Budgie Appreciation

I have had a budgie as a pet for most of my life. They make perfect pets, although small they are huge in character. Budgies are good for young and old. Can be very good play mates for the young and good company for the old.

My budgies have a happy life, two of whom lived to ripe old ages! Pip lived until he was 14 years old and Georgie until he was 10 years old. We had 3 budgies whilst my 3 daughters were growing up, Pip, Joey and Georgie. Unfortunately, Joey was only 2 years old when he died – he had a growth in his crop.

Pip was my first budgie in adulthood and I had him for just over 5 years before my first daughter was born. He was a bright cheerful character with an element of mischievousness – he would peck at the wood-chip wallpaper near his cage and on one occasion unpicked the stitching on my curtains perfectly! There was thread all round his beak. He loved music, his particular favourites were, would you believe, - “Friggin in the Riggin” by the Sex Pistols, which he used to frantically nod his head to, and “Wuthering Heights” by Kate Bush, which he used to “sing” to. He was a chatterbox too with “pretty boy Pip” and “get stuffed” (I don’t know who taught him that!) were his favourite phrases. Also, he mimicked the telephone too, which was the old trim style – sending us off to answer the phone.

At the age of 3 Pip suffered a really bad bout of bronchitis – sneezing pink mucus. He was given an injection of antibiotics and the vet did not expect him to survive the night. I stayed up all night with him – he slept snuggled up to my neck under my hair. Being a strong little chap he survived and still lived to the ripe of old of 14. Although, after the bronchitis he was not able to fly as well as he did before – he used to get out of breath quite quickly.

All my budgies spend a lot of time out of the cages (or wire houses as we prefer to call them).

After Pip my daughters wanted to get another budgie so off we went in search. A local garden centre had a small pet section and sold various types of birds. My eldest daughter was 9 at the time – she shouted across the shop “Oh look Mummy they sell punk budgies – can we have one?” Bless her - she was looking at cockatiels and got quite embarrassed when everyone laughed. The girls found a tiny yellow budgie that was only just 6 weeks old – that was Joey. He soon settled in and become a much loved family member.

Joey learned to talk and bark! He mimicked the dog next door. In fact he seemed to have a few “doggy” characteristics – he would play fetch with small pens and toys the girls had, and “dig” the sand in the bottom of his cage sending it all over the place. Joey would join the girls when they played cards or board games.

After Joey died we left it a while before getting another budgie. The house seemed so empty without one so we got Georgie, a pied white/blue. He was 10 weeks old when we got him and the receipt said “10 week old Pied White Budgie - Possible cock”. Well after the first few months with Georgie it became apparent that he was a very amorous bird with just about everything! So we knew that he was a definite cock!

The girls by this stage were coming into their early teens and as you can imagine with teenagers the vocabulary broadened along with the sibling rivalry. Georgie’s vocabulary flourished too! In fact he was quite smart – we used to call him gorgeous George which he could say no problem. But with the sibling rivalry the word “bitch” was used quite often. Georgie would often sit on my computer screen whilst I worked and chat away. One day as I worked he said “gorgeous bitch”. Thank you Georgie - I think! This then became a regular saying of his. It was incredible to think that he put those two words together.

At the time I used to attend various business shows, seminars etc and was often given small fluffy “gonk” type advertising thingies with wibbly-wobbly eyes and peel off sticky feet to stick on top of computer screens.  Georgie used to get very amorous with these and their eyes ended up all skew-whiff and the girls used to laugh and say “they’ve been Georged”.

This little chap loved fruit and would help insist on helping you eat it.  One Christmas he made quite an impression on the fruit bowl.  Nearly every piece of fruit had budgie nibbles in and quite a few pecked grapes were found around the room.

Georgie was a well travelled budgie too.  He came on holiday with us and was quite happy to travel the 700 miles round trip once or twice a year.  On one occasion he got a little stressed as it was particularly hot weather.  We had taken a water spray bottle with us to cool him down, which he loved.  As long as he was with us he was in his element.

Today, my budgie Buster is still just a baby really – he is not yet a year old.  He has the colours of the three previous budgies and is extremely affectionate.  Buster was 4 months old when we got him and became hand tame almost immediately.  He loves being out of his “wire house” with the radio or TV on.  When we go out he sulks for a while on our return.  He is very nosey and loves to look out of the window.  He adores children too and tends to follow my 9 year old grandson around when he visits.

Budgies are very easy to care for. If you let them have some freedom their poop is easy to clean up. They tend to have favourite spots. Buster’s is the top of the french doors or the ledge of the patio window. Georgie, when not sitting on one of our shoulders, would sit on the wall lamp. You just need to clean their cages out once or twice per week and change their seed and water daily. They do not cost a lot to look after – they eat seed and a small amount of fruit. It is best to use loose sand for the bottom of their cages as they tend to rip up the sand sheets – they end up looking like doilies! Cages come in various sizes and designs, and range between £10 and £40. Budgies love their toys and once talking they will chat to their reflection in a mirror.  They love their baths too.

So if you are thinking of getting a pet I can highly recommend Budgies. They are truly wonderful characters and lovable companions.