Budgies, or parakeets, are popular pets due to their playful nature and easy care. However, sometimes budgie parents may harm or kill their young ones, leaving pet owners perplexed as to why they might have killed their babies.
In this blog post, we’ll explore some of the common reasons why budgies may harm or kill their offspring and provide tips on preventing these situations.
One of the most common reasons for budgies killing their babies is due to a lack of experience or understanding of the parent budgie in dealing with the young baby tantrums.
Why Do Budgies Kill Their Babies?
I have been through these situations and gotten upset about my budgies when they killed their babies and after researching and experiencing I got to know all the reasons why my parakeets are killing their babies.
Let us dig deep into understanding the reasons and then we will discuss the solutions to prevent this situation.
Newly Matured Budgie Lacks Parenting Experience
If your newly matured parakeets have laid eggs and got babies out of them then they might feel overburdened when feeding their offspring due to lack of experience which is why they may harm the young ones unknowingly.
To address this
you need to stop inexperienced budgies to mate and have babies. You should make a pair of one mature experienced parakeet with a newly mature budgie.
Budgies Like Privacy
In general, budgie’s parenting love remains for their babies until they learn to self-feeding. In the wild, budgies kick out their babies from the nest after their offspring reach the self-feeding stage due to their own privacy.
When in captivity, babies can not move out of the cage after reaching the self-feeding stage until the pet owner removes them which is why budgies kill their babies.
To give privacy to your budgies
you need to remove young ones as soon as they start self-feeding.
New Laying Cycle
Female budgies get hormonal imbalances when reaching the new laying cycle and this is why they get aggressive. When female budgies become aggressive, it can harm all other budgies which is why she cannot afford to deal with their baby tantrums or even their existence in the cage.
To prevent the killing of babies
First of all you need to remove the nesting box from the cage as budgies require a nesting box for mating again. Remove the nest box as soon as the young babies move to the cage.
Small Cage Size May Lead to Budgies Killing Spree
You need to ask yourself first if the cage size is accurate for your budgies as these cute birds are active and require a lot of space to fly and play. A small cage can cause stress and frustration, which may lead to aggressive behavior towards other birds in the cage, including their young.
In addition, overcrowding can also cause territorial disputes among budgies, which can result in killing their offspring.
To address this issue
you need to make sure that the cage is of the accurate size to house a budgie pair and its babies. Ensure that parent parakeets have the space to fly and play.
Scarce Food Resources May Lead to Budgies Killing their Babies
Normally pet owners keep a tab on their birdie’s diet but whenever they lose focus on the diet then the consequences will be stress, frustration, and aggression. A lack of proper nutrition can lead to aggressive behavior, which may result in harm to their babies.
To address the issue of food Resources
you need to make sure that all parakeets are fed properly. At times the messy budgies throw food out of the cage and may not be able to reach that again so you should monitor the behavior of your budgies.
Inclusion of a New Strange Parakeet
Parent budgies do not like to have a strange cage mate when they have a family. It has been observed that various pet owners included a new member budgie in the cage while existing budgies are struggling with parenthood.
The inclusion of a stranger birdie triggers territorial aggression and that aggression might result in harming the offspring.
Never add a stranger bird in the cage to address this issue
Always buy a new cage for the new bird and learn how to introduce a new budgie to the existing budgies.
Genetics Defects or Illness in Young Budgie Concerns the Mother Budgie
Well, it is not common for a mother budgie to kill a young baby due to genetic defects or illness but it might concern the mother which might lead to abandoning the defective baby. Sometimes it leads to harming the baby.
To address this really rare issue
you need to make sure that all babies are being fed by their mothers, especially defective babies as they are more prone to get neglected by their mothers.
When Can Baby Budgies be Separated from their Parents?
Baby budgies should not be separated from their parents until they are at least 6-8 weeks old. This is because the first few weeks of a baby budgie’s life are critical for their growth and development, and they rely on their parents for food, warmth, and protection.
Once the baby budgies are around 6-8 weeks old, they can be gradually weaned off their parents and begin to eat on their own. However, it’s important to continue to provide them with socialization and stimulation through interactions with other birds or with humans.
We suggest separating the baby parakeets as soon as they start self-feeding to prevent harm from their parents.
Why are my Baby Budgies Dying?
There can be several reasons why baby budgies may be dying. Here are some of the common causes,
Consequences of Siblings Inbreeding
One of the main causes of baby budgies dying is because of sibling inbreeding which we have covered in depth. You need to read this post about why siblings should not mate and have babies.
Inbreeding impacts the babies and they may have weak bloodlines which makes their survival risky.
To address sibling inbreeding
you need to take the information of your budgie from the pet store where you adopted them. They will provide you with a pedigree record that will have information about your pet’s ancestors. Never let siblings mate and put them in two different cages.
Young Inexperienced Mother
If you have allowed inexperienced pairs to mate and have babies, they might have good health and lay more eggs because of their health, however, they will not know how to feed the babies. Due to the burden, mother budgie will neglect babies and this will cause the death of the babies.
To address this issue
you need to keep monitoring the babies and if they are not being fed by their mother then you should hand feed the babies.
Make sure that one parent should be mature enough to take care of the babies. Especially mother budgie should be mature as she would be taking care of the offspring in the start and later father budgie can take over.
Improper Feeding
Baby budgies require specialized feed in the form of corp milk which only mother budgies regurgitate however most of the time, mother birds stop feeding the babies due to stress resulting in the death of the baby.
To address this feeding issue
you need to hand-feed the baby with that proper viscosity as required by the baby. In case the feed has a higher viscosity, there is a likelihood that the baby will struggle to digest it, which may lead to its death.
Additionally, overfeeding the baby can also result in its demise.
Hot and Cold Temperature
Both hot and cold temperatures can be detrimental to the health and survival of baby budgies. If it is too hot in the bird room then babies may become dehydrated, lethargic, and may suffer from heatstroke.
If the temperature is too cold, they may become hypothermic and their body functions may slow down, which can lead to illness or death.
To address this issue
It is important to maintain a comfortable temperature range for baby budgies, typically between 20-25 degrees Celsius (68-77 degrees Fahrenheit).
