Behaviours of a Budgie and a few other questions :)

[Xylo]

I've unexpectedly ended up taking on a budgie when a family member had an emergency a few days ago. I've done some swotting up on diet and taming and feel like I have a reasonable basic understanding to get me sorted. I've ordered some pellets and egg food as it's just been eating seed and grit so far. I've put some veggies in each day to try to improve the diet. Do they actually need the grit? From what I've read it seems like that's outdated and they don't really need it, but will it harm the bird?

I've never owned a bird before, so feel a bit out of my depth when it comes to behaviours and how to tell if it's happy. He seems alert enough, but are there any particular sounds they make which mean anything in particular? Any illnesses I need to be vigilent about? I've read RIs are a common problem and have removed any air freshners, scented candles etc from the room. I was reading about bumble foot, so assume I need to get rid of the dowel perches and find some branches to use instead, will keeping one dowel perch be ok or should I just take all of them out? How much time out of the cage will he need each day? This is the aspect of keeping him that I'm most concerned about as he seems so skittish and I'm a bit worried he won't go back in the cage once he's come out!

 

[ohyeah!]

I would suggest watching some Birdtricks budgie videos on Youtube if you haven't already. They have a lot of helpful info. I'd order some natural wood perches, and take out the dowel perches. Make sure you have some good, high quality toys!! Generally, cheap plastic toys aren't good for budgies. It's better for them to have something they can destroy/shred.

On the topic of food, when you get the pellets switch over slowly. Budgies can be pretty picky, and since this budgie has been eating seed, it might not know that the pellets are food. So, yeah, just take it slow b/c diet is SO important for birds. Budgies do not need grit, and it can potentially be harmful to them.

When you want him to come out, try not to chase him around the cage if he's skittish about coming out. That will just make him more skittish and scared of hands. Instead, maybe just leave the door to the cage open when you're in the room so that he has the option of coming out. Generally, about and hour of out-of-cage-time is recommended for budgies each day, but the most important thing is to build a good relationship with him so that he knows that humans aren't scary. Do you know if he has a favorite treat?
If he does, it might help to feed that to him yourself, or leave it outside of the cage so he'll be tempted to come out.

Again, I would HIGHLY recommend that you watch some birdtricks videos as she has a lot on diet, taming, training, etc. I know this might seem like a lot, and if you have more questions, parrot forums like this one are great places to start! Good luck with your budgie!