I didn’t even plan to get a budgie at first, honestly. 3 years ago I went to the local animal shelter just to drop off some old cat blankets I had lying around for the stray kitties they were taking care of. I already had a golden retriever at home, I thought my pet family was complete. Then I passed the bird section, and this tiny bright yellow budgie was hanging upside down on the cage mesh, yelling at the top of his lungs like he was scolding the entire shelter staff for forgetting his millet treat that morning.
The volunteer working that day laughed and told me he’d been surrendered by a college student who moved abroad and couldn’t take him with, and he’d been at the shelter for 2 weeks already. No one wanted to adopt him cause everyone said he was “too loud and too naughty”. I held my finger up to the cage mesh just to say hi, and he immediately hopped on, nipped my finger super gentle, then stole the hair tie off my wrist and flew to the top of his cage to chew it like he was showing off his prize. That’s it, I filled out the adoption papers right there, took him home the same day.
The first week with Mango was pure chaos I never expected. I bought him a huge cage, all the fancy toys, perches, cuttlebone, organic millet treats, the whole nine yards, right? I thought he’d be super happy exploring his new space. Nah, first thing he did when I opened the cage door to let him out for playtime was zoom straight to my kitchen counter, grab a whole French fry off my breakfast plate, and fly to the top of my fridge to eat it like he earned it. I was so shocked I just stood there staring for 10 seconds, didn’t even know what to do. Now it’s a daily ritual. If I don’t leave one tiny fry on the edge of my breakfast plate for him, he’ll sit on my shoulder and nibble my earlobe nonstop until I give in. The vet said a tiny bit of plain fry once a day won’t hurt him, so I just let him have his snack now, it’s not worth the ear nibbling torture otherwise.
Another funny thing? He hates when I work from home and ignore him. I have a little home office desk, right? If I’m typing for more than 20 minutes without stopping to pet him or give him a millet bite, he first pulls the keyboard trick: he lands on my keyboard and walks across it, typing random garbage into my work emails. Once he sent a whole paragraph of “jjjjjjjjkkkkkklllllllmmmmmm” to my boss. My boss still teases me about my “bird assistant” to this day. If the keyboard trick doesn’t work? He’ll fly straight to my houseplant shelf and pretend he’s gonna chew on my pothos leaves. He knows I’m terrified he’ll eat something toxic, so I immediately drop whatever I’m doing to go get him. This little gremlin 100% knows he’s got me wrapped around his tiny claw.
Oh and I almost forgot the time he tried to make friends with my golden retriever, Daisy. Daisy is super gentle, she’s never hurt any small animal, but she’s still a 60-pound big dog, right? One day I was sitting on the couch watching TV, Mango was out flying around, Daisy was napping on the floor next to me. Next thing I know, Mango lands right on Daisy’s head, starts pecking at her ears gently like he’s grooming her. Daisy woke up, was so confused she didn’t move a muscle for 5 whole minutes, just stared up at the ceiling like “is there something on my head? Should I be worried?” I laughed so hard I fell off the couch. Now they’re best buds, Mango sits on Daisy’s head every time she’s napping on the couch, Daisy doesn’t even mind anymore.
He’s not just a troublemaker though, he’s the sweetest little thing ever too. Last winter I had a really bad flu, I was stuck in bed for 3 whole days, couldn’t even get up to make food half the time. I left his cage door open so he could come and go as he wanted, thought he’d just play with his toys like usual. But every single hour, he would fly from his perch to my bed, sit on my forehead, chirp super softly for a minute, then fly back to his cage, grab a tiny piece of millet from his treat bowl, and drop it on my pillow. He was trying to feed me his favorite snacks cause he thought I was sick and couldn’t get food for myself. I cried so hard when I realized what he was doing, even though most of the millet crumbs ended up in my hair and I had to wash it 3 times when I got better.
A lot of people ask me if budgies are good pets for beginners, right? I always say yes, but you gotta remember they’re not just pretty decorations. They have such huge personalities in those tiny little bodies, they’re way smarter than most people think, they get bored super easy, and they need just as much attention and playtime as a dog or cat would. Mango learns new tricks every month, right now he’s learning how to high five me with his tiny claw, he already knows how to say “pretty bird”, “give me fry” and my name. He even yells “STOP” when Daisy tries to steal food off the counter, it’s the funniest thing ever.
If you’re thinking about getting a budgie, just a few little tips from my experience: don’t get just one if you can’t spend at least 2 hours a day playing with them, they’re super social animals, they get lonely really fast. Get the biggest cage you can afford, they love flying around and stretching their wings, not just sitting on a small perch. And hide all your hair ties, tiny plastic bits, and anything small they can chew, I’ve lost at least 20 hair ties to Mango’s chewing habit in the last 3 years, he loves them more than his millet treats sometimes.