Budgies don't share food!

Photo © arkytaka

Yes, it's the one thing budgies will always fight for... food! Especially snacks like millet or a piece of fruit.

How to prevent a food fight in the cage (in case you've got some hot-headed hungry birds like I do!)

• Place enough food trays (not too close to each other). Ideally, there should be one small food tray for every budgie in the cage.
• Fill up the food trays equally (so that there isn't one that looks "better" than the rest)
• Refill the food trays according to the number of budgies you own (so if you suddenly own four of them, the food trays can be empty really quickly!). This may be a bit exaggerated, but budgies really eat almost all the time!
• Provide enough snacks: I found out that one cracker for four budgies is not enough! But you can also play it smart by placing an extra perch under the cracker, so there is one budgie who can eat the cracker from the bottom. 
• Place little fruit bits in different places: I also found out that two pieces of carrots are not enough for four budgies! Budgies are more likely to fight about fruit because we give them little pieces (we can't put a whole apple or pear in there). Ideally, there should be one bit of fruit for every budgie in the cage.

Conflicts in the cage create can be stressful for your budgies. Conflicts are more likely to occur if you own at least one female bird. Female budgies like to think that all the food belongs to them. Whenever my Isla gets hungry, all she has to do is walk over to the food tray (where Frodo is already eating), and Frodo just jumps out of the way!