My first bird... BUDGIE!!

[villa_heather]

Last Friday I went to petsmart and ended up leaving with a little Budgie. He is about 3-4 months old and his name is Simon. He is the sweetest little thing he eats from my hand, wags his tail when I walk near his cage, he preens my hair and steps up. He wont eat from the dish so I had to put a little plate on the bottom of his cage for him to eat. How can I eventually get him used to using the dish that comes with the cage? Also any ideas or tips that can help us bond better?

 

[MikeyTN]

Congrats on your new baby!!!! Show him where the food and water is. IF he follows your fingers, tap the water with your finger. Move the food with your finger. He'll get it and know where they're at.

 

[villa_heather]

Thanks I have tried sitting him on his water dish and moving the water around with my finger and he just turns his head up and wonders off lol. Do they drink water a lot or do they just use a little?

 

[kc_y0]

You might find that your bird wont drink water in front of you, mine don't like to drink in front of me, if they see me watching they stop lol!

 

[villa_heather]

Thanks =) also can you cage a cockatiel with a parakeet ? I have seen them play together, was thinking of getting a cockatiel around Christmas time.

 

[MonicaMc]

It's possible to keep them together, but don't count on it! Cockatiels are kind of like the big ol' dogs (think, golden retrievers!) that like to lay around where-as budgies are more like the little yappy dogs (chihuahuas or terriers) that are constantly in your face and want attention! Many cockatiels do not like the terrors of budgies!

Besides, if you were to get a cockatiel, you'd have to get a second cage anyway and look into quarantining the new bird!


Congrats on your new little girl, though!

 

[Featheredsamurai]

I'm very impressed that you got a tame budgie from petsmart, most are very scared of humans.

He's beautiful too! Budgies are fantastic little birds :heart:

 

[Kalidasa]

He's adorable! I have a blue budgie also named Diego, looks like yours a little. You're going to have lots of fun with your little guy

 

[aether-drifter]

It's hard to tell because of the blurriness, but I'm almost certain (from the second photo) that Simon is female.
Congrats! (S)he is a cutie.

 

[MikeyTN]

It is possible to keep a Cockatiel with Budgies, I've done it in flight cages for years. BUT you must be cautious, especially with a brooding female Cockatiel, she will NOT hesitate to kill a budgie, that's happened to me before. But my two budgies live happily with Cockatiels, Canaries, and a Cockatoo. They all get along great, but one of the budgies is buddies with one of the Cockatiels, it's really cute watching them preen each other and stuff. But like Monica says, you should quarantine by getting a second cage and set them apart in different rooms before you can try to put them together.