Sky's new cage!

[angelbuck]

http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j230/angelbuck3/5450b442.png

Would anyone put 4 budgies in this cage? The woman at the pet store said that it was big enough for 3 or 4 parakeets.... I am not sure about that. I might put two in there, but not 3 or 4. Sky seems happy about the new home. He has more room to move around and explore everything. Here's a blurry picture of him in his new home. I can't wait for him to be finger trained so I can get a better picture of him... the camera always seems to focus on the bars of the cage, or something in the background....and I hope he stays a him. If not, we have been calling a girl little fella for a while now. lol

http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j230/angelbuck3/1703fdb0.jpg

[JPKP]

well for one bird the cage should at least be 18x18inches. I would only keep one in there. No more. What are the dimensions? It depends. He looks very happy in his new cage.

[Amy]

Very sweet cage and budgie! I would definately NOT put 4 budgies in that cage, 1 max, I'd say, 4 budgies would not have any room to move around, and even 2 would be squishy.

It looks like a smaller version of Billy and Lily's cage, where did you get it?

[angelbuck]

I got it from the local pet shop, Steve's pet shop. It was thirty dollars, not too bad. I was going to get a seed guard, because Sky likes to get in his tray and kick the seeds out digging for the ones he likes. But the cage was so much roomier and the food and water tray had a hood over them, so I figured I would (was going to say kill two birds with one stone, but doesn't seem appropriate). Solve two problems at once. lol, sorry about that. I asked what the size was, but they didn't know, when my husband gets home I will borrow his tape measurer and see for myself. I didnt' think it was big enough for four budgies, I couldn't believe it when she said that. Afterwards she said that she had two budgies herself. I can't help but wonder what size cage she has those two poor birds in. This cage is a little taller and wider than the other one I had. The other one was of course round, and I read to try and avoid round cages.

[jayjay]

doesnt look to shabby. just reminder that people sometimes find it harder to train budgies that have access to mirrors... some.. not all.. and millet is good to have for the first few days, but i wouldnt leave it in after that... its a good treat to use to teach them to eat from your hand, but they wont do that as easilly if you give them access to it readilly in the cage. its also not that good for them. 1/2 inch a day is more than enough.

[angelbuck]

Thank you, I just purchased the millet today too. I tried to give it to him from my hand, but he didn't want it. I tied it to the side of the cage, but he hasn't touched it at all. I also tried to give him some banana's and grapes, apples the other day. He doesn't want to mess with any of it. I even try to put it in his food dish, he just kicks it out. Maybe he just doesn't like fruit. I went to the store today, and I didn't see any kind of parakeet, or budgie pellets that everyone is talking about. I need to look at the pet store I guess.

I have another question too, if anyone reads this. Sky is ALWAYS eating. He is hardly never not eating. At the pet store, they would put a huge bowl of seeds in the cage for all the budgies for a little while each day, then they would take it out, and leave a few little bowls of water in there the rest of the time. Is it possible that Sky is worried that I will take his food away? How much should budgies eat in a days time? I guess what I mean is, how much should I give him to eat for a day? Should I take it out, or leave it in the cage all day long? My other budgie had access to seeds all day, but didn't steady eat all day, he would fly around and chirp. Sky just eats, every now and then he will stop and fly to a perch for a little while, then back to eating he goes.

[angelbuck]

One more thing, I read about the mirror. I just took that toy apart, took the mirror out, added more beads and put it back in. He still slides the beads back and forth wich is good. I wasn't sure if he would like it any more. He does. Maybe he will bond with me faster without it.

[angelbuck]

Well, hubby came home, used the tape measurer. The cage is 18" long, 12" wide and 21" tall. Is that alright, or should I have gotten something bigger? I guess it really doesn't matter, because that's all I could afford at the moment. The other cage was 16 or 17" tall, and was round, but not very wide. So anything is better than that I guess.

[JPKP]

Yes, thats a decent size cage for one. But once you decide to get more keets you should get a bigger cage, and use that cage for when you need to isolate your new keet from Sky for a couple days. Or do whatever you want :) . The bigger the cage the better.

[jayjay]

i had that size cage for one budgie, decided it wasnt enough so got a 30x30x30 and then got another budgie. what you have should be fine though. as for the eating, 1.5 to 2 teaspoons of seed a day is recommend for one budgie. a little more isnt really a big worry. just make sure you check for husks. what may be happening is that your budgie is picking through the seeds for specific ones and so appears to be eating more than you think. i would put in one teaspoon at a time during the course of the day to see how he is eating and how much of it. if he is suffering from the runs, he may also need to consume more to make up for the loss.

as for what he likes and doesn't like, its hard to say. the first few weeks is hard on them no matter how much they perk up. they are still adjusting and will be very cautious. but after a month or two, you should see progress. they will let you know what they are ready for. jay showed me he wanted baths when he started trying to get into the small water dish so i got him a big one and now he takes daily baths at his own discretion. leave the millet in there until you see him starting to eat it. once he does, he'll love it and you can then take it out and start to offer from hand. give it time as it may take a week or more. once he eats from your hand, fruits will be easy to offer from your hand. what i do with a lot of success is dip small shredded slices of carrot in water and then offer it to them. they see the water drop and go to drink and in turn nibble at the fruits and realize its tasty. after that, they'll eat it without much trouble.

give them a LONG time to get use to things. if they seem like they dont like it at first, it doesnt mean they wont ever like it. could just need more time. jay certainly didnt like everything i put in his cage for him or the treats i offered, but in time, he has learned to accept pretty much anything from my hand and has learned to drink from the water bottle instead of the water dish. good luck and keep at it :)

[angelbuck]

Thank you. I just wasn't sure if I was supposed to fill up the tray, or just give him a certain amount, as you suggested. He doesn't have the runs. I thought he did the first couple of days after I brought him home. But now he's fine, so I chalked it down to stress. I read that stress can sometimes cause this. I appreciate all the help everyone has been giving me.

[Karla]

I've never actually measured my cage. I have one budgie. Hmmm...

Sky looks so snug in his new cage!

I just introduced millet to my new budgie a few days ago and he was afraid of it at first. Now there's not really much left:P

[Dave]

Wow that's a nice cage. He's a lucky budgie. :D

[angelbuck]

Well, Sky is now munching down on the millet. I will leave it in for a little while longer, then give it to him only as a treat, probably once I start trying to train him. He's getting more used to my hand though. I can reach in there to straighten things out.... change the water and food.. etc., and he doesn't freak out as much. He has only been with us for six days.. so I am sure that he will get used to us. He still doesn't chirp though. I have heard him chirp maybe five times, just a few peeps, since we brought him home. I hope he becomes more active soon, I love to hear them chirp.