Budgies are excellent pets and they are the most loved bird species kept worldwide as pets. Their ability to breed in colonies as well as in individual cages is unmatched. They breed quickly, easily and under almost all conditions. They are quite hardy birds and can adjust well in new conditions. Because of their adaptability their population is continuously on the rise in captivity.
They have the ability to breed 3-4 times a year continuously.
Despite of their good breeding abilities, they sometimes exhibit some behavioral problems. During the breeding season they often show aggression towards other budgies if bred in colonies. It often happens that this aggression leads to the death of a budgie and if not the budgie can get severe bodily injuries.
You can minimize aggression in budgies by doing four simple things.
- Provide them with a lot of space to fly
In small sized cages, there are more chances that your budgies will fight. Because of a smaller cage size and a lesser flying area they are more inclined towards quarreling with each other. Cages that allow more flight reduces aggression in budgies. If you put more breeding pairs than the space available inside your cage, the chances of aggression will increase.
In larger cages where they get more flight, these budgies develop strong muscles and stamina to defend themselves against another aggressive budgie. When the battle starts the weaker one has more chances to escape and fly to another corner of the cage. In this case the chances of physical injury is far less than in smaller sized cages where there is not enough room to escape.
- Put More Breeding Boxes Than the Number of Pairs
It is often a good practice to provide them with more breeding boxes than the total number of breeding pairs inside the colony. It often happens that two females choose the same breeding box simultaneously. This preference of choice can lead to fight between the two females. When you provide them extra boxes, the weaker one has plenty of options to choose another nest box.
- Place Breeding Boxes at Some Distance
Do not fix the breeding boxes very close to each other. If one female has selected a box and another females comes to the adjacent nest box, that female will not let her come near her box to protect her territory. This can lead to a dangerous tussle between the two females. If you fix the nest boxes at a distance then there will not be a territorial dispute between the two females.
- Feed them with Soft Food to Reduce Aggressive Behavior
If you feed your Budgies with soft food at least twice a weak, you can reduce aggression in your Budgies to a great extent. It is often the lack of proper balanced diet that causes this excessive aggressive behavior. Budgies who are well fed with all the essential nutrients, vitamins and minerals are often less aggressive. Apart from the standard seed mix diet, feed them with corn, wheat, green leafy vegetables and boiled rice to reduce this aggressive behavior.