My feathered friend (Budgie)

Member Name: jacquelina

Product:	Budgie
Date:	22/02/02 (1849 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: cheep

Disadvantages: squawk!

One summers morning, when I was a little girl of about 12 years old, I was drying my hair in the kitchen before school. Suddenly, from in the garage next door, could be heard some sort of commotion. Much fluttering and flapping and clattering could be heard through the ajoining door, followed by an unusual squawking like nothing I had ever heard before.

Intrigued, and just a little bit frightened, I sent Dad in to check it out. And what was causing this racket I hear you cry? That's right - a little yellow Budgerigar.

What to do what to do? Coldly shoo it out of the garage, back into the unfamiliar and unforgiving landscapes of Northumberland - it's chances of survival would surely be pretty slim? The only other option was to keep it.

A make-shift cage was swiftly constructed from an old washing basket and a few twigs (ah, the imagination of youth), and Dad was dispatched to local pet-store to buy just whatever it is that Budgies eat.
To my dismay, I was ordered to ask the Headmaster to ask the whole school in assembly that morning if anyone had lost a pet budgie.

After assembly, a small boy approached me, eyes shining with excitement and anticipation. "Is it yellow?" "Does it sound like this?" "Does it have a small green stripe under it's chin?" (Do budgies even have chins). Well of course the answer to these questions was yes, but I'd be b*d if I was going to admit that to him!! If he let the poor thing escape then he couldn't possible be a deserving owner - unlike me you understand.

A week later, and Minstrel(RIP) was all settled in his new pad - a funky little cage sat comfortably in the corner of the sitting room - at night we covered it up with a tropical looking sheet to make him feel at home - apparently Budgies in there natural habitat seek cover under forest canopy at night.

He (or she? I dont think we ever found that out) could be a noisy little sod
, especially in the morning when waking up when he'd let out this almighty barrage of shrieks - probably imagining he was flinging through a rainforest and not hopping from perch to perch in a little cage, anyway.. normally, he was an angelic quiet little thing, letting out the occasional 'peep' or 'chirp' which was quite sweet really.

You can't keep a budgie in a cage all the time - it's cruel and they'll just wither away and die. They need to be let out to stretch their wings and have a bit of a flutter. Just make sure all the windows are closed!! Minstrel used to swoop up to the top of the curtains where he liked to sit and observe the mere mortals below for a while. Yes, they will poo everywhere, but budgie poo's are tiny (about the same size and consistency of a small rice grain) and don't take much clearing up - just scoop into a piece of damp kitchen towel. Besides, they just seemed to blend in with our curtains at the time (yes they were rather garish).

Remember, budgies come from tropical climes, so when letting your budgie out, it would really thank you (if it was a talking budgie) for having a few plants dotted around. Old Minstrel used to love our cheese plant, even if he did peck holes in the leaves. Also, I think it's nice to let your bird have a bit of fresh air - we used to sit Minstrels cage in the garden when the weather was fine - I think he enjoyed the sound of the other birds too. Just dont leave your wee budg unattended if there's any pesky neighbourhood cats sneaking around. Sometimes we'd also put the cage out if there was a light shower, which he didn't seem to mind at all.

So what about general care? Get a decent sized cage with a removable tray in the bottom - line this with newspaper and change the lining regularly - preferably daily as it gets covered in poo and old seeds. Most cages come with a water dispenser attached that your bird can use himself - thi
s should be refilled with fresh water regularly too. It's also a good idea to attach a cuttlefish bone (available in pet shops or washed up on your local beach) to the cage so your bird can sharpen his beak (unless he's prone to biting you). Budgies eat seeds - we used to feed ours Trill. They also like to scuffle around in the seed tray and get seeds everywhere - you will probably find yourself getting very well acquainted with your hoover in the months after getting one of these tinkers.. It's also nice to have a couple of perches in the cage at different levels for your bird to hop around on, and maybe some sort of toy - Minstrel was found of a round hoopy thing with a bell attached - he just liked to rattle it!

Once our budgie got an infection - I think it was caused by some sort of mite, and is quite common. It caused his beak and the skin around his eyes to become all scaly. We took him to the vet who gave us some ointment that we had to dab on with a cotton bud several times a day. It soon cleared up. Unfortunately, at the vet, Minstrel seemed to undergo some sort of unseen personality transplant. Budgies have toenails that grow and need to be clipped, and the vet offered to do this, to which we agreed. Before the toenail clipping, Minstrel was tame as anything. He'd walk all over you, sit on your head, hop onto your finger at the drop of a hat and let you walk around with him. After the vet, this happy chappy was gone forever :( Minstrel became stroppy and aggressive if you tried to handle him - I even got pecked a couple of times. I couldn't understand what had happened and still don't. Eventually, he became slightly tamer, and would sit on my finger while I lifted him out of the cage, but he never ever wanted to play again.


A year or so later, I noticed Minstrel was even less himself than normal. He became very withdrawn and quiet, and stopped moving around. When he did, he would wobble and even fell over
a couple of times. I knew he was going to die. I lifted him out the cage and placed him gently in a shoebox filled with cotton wool, to make his last few hours more comfortable. Some green stuff came out of his ear. Then he went all stiff. We buried him in the garden.

If you are thinking of buying a budgie, remember that it can be as long term a commitment as buying a cat or dog (though admittedly they dont require as much effort). Budgies can live to be 10-15 years old, so I guess Minstrel was quite old when we he flew into our garage - either that or he had some sort of brain haemorraghe or something. I would say that a budgie is a nice pet for a child, as they are easy to look after and can be quite fun, but I also think a budgie would be a nice companion for anyone. They also look nice, and come in a wide variety of colours (as well as personalities), like pink, purple and orange as well as yellow and green (I may have lied about the orange). I'm still not sure I like the idea of keeping birds in cages, but that's a whole other issue. If you're worried about your budg being lonely when you're not around - buy two!

As for me, well we wouldn't have ever got a budgie if it hadn't been by accident, and I dont think I'd get one again, unless I had kids who really wanted one. Still, I'm glad I had the experience of Minstrel. Maybe a parrot.

PS I just told my brother I was writing this op. He said he's going to get a couple of them when he moves into his new flat because they are 'splendid'. So there.

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