New Budgie Owner Questions after Tragedy.

Prim

New member
Apr 22, 2018
8
0
Queenstown
Parrots
Budgie
Hi Everyone,

I'm Prim,

Honestly I'm a new budgie owner... bought 3 beautiful birds, 2 for my parents and 1 for me. (Got it for my parents as they are retired and were fighting everyday, but now good news, they fight way less as they are caring for the birds like babies)

I brought home 1 to my place, my parents and I had 2 separate cage, same sized (40cmx48x55cm).

It didn't eat or drink for 3 days... then on the 4th day after coming back home, I could smell a strong chemical odour in my room and my eyes were stinging(even with the windows and fan on).. quickly went to open my windows to the max and leave my door open... I recognized the smell as newly renovated laminate glue (Formaldehyde) as I had done my reno 6 months ago... apparently it still needed to be aired out... :confused:

At night heard it fall to the cage floor, was opening its mouth wide.. "Screamed" and then lay down on its back and died :eek:

I was extremely sad and angry with myself, gave it a proper cremation and prayer rituals (Buddhist) :(

I have a few questions regarding the ventilation/environment area a budgie should be in, provided someone's room... ok MY room, when its back to normal without any chemical fumes...

QUESTIONS

1. Can my future budgie(s) be left in a bedroom with windows fully open, and with a nearby air purifier to help clean the air? Should a fan be on and oscillating to help?
2. Can budgies tolerate aircon especially at night or on hot days? (with air purifier and charcoal filters etc?) And if so, what temperature is fine with them being covered by a blanket for sleep? And how about modes, cool, dehumidifier etc, which mode is not recommended?
3. If i'm out for work for 8 hours, should I get 1 or 2... But I really want to bond with my new friend, and will do so once home and before work
4. If I do get 1, can I leave the tv and music on (and some pre-recorded phrases)

I roughly know you should not really pay attention to them when they are new to a home, and should go about your business to let them get comfortable.

Any answers to my questions and then some would be appreciated :)

Thank you guys!:green::gcc::orange:
 
Last edited:

reeb

New member
Oct 23, 2017
568
Media
4
Albums
1
84
Cape Town, South Africa
Parrots
Berry (♀ Cockatiel) hatched June 2017
Opal (♂ Budgie) hatched 13 August 2017
Pearl (♀ Budgie) hatched 15 August 2017
+ an aviary of 16 other budgies! all hatched 2014-2017
I am so sorry for your tragic loss, and thank you for reaching out!

Considering that you work 8 hours a day, you shouldn't just have one budgie. They are extremely social creatures and need a lot of attention and stimulation. It can cause them to become seriously depressed if they lack this stimulation, and only being able to spend 1-2 hours with your bird a day will not suffice - he/she needs a friend. Even if you get a tame or hand-reared bird, you definitely cannot leave him or her alone for most of the day. That is just my opinion, having had quite a lot of experience with budgies.

Now onto your questions:
1) I am not sure how these fumes were still present in your home after 6 months, but I personally believe that you should not bring more birds into your home until you have the air either tested, or at the very least keep them in a completely different area of the house that was not renovated - however, the former is more preferable to me. Rather be cautious and safe than expose more birds to these fumes and possibly risk more fatalities. Leaving windows open and a fan on is all well and good, but just dissipating the fumes doesn't necessarily make them go away. Parrots have very sensitive lungs, and you just need to keep that in mind in future.

2) I don't use air conditioning, apart from the air purifier in my room to help to minimise the dust produced by my cockatiel. So, I'm not really the best person to answer this. I think other members will have more insight into this to answer your question, especially those living in colder countries.

3) As aforementioned, it is better (especially with budgies) to have two if you are going to be out for most of the day. If you get two hand-reared babies you will still be able to bond with them together. Even if they are not hand reared, you can follow my guide on taming and bonding with budgies, here.

4) Even if you have more than one bird, leaving the tv and/or music on is a great source of entertainment. I leave the tv on with either Disney movies or kids channels for my birds while I am out, and they love it!

I hope this helps. :)
 
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Prim

New member
Apr 22, 2018
8
0
Queenstown
Parrots
Budgie
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Thank you Reeb for that useful insight! Do they jump around and sing when Disney is on? So cute.

Will definitely take note about the fumes/ventilation issues, talked to my ID about it and they said the room should be ok in a couple of weeks after leaving all the windows and fans on 24 hours a day (Lesson learnt, renovated areas MUST be aired out, especially with built in cabinets/wardrobes for a minimum of 6-8 months as the formaldehyde takes THAT long to fully dissipate...)

So yeah... no birds until a few more months of airing...

To further ensure, I've already ran down to Best Denki and got myself a Novita air purifier with HEPA and Charcoal filter, plus tons of Daiso charcoal absorbent pads (and placed them in all the drawers and cupboards). Scariest part was that the Air purifier's indicator showed RED (Bad air quality)when it was in my room for a good 10 minutes... before going to the Blue indicator(ok average air) to Good Blue colour (Meaning clean air)

Physically I can only place the birds in my room or outside the home in the corridor tied up with chain (not in direct sunlight but ample wind), can't place in the living room or kitchen as cooking goes on quite often, and the odors especially the oily smell permeates those areas (my room is quite far from them so it doesn't affect) SO yeah...

Last question, for the fan, do you oscillate it, or point it somewhat in the direction of the cage? And do you put the air purifier beside the cage on silent mode?

I am so sorry for your tragic loss, and thank you for reaching out!

Considering that you work 8 hours a day, you shouldn't just have one budgie. They are extremely social creatures and need a lot of attention and stimulation. It can cause them to become seriously depressed if they lack this stimulation, and only being able to spend 1-2 hours with your bird a day will not suffice - he/she needs a friend. Even if you get a tame or hand-reared bird, you definitely cannot leave him or her alone for most of the day. That is just my opinion, having had quite a lot of experience with budgies.

Now onto your questions:
1) I am not sure how these fumes were still present in your home after 6 months, but I personally believe that you should not bring more birds into your home until you have the air either tested, or at the very least keep them in a completely different area of the house that was not renovated - however, the former is more preferable to me. Rather be cautious and safe than expose more birds to these fumes and possibly risk more fatalities. Leaving windows open and a fan on is all well and good, but just dissipating the fumes doesn't necessarily make them go away. Parrots have very sensitive lungs, and you just need to keep that in mind in future.

2) I don't use air conditioning, apart from the air purifier in my room to help to minimise the dust produced by my cockatiel. So, I'm not really the best person to answer this. I think other members will have more insight into this to answer your question, especially those living in colder countries.

3) As aforementioned, it is better (especially with budgies) to have two if you are going to be out for most of the day. If you get two hand-reared babies you will still be able to bond with them together. Even if they are not hand reared, you can follow my guide on taming and bonding with budgies, here.

4) Even if you have more than one bird, leaving the tv and/or music on is a great source of entertainment. I leave the tv on with either Disney movies or kids channels for my birds while I am out, and they love it!

I hope this helps. :)
 
Last edited:

reeb

New member
Oct 23, 2017
568
Media
4
Albums
1
84
Cape Town, South Africa
Parrots
Berry (♀ Cockatiel) hatched June 2017
Opal (♂ Budgie) hatched 13 August 2017
Pearl (♀ Budgie) hatched 15 August 2017
+ an aviary of 16 other budgies! all hatched 2014-2017
Thank you Reeb for that useful insight! Do they jump around and sing when Disney is on? So cute.

Will definitely take note about the fumes/ventilation issues, talked to my ID about it and they said the room should be ok in a couple of weeks after leaving all the windows and fans on 24 hours a day (Lesson learnt, renovated areas MUST be aired out, especially with built in cabinets/wardrobes for a minimum of 6-8 months as the formaldehyde takes THAT long to fully dissipate...)

So yeah... no birds until a few more months of airing...

To further ensure, I've already ran down to Best Denki and got myself a Novita air purifier with HEPA and Charcoal filter, plus tons of Daiso charcoal absorbent pads (and placed them in all the drawers and cupboards). Scariest part was that the Air purifier's indicator showed RED (Bad air quality)when it was in my room for a good 10 minutes... before going to the Blue indicator(ok average air) to Good Blue colour (Meaning clean air)

Physically I can only place the birds in my room or outside the home in the corridor tied up with chain (not in direct sunlight but ample wind), can't place in the living room or kitchen as cooking goes on quite often, and the odors especially the oily smell permeates those areas (my room is quite far from them so it doesn't affect) SO yeah...

Last question, for the fan, do you oscillate it, or point it somewhat in the direction of the cage? And do you put the air purifier beside the cage on silent mode?

I am so sorry for your tragic loss, and thank you for reaching out!

Considering that you work 8 hours a day, you shouldn't just have one budgie. They are extremely social creatures and need a lot of attention and stimulation. It can cause them to become seriously depressed if they lack this stimulation, and only being able to spend 1-2 hours with your bird a day will not suffice - he/she needs a friend. Even if you get a tame or hand-reared bird, you definitely cannot leave him or her alone for most of the day. That is just my opinion, having had quite a lot of experience with budgies.

Now onto your questions:
1) I am not sure how these fumes were still present in your home after 6 months, but I personally believe that you should not bring more birds into your home until you have the air either tested, or at the very least keep them in a completely different area of the house that was not renovated - however, the former is more preferable to me. Rather be cautious and safe than expose more birds to these fumes and possibly risk more fatalities. Leaving windows open and a fan on is all well and good, but just dissipating the fumes doesn't necessarily make them go away. Parrots have very sensitive lungs, and you just need to keep that in mind in future.

2) I don't use air conditioning, apart from the air purifier in my room to help to minimise the dust produced by my cockatiel. So, I'm not really the best person to answer this. I think other members will have more insight into this to answer your question, especially those living in colder countries.

3) As aforementioned, it is better (especially with budgies) to have two if you are going to be out for most of the day. If you get two hand-reared babies you will still be able to bond with them together. Even if they are not hand reared, you can follow my guide on taming and bonding with budgies, here.

4) Even if you have more than one bird, leaving the tv and/or music on is a great source of entertainment. I leave the tv on with either Disney movies or kids channels for my birds while I am out, and they love it!

I hope this helps. :)


I only ever put a fan on if it’s very hot and the birds are in their cage, because if they were out it would obviously be a risk and could injure them. I usually use it on oscillate, I’ve never directly pointed it at the cage. If it isn’t oscillating then I usually point it in a different direction from the cage.

My air purifier is more central in the room because Berry (my cockatiel) is all over the place and her dander goes everywhere [emoji23]

And yes, they love the music when they get to watch and listen to tv! It makes them super chatty and they bop and dance! It’s very cute ❤️
 

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