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 premature death.

Budgie mixed seeds can be purchased at a pet store and are a staple of the budgie diet, usually containing a mixture of white millet, oat groat, and canary seeds. The seed we use is VOLKMAN'S AVIAN SCIENCE PARAKEET SUPER. The parakeets diet should also include a daily offering of fruits and 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. We say, either chop up the veggies or fruits into budgie bite sizes (about the size of a grain of rice) or hang it above or next to a perch. Remove fresh food before it spoils, because it could make your budgie 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 accepting of a new food; if not, try again later. Also know that budgies have different palate, some birds like certain foods and others don't. 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 like using a few layers of newsprint (plain paper with no ink) and peeling off the top layers, about every other day. However, right now we just use the trays and grate, with newspaper on the trays for easier cleaning. 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 removable 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.

Whether you are a first time bird owner or a seasoned pro, bringing in new bird(s) can have it's ups and downs. Every bird reacts differently to the change in environment of being adopted. Some birds take the change fairly well, are moving around and getting settled in shortly after being placed in their new home. Other birds take the whole transistion poorly, they can be anything from completely still and listless to frantic and afraid. No matter how tame or friendly the bird(s) are, expect and assume them to be scared for at least the first few minutes. Usually you want to give your bird at least 15 minutes to get comfortable in the cage before trying to interact with them. The best advise is the watch the birds and play off of them - how they react to you and the sistuation. Some birds will start stepping up right away, within two days, a week, and others will need to be handled slowly and allowed to warm up. Basically, if the bird you get is very attentive and alert once home and settled in the cage you may start the bonding process. If the bird is scared or sleeping wait until the next day.

Whether you pickup the cage and accessories with the bird or before, the best thing to do is have the cage all put together before letting the bird(s) out of thier travel boxes. Setting the food, water, toys and such up before letting the bird(s) out, is safer as you won't freak the bird(s) out fiddling with accessory placement, or risk letting them out of the cage when they are frightened. Once home and the cage is ready, it's time to take the bird(s) out. Place the box inside the cage and open the box up INSIDE and leave it open. Most birds may fly or run out right away but others may venture out after a few minutes or even over night. No need to rush. If your cage door is not large enough to put the box through, loosen the box opening, hold the door of the cage open, and in a smooth motion open the box all the way and place it in front of the cage door. Allow the bird(s) to come out on his own, if he does not come out after a while you can gently and slowly tilt the box upwards to slid the bird out.

Have their seed, fresh food, water in a comfortable place, near a stable perch, with the millet hung up. In a new environment budgies are more secretive about what they do. So when they want food/water they will eat/drink it when you are not around, or looking their way. And they will do so very fast, flutter down grab a seed, a drop of water, then fly/climb back up to their favorite perch. Don't be too concerned about you not seeing them eat or drink, they are very sneaky about it, as long as you find some hulls around. Our birds at Keely's Keets' Aviary are used to drinking out of water bottles, however, the very young birds or birds from another source may not be. So if you are using a water bottle and are worried, have the water bottle and an open water container available for the first few days. Always make sure the water bottle is full and dripping (Slowly, or when tapped, not leaking!).

A transition into a new environment makes most birds frightened and insecure. Every sight and sounds is new and unfamiliar so the birds might flutter around not sure where to land that is safe. Most birds will calm down after a few minutes to an hour after being introduced into their new home. The best thing for you to do is give the new parakeet some space, but everytime you go by or want to hang-out, move slowly and talk gently to your new family member. Find a routine and try to keep things simple at first. Move on with training as you see the bird react to you. If the budgie is freaking-out too much, thrashing around and such, put a cover over half or three-quarters of the cage and try to keep loud noises down for while. The budige will be able to retreat to the safety of the darkened side of the cage and then when it feels comfortable, it can peer out the open side of the cage. They should settle down comfortablely shortly, then the training/bonding can begin.

If your bird is frightened when you try to get near him/her, they may fly away franticlly, or start squaking and trying to bite. (Most parakeets do not go out of their way to bite and will only bite if grabbed, otherwise they just try to run away.) To get over this you have to build trust, show the bird that you are just another gentle giant, and not the monster from the abyss. Start by sitting near the cage and talking, or singing to the bird. Always move smoothly and slowly, never jerk fast or come from behind the bird. Get closer as the bird allows you. When you change the food and water try to do it in the same concise manner and show the bird your presence brings fresh food. Before long you will be able to approach the bird without him/her flying away or getting upset.

Asuming the bird allows your out-streched finger to come within a few inches of itself, without moving/flying away or squaking and biting, you are ready to begin getting the bird on your finger. Some suggest to use a perch to get the bird to step up on first, then as the bird becomes more comfortable, you move on to using your finger as the stepping up device. This is a good way to teach step up to a bird that is wild or extreamly scared. But if the bird is more outgoing or had been hand fed, you can use your finger to start with instead of the perch, play it by ear. Also the perch-to-finger training may help to start with if you are unsure of the bird or are scared of being bit. You can't be afraid of the bird and still be able to train them.

You will want to move slowly and start by trying to get the bird to eat millet from your hand. Use a 3-4 inch piece of spray millet, extend it out and hold it steady about a half inch from the bird. Get the parakeet used to eating the millet from your hand, and as he/she does, shorten the length of the millet until the bird is eating millet directly from your hand. After you are able to feed the parakeet millet from short pieces of millet or directly from your hand, and you can come close to the bird with an extended finger, you can move on to the next step. Try placing your finger under the birds chest above the feet, gently press up and say your step up comand, eg. 'up', 'step up', 'get on finger', etc. Whatever command you want to use to tell the bird to step up, just make it short and sweet.don't chase If the bird is still moving away when you try to get that close, pull back, and just try to touch the birds toes or beak. Don't chase the bird, if they move away allow them to, wait a beat, then come to them again or allow the bird to come to you, just don't keep following them. When the bird does let you touch it's beak or toes, give him a millet reward. After your bird is used to being touched try the step up command again. If the bird is hesitent and only places one foot on your finger, reward that at first to show the bird you mean well. You can also try to lure the bird into your finger with millet. Before long you will have the bird stepping up on command.

Some suggest to use a clicker or to make a specific noise with your mouth, usually single note, every time the bird accomplishes a task. So when the bird steps up, they receive a clicking noise and a bit of millet as reward. Then as time goes on, you can wean the bird off the treats and use the noise to show they did good instead, with only the occasionally treat.

When training your bird intensely, only work with him/her for 5-15 minutes. Otherwise the bird and you may get frustrated and that will hinder the bonding process for both the bird and you. You can work with the bird multiple times in a day, just let the bird rest for a while in between, enough time to get a nap, lunch, and some play time. Try your hardest to work with your parakeet at least once a day, every day. It's okay if you miss a day or two, but if you miss 3-4 days or weeks at a time, your bird will forget you and your training steps. If you do miss training for a long time, just start back slowly and see how your bird reacts, pretend that you are 2-3 steps behind from where you were when you left off.

You want to train your parakeet somewhere bird safe and quite. The use of a playstand or another cage may help. If you have other birds, take out one at a time to do spefic training with each bird. Later you can bring all your birds out together for play time, but when teaching commands/tricks it is better for there to be few distractions. Whether your birds can fly or not, when you take them out to train or play they need to be somewhere safe. No large open bodies of water, cover large mirrors and windows, make sure the doors are closed to the outside world. Other animals should be kept away, posionous plants should not be around, and most importantly, no large/ceiling fans on! Kitchens are not very safe for untrained parakeets. For birds that still need to learn to step up on command, smaller easy to control rooms are the better. You can move the cage into your training room if where you usually keep the bird is not an easy training place. If the bird is too skiddish, you can just train him/her in their cage until you and the bird are comfortable working out of the cage. Try to keep distraction for the bird and you away during training, it will go smoother. One more thing, even birds that have clipped wings can get into tons of trouble and are quite fast.

If you have bonded with your bird and suddenly it starts biting and won't cooperate, you must start over. Start at the beginning as if the bird was wild and had never been tame. Probably something or someone accidently scared/hurt the bird, (over training, yelling/hurting bird becasue they bite) long periods of neglect can also turn your bird against you. Unlike dogs who forgive and forget easily, budgies can and will hold grudges. The budgie will remember (for example) that the day before yesterday during a training session, you yelled at him because he did not do what you wanted him to do, so he is going to be mad at you and bite back. Same as if someone accidently yanked out a tail feather during play, or forced him to do something he did not want to do over and over during 'playtime'. When this happens, even without cause, give the bird a little space and then slowly start traning again like he was never handled before. Use millet and soothing words to say you love him and start building that trust again.

To bond with and train two or more budgies, take one out at a time to a separate safe room, then switch birds and do the same. Also you can simply concentrate on working with one bird at a time while both birds are inside the cage. This will work especially if you can't pull the birds out easily for individual time, they won't step up or they run away. If you have a bird that is not responding to your efforts to bond in the cage, you may have to 'grab' the bird carefully and take it to your training room where you can begin the training process. To avoid any fearful bites, you can use a glove or soft rag to carefully grab the bird, but be extremely careful not to squeeze the chest area too hard to prevent injury. Once the fear factor is gone and you have bonded with your bird, hand protection should no longer be needed. It may be a little invasive, but the birds will become accomstomed to the event of being caught, brought to the same place, and getting played with while receiving treats. Soon they will not bite and will come willingly. The process of catching the bird for training will also make moving the birds around, getting them back into thier cage in an emergency, and when they need their wings or nails trimmed easier, as they will be used to the whole process. As long as you are careful and the birds do not get hurt during the catching process, it can work. Once you do get the birds stepping up, following the above steps, you can then move on to working individually for more precise training. Before you know it, you will have one bird on one shoulder and the other bird on the other shoulder. Then there will be times when you will let both out to play and both will spend time with you.

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. However, we prefer pairs of parakeets in all situations.

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 any other birds. 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.