I think I have hubby convinced to get a couple of budgies to add to our flock (or to make a flock)

Someone once told me that Budgies were not a good choice as they tend to carry a lot of diseases that parrots would not normally be exposed to. Can anyone educate me on the pros and cons of owning a budgie?

I don't want to do anything to potentially expose Quincy to health problems.

I've not heard that one! Quarantine is always in order when adding a new flock member, and a well bird check up just to make sure.

I have three budgies and they are the funniest little critters. They chitter all day long, but aren't as loud (obviously!) as my other fids. They add a touch of color and liveliness to the flock. I love watching and listening to them. They are highly intelligent and can be taught to talk and do tricks, same as our quaker babies.

My first birds were budgies. That was years and years and years ago....LOL....I love how they are always so busy. My last budgie was a tame Male and he said several words and was quite comical.

I have heard that they can carry something (can't remember details though) but if you get them checked out and quarantine them properly you should be okay

I love our budgies! At one point we had 6 along with their babies, now we're just down to two of the babies that really aren't babies anymore, lol. They are super cheery birds, always singing and happy.. I think they definitely keep Casey company while we're out (we actually refer to them as her live radio, haha) We've had them all out at the same time and Casey really doesn't care too much about them, she never tries to fly to their cage etc. Baby is totally in love with Casey and he'll try to visit her, I really don't think she'd hurt him, she seems to like him as well, but I'm too afraid she'll injure him by accident. They really aren't a lot of work.. the only con I can think of is they are a little messy since the seed shells blow everywhere, but hey, I think all birds are pretty messy! Our boys are in a giant flight cage, so they don't come out every single day like Casey, but they are super happy and hearing their little chirps all the time keeps the house cheery! And Charlie can mimic someone's laugh so that always keep me amused Charlie was hand tame but isn't as friendly now since he's living with Baby.. Baby is still tame though, this is kind of rare but it might be because we raised him from the minute he hatched, not sure..

I'd say go for Catherine!

I LOVE budgies. I'll never be without budgies again. We have two -- we had one, but the vet said she needed "a buddy," so we got Benjy and they're so happy with each other. Benjy chirps from the time he wakes up until he goes to bed, and it's such a cheery noise. Bonnie doesn't chirp as much as he does, but she does her fair share.

They're little clowns, always busy, always doing something. Benjy hangs upside down from his swing, and they both do helicopter practice -- jump off their perches and hover in little circles and land back on the perch, it's hilarious. They can say a few things, and Benjy in particular is quite good at copying the Quakers. He can do their flock call, and he can say "JadeJadeJade" and "pretty bird" and he can whistle the family flock call, which is da-da-da-DUM from Beethoven's Fifth. Budgies are harder to understand because they chirp and chatter and make budgie noises and squeeze their talking in amongst all that, so you have to pay attention to hear the words. And budgies LOVE toys, new toys, old toys, toys the Quakers have rejected. Mine aren't tame, though Bonnie will let me stroke her tummy if she's in a VERY good mood, so they stay in their cage. It's a big cage, though.

They're messier than the Quakers, it's true. They scatter little fuzzy feathers and seed hulls all over everything, and let me tell you, those little fuzzy feathers do NOT cooperate with being swept up by a broom or a vacuum cleaner. But luckily I don't care about that. Housekeeping isn't my forte. The vet told us to quarantine for two weeks when we got Benjy -- I did about the same with Bonnie when we got her. Clyde likes to watch and listen to the budgies, and Bonnie likes him, though Benjy gets sort of huffy if Clyde gets too close to their cage. I would definitely keep them apart or under STRICT supervision if you get budgies with a Quaker. Jade bit Bonnie's toe once, and she wound up losing it, and Clyde nibbled on Benjy's toe once, too, but he didn't really hurt him. We have a big toy we set on top of the budgie cage that keeps the Quakers off of it. They do all chirp at each other, though, and when we just had Bonnie and Clyde, they kept each other company really well. Ours are all in the same room together, and it's so funny to watch Benjy learning things from the Quakers, and being so proud of himself when he can do Quaker sounds and say words they say.

Well on my lunch I just ran out and spent $300 on a cage and accessories so I guess I'm in!
This is the cage I bought!!

I think Quincy really needs "pets". He was at his sitters recently for a week and when we went to get him, he ran inside his cage to the very back and would not come out for us. Way to make Mommy and Daddy feel like crap! His sitter has 13 birds of her own, 11 are budgies. I think he just loves the noise there.

Do females have egg laying and egg binding problems as other parrots?

Yep, they can lay eggs just like other parrots Boys are WAY friendlier and sing/talk much more readily I think. IMO two boys would work out better than two girls anyways.. you can make a pretty good guess on their sex if you're getting them when they're younger, but once they mature it's pretty easy to tell (as you probably already know!) The only exception is if they are one of the white mutations, then their ceres don't always change...

Congratulations Catherine---looking forward to budgie stories from YOU... and that is a nice beautiful cage for the budgies....

However, I do have one question, because I have thought at times to get a couple of budgies myself, but have hesitated to do so; what is the life span of a budgie.........

I think it's about 10 to 15 years.

I saw this beautiful little girl after I got home with the cage and everything... wish I'd seen her before

Oh my goodness Catherine---now you gotta see about getting that baby...she is adorable...you know you would love to have this one....aren't I mean--but golly, what can you say---the baby needs a loving home and she would definetely find that with you...Hope you think about it....

The only reason that budgies are considered "disease carriers" is because they are frequently shipped over long distances in horrible conditions. Buying from a breeder or a local store that buys from area breeders is a much safer option.
We really love our two male budgies. They have their squabbles, but they love each other in their own way.
Good luck on choosing your new babies!

I would recommend getting males. They are usually friendlier and get along better with each other, and you won't have to worry about any eggs.

So I ended up getting 3!!! The rescue just got them in from a guy who decided to stop breeding. I think they are 2 males and one female but we'll see when they get older, they are just 2 months right now. They are absolutely beautiful! One is all pale blue, the other two are white with blue backs and some blue on their wings.

Right now they are completely terrified so I'll leave them alone for awhile but I'll try and get some pictures tomorrow. Anyone got any name suggestions? I'm lost. I couldn't even think of one now I've got to think of 3! Help!

Awww, that's great, Catherine!!!!! I absolutely adore budgies. Arnie was SUCH an amazing bird. He was so sweet, and REALLY smart....he knew a TON of words and phrases, and he would imitate Taz, Conan and Chewy. SO funny! He talked as much as his "budgie speak" (which was adorable!). He had a disco ball toy and he loved to yell at it and beat it up....he would do his "budgie cursing" and then all of a sudden yell "Goddammit!" LOL He picked that up from Zach, who curses a lot when he's playing video games...LOL Arnie was our only bird that let people other than us pick him up. Taz is a "mom only" bird, Conan is a canary (enough said!), and we don't have enough people over to get Chewy used to being held by others. When our friends come over they don't want to hold him...they're afraid of being bitten.

As for names, hmm......what about.....Larry, Curly and Moe? Or....Mickey, Minnie and Donald? Or.....who are the Three Musketeers?......hmmmm......not sure about other trios.....Huey, Duey and Louie? LOL I don't know...

Good luck with your babies!!!!

Shadrach, Meschach and Abednego.

The rescue gave you three? That's really strange.. from what I've read, heard and seen an odd number of birds sharing a cage is never a good thing. One will always be the odd man out and fighting usually happens. Also, if they're all siblings you'll want to prevent them from breeding in the future.

Congratulations though, they sound beautiful! You'll have to post some pictures of them soon!

I'm a little concerned about that too, I'll keep an eye on them and see how it goes, if need be I can get a 4th.

I decided on names: Skye, Olie and Jiblet!

That sounds like a good plan!

I love the names! Our pale blue Budgie was named Sky too!

Has anyone had mite problems with their budgies?? I joined a budgie forum and there's a lot of posts about mites on there. Now I'm worried I don't want Quincy to get exposed to mites!

Don't worry. You can always buy the remedy.. Scatt..it is available in pet stores.

Sigrid

Thanks! Do you think it would be worth treating them as a precaution? I don't know if they have them but would like to not take changes with anyone's health

If they come from a breeder they should not have mites.
You could take them for a checkup to a vet to make sure they are healthy.
When I got Tweety from the shelter, I took him for a checkup.

Sigrid

I think two males and a female will be fine. What you really don't want is two females and a male. The females will compete for the male's attention. I had three males together for several years. They were like the Three Musketeers and were best friends.

I would take them to a vet for a checkup, and yes, budgies are prone to getting mites....if your birds have them you'll definitely know it, though...the beak, legs and feet get all scaly and gross...I wouldn't use a mite medication from a pet store, I'd use one your vet gives you....just my opinion.

Good luck, and I love the names!

How fun! I think budgies are so cool! might get some of my own if I dont end up getting another quaker or seomthing along those lines. Cant wait for pics!!!

Tried to get some pics today but they were terrible so I'll try again tomorrow when it's hopefully brighter in there. I am feeling kind of bad already. I think the little blue one Skye is going to be odd man out. The other two were preening and kissing a lot today. They even chase Skye off the food bowl

So all you have to do is get another for Skye......

I'm OK with doing that, the cage is huge. My dilemma is do I get a boy or a girl?

Do you have 2 males and 1 girl now? Then I would get another female.
But make sure that you really have 2 males/1 girl first. When they are young, it is sometimes difficult to tell.
You wouldn't want more girls than boys. More boys than girls on the other hand is ok.

Sigrid

Here is a very bad pic of the little babies My camera did not want to focus on them and they were getting so stressed out I didn't want to keep trying

Skye is the blue one, Olie the white one and Jiblet is the guy on the back of the cage.

That's a great picture, and your budgies are beautiful.
I think you have at least 2 males...not so sure about the white one. Try posting in the budgie forum where the experts can tell you their gender.

Sigrid

The white one I think is the girl, her cere is much brighter pink than the picture shows. I've noticed when they are stressed, which seems to be always that the color fades on them.

Awww, they are adorable!

Well Skye is definitely older than two months since his cere has already changed and the bars on his head have faded.

Jiblet looks older too, and my guess is she's a female because of the white circles around her nostrils, but it's hard to tell since she's mutation.

Olie looks like a baby to me.. it's hard to tell gender since s/he's all white and young.. but a translucent pink cere in babies means it's a male versus a cere with visable white around the nostril and bluish tinge on the outsides is female baby. BUT, sometimes mutations don't change like they're suppose to lol.. our male Charlie looks like Olie and he still has an all pink cere, but his blue cheek patches are much larger and darker like Skye and Jiblet If I had to venture a guess I'd say male.

Sorry that's wordy, lol, gender in budgies is confusing!

It's kind of odd that Skye is the odd man out since he's the mature one, but maybe the two younger ones have bonded already?

Hope that helps a bit! They sure are cute!

I think as long as you are keeping your birds separate, you will not have to worry about infecting Quincy. Our second budgie (years ago) did have mites, but the other budgie never got them because the new one was quarantined and never with the first one. The mites were easy to treat and cleared up as soon as we knew he had them.

Thanks for all the info! The pictures doesn't really show them accurately so I'll have to go home and look closer. Both Skye and Jiblet have pretty bright blue ceres. Olie is a little harder to figure out. They are so terrified of me, I feel awful having to do anything with them. Will this change or will they always be so wild? Skye gets so stressed that he pants like crazy.

Even older budgies can be tamed with time and patience.
Millet is the best way...
I use clickertraining for my older traumatized budgies.

But you can start just giving them some millet to see if they'll take it attached to the cage. Once they know and love it...remove it. Then they'll have to take it from your hand.

Sigrid

Quincy they are so beautiful! Im jealous