reaction to stimuli, submissiveness, drinking more than usual, loss of appetite, and weight loss. If you see any of these signs, it is time to see the vet.

Many people have different time lines for how long this separation should last, but 30 days is the average and is most commonly used for birds entering the United States from overseas. This separation time will also give you an opportunity to get to know and bond with your new bird before introducing them. Once the period of quarantine is over, it is recommended by most to move the cages of each bird close together so they can have a "getting to know you" time before putting them in the same cage, if that is your desire. You can also let both birds out of their cages together to see how they interact with one another. Most birds will enjoy the new company and readily accept a new cage mate; but be aware that some birds will resent a new cage mate and possibly become very territorial, in which case, they may have to remain in separate cages.