Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, September 18, 1994 TAG: 9409210027
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Karen Davis
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
The term ``parakeet'' is actually a generic term that applies to a number of bird species from several countries. The ``budgerigar,'' commonly called a parakeet by the U.S. public, is a native of Australia. Its name means ``pretty bird.''
Budgies come in many varieties, including blues, greens, yellows, greys, spangled and pied. They are relatively easy to keep and make perfect apartment pets. Often, landlords allow caged birds where cats and dogs are prohibited.
Budgies can live about 10 to 15 years. Proper nutrition is one of the major contributors to longevity for captive birds.
Commercial pellet feed manufacturers generally offer at least two pet bird formulas: one for the normal adult, and one for birds with special needs, such as when they're molting or breeding.
However, commercial parakeet pellet feeds and seed mixes should not be the sole source of your pet bird's diet. An all-seed diet lacks calcium, vitamin A and proteins. In the wild, a budgie does not eat just dried, processed seeds. Instead, it consumes grains, fruits and vegetables, as well as living seeds and an occasional insect. Therefore, feeding a captive bird only seed is like feeding a human being nothing but bread and water.
To supplement your bird's diet, offer unsweetened breakfast cereals, oatmeal, cooked rice, fruits, carrots, peas, beans, greens and other vegetables. About once a week, give a little cheese, cottage cheese or mashed bits of hard-boiled egg for protein.
Foods that are toxic to birds include chocolate and avocado.
Provide cuttlebone, available in pet stores, year-round for calcium. Cuttlebone is the internal skeleton of the cuttlefish.
The necessity of providing grit is controversial. Grit was once thought to be essential for helping the bird's gizzard grind up and digest seed. However, budgies dehusk their seeds before swallowing, making them more easily digestible. In the last five to seven years, more veterinarians have begun to not recommend grit because it may block the digestive systems of sick or stressed birds, and healthy birds appear to do just as well without it, said Dr. Vanessa Rolfe of Avian and Exotic Mobile Veterinary Services in Salem.
When purchasing a bird, pick the liveliest one in the cage. Try to get a young one, too, because budgies are easiest to train when young. Young birds of the common varieties have bars across the front of their heads until their first molt at age three or four months. Thereafter, the head is usually a solid color.
You can tell the sex of a budgie by looking at the skin over the nostrils just above the beak. In males or cocks, this fleshy area, called the cere, is typically blue. In females or hens, it is brown.
Males and females can learn to mimic your words, although it make take you several months of repeating the same word or word group before your bird finally speaks.
Finger-training is also accomplished with great patience by offering treats by hand. If the bird seems frightened at first, gain its confidence by placing your hand near it from outside the cage. When the bird no longer seems frightened by having your hand near it on the outside, proceed with putting your hand inside the cage.
A veterinarian can advise you about clipping the wings, if necessary, to facilitate catching and training and to prevent your bird from flying away.
Budgies are generally compatible when kept in pairs in the same cage, regardless of sex, although some individuals may have their differences. If you decide to get your present budgie a buddy, quarantine the new bird for 60 days and have it vet checked for bacterial, viral and parasitic infections. Wash your hands in between handling birds.
After the quarantine period, move the cages side by side and observe how the birds interact between the cage bars. If they sit close to each other, chances are they will get along when you put them in the same cage.
The notion that drafts are dangerous to birds is not entirely true. While drafts may exacerbate symptoms in potentially sick or stressed birds, birds ``in the wild do not live in totally wind-free environments,'' said Dr. Rolfe.
Karen L. Davis is a Roanoke free-lance writer and pet owner. Her column runs twice a month. Send general-interest questions to The Pet Podium, in care of the features department, Roanoke Times & World-News, P.O. Box 2491, Roanoke, Va. 24010-2491.
by CNB