Poll results: when do your budgies like to fly around?

Conclusion: budgies naturally are "morning persons"! After a long night's sleep, they feel rested and ready to start the day. Budgies in the wild start their day at sunrise and go to bed when darkness falls over the lands. I recognize this pattern in a lot of domesticated budgies, including my own. Well, that's a good thing, because the early bird catches the worm, as they say!

Photo © liam.jon_d on Flickr

If your budgie is more like an "evening person", it could simply be because you are too! Did you know that budgies do their best to adapt to your sleeping rhythm? When you are keeping them awake all night, they have to catch up during the day, while most budgies would be flying around. Keep in mind that budgies need 10-12 hours of sleep every night.

New poll: when do your budgies like to fly around?

First of all, I would like to thank everyone who voted on my last poll! I got a nice total of 350 votes and that gives me a good view on what you would like to see here. My blog is originally all about budgie facts, but it's good to provide some variety, like artwork and pictures, videos, health tips and newspaper stories. At the end of every month, I'll try to prepare a quiz to test your knowledge :) this will be fun!

Photo © sakurabana on tumblr

I've created a new poll about "preferred flight times" for your budgies. For example: my budgies are bursting with energy every morning, so then they want to come out to fly. In the afternoon, they like to take a nap and play with their toys. In the evening, mostly one or two hours before bedtime, they like to come out to explore a litte before going to bed. That's their daily routine :) Do your budgies have something similar? Feel free to vote!

Out together, home together (2)

I thought I'd add a photo of our budgies in my blog. Meet Frodo and Isla! (Frodo was the first one who took a few free flights around the room, a week later Isla decided to join him on this adventure)

Flight Suits: part two

What do we know so far?

Flight suits are soft, stretchy, reusable pet bird diapers. Almost any kind of parrot can wear them outside the cage to prevent embarassing "poop accidents" in the house.

Budgies, on the other hand, hate these flight suits. They will bite if you try to put it on and even if you succeed, they will be chewing on it when you're not looking.

But is it really necessary? Budgie droppings are so small that you barely notice them.

Image © Talk Budgies Forum

So what's the point?

No point in putting on these things as long as your budgie is flying freely inside the house.
But if you combine a flight suit with a so-called bird leash, you can apparently take your budgie for a walk outside, as shown neatly on the image below.

Image © Avian Fashions

Reliable or not?

I'm sorry to burst the bubble already, but the flight suit in combination with the bird leash is considered unreliable by quite a few people.  Domestic budgies have never been out in the open, so their first contact with the outside world might come as a shock. They might panic and have a bone-breaking accident if the leash pulls them back too firmly. Many people are also scared their budgie will escape, because they are so small and acrobatic. They might escape in the open air and get caught by a predator.

Image © Cartoonstock

Don't get me wrong: budgies are destined to be airborne creatures and they belong outdoors. But they can't handle the chilly temperatures from the Western world, that's also why they migrate in Australia.
Another good argument against bird leashes is that you may injury your budgie while you put it on. I just can't imagine small birds being comfortable on a leash.

Both sides of the story

The minority of people say that their birds love to go on walks with the leash on. Avian Fashions has a category with testimonials from happy owners, but as you can see, most of these birds are either cockatiels or parrots.

Personally, I admit that the idea of taking our budgies outside sounds very tempting. I want to show them some real nature, let them fly around in the garden and bathe in the sunshine. But I think it's too early. Flight suits are a relatively new concept (they've only been around for about ten years), and I think they could use some more improvement and safety before I would even consider buying one. Who knows what the future will bring us?

Image © Avian Fashions

Flight Suits: part one

I found a picture of two budgies wearing a flight suit and I thought that seemed a bit odd. Why would budgies need a fly suit when they are already so good at flying?

What exactly are flight suits?

Image © Budgerigars.co.uk

Flight suits, more commonly known as "bird diapers/poop suits" are actually made to prevent any kind of parrot from leaving droppings inside the house during free flight. Or as they say on Avian Fashions: "they allow your feathered friends out of their cages both in and out of the house; worry-free from embarrassing accidents (poop)."

What does a flight suit look like?

Image © 4 the birds - Avian Fashions

It's a kind of soft, stretchy jumper that hooks over the wings and fastens over the back with Velcro. A small pouch neatly located under the bird's vent collects droppings and keeps it away from the body.

Flight suits are available in every color of the rainbow and in different prints. You can find plenty of examples here.

The design of the flight suit doesn't restrict the movement of the wings or legs, but I read all over the internet how much budgies hate it when you try to put it on.

Funny note from a review: Owners may need patience to get bird to accept it and some birds may chew on (and destroy) it.

The flight suit comes in a variety of sizes. You can even buy a flight suit for a pigeon or a big macaw. According to Avian Web, budgies would need an X-small.

Waste of money?

Image © Avian Fashions

In my opinion, yes. I think flight suits are too expensive for what they are. Budgies only leave very small droppings, you can easily get rid of them. At the same time, you're doing your budgies a favour by not forcing them into something they don't want. Many budgies would just take revenge and chew the suit to pieces.
However, if you combine them with something, a flight suit might actually become useful. More about that in the next post...

Before you decide on buying a budgie

You must agree to these conditions. You should also consider the following things:

• Budgies need at least a medium-sized bird cage in which they are able to stretch their wings a little bit and fly. It can cost a bit of money.
• Budgies love to live together with their owner(s), but they can be quite noisy at times. They don't sing like canaries, but they may give you the impression that you find yourself in the wilderness (especially when you've got a big budgie flock at your home like we do :-)
• Budgies are flock-oriented animals. You need to buy at least two of them if you want them to be happy.
• Budgies need to fly every day, but they also poop every 12-15 minutes so you may have to clean a little when they're back in the cage. Not much work though, considering the extremely small size of their poops :-)
• Budgies can get up to 15-20 years old and you are responsible for them all that time. They don't cope well with moving to a new owner.
• They don't need that much attention, but you can't ignore them. You have to talk to your budgies, reassure them that they're in good hands every day.
• Budgies are no pets to cuddle with, so for young children they may not be the best choice. Budgies don't like to get picked up and hugged like dogs or cats. You may accidentally hurt them like that.
• If you want to gain your budgie's trust, you have to spend some time on him every day and be patient with the little bird. Taming is a process that may take more than a month.
• If you want to buy a budgie, you have to think what you're going to do with it if you're planning to go on holidays. 
• If you already have dogs or cats, it's probably a bad idea to get a budgie. No need to ask me why!
• Find out first if you or anyone in your family is allergic to bird feathers.

Did you go through the check list and did you accept the conditions? Then a budgie must be the perfect pet for you! Take good care of it, and you will soon find your budgie returning all the love that he receives from you.

Budgerigar Health

You always have to keep a close eye on your budgie's health. Be sure to weigh him regularly, as weight loss is one of the easiest ways to find out your budgie is sick.

It's very important that your budgie has a balanced and healthy diet of seed, fruit and vegetables and pellets (without preservatives, artificial flavourings, added sugars or colorings).
Budgerigars need plenty of time out of their cage in order to stay healthy and fit. Many budgies don't grow older than 5 or 10 years because most people give the wrong diet to their budgies, or keep them locked up in their cage.

How to recognize a healthy budgie?

A healthy budgie has bright clear eyes, a slim acrobatic shape and strong shiny bright feathers.
Healthy budgies also have a shiny beak (non-flaky or crusty cere). Another good sign is when they're very lively and enthusiastic and fly about all day long, chattering happily.

How to recognize a sick budgie?

If your budgie sits huddled up on the floor, you can be sure he is ill. Or when he just sits on the perch with his eyes closed, using both his feet to rest. It's always better to take your budgie to the avian vet quickly in that case, although they don't always know the answer. My mum was told once that one of our budgies had cancer and that he wouldn't last longer than 2 weeks. Today it's almost one year later, and he is the healthiest budgie of the whole flock!

Other symptoms:

• poop change, runny/lack of droppings
• poop stuck to vent
• decrease talking/activity
• picking/plucking at feathers (not regular preening)
• feathers dirty/stuck together/ratty
• discharge from eyes/nose/beak
• abnormal breathing
• dull/swollen/runny/cloudy eyes
• falling off perch
• hunched over
• lumps/bumps/sores or swelling
• weight loss
• not eating
• weak/fluffed up
• tail bobbing
• bleeding
• convulsing
• runny/inflamed cere
• vomiting (not the regurgitation they do as part of bonding)

Symptom list (c) budgiecare.org

Daily Exercise

Budgerigars need a lot of exercise, in fact as much as possible, especially when they're living in small aviaries. This was determined by evolution, since budgies cover long distances in the wild. Nature has given them wings because they are airborne creatures, they need to stretch their wings and fly around. Ideally, budgies should be allowed out of the cage every day. Before you let your budgie out, make sure the room is clear of hazards. The most important thing of all may be to cover all windows and/or transparent glass doors - your budgie could fly against it and get concussion.
You probably don't want your budgie to take an outdoor excursion, because he might never come back. So you have to make sure all the doors, windows and other possible escape routes are closed off. Also, cover all sharp objects that stick out and may wound the budgie during its flight (this could simply be a table corner). If there are any ceiling fans or other fans, turn them off. Don't keep a vase on the table - I've read enough horror stories about budgies who got stuck in their without knowing what was going on, so they didn't cry for help. The same goes for other dark holes and small places - budgies are curious, they might go in there and never come back, so cover those places. Don't let your budgie fly in a room with open flames, dogs, cats or any other hazards. Also be wary of drinking glasses or other containers with liquid, you don't want your budgie to take swimming lessons in that, let alone drink from it.

If you don't want to worry about this daily checklist of hazards, you could also build an indoor aviary or outdoor aviary (you can use IKEA racks for this). In such places, budgies can fly around at pleasure. It is a vexation for the birds to be sitting in their cage every hour of the day. I suppose you wouldn't like to be locked up in your room all day long either. Therefore you have to consider this before even buying a budgie, because having them locked up all day long is one of the most cruel things you can do to them.