Many people decide to have a parrot, naively believing that these are the most problem-free pets. Like, caring for a parrot is simple. In fact, small birdies need more care and attention than we are used to thinking.
  How to take care of budgerigars and which in no case can not be done, we will tell further.

Place for the cage

The first commandment in caring for parrots is to protect from drafts and noise.

To prevent the bird’s nervous system, budgerigars should live in a quiet room, preferably a remote one. Ideally, there should not be any technique such as speakers or a TV. Because wavy do not like sharp and loud sounds. And also because the miracles of modern technology impede the observance of the bird's regime of activity and rest.

If there are no options, closely monitor the behavior of birds. And when budgerigars begin to nod, hide it in feathers, cover the cage with a dense blanket that does not allow light to pass through. Just leave one side of the cage open so that air passes and the parrot is not lost in space.

Care for the budgerigar in the early days is to provide him with maximum peace. Let the pet get comfortable in the new house, look around. The cell all this time should be located at the level of human growth. So the budgerigar gets used to the face of his master, his voice. Later, the cell can be rearranged a little lower. On a pedestal or coffee table, for example.

Do not place the cage in the kitchen or in the dark hallway.

Keeping parrots in these rooms negatively affects their health and longevity. So, in the kitchen, the feathered companion will be surrounded by various pungent odors, to which the delicate nostrils of the bird are sensitive. Again, they talk loudly here, the hood is noisy or the refrigerator is buzzing. People do not notice these noises. And the bird reacts alarmingly to them. Drafts often walk in the hallway.

And budgerigars will not be able to navigate in time: the biological processes in their organisms are subject to light days. In constant darkness, they even stop eating.

Proper lighting

Caring for budgies in the home is a tricky thing.

Take at least the lighting for these birds. In the absence of daylight, so that miniature organisms do not know malfunctions, you need to take care of its additional sources. And ordinary lamps will not work. In her light, everything will be seen by birds in black and white.

Ornithologists advise purchasing a full-spectrum fluorescent lamp.

By the way, it is easy to find among the goods for budgies, in pet stores.

They can and should be included in the breeding periods of birds. And also for young individuals, whose body is just beginning to form.

Under the influence of special light, vitamin D3 is produced - an important component of bone tissue.

Its deficiency can even lead to pathologies of the endocrine system, anxiety in behavior, metabolic problems.

High-quality ultraviolet lamps are equipped with a timer that controls the on and off lighting. Service life - no more than a year. Since the phosphorus in the lamp has the property of decaying. And the lamp ceases to be effective.
  Thus, caring for a budgerigar is impossible without proper lighting in the cage.

Balanced diet

Care for budgies implies regular feeding.

The basis of the diet is grain feed.

On the shelves of pet stores a great variety of bird food. But not everyone will benefit. Those who have kept these decorative birds for years and know all about budgerigars unanimously declare: they eat mainly millet.

Oats and other ingredients, useful from the point of view of the manufacturer, remain at the bottom of the feeder. Where to go for clean millet? It is sold by sellers of parrots. But it’s better to get food from a trusted person. Since unscrupulous implementers do not follow the rules for storing food, which is the reason for poisoning parrots.

When choosing food for a budgie in a pet store, look at the packaging. It should not be cardboard.

In it, the food dampens, and is also saturated with extraneous odors if the boxes are stored next to goods with a sharp aroma. It is good if the package is equipped with a zipper, which will allow you to "seal" the package with food after pouring.

Do not get involved in feeds enriched with vitamins and iodine.

They should be given to the bird, if only the body has a deficiency of some trace elements or problems with the endocrine gland. Of course, after one pack of food no pathological changes in the body will occur. But next time, be careful - do not overdo it in caring for the budgerigar.

Chalk is what you need for a budgie at any time of the year.

He is in any pet store. But pieces of chalk should be changed periodically. After all, the parrot will constantly clean its beak or grind its claws. As a result, a dirty coating forms on the chalk. As mentioned above, the main danger to parrots is food poisoning. And constant contacts with a piece of dirty chalk threaten this very thing.

It will not hurt to add mineral top dressing to the diet once a week. In order for the budgerigar to probably receive a dose of nutrients, mix top dressing with millet.
  There are also a variety of "spikelets", which include a variety of seeds, soaked in egg yolk. As practice shows, birds do not eat "spikelet", but simply nibble. As a result, all the usefulness and goodies lie at the bottom of the cage, and the budgerigar frolics with the piece of wood on which it was all attached.

Proper care of a budgie implies the presence of several feeders. One is for dry food and mineral top dressing. And in the second they put juicy food: vegetables and fruits by season. You can still purchase several holders for seasonal gifts of nature, because from the feeders the budgerigar can throw everything to the bottom of the cage.

Caring for a parrot is also feeding it with seasonal fresh fruits and vegetables.

To avoid having to spend money on vitamins for poultry, ensure the daily availability of juicy fruits and pieces of berries or vegetables.

In small doses, grapes, quince, apricot will benefit. In winter, please the feathered steamed dried apricots or a slice of kiwi. Naturally, most of the treats will pass by the beak, but what is absorbed will benefit the body.

By the way, in the care of a budgie at home in the summer - this is regular cleaning of the cage. Indeed, in the hot season, the rotting processes of the same fruits that you give the bird are accelerated. Do not be too lazy to once again clean the bottom of the bird's house from debris.

Water treatments

How to care for a budgie in the heat?

Provide him access to life-saving moisture! True, not all parrots seek to plunge into specially equipped swimming pools. Some "conservatives" prefer saucers with water. Or green leaves soaked in room temperature water. It can be cabbage, bacon, parsley - anything. Even the leaves of the trees will do.

When pouring water in a saucer, cup or swimsuit, make sure that its level does not exceed 2 cm. At greater depths, the bird may choke or get scared.

In special cases, bird fright ends in death. To avoid tragedy, we recommend you to play it safe.


  About budgies who don’t like to bathe is a separate point. To gradually train your underpants to water, put a mirror on the very bottom of the bathing device. The bird will be interested in and will gradually go into the water.

Birds have always been loved by the people, and in recent times they have been turned on by even more people. And all because their maintenance is much cheaper than the maintenance of, say, dogs or cats. What is needed for a parrot to be healthy and happy? We will talk about this today.

The choice and arrangement of the home of the parrot

As often happens: a person drives past a store or market, sees a beautiful wavy chick and buys it, and with it what the seller advises: a cage, a drinking bowl, feeders and food. The most enterprising sellers offer a lot of things that are completely unnecessary or inconvenient. As a rule, they offer something that is not very much in demand. And, seeing that you are completely off topic, it is not so difficult to do this. Keeping budgerigars at home is not difficult if you properly arrange its life.

Another thing is if you approach the purchase of a budgerigar wisely, because keeping budgies at home is not such an easy task. What does it mean?

First you find out what you need for a parrot for a quality life, then you buy it all, prepare a place for the future tenant at home, and then you go for a wavy friend. This is the right thing to do, because categorically you cannot run a pet into an unwashed cage, as this is fraught with all sorts of diseases. Do you need it? We think not.

In order not to buy all the equipment twice, you should immediately buy everything you need and, most importantly, convenient for parrots, and for you, of course, too.

If the budgie is alone

So, first pay attention to future housing. Do not think that you will have one small bird, so you can take a small box. It is not right. Firstly, scare is contagious and, as a rule, those who buy one bird, then takes her a couple, or even not one. Secondly, the bird must not only sit indoors, but also fly, and this requires open spaces.

Pay attention to square and rectangular cells, round ones are inconvenient for keeping parrots, and other birds too. For one new “family member”, a cell of 50 (W) x40 (D) x40 (H) cm is enough. Since these birds fly more horizontally, a tall dwelling is useless, it’s better to take the model with the widest width.

About cells:

The most comfortable models have high sides and a sliding tray.

But, unfortunately, manufacturers do not really care about our convenience with you and today (2016) there are cells with either high sides (Hagen) or with sliding pallets (many other companies). Hagen is convenient in terms of the fact that the food and feathers fly out less, but it’s very inconvenient to clean the pallet, since you have to remove the entire upper part, and not everyone can do it. For example, a child cannot cope with cleaning himself.

Cages with large doors are more convenient to clean, as the hand easily reaches any wall.

To ensure that the ptah’s legs are healthy, use only wooden poles, preferably uncouth branches from the forest, rather than purchased straight sticks. The fact is that clutching at uneven perches, the birds receive a foot massage, which is certainly very useful.

It is advisable to equip the house for a small bird before the arrival of a new tenant, since he will have so much stress, and if you also equip everything with him, you can even achieve a heart attack with the little bird.

Placement

It is very important not only to buy the right cage, but also to place it in a suitable place. If possible, do not put it in the kitchen, where the food is prepared, since fumes are absolutely not good for birds. Yes, and you are unlikely to want to pull down and feathers, or maybe worse from your plates.

Keeping birds at home in the bedroom is also not the best way, but if there are no options, then put the birdcage away from the bed and prepare a special dark breathable blanket to cover the bird at night. This is necessary so that, firstly, he does not tweet if the light is on in the room, and secondly, so that he doesn’t get scared at night if you pass by.

Budgerigars are afraid of drafts, so make sure that the bird house does not stand in the aisle.

When you open the windows, take the parrot into another room or at least cover it from the wind.

If we take into account the fact that parrots live in nature in a warm area with high humidity, then similar conditions must be maintained at home. Yes, the baby can live at fairly low temperatures, but this mockery is necessary for living things.

It is optimal to maintain a temperature of about 23 degrees, plus or minus, of course. But try to do everything possible so that there are no strong temperature drops.

Humidity in the room where the wavy is kept should be maintained at 55-70 percent. This is important for good plumage of the bird, as well as for overall well-being. Particularly important are the temperature and humidity during the breeding season.

Budgerigar care at home

Try to provide the “popus” with a constant daily routine. That is, do not wait until the sun rises or sits, and adjust the daylight hours for the bird using artificial lighting and dark curtains.

Your baby will live much longer if each daylight hours will be the same in time, and will not depend on the clouds on the street or the change of hours.

Of course, many will say that in nature, after all, no one turns on the light to the birds. Here I do not agree with you. It’s in nature, but we have artificially bred birds with relatively weak immunity.

Do not remove the cage with the bird far from you, you should hear the bird, as sometimes commotion occurs in the dark. This is when a bird is frightened of something and begins to rush about in a cage. If you do not turn on the light in time, then the wavy can be injured or even worse, break.

Pet health

Keep track of the health status of the birdie. If you see that something in his behavior has changed, that the bird has crested or is sitting on the cage floor, then this should alert you. To increase the chances of salvation, you need to contact a veterinarian specializing in birds (they are popularly called ornithologists, although this is not entirely correct, ornithologists are engaged in a completely different way).

Some diseases in chicks and adults can be cured if measures are taken in time. Do not postpone a visit to the doctor if your pet is dear to you.

Proper feeding is the path to the health of a budgie. Do not look that the feeder is visually full, maybe there is just husk. Change feed every day. It is also necessary to change the water daily.

Gotta fly!

To let the bird develop correctly, let it out for a walk around the room. But do not rush to let out a parrot in the first days of stay in the house. The budgerigar should get used to the situation and you.

Keep track of the beak and claws. If you see that they have become very long, you should either cut them yourself, having found the instructions, or consult a doctor or other specialist.

If a parrot lives in the house, then it’s worth collecting a small first-aid kit for emergency help, since the metabolism at ptah is very fast and you just don’t have time to run to the pharmacy. With diseases, one must act quickly.

Friendship with other residents in the house

This question is often asked by the owners of undulating birds. Can he be friends with a cat or dog? Maybe. But most often, such a friendship ends sadly for a wavy comrade, because even if a furry friend is ready to be friends, he can inadvertently crush the baby or just scare the bird, which can lead to death.

Sometimes four-legged friends do not pay attention to the bird, but sooner or later, instinct will wake up and then the budgie may not be lucky ...

Young children can also be a threat to birds. A kid can accidentally hurt or suddenly scare him. After all, a bird can pinch a child by the handle, and he is unlikely to be able to control his emotions. How it all ends is unknown!

Room cleaning

Most of the sores appear due to improper maintenance of budgies at home. As we said above, you need to clean the cage of a domestic parrot daily if you do not want to get any insects in the form of ticks or intestinal infection due to eaten dirty food.

Sure!

Once a week, remove all internal equipment: poles, toys, feeders, drinking bowls and rinse thoroughly under running water.

It is advisable to use special detergents that are suitable specifically for the cells and are not able to harm the health of the pet. In any case, thoroughly flush all equipment before returning everything to the cage.

The cells should also be washed with a damp cloth, and if possible, doused with boiling water or steamed. Of course, few people do this, but such a treatment would be ideal.

Home care can turn into hard labor if you do not like your budgie. In this case, it is better not to torture the feathered, but find him a loving pen. But it is better, of course, to weigh in advance all the pros and cons. If you are accustomed to sterility in the house, then it’s better not to think about the bird, since there is a slight flap of the wing, and you can forget about cleanliness!

Parrot bathing

In principle, the wavy friend himself does not require any additional care other than feeding. But for his high-quality plumage, it is necessary to give him the opportunity to swim. Some parrots like to bathe in bathing places, others cannot be lured there with a fish, give a deep plate to the bottom of the cage. And someone will never dip their feet in the water. Such individuals will have to be sprayed from the spray gun.

There are birds who like to bathe in wet leaves.

Bathing with benefit:

To make your home bathing beneficial, add some pharmacy chamomile to the water. Drinking water must be poured, since any parrot not only bathes, but also drinks water from the bathtub.

Taking care of budgies at home is, of course, not only feeding and cleaning, it is also communication.

If you take one bird, then do not forget to give him more time. Very often, people take a completely manual chick, and after a while he completely beats off hands. The thing is that even a bird needs time. But if it so happened that you can’t devote much time to the feathered bird, then at least buy him a “soul mate”, or rather a few birds, because parrots are flocking birds.

Born in captivity and therefore well adapted to live at home. Keeping these birds in the apartment is easy, they are hardy and unpretentious.

For keeping parrots, the bright part of the room is most suitable. However, the cage should not be placed very close to the window so that there is no draft, which these birds are very afraid of, as well as near heating appliances. The cell must be placed at a height of human growth or slightly lower. So it’s more convenient to clean it and watch your pet. In the room where the birds are, you can not smoke, cigarette smoke is harmful to birds.

For most species of parrots, the duration of daylight hours, which should be 15-16 hours per day, is of great importance. In the short days of autumn and winter, you need to turn on additional electric lighting. For a room of 15-18 square meters. m is required illumination of 100-150 watts, then the parrots will feel great and have time to eat the daily feed rate. In general, the more light, especially the sun, the better feathered pets feel.

The cage for keeping your budgie or for a couple should be large enough so that residents can fly a little in it. Its size can be estimated as follows: it should be at least 5 times longer than the bird itself, for example, with a parrot body length of 18–20 cm, the cage should be at least 90–100 cm long, corresponding to a width and not less than 60, and better than 80 cm. Only cells of this size can be considered as appropriate for this type of bird.

Standard cages with bars around the perimeter have both advantages and disadvantages. On the one hand, in such a cage there is a lot of light and the parrot in it has the ability to climb along the transverse rods. A bird living in an apartment with people greatly appreciates the excellent view. But on the other hand, the inhabitant of such a cage is accessible to drafts and does not have a reliable quiet corner where he could retire if he wanted to. But this is easy to help by darkening any part of the cell with plants or a curtain.

We should not forget that the cage door must have a reliable lock so that the parrot in the cage cannot open or break it, because a parrot in an apartment without supervision can cause a lot of trouble, and it can suffer for many reasons. As owners of locks on the cage door, many owners use small locks with a key, metal carabiners or powerful springs, which the bird cannot wring out.

Parrot care consists of daily cleaning in a cage. It is necessary to remove debris, scrape off adhering dirt and droppings from the sides, and brush off dust and rubbish with a soft brush. Having extended the pallet, wipe it with a damp cloth, replace the litter. Bird dishes are washed with hot water with the addition of soda or special solutions for washing dishes, then wiped dry. Feeders for grain mixtures are thoroughly cleaned of food debris, wiped with a clean cloth, fill in the daily feed rate and put in place. Wet mixers and drinkers are washed daily with hot water, and automatic drinkers are rinsed.

Fully clean the cells at least once a week. The sliding tray is covered with clean river sand with a layer of 1.5-2 cm. It is better to pre-calcinate it in the oven or rinse with a solution of potassium permanganate and dry. If it is not possible to frequently change the sand, the bottom of the cage can be covered with paper, but the sand in this case should be in a special feeder. Parrots use it as a guest rock - to grind roughage in the stomach. Sand should not be shallow - it only clogs the stomach, not fulfilling its main function. It is better to use hygroscopic paper, such as newsprint, but you need to change it at least 2-3 times a week, otherwise mites or blood-sucking insects can get in it. It is necessary to monitor the purity of the poles, which are quickly contaminated with a layer of litter or feed.

But cell care alone is not enough; parrots need communication. These are pack animals by nature. They should not be kept in isolation, they should feel part of the family. In addition, the more time they spend outside the cell, the easier it will be to communicate with them. Of course, not everyone has the opportunity to keep the bird near him for days on end. In this case, let the bird out of the cage as soon as you get home. Get up a little earlier in the morning to spend a little time next to your pet. Do not keep the parrot in the bedroom, where he will see you for several minutes in the morning and an hour in the evening before going to bed. From boredom, problems can begin in the bird, parrots begin to pluck feathers on themselves, sometimes fall into deep depression.

For the same purpose, when keeping parrots, it is useful to place toys in the cage. You can make a swing yourself, a ring of wood or light tin with a diameter of 5-6 cm, for small species, for example, hang cages on a thread from the ceiling rod, instead of the ring, you can strengthen the swinging pole. A bell with or without a mirror can be bought at a pet store. As for the mirror, here the opinions of the owners of budgies are shared. Some believe that the mirror has a bad effect on the psyche of the bird, as it stimulates the sexual reflex. However, this is not always justified, in any case, you can experiment - if you notice that the mirror has a bad effect on the bird, then you can remove it. During the teaching of “speaking,” it is desirable that the bird’s cage does not have any foreign objects. However, most "talking" birds give out their vocabulary repertoire just in front of the mirror.

Feeding the parrot also includes feeding it, proper nutrition is the key to it. The basis of nutrition and feeding of such pets is a grain mixture consisting of about 70% millet, different species, 10% oats, 20% canary seed, hemp, flaxseed, some wheat and others. Millet should be different types: red, white, black, yellow. For these birds, it is not recommended to give seeds and nuts, the fact is that such food is very fat for them. But cereal feed alone does not have a complete set of all the nutrients necessary for the normal functioning of the parrots. Therefore, periodically it is necessary to give the birds additional and mineral feed, but in a smaller amount than grain.

A useful and nutritious food for parrots is fresh grated carrots (not wrung out) mixed with semolina or white crackers. It is prepared quite simply. Carrots, grated, mixed with white crushed crackers or semolina in such a ratio that when stirring, it does not stick to the fingers. Grated carrots are indispensable in winter and spring, when there is little greenery. Green feed, which is a source of vitamins and mineral salts for your pets, can be given to birds in unlimited quantities. They also like apples, leaves of dandelion, woodlice, lettuce, cabbage. Dandelion leaves, for example, are consumed fresh in finely chopped form from the beginning of spring until late autumn.

In winter, you can sow oats, millet, canary seed, young shoots, which are readily eaten by birds, in boxes. This is done like this: in two boxes of 40x10x8 cm they pour earth, put it on the windowsill so that there is more light for the growth of greenery. Sowing is carried out first in one box, and after 7-10 days, when the young shoots will have a height of 10-12 cm, and in the second. From the first box in parts (as needed for a day), greens are collected, crushed and mixed with additional food, or put separately for feeding. As greenery is consumed in the first box, it grows in the second, and the first is sown again. It turns out the so-called green conveyor until spring, when the first greens appear.