Budgies are ideal pet birds for beginners due to their size, friendly nature, and ease of handling.
If you’re contemplating getting a pet budgie, you need to be aware of the benefits of bird ownership and the more challenging aspects of raising a budgie.
Budgies make good pets because they’re intelligent, sociable, affectionate, entertaining, adorable, easy to care for, learn tricks, and can be taught to talk.
Unfortunately, budgies are messy eaters, noisy, physically vulnerable, poop a lot, need companionship and enrichment, and some out-of-cage time.
Budgies (parakeets) are the most popular pet birds in the world. While budgies are adorable small birds, your decision to keep one depends on more than just their colors and appearance.
What Are The Advantages Of Budgies?
There are many reasons why budgies are adored around the world.
Besides their beautiful physical appearance, they possess a charming personality and behavioral traits that make them delightful pets to keep, including:
Intelligence
Budgies stand out from most small pets due to their high intelligence.
Most budgies can learn different vocalizations and mimic human speech, making them fun pets to interact with.
Male budgies, in particular, tend to learn speech more easily, and they can amass a vocabulary of up to 100 words in a short period.
You can train your pet budgie to respond to verbal commands and visual cues. For example, this includes sitting on your finger or perching on your arm.
Social
Most owners prefer playful and interactive pets, which is something budgies are renowned for. They’re naturally social creatures, and they enjoy interacting with their owners and cage mates.
In fact, it’s not unusual for budgies to snuggle up close to their owners and perch on their shoulders. You may notice your budgie wagging its tail whenever you’re around.
Given its social nature, setting aside time to play with your budgie every day is critical to its happiness and well-being.
Neglecting your budgie or depriving it of attention may cause stress and sadness/depression. Unfortunately, this can trigger self-harming behaviors, such as feather plucking.
Don’t Need Much Space
Budgies are small species of bird, measuring an average of 7 inches.
They don’t need much space and can be comfortably housed in a cage that’s 18x18x18. This makes them convenient pets for those with limited living spaces, such as apartments.
The most important consideration when choosing a budgie’s cage is height. The cage should be tall enough that the budgie’s head and tail don’t touch the top or bottom of the cage.
Entertaining
Budgies have curious and playful personalities. As long as you supply them with the right toys, they’ll provide you with endless amusement.
Budgies love to explore hollow objects, ring bells, and talk to themselves and others. Observing them go about their day uninterrupted can provide endless entertainment and enjoyment.
Simple Care Needs
Budgies are some of the easiest pets to care for, as they can keep themselves active and entertained, provided they have toys and things to play with in their cage.
Your budgie will be content to stay in its cage when you’re busy working during the day, so you don’t have to worry about leaving it by itself.
However, it’s recommended to let them out of their cage for at least 2 hours every day. This will allow them to exercise their wings and freely explore their environment.
Inexpensive
Most budgies are inexpensive compared to other pets. You can purchase a new budgie for as little as $25, depending on where you buy them and the type of budgie.
Most breeders charge more for budgies with rare and less common colors, such as clearwing, lacewing, and anthracite budgies. Rainbow budgies full into the average price band.
What Are The Disadvantages Of Budgies?
If you’re thinking about getting a pet budgie, here are some of the negatives:
Messy
Budgies are messy eaters, getting their food everywhere.
Budgies leave droppings anywhere they get the urge to relieve themselves. Furthermore, budgies poop a lot, with healthy ones going to the toilet every 10-15 minutes.
Letting your budgie out of its cage and allowing it to fly around increases the chances of messing up your furniture and household items.
Wild budgies don’t have to worry about cleanliness.
Loud
Budgies are unique from other pets due to their ability to mimic human speech and seemingly converse with their owners. So, they can be quite noisy, although less noisy than other birds.
It certainly doesn’t help that most budgies tend to be active and loudest in the morning, just before sunrise. You should expect to hear a lot of chirping and singing when the sun comes out.
The good news is that budgies quieten down at night, especially once you cover their cage with a blanket.
Vulnerability
Wild budgies spend most of their time roaming and foraging. Being in this natural outdoor environment helps them grow and develop healthily, as they can exercise and breathe fresh air.
If you’re planning to bring a budgie into your home, you need to check the environment it’ll be living in to ensure it is free from toxins and pollutants. Budgies have sensitive lungs and air sacs.
Exposure to chemicals can trigger respiratory illnesses in budgies, which can cause permanent damage to the lungs and other organs.
For example, cooking food in non-stick cookware is a leading cause of death. Keep your budgie away from the kitchen, bathroom, and other areas that may expose them to airborne chemicals and irritants.
Also, budgies are sensitive to extreme temperatures and will fall sick if the temperature drops below 60 degrees Fahrenheit. Keep the cage away from windows to prevent your budgie from overheating and developing heatstroke in the daytime when the temperatures exceed 85 degrees Fahrenheit.
For this reason, you should always keep your budgie’s cage in a temperature-controlled room. Budgies thrive when the temperature is kept between 60 and 85 degrees Fahrenheit.
Need Companionship
Wild budgies live in flocks of 3-100 members. So, they can forage for food, build nests, and even migrate together, which enables them to foster strong bonds of attachment.
According to Behavioural Processes, exposing budgies to their mirror reflections has been proven to increase the strength of their pair bonds.
This suggests that budgies experience social stimulation in the presence of other birds.
So, if you intend to keep a budgie as a pet, you should consider keeping them in pairs to ensure they don’t feel lonely or neglected when you’re busy or away.
Should I Get A Budgie?
When deciding on getting a budgie as a pet, you need to weigh the pros against the cons.
While budgies are beautiful creatures, they’re certainly not for everyone. Nonetheless, here are reasons why budgies make good pets:
Serenade You with Songs
As mentioned, budgies are fast learners who quickly pick up new vocabulary.
They also love singing. According to the Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, male budgies, in particular, are extremely good at vocalizing.
You can expect your budgie to remember your favorite songs and chime in whenever it hears your singing. Your bird may even attempt to embellish its singing with trills and melodic chirps.
Entertainers
Budgies love to learn and display new tricks.
Depending on how well you train your budgie, it’ll perform tricks such as climbing ladders, flying on command, throwing balls through hoops, etc.
You can expect plenty of laughter and all-around family fun whenever your budgie is around.
Mood Enhancement
No matter what activity you’re engaged in, spending time with your pet budgie can significantly reduce stress, help you relax, and enhance your overall mental state.
Talking to your budgie can be therapeutic since it induces laughter, which triggers the release of endorphins throughout your body, thus causing you to feel good.
Likewise, any time your budgie expresses affection toward you by snuggling next to or rubbing its body against you, the cortisol levels in your body reduce.
Budgies aren’t for everyone, but you can better decide if this long-term companion is right for you with these insights. When properly cared for and socialized, budgies make engaging friends, brightening up your routine and entertaining you.
