Help. My budgie swims in his seed!

[alexel]

I don't know why, but for some reason, Edward will eat some seed from his bowl, then jump in a 'swim' in it! He rolls around almost like he's trying to scratch him belly or something :S It's so strange!

Has anyone else experienced this? Or know why he does it or how I can stop him? Usually I wouldn't mind, because he seems to enjoy it, but he pushes ALL the seed out and it's such a waste - I just refilled it an hour ago!

Thanks

[redpigtails]

he is having fun - and if you have other budgies, he is possibly declaring the seed to be his! maybe chuck some uncooked brown rice grains, or something esle with a similar texture in the large seed cup for him to play in - i bet it would feel great to roll around in seed or grain!
use several little seed cups or one of those controlled nozzle feeders (i prefer lots of little cups) for the usual budgie seed and that way it wont get wasted.

[DeBree420]

personally i would not give uncooked rice, as it can swell in his belly...
but 'swimming' in seed is a pretty normal thing to do ;)

[alexel]

Yeh, I wasn't going to give him rice. Maybe I'll try the controlled feeder, and see how he likes that, until he is tame enough to let out of the cage, and can amuse himself with other things.
Thanks guys!

[Kip.The.Great]

Sounds likes he's having fun. :p Sounds, normal. :D Maybe it feels good.

[x_zipped_x]

no need to worry most love doing that, sometimes mine sleep in their food bowl :D

[luke]

LOL, I sure would see it myself, it sound soooo funny.:D

[ronsig]

Sometimes, I see the sparrows outside taking a bath in sand. It must feel good because they seem to enjoy it:)

Sigrid

[atvchick95]

he may be wanting a bath too

I know when mine want a bath and i'm not on the ball they'll just jump in a dish rather its water, food, or empty and start "bathing"

my tiels will bend way over on their perch or swing and spread their wings and rub their head on them (just like they do when they get a shower) and chirp non stop until they get their shower

[TweetysMommy]

Petey will lay down in the food dish and eat. Its funny because its a pretty tight fit.

Yesterday Petey was on the perch for his food dish eating and Tweety was on top the food dish cover sneaking pieces out.

[naburu]

I heard that it is normal, especially for girls in breeding condition. Make sure your boy's a boy!! :D

[RigarFood]

My Budgie does the same thing :P

[swishmom98]

My Myrtle loves to play in her food dish, I have another one that loved to kick it out of the dish. What I did to help out with the situation was to get shallower dish. also you can have a bowl and then turn one upside down in the middle of the first bowl. This only allows them to eat from the small area around the second bowl. It really helps on the messes. I have them in a larger cage now and they don't seem to do it as much. It is normal for budgies to do this. Hey, let me know how it goes.

[MiniFlock]

I heard that it is normal, especially for girls in breeding condition. Make sure your boy's a boy!! :D

Egg-zackly! One of our females recently picked up the habit of digging and thrashing around in the food bowl, and my girlfriend finally realized that she was using its shape to maneuver into a position wherein she could "display" herself to potential mates.

It makes sense, I guess, that she would burrow into the seed in hopes of getting some seed burrowed into her! (Sorry about that one, kiddies!)

-- mf

[alexel]

he may be wanting a bath too

I know when mine want a bath and i'm not on the ball they'll just jump in a dish rather its water, food, or empty and start "bathing"

Oh, he takes baths :) About 3 actually.. he loves it! I was planning on introducing him to baths when he was hand tamed and I could get him out of the cage, but he discovered his water bowl did the trick :P

Sometimes he baths in the water first, then the seed, and it gets all stuck to him.. lol

I heard that it is normal, especially for girls in breeding condition. Make sure your boy's a boy!! :D

He's still too young to be sure of what sex he actually is, so I'm just assuming (hopefully he doesnt end up a female named 'Edward'.. that would almost make it as bad as the boy named 'Sue' :p)

But either way, he's too young to be in breeding condition (I think) 7 weeks old is too young, yes?

[aka.pody]

You know what? It really is sort of like taking a bath. If you put your hand in the seeds it'll feel cool. Try it.
I've also seen birds outside taking baths in dirt or sand.

[MiniFlock]

You know what? It really is sort of like taking a bath. If you put your hand in the seeds it'll feel cool. Try it.
I've also seen birds outside taking baths in dirt or sand.

Maybe I should get a "sandbox" for my problem female -- as it is, she's knocking about 9/10ths of the dang food out of the dish before the rest of the birds can get their bellies filled!

-- mf