# Budgie Care in the UK: Complete Guide — Quick answer

PETHEALTH+ (https://pethealth.org.uk/health/budgie-care-uk): Budgie Care in the UK: Complete Guide — Quick answer. Budgies need a roomy cage with varied perches, daily out-of-cage flight, the company of their own kind (or hours of human attention), and a pellet-based diet with vegetables and only a little seed. They live around 7–8 years. Register with a UK avian vet before problems arise.

PETHEALTH+ (https://pethealth.org.uk/health/budgie-care-uk): Budgie Care in the UK: Complete Guide — Housing your budgie. According to the RSPCA, a cage is only suitable for short periods each day and overnight unless it is very large — budgies kept mainly in a cage need room to fly freely indoors for at least six hours a day: | Situation | Minimum cage size | |-----------|-------------------| | Bird spends most time out of cage | Height, width and depth at least 1.5× the wingspan | | Bird spends most time in cage | Height, width and depth at least 2× the wingspan | | Each extra small bird (under 50g, e.g. budgies) | Add 5% to the cage size | - Position — back of the cage against a solid wall; cover the top with a cloth so the bird feels safe - Away from hazards — never near a radiator, fire or stove, in a draught, or in the kitchen (non-stick pan fumes can kill birds) - Bar spacing — narrow enough that a budgie cannot push its head through (around 10–12 mm)

PETHEALTH+ (https://pethealth.org.uk/health/budgie-care-uk): Budgie Care in the UK: Complete Guide — Company — budgies are flock birds. According to the RSPCA, budgerigars are one of the few species that can be kept in groups, because they breed in colonies in the wild. A single budgie kept without another bird relies entirely on you for social contact. - Pairs or small groups of budgies usually thrive together - Single birds need daily talking, training and out-of-cage time with their owner - New birds should be quarantined for around 30 days before joining an existing bird, to protect against infections such as air sac mites

PETHEALTH+ (https://pethealth.org.uk/health/budgie-care-uk): Budgie Care in the UK: Complete Guide — Feeding your budgie. According to the RSPCA, seed-only diets cause obesity, fatty liver disease and vitamin A and calcium deficiency in parrots: - Pellets — nutritionally complete pellets should make up most of the diet - Seed — budgies do need some seed daily, but no more than about a tenth of the diet - Fresh vegetables — offer washed greens, carrot, broccoli and peas daily; fruit in small amounts - Fresh water — changed daily, in a clean bowl - Never feed avocado, chocolate, caffeine, alcohol or salty human snacks — see Pet bird diet UK

PETHEALTH+ (https://pethealth.org.uk/health/budgie-care-uk): Budgie Care in the UK: Complete Guide — Perches, toys and exercise. - Varied perches — natural branches of different thicknesses keep feet healthy; constant pressure from identical dowel perches contributes to sore feet (see Bird bumblefoot UK) - Toys — rotate chewable, shreddable and foraging toys weekly to prevent boredom - Flight time — supervised free flight in a bird-safe room daily: windows and doors closed, mirrors covered, ceiling fans off, other pets shut out

Source: https://pethealth.org.uk/health/budgie-care-uk