I saw some young budgies on Craigslist for $20 a piece, and I was thinking about getting one. But it says that they’ve only been out of the nesting box a few days, but are eating by themselves fine. They seem to have all their feathers grown in but I’m a little afraid they’re too young if they’ve only been out for a few days. In the images the 2 seem to be in a cage without the parents, and I assume they’re okay as long as they’re eating and drinking, but I just wanted to be sure because I don’t want to bring it home only for it to die or something.
About how young can baby budgies be removed from their parents?
- Thread starter snail5
- Start date
brighterdaysaviary
New member
How old are they? If they just left the nest box that would mean they just fledge. Normally they would need 1-2 more weeks to be fully weaned after flying.
Budgies are fully weaned at around 6-7 weeks old.
Budgies are fully weaned at around 6-7 weeks old.
gracebowen
Active member
I got mine on May 27 with a hatch date of April 3. I was worried it was unweaned but it was fine.
EllenD
New member
- Aug 20, 2016
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I'd be very, very cautious about bringing home one of these Budgies...For $20 you can buy young Budgie at any Petco that you know for sure is completely weaned. And you get a health-guarantee from them. So that's what I would do...
***Also, just to make a point, these Budgies in the Craigslist ad you're talking about are obviously parent-raised babies, meaning that they were not hand-raised or hand-fed by the breeder, but were raised completely by their parent birds. So unless the breeder handled each of them every day and then was putting them back in the nest-box for the parents to feed and keep warm, then these Budgies are not at all tame, and will not be able to be handled at all, they will not step-up for you, etc., and they will require you to work with them on a daily basis, every single day, for at least a few months, if not up to a year or more, in order for them to be tame and allow you to touch and handle them...So you're not gaining anything by buying one of these for $20 over a Budgie from Petco for the same price. And again, the Budgies at Petco are usually very young, and they are all definitely completely weaned, and come with a health-guarantee...So that's the way to go in this particular situation...
Parent-raised Budgies will come out of the nest-box when they are ready to fledge (start flying) and ready to start eating solid food. However, if these babies just came out of the nest box "a few days ago", there is absolutely no way that they are fully-weaned. While babies are inside of the nest-box, the entire time they are inside of the nest-box, they are fed by their parents. They do not eat any solid seeds, pellets, etc. while they are inside the nest box. So if they just came out of the nest box a few days ago, then they also just started learning how to eat solid food a few days ago, and are still currently being fed by their parents as well...The breeder doesn't sound like they know a lot about what they are doing, and what they aren't seeing is that the babies are still being fed by their parents and are only just-learning to eat solid food, shell seeds, etc...I bred Budgies for about 20 years, and they usually fully-wean between 8-10 weeks old...So no, these babies are not fully-weaned, and if you bring one of these home it may actually end-up starving to death and having serious psychological and behavioral issues...
Also, if you do go and buy a Budgie at a pet shop, which will certainly be fully-weaned and you won't have to worry about this as you will with these Craigslist babies, here's the way you can tell which ones are the youngest...Look at their foreheads, right above their ceres (the skin at the top of the beak where their nostrils are)...The more black bars they have on their forehead and the less white they have on their forehead, the younger they are...The more white they have on their forehead and the less black bars they have on their foreheads, the older they are...So basically, if you're going for the youngest possible Budgie, you want to find one who has lots of black bars on it's forehead and the least amount of white on their foreheads, and where the black bars on their forehead are the closest to their ceres/touching their ceres...or the black bars are closer to their beak/eyes/face...That's how you tell...
I'd seriously avoid those Craigslist babies, they can't possibly be fully-weaned, and that's just asking for trouble and possibly tragedy.
***Also, just to make a point, these Budgies in the Craigslist ad you're talking about are obviously parent-raised babies, meaning that they were not hand-raised or hand-fed by the breeder, but were raised completely by their parent birds. So unless the breeder handled each of them every day and then was putting them back in the nest-box for the parents to feed and keep warm, then these Budgies are not at all tame, and will not be able to be handled at all, they will not step-up for you, etc., and they will require you to work with them on a daily basis, every single day, for at least a few months, if not up to a year or more, in order for them to be tame and allow you to touch and handle them...So you're not gaining anything by buying one of these for $20 over a Budgie from Petco for the same price. And again, the Budgies at Petco are usually very young, and they are all definitely completely weaned, and come with a health-guarantee...So that's the way to go in this particular situation...
Parent-raised Budgies will come out of the nest-box when they are ready to fledge (start flying) and ready to start eating solid food. However, if these babies just came out of the nest box "a few days ago", there is absolutely no way that they are fully-weaned. While babies are inside of the nest-box, the entire time they are inside of the nest-box, they are fed by their parents. They do not eat any solid seeds, pellets, etc. while they are inside the nest box. So if they just came out of the nest box a few days ago, then they also just started learning how to eat solid food a few days ago, and are still currently being fed by their parents as well...The breeder doesn't sound like they know a lot about what they are doing, and what they aren't seeing is that the babies are still being fed by their parents and are only just-learning to eat solid food, shell seeds, etc...I bred Budgies for about 20 years, and they usually fully-wean between 8-10 weeks old...So no, these babies are not fully-weaned, and if you bring one of these home it may actually end-up starving to death and having serious psychological and behavioral issues...
Also, if you do go and buy a Budgie at a pet shop, which will certainly be fully-weaned and you won't have to worry about this as you will with these Craigslist babies, here's the way you can tell which ones are the youngest...Look at their foreheads, right above their ceres (the skin at the top of the beak where their nostrils are)...The more black bars they have on their forehead and the less white they have on their forehead, the younger they are...The more white they have on their forehead and the less black bars they have on their foreheads, the older they are...So basically, if you're going for the youngest possible Budgie, you want to find one who has lots of black bars on it's forehead and the least amount of white on their foreheads, and where the black bars on their forehead are the closest to their ceres/touching their ceres...or the black bars are closer to their beak/eyes/face...That's how you tell...
I'd seriously avoid those Craigslist babies, they can't possibly be fully-weaned, and that's just asking for trouble and possibly tragedy.
Great help, members!
And good for you, snail, for wanting to learn and do the right things.
And good for you, snail, for wanting to learn and do the right things.
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