Expert: Riley - 3/3/2007

Question
Thankyou. I have been searching the internet and have found lots of different heplful information about the box. I have made my own out of cardboard, 20 by 20, and have covered it with sawdust. I have a flap to see inside and  it has a big door. Would this be ok for them.
-------------------------------------------
The text above is a follow-up to ...

-----Question-----
hello, as you know i have just lost my boy and still devasted but i really regret not allowing him to mate with my other girl. We don't wnat to lose another before we give the breeding a go but we need some advise and some tips. i know we need a box but mum needs some more information before we go ahead with it. Anyway on a completely different subject, my budgies won't eat anything ther than seeds and millet sprays and i need some help as well with their diet. Thanks.
-----Answer-----
Well Rebecca, some budgies like soft bedding for their nesting boxes, just wood shavings. However my bird just pulled them all out, so it can be iffy. If you are going to go with the breeding, you must make sure to supply a cuttle bone for calcium. Finally, you may want to offer your budgies celery, mine seem to love it. Once you have done all this feel free to ask me another question about the breeding or the diet. Thanks for posting!

Riley

Answer
I highly doubt that your birds would want saw dust in their nesting box. One, because they cannot take it out and chances of them not liking bedding in their nesting box is pretty high. And two, because whenever the female fans out her feathers in the nesting box, they will get a beak and eyes full of saw dust. And about the cardboard nesting box, I'm not sure if that's the best way to go. Because the female may find it unsteady and if it collapses when or not she's in there, that can't be good. I just have a simple nesting box that I bought. It's made of black plastic with a hole so the birds can go in to it, a few cut, shaped vents, and one end where you can lift up the black plastic and behind it there will be clear plastic so you can look in. This wasn't too much money and I would recommend it. But who knows, your budgies may like your nesting box, however I would remove the saw dust. Thanks for posting!

Riley