Sick budgies will mostly sit around listlessly, without making a sound. Unhappy budgies may go as far as to completely neglect their grooming rituals.
Whether healthy or sick, you have to encourage your little bird to keep grooming itself every day!
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| Image © Волнистые попугайчики |
- Observe your budgie's grooming rituals. You should see it preening its feathers, using oil from a gland back near its tail. Other things they often do is scratching about on the bottom of the cage, and wiping their beak back and forth on the sitting perches. It's a very bad sign if you never see them doing this!
- Place a shallow bowl of lukewarm water in the bottom of the cage or in the bird's living area a couple of times a week so that it can take a bath. Water is life! If your budgie is hesitant about bathing, try putting some leaves of lettuce in the bowl. Budgies love lettuce and will be attracted to the water.
- Provide your budgie something to trim its beak on. Pet-supply stores offer items of this sort that attach to the side of the cage where your budgie can peck and scrape at it with its beak. Your budgie needs to keep its beak in shape so that it can preen its feathers properly.
- Help your budgie with grooming by doing your part! In captivity, budgies are unable to keep their nails filed down sufficiently, so you will have to trim them from time to time.
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| Image © ChrystyLande on Flickr |
- Feed your budgie a healthy diet. Supplement a small seed mix with fresh veggies. Like any other animal, a well-fed bird will better maintain healthy skin and coat.
- Get your budgie a partner. Budgies are highly social birds, and one kept alone or with birds of other species may become depressed and stop caring for itself. If you observe budgie couples, you will notice how much they cuddle and groom eachother. It's very good to have another budgie to groom them, it keeps them happy and helathy!
