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Some breeders put all their budgie food on the cage or aviary floor, including the feeding dishes and bowls. Budgerigars are very happy with this arrangement – it’s how they do most of their feeding in the wild (without the dishes and bowls, of course). A feeder secured to the side of the cage is also fine – the budgie will perch and eat, and will not pine at all if you never offer food at ground level.
Budgie Food Dish
There are many different designs of feeder available. The most important rule is to choose one with a large surface area – budgies are very good at eating all the seeds they can see, but are not clever enough to realise that there is more food beneath the seed husks. A centrally-placed hopper is a good option. Make sure you position it where it can easily be removed from and returned to the cage. It should never be beneath perches, as your budgies will unwittingly use it as a toilet.
In an aviary, large food trays make sense
Budgie Seed Feeders
A custom-made feeding dish is the best bet for seeds. It will be secure (i.e. can’t be tipped up or dislodged by perching birds), easy to clean and easy to get in and out of the cage. In setups where space is an issue, you can buy feeder-protectors that clip onto the side of the cage beneath the perch. These will quickly accumulate droppings, and should be cleaned every day.
Budgie Seed Hoppers
Many feeders are variations on an attachable bowl. A seed hopper is a popular alternative, providing a simple way of accommodating more than one bird comfortably at the same feeding station. Hoppers are the best way of supplying pellet food, if that’s the dietary route you’re following (see our cynical note on budgie pellets below). With seeds, you’ll need to make sure your birds have constant access to the fresh stuff, rather than a layer of husks that have fallen back into the pecking section of the hopper.
Comments
Yvette, 18 May 2020
Hi, WARNING to any other novice budgie owner like myself, please be aware of buying individual large seeders for only one budgie, thinking I was giving my budgie the freedom of eating as and when he wanted, plus saving me the daily chore of emptying his feeder each day, as it advertised the empty shucks falling through the grid, resulted in him becoming overweight, which in turn has left him with LIVER damage, thankfully due to this forum and advice given, being told that veterinary advice was needed he is now on the road to recovery.
Katherine, 10 December 2019
The feeding dishes in the cages have an inner bit to them. Another half a plastic part that goes inside the normal part. Call me stupid if you want but I can't work out why this is so.
Christine, 22 September 2019
I love budgies and have been involved with them all my life. We had one for 12 1/2 years which died in my hand. He lived all his life with only one kidney. Then when my husband died, I got one which was my little saviour. I had him for 5 years and was devastated when he died. He had some sort of virus and was on antibiotics for some months. He also died in my hand and I was distraught. He was an excellent talker , and I immediately got another one 2 days later. I didn't think I could love him like I loved Mickie, but I was wrong. He looks like Mickie, but he is so comical, and he is an even better talker . My only problem is, that he seems to eat a lot. He eats seed and I give him carrot ,parsley, and different fruit . Should I worry about him eating a lot. He sometimes seems to take a long time to digest it. Your comments please.
Kayla, 3 September 2019
I gave a parakeet that keep chewing on the bowl what can I do or give him to help him stop or is it natural?
Prajakta, 25 June 2019
I just got 2 budgies recently, a male and a female. The female is kind of the dominant one between the two I feel. Whenever my male budgie is eating/drinking , most of the time she comes and shoos him away to eat the food herself. Sometimes they do share and eat together but that not very often. Should I keep separate food and water dishes for them?