Tell me about budgies

[yellowDahlia]

Have posted in Pets but posting here too for more traffic! So both DDs (11 and 8) have put pets on their Christmas lists. A kitten for one, gerbils for the other. Don't worry, I am NOT about to get them pets for Christmas but am taking it as a message that they are increasingly keen for a house pet (as am I ).

I would jump at the chance of a cat but DH is very not keen. Small furries don't really do it for me and tend to smell I think? Am reading up on budgies as we already have hens so we are familiar with bird care in general. I like the idea that they can be quite tame and affectionate and interactive in a way our chickens are not. They seem easy to look after so DDs could help and would enjoy handling and playing with them I think.

BUT - what about the poo? If you have to let them out daily does that mean there's poo landing everywhere? And if so, is it infrequent? Or so small and insignificant that it's not bothersome - OR do you just have to be the sort of person who doesn't really care about having bird poo on the furniture?! I'm not especially houseproud but don't love the idea of finding poo next to my dinner.

Also - are they very noisy? Is there constant chatter and if so, is it something you just get used to having in the background? Again, I don't think it would bother me too much unless it was likely to be quite intrusive.

The DDs and I are so keen for an indoor pet and I think this would be a great option for us - so I need to be armed with the facts before I attempt to persuade DH

Aviator! What a charming little fella you had there 😍. I'm getting tempted myself.

Is the food expensive. Will they fly to the children...

Also do they get fleas and worms

I had a budgie for a few years and I maintain he was the best pet we have ever had. We talked to him all the time and he picked up a lot of this and spoke a lot. He came out of his cage every evening for a few hours- he would sit on my finger while I gently tickled his neck, we would play football with a little cat ball, we taught him tricks- he occasionally pooed while out but the are tiny, don’t smell and easy to pick up.
We cleaned him out every couple of days- Undid the tray, used an old peg to flick the poo off the sandpaper and replaced it. Twice a week he had new sandpaper. Daily just changed his water, blew the husks off his seed and topped it up. He hated the bath we gave him so once a week we used to use a atomiser and sprayed him- he loved that!
In the summer we took the cage outside and he used to sit and talk to the birds in the sky!
They do talk all the time but it becomes background and you don’t notice it- ours used to squark really loudly at dead on 10pm because he wanted his cover out over him so he could go to sleep. We used on old curtain as a cage cover as it was thin and breathable.
I really think I need to get another one!!

Flight birds in cages upset me. I would love to be able to fly. Chickens don't count, they are not really capable of soaring.

We have two, the shop told me they’d be just as friendly, but one is tame and one still skittish after 13 months.

They’ll hop onto our fingers and they chatter all day but they aren’t nearly as tame S the single budgie I had as a child.

They regurgitate seeds to "feed" mirrors. They destroy books and houseplants.

We had the most lovely budgie. I don't like cages so he had a cage open during the day and closed with blanket over at night.

He talked a lot and was so loving. They are very bright happy little things.

He spent his day either on my mixer tap angled over the middle sink (if he pooed it was into the sink that I bleached at night), or on the top of his cage. He would happily go off to hunt for eggshells if I was cooking.

We can't have budgies again as we've moved house and it's just not safe to have one free flying here.

We had a budgie that used to talk and would land on our shoulders, put his beak up to our faces and make a 'mwah' sound as though he was kissing us! Yes he was noisy but it just kind of became background noise in the end and when he died the house was eerily quiet. He was so friendly and quickly and easily learned loads of phrases. He'd land on your shoulder and go to sleep. He'd 'kiss' the mirror. He was ace!

He was hardly ever in his cage apart from feeding and drinking and did poo on the curtains (his favourite perch was the curtain rail!) and chewed the wallpaper but I don't remember there being much mess (though this was a good 20 years ago!)

Aah these budgie stories are definitely making me think we should consider one (or two). They do sound lovely! Wish I knew someone with budgies though so I could check them out in person - it's been ages since I've seen any.

If you like listening to machine gunning 'ackackackack' noises,
persistent talking, whistling, screeching and screaming that competes for the loudest volume when you eventually have to turn up the TV/radio, or just want to have a conversation, go ahead.

Our first bird was inherited after the death of a relative, and we bought a second bird as we were advised (by a knowledgeable person) the screeching from ours was because he wanted a 'friend', (the relative used to frequently sit and talk to him for hours on end as she was unwell, so obviously he was used to a lot of attention we couldn't always give him).

The original bird got louder, then the second bird eventually started up. We had to move the cage to a different room when we wanted to watch TV/a film because of the constant noise we had cockatiels years ago, and they were nowhere near as bad as the fecking budgies. That being said the feathers/mess issue never bothered me as it was quick and easy to vacuum or wipe up.

I'm not trying to sway your choice either way, but from experience it's not always a laugh a minute, what may be funny or endearing can rapidly wear thin when the noise levels get too much, and no, covering them with a blanket doesn't always work either.

PPs have said that the birds become like background noise, in our case it wasn't, it was full on all day, with breaks of up to 15 minutes at not very regular intervals before the screeching and 'acking' would start up again.

Despite warnings, MIL took them after we'd had them around 18m as she didn't want us rehoming them to a friend who had a large heated aviary....and they're still as noisy now and driving them all mad.

You may end up with quieter ones, or you may not, it depends. Our household is in no way loud so the reason for the excess noise wasn't to be heard in that respect, they were just noisy sods.

Its worth having a proper think before committing yourselves, just don't rush into it

Thanks bedhead it's definitely worth knowing the potential bad points as well as the good.

I've been pondering this afternoon, after something a PP said - I think one of my reservations about a small pet of any kind is that you might end up regretting it as the cons might outweigh the pros in reality. But with a cat or dog, even though there are compromises, I reckon most people would not go back, as owning a cat/dog is ultimately more rewarding and worth the hassle.

Not 100% true for everyone of course but something I realised might be my own experience as I continue to consider the pet question...

Hi @yellowDahlia, I promise I wasn't trying to put you off, it's just I felt strongly that it was worth letting you know our experience. I'm not saying all birds are bad, as we did have cockatiels years ago, and they were lovely, not too noisy at all, but I know from reading threads/talking to others that this isn't always the case either with cockatiels, as any bird regardless of breed/type have their own personalities, and may be prone to being loud/quiet just through their own personality and likes.
I'm also not anti-pets as I have 2 dogs that can be very trying at times, but funnily enough wouldn't be without either one, and have never even considered rehoming them, despite wanting them both to stop winding each other up/launching themselves on me whilst I'm holding a hot cuppa/not stopping barking at the postman, etc
Hth

I have one in my home and I strongly advise against them. They are SO fucking messy it drives me absolutely insane. Caged animals of any kind are a nightmare.

bedhead don't worry - that's why I'm on here, I need all opinions! I want to hear the good and bad to know whether I want to take this further or not. And it's interesting that your last comment reflects my own last post - even though your dogs come with compromises you wouldn't give them up. I do wonder if I'd feel the same about birds, or if I'd get fed up with them. I never want to put myself in the position of wishing I could re-home an animal...

Get one with no teeth.

They succeed better.