How to Care for Juvenile Budgie With Lavender

If your juvenile budgie or budgerigar has a lavender cere, you are raising a male bird. The cere is at the base of the beak, below the forehead or crown area. Males have lavender or blue ceres, while females have tan or light yellow ones. Budgies, also known as parakeets, are personable, attractive and colorful. They are also relatively easy to care for, hardy and inexpensive, making them an excellent choice for a pet.

Things You'll Need

  • Cage
  • Seed mix
  • Cuttlebone
  • Mineral block
  • Food and water dishes
  • Bird-safe room
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Instructions

    • 1

      House your juvenile budgie in a roomy cage at least 24 inches long by 24 inches wide. If the cage has horizontal bars, your budgie can climb more easily. Place a minimum of three perches in the cage. Budgies like swings, mirrors and bath houses. Guard against overcrowding the cage with toys; your bird also needs room to fly. Automatic-dispensing food and water bowls that can be attached to the outside of the cage work best but are not necessary. Guards on the dishes to prevent waste contamination are essential.

    • 2

      Feed your budgie a seed mixture. Most mixtures include canary grass seed, millet, oats and groats, niger seed and linseed. Supplement the diet with fresh foods, such as eggplant, watercress, cucumber, young dandelion greens, bok choy, carrots, lettuce, green peppers, spinach leaves, tomatoes and zucchini. Suitable fruits include bananas, pineapples, kiwi, apples and apricots. Budgies also love a millet-spray treat and honey bells or sticks. Budgies are unable to digest cabbage, raw and green potatoes, green beans, grapefruit, rhubarb, plums, lemons and avocado.

    • 3

      Provide a mineral block and a cuttlebone in the cage to ensure that your budgie gets adequate minerals and trace elements. Refresh the water bowl daily.

    • 4

      Wash the perches and dirty toys weekly and the floor every other week. Once a year, hose down and disinfect the entire cage, replacing old dishes, toys and perches.

    • 5

      Offer several hours a day of free flying time in a bird-safe room. Leave the cage door open and eventually your budgie will get hungry and return to the cage. As your bird adjusts to you and his surroundings, he will become comfortable with perching on your finger.

    • 6

      Train your budgie to talk by speaking slowly and being repetitive and patient. Males are more inclined to speak than females. Budgies have a very low, quick voice that might be mistaken for chatter, so listen closely.