Can budgies and rats live in the same household?

A couple of days ago, one of my collegues asked me if I could babysit her two rats while she's on holidays. I told her that it shouldn't be a problem. However, I read some scary stuff online about rats attacking, killing and eating budgies. What?!

No matter how tame some pet rats are, they will always act on their instinct. Apparently there have been quite a few incidents where rats bite budgies through the cage bars. Their nose and teeth are narrow enough to bite off toes, etc. This kind of wound causes serious infections and might result in death. It is also said that rats will attack pretty much any small critters. Other sources claim that rats aren't known for killing birds, just for eating their eggs.

Photo © World in my eyes

A few people claim that it's safe, as long as you don't leave them alone, or if you just keep the rats in the cage. The picture above is really sweet, but it's naive to think that rats will not attack the budgies. So if the rats and the budgies are out together that week, it will be under strict supervision by me and Erlend.

Answer: sadly no, unless you are there to keep an eye on the rats while they are out of the cage.

Other posts in this series:
Can budgerigars and cats live together?
Can budgerigars and canaries live together?
Can budgerigars and lovebirds live together?
Can budgerigars and cockatiels love together?

Toxic plants for budgies

I had to call the vet over a second time last week, because Isla was throwing up again =(
This gave me plenty of reasons to worry, because she has been sick recently, and vomiting can be the cause of a few nasty illnesses.
The vet quickly found out what was wrong. He explained that budgies are in fact always busy cleaning themselves, because they want to be clean all the time. The problem is that Isla still had diarrhoea, and among other things, she has to clean her vent. By doing this, she accidently swallowed parts of the diarrhoea. Of course, no one wants to eat their own poop so it came right out again.

Photo © Erlend Alvestad

Now Isla is taking medication against diarrhoea and I have to clean her as soon as the poops start sticking to her vent again. It's almost like changing dipers!

Now my question is: where does this recurring diarrhoea come from? I have a theory. My budgies have been crazy over a certain plant we have in our room: a Dracaena Massangeana. Although it's not on any list of toxic plants for birds, I suspect that eating too much of it may cause diarrhoea. And my budgies are VERY addicted to the plant. Over the course of a few months, we noticed that Isla got diarrhoea/retching fits a few times, while otherwise she seems perfectly healthy. So we took the plant away from them (I felt bad because it's their favourite hangout spot) and now we'll wait and see if Isla gets better - for good. I'd hate to see my budgies on antibiotics again.

I caught Frodo nibbling the plant only a week ago. Photo © Erlend Alvestad

You can find a  good list of toxic plants and branches for budgies here.

Budgie Body Language (8)

Why is my budgie constantly yawning?

Photo © Heidi DS on Flickr

Frodo got me scared for a moment tonight. I noticed he was yawning, not once, not twice, but he just kept on yawning!

When a budgie yawns, you'll see his little beak open up wide, his neck stretch and his eyes close. Budgies usually yawn when they get sleepy, right before their nap or bed time. When your budgie yawns repeatedly, it could indicate one of the following things:

• lack of oxygen
• they need to get something loose, like when you are popping your ears
• they need to adjust their crop, because some of the seeds didn't go down properly
• there could be something stuck in their throat, like a seed shell or a small feather (nothing dangerous)

By the time I finished reading this online, Frodo had stopped yawning. We always ventilate our appartment well, so it couldn't have been a lack of oxygen in the room. I was so scared Frodo was choking on something, even though he looked very relaxed. So my guess is that he was doing one of the other things.



In extreme cases (if your budgie really doesn't stop yawning, or if he seems to be choking), don't hesitate to call the vet immediately, or just take the car and drive there! Budgies are in many ways like little children, they can't tell you what's wrong. That's why you always have to keep an extra pair of eyes on them.

Previous posts in this series:
Body Language of a sleeping budgie
Body Language of a preening budgie (Budgie Body Language 1)
Budgie Body Language (2)
Budgie Body Language (3)
Budgie Body Language (4)  
Budgie Body Language (5) 
Budgie Body Language (6)
Budgie Body Language (7)

Blood loss / First aid for birds

Here is one scary fact about budgies:

A budgie can only withstand the loss of 20 percent of its blood, which equals 12 drops.

So in case your budgie gets hurt, you first have to stop the bleeding. Then, hurry to the closest vet for treatment. You really can't wait long with this.

Photo © The Budgie Cage

If you have time, please also visit this website. I'm going to order one of these books today so I can learn more about first aid for birds.

Most accidents with budgies happen because they get hurt during free flight or because they are hooked up with the wrong kind of animals/birds. Some people who clip their budgie's wings have also been responsible for grave accidents.

Please think twice before you submit your budgie to such a risk.

Can budgies be kept together with cats?

One of my classmates was giving away kittens a few months ago. I said that I'd love to help him out, but that we already have budgies at home. He then told me he used to have budgies as well, together with cats and that he never had had any problems.

Image © www.jolanda1974.web-log.nl

He probably was just lucky. When young kittens and baby budgies grow up together, they can actually get along. But when your cat grows up, he will start to remember his instinct to kill small animals, especially small birds. It can happen when you're not looking for five minutes. Cats also have the nasty habit of playing with their food before eating it and you really don't want your budgie to suffer that fate.

It's also known that budgies can be quite a tease sometimes. You've probably heard of the cheeky young budgie that locked up the cat in his cage. This attitude is like throwing oil on the fire - it could make the cat furious and chase the budgie into his death. Luckily, the budgie from the story got away safely.

So in short: NO! People may say otherwise, but you really can't take this risk!

Other posts in this series:
Can budgerigars and canaries live together?
Can budgerigars and lovebirds live together?
Can budgerigars and cockatiels love together?

Tip: teach your budgie to say where he lives.

The survival chances of an escaped budgerigar are very small.

Some owners have taught their budgerigars to say the adress where they live, or the phone number of their owner. If you do that too, there is a chance you may be reunited with your feathered friend, in case he escapes one day. Let's hope that never happens. Domesticated budgerigars are an easy prey for many dangers in the outside world.

Seagull 'bombs' Scottish woman - with a live budgie

From the Daily Mail, 14 September 2010:

"A budgie is probably the last thing you expect to land on your head while eating a bag of chips in Shetland.
But that is exactly what happened to Jill Newman as she strolled down a street in Lerwick enjoying her takeaway snack.
The bright yellow bird was about to become lunch for a hungry seagull when it decided Jill's chips looked tastier."

The lucky bird from the sky will always be grateful for French fries.

"The bizarre bombing run was triggered by a flock of seagulls that had just 'mobbed' the smaller bird - which was tagged and looked like it had escaped from someone's home - with one snatching it up in its beak.

But upon seeing Jill and her mother Betty Keegan strolling down Commercial Street carrying the tempting take-away snack in Lerwick, Shetland, the gulls dropped their catch."  
Jill said: 'The whole situation must have looked a laugh. It was just the last thing you'd expect when you're walking along eating a pack of chips.'
'I felt something scrape my head then saw it bounce off and hit a shop window. I couldn't believe it when I saw it was a budgie.'

The seagull had snatched the escaped budgie from mid-air as it was mobbed by a flock of native birds

Mrs Newman had just bought a portion of chips from this takeaway in Lerwick when she got attacked by the seagull.

The budgie is now safe at Betty's place where she is looking after it until someone comes forward.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1311860/Seagull-bombs-Scottish-woman--live-budgie-Was-chips.html#ixzz1F9MTda2d

Stay out of the kitchen, please!

A budgie in a mini kitchen, cooking pasta. Awesomeness knows no bounds. But when it's your kitchen, you have to be aware of the all the lurking hazards in there, both for you and your budgie. Image (c) the Chief Overseer of Nothing.

Make sure that your budgie's cage is roomy and well supplied with food, grit and water. Don't put the cage in a hot or cold place, and certainly not in the kitchen while you are cooking! Budgies could die of the noxious fumes that are created each time you heat a frying pan that contains a non-stick coating, for example a Tefal pan. It's both harmful for you and your budgies!

In my parent's house, the budgies are inside the veranda next to the kitchen, so we always make sure not to heat up the frying pan too quickly (this is what creates the noxious fumes) and we leave the veranda doors open to let the good air in. You really have to consider doing the same thing if you are keeping budgerigars close to the kitchen.

Also don't forget to close the cage doors while you are cooking, because budgies are very curious - they would also like to know what you are cooking - and champions of escaping!

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.