▷ Budgie | Posture – nutrition – all information

Data sheet budgerigar

German name:
budgie

Scientific name:
Melopsittacus undulatus

Origin:
Australia

Size:
about 18 cm

age expectation:
15 years

Behave

Lining:
grain and seed mix, fruit and green fodder

Behave:
agile, social

Number:
at least 2 animals

Difficulty level:
Beginner

Electrofish, budgerigar male wild colored, CC BY-SA 3.0

The original home of the budgerigar is the open landscape of Australia. Melopsittacus undulatus lives there in huge swarms.

budgies are group animals and have a distinctive social behavior. They are extremely lively and intelligent. your big voice reports and body language constantly expand in contact with conspecifics. In the mimic they are true masters of noises and voices. They also reproduce actively and are sexually mature shortly after birth. The females can almost every season several times a year breed. Since they are so-called community breeders, several pairs usually breed at the same time.

Wild budgerigars wear the typical green feather dress (camouflage plumage). Breeding means that there are now also blue, yellow or white specimens. A wavy pattern runs on the head and foreback, which becomes wider and wider towards the wingtips. The face (mask) is mostly light yellow up to the throat. There are four to six black spots (throat spots) on the throat. The birds are around 18 cm tall from head to tail and weigh between 25 and 40 g.

acquisition and maintenance

If you want to keep budgerigars in a species-appropriate manner, you must consider the following:

– The birds can not live alone! They need at least one conspecific with whom they are in constant contact. A group of two, four or more animals is ideal for keeping them. Half of the number should be males (roosters) and half females (hens).

– They need time to get used to and to tame to become.

– You are extremely talkative.

– You are agile and need several free flights a day!

– You can live to a great age.

– They must be provided with fresh food and water every day.

– The cage must be kept clean.

Posture requirements

The right cage or aviary can be used for the active parakeets not be big enough. Source: Vogelhaltung Since they prefer to move in the horizontal area, the length is what matters most. The minimum size for a couple is: 100 cm length x 50 cm width x 80 cm height. The device consists of necessary and varied utensils:

– The substrate is made of bird sand, enriched with lime or shell grit. This is absorbent, disinfectant and provides important minerals for improved digestion of the animals.

– The perches consist of pollutant-free, clean branches/twigs of different thicknesses from fruit trees. These are fun to nibble on and contain minerals that benefit the health of joints, muscles, feet and short claws.

– A Feeding bowl and drinking water dispenser contain fresh and sufficient food and water every day. The vessels are placed where they cannot get dirty.

– A beak whetstone or a sepia bowl is used by the birds to clean and shape their beaks and to absorb lime.

– A flat one bath vessel on the floor or a bathing house on the cage wall invites the budgies to bathe.

– Different toys bring fun, variety and stimulate their high intelligence. On ladders, swings, ropes, mirrors and little bells, the birds can test their joy of climbing, their curiosity and their dexterity. To keep the toys interesting, they should be replaced from time to time.

– Also the daily one cleaning of the cage and the furnishings are part of it. No cleaning agent residues should be left behind during cleaning. Leftovers are to be removed, old drinking and bathing water to be renewed. Dirt in the sand must also be removed or the sand must be completely replaced.

gender differences

Roosters and hens are difficult to tell apart. Only the so-called cere indicates the sex of the bird. This is the featherless area on the nose above the beak. As a rule, this nasal skin shimmers brown in the hen and blue, violet to pink in the rooster.

feed and nutrition

The little parrots need one varied diet, which gives them all the important nutrients and vitamins. An unbalanced diet can not only result in malnutrition or overnutrition. It can also lead to moulting disorders, kidney and liver damage, and other diseases.

The commercially available groundbait contains different types of millet, canary seed and peeled oats. The daily ration for an adult bird is about two teaspoons ( 5 g per day ) of food per day. Millet or grain cookies add variety. They can be attached to the cage bars with a clothespin or to the ceiling outdoors.

As additional food fresh fruit such as apples, bananas, grapes are suitable. Fresh greens include young dandelion leaves, chickweed and elderberries, but also lettuce and grated carrots.

It is important that the fresh feed is not sprayed and not too heavily contaminated by car exhaust fumes. It should be washed well. Budgies have one sensitive organism and even small amounts of poison can harm them. Indoor plants are also taboo.

acclimatization and handling

Arrived in the new home, the new residents are carefully placed in the prepared cage. To do this, open the transport box and hold the opening against the open cage door.

If there are already budgerigars in the cage, the animals need some time to sniff each other. As a rule, however, everyone involved quickly gets used to one another. But before the newcomer is allowed to join the others, he should be checked for diseases at the veterinarian.

The acclimatization can take two to three weeks. The first free flight should happen after a few days. With good care, such a parrot can grow up to 15 years to become old.

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