Pet Forum / Birds / Birds / July 2008

Do you want them to be tame pets, or just have them to enjoy?
 If you want them to just enjoy, do you realize how much noise and ,mess
you are in for? If you are prepared, great. You need a fairly large cage,
with bar spacing set for these birds. May be a little hard to find, but they
are made. This many birds need room to get around, with plenty of toys, at
least two water and food stations.
 If you want them to be pets, as in tame, and they are not now, it could be
done, but it will be close to impossible. As long as you don't have any un
realistic expectations they could be a lot of fun.

I have 4 budgies, from ages 3 years to 12 years.  They have free
flight in a bird room in our house.  We have 3 cages for them because
sometimes they need to get away from each other and because on
occasion, if one of them seems a bit under the weather, I separate
them.  The third cage I call the "rest home" because the oldest budgie
uses it to get away from the youthful exuberance of the youngest one
on occasion.  Two of my budgies are bonded, but they still share
playtime with the others.

It's very important to have a LARGE cage for your birds. Or have a
couple cages so they can have a change of scenery and can all have
nice places to rest.  They may vie for the highest perch when it comes
to bedtime, so be sure you have perches of varying heights, and
various positions in the cage . It's not fun to settle down for the
night and have a cage mate pooping on your head.  ;)  You'll need to
have perches of different diameters and different materials, to give
their feet exercise and rest. We have wooden dowels, rope perches and
the concrete perches to help keep their nails trimmed.

Make sure you have many seed and water cups/containers.  You don't
want them fighting over only one or two sources of food and water.
Also you'll need to have extra cups where you can put fresh veggies
like corn, chopped carrots and chopped broccoli.  Get some cage clips
so you can clip a big wet leaf of romaine lettuce or a sprig of millet
on the cage for them to eat.   You should also get at least one,
preferably more, little water tubs that will fit on the cage so they
can bathe.

Three of my budgies don't play with toys, per say, but they do love
the mirrors with bells hanging on the bottom.  They like to admire
themselves, and also use them for 'security' when they feel uneasy.
My English female Lizzie LOVES to throw things off the top of the
cage, so I put those plastic balls with a bell inside and some plastic
chain bells hangars on the cage to give her something to do.  They
love when I play music in the room, sing to them or run the vacuum
(which I do every other day because one or the other is always
molting).  One game they do play is "see who can outshout mom and each
other", especially when they hear strange sounds or voices.

We made a perch tree so they can fly around the room and have
somewhere to land.  We also have window perches so they can land and
look outside.  I recommend you do some reading online to get an idea
of how to best care for them.  Your 6 budgies are going to be wild and
crazy, once they settle in!  I sure hope you're prepared for the
noise, especially at the break of dawn when they cheerfully greet the
new day with loud chirps and continuous chatter!  In fact, except for
a couple hours in the late morning, mine aren't quiet until sundown.

It's good of you to take those little budgies in.  I hope you enjoy
them and give them a great home!