New parrot owner!

Hello, my name is Reuben! I am fairly young (sixteen, to turn seventeen come January), hoping to major in CS, but I took an interest in psittacines about a year ago and have been doing so much research since. A few months ago I decided I wanted to own a parrot myself, and I started preparing.

A week ago, I went to a pet store to snoop around for some Harrison's food, having getting a lovebird in mind-- and I noticed such a pretty lil budgie that I just sort of couldn't resist!

The birds were in a fairly small cage (this wasn't a great pet store...) and quite crowded, but were active and had quite nice feathers and no visible illnesses that I could see. She has a really ugly wing clip, but I'll just wait for her flight feathers to grow back in.

Her cage isn't as big as I'd like it to be (18 x 14 x 26), but it was quite a deal at $45 a few months ago at a local pet shop. She has quite a few toys, clean water changed every day, and I'm currently slowly working her over from a seed mix to some Harrison's, and introducing her to some fruits and veggies!

She's a quiet little bird, for the first two days she didn't move at all. She moves around a little more now, but is still mainly quiet and I've only seen her jump around and play once. (Two nights ago, for about an hour, she started exploring and singing?) She's learning to step up onto a perch nicely, she does it about 70% of the time now in exchange for millet. I'm very much looking forwards to bonding more to her, but she's still fearful of me so I'm just talking to her and taking it slow.

Sorry for the long winded post! Anyways, hello!

Welcome!!! Budgies are fantastic little parrots, really sweet and easily tamed if purchased young. Which Harrison's pellets did you buy? Fine or Super fine? The super fine was developed for smaller parrots like budgies, parrotlets, and cockatiels. They have a lower protein need and the super fine achieves those lower levels. Feeding normal Fine pellets can cause liver disease in the small birds.

Also, Harrison's is awesome!!! I feed it to Rosie and Kenji as well, always been happy with it. Totally organics is also excellent, sometimes mix it in with Harrison's and feed both.

Once your birdie settles in he/she will begin to open up, it's always scary going to a new home. Touch training(with a clicker) is a excellent skill you should train your birdie to do, great videos of YouTube explaining it.

Enjoy this awesome forum

welcome sounds like you are doing great with your budgie! Another fun thing to try with a new bird is target and clicker training there are lots of youtube videos on it!

Hi Reuben welcome to the parrot forums. You seem very well prepared and apparently have done your homework about getting a parrot. Congrats on your new parakeet - I love them and they make great pets. I do have a recommendation for a cage that would be fantastic for a parakeet - in fact, several:

[ame="http://www.amazon.ca/Prevue-Pet-Products-Wrought-31-Inch/dp/B00176F5L0/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1386879617&sr=8-1&keywords=prevue+flight+cage"]Prevue Pet Products Wrought Iron Flight Cage with Stand Bird Cage, 31-Inch by 20-1/2-Inch by 53-Inch, Black: Amazon.ca: Pet Supplies[/ame]

It's very reaosnably priced for it's size (there is a larger size available - search for 'F050') and holds up well, and I should know, I have two of them. In cages, bigger is always better.

I know I speak for more than myself when I say we woudn't be unhappy to see a picture of your new pet lol

Howdy! You are going to love your little parrot!

G'day Rueben! Nice to see you here! It sounds as though you've got everything nicely in place for this little bird and a great beginning in bonding with her. Just take it slowly, spend time with her every day and before long you'll have a great companion. Budgies are absolutely adorable and have all the personality of the larger parrots in a tiny package. (Scoff! You know that already! ) Hope you enjoy belonging to our great forum.

Welcome. Enjoy the forum and enjoy your lovely little budgie.

Thanks, you guys! I feel very welcome.

Oh goodness, thank you Copperarabian! I didn't know about the distinction between fine and super fine Harrison's. There's currently an awful bout of cold weather (-24 Celsius, yikes...) but as soon as it's over, I'm gonna go out and get the correct pellets for little Lady!

Thanks you guys for all the tips!