2. Reggie & Buster

Reggie

Hatched 5th July 2015, home 24th August 2015

Reggie is the sweetest little budgie. He is friendly, clever, brilliant fun and surprisingly loving so I really couldn't have asked for a better little guy to be my first bird. I decided after a lot of research that I could care for a budgie and so when his advert popped up I couldn't resist the cute little smile he had across his beak (see below). 

Even though I was convinced I wanted a yellow and green pied budgie I couldn't resist his happy face. BUT I also chose him because he was an hour from my work, available when I wanted him, a boy, and from a breeder that had already hand tamed him. Sometimes eagerness and a bit of spontaneity can work in your favour! I didn't just jump in head first though; I had read everything I could find about getting a budgie and I had looked a many instagram/youtube/facebook accounts so I knew what I was getting myself into. Thankfully he has turned into everything I ever wanted!

Taming him was relatively easy, he only bit me a few times at the beginning because I was learning what he liked and what he didn't like - I pushed him sometimes further than he wanted to go and biting was how he told me this. We got through the blips and now he has bonded very closely to my boyfriend and I. I'd say he was more bonded to me, however as soon as my boyfriend gets home he is straight into his shoulder, I do often wonder who his favourite actually is. 

Reggie used to talk! He was an amazing little talker and he had a long list of phrases he could say:

Reggie the budgie

Buster the budgie

Baby Buster

Baby baby Reggie bird (this was once but it made me laugh)

Big bad budgie/Buster

Gimme a kiss - followed by actual kisses

Big kiss

I love you

Nice to meet you - this isn't very clear - usually a mumble followed by to meet you

Whose/where's a/my good boy/baby budgie

Night Reggie

Come on Reggie/Buster/baby budgie

Hey

Night Reggie

Good morning Reggie

an imitation of my laugh

wolf whistle

Sadly he stopped learning not long after Buster came a long. It's a shame as he was actually amazing. He was very clear with his words and he learnt from me very quickly. Why has he stopped? Budgies are lazy birds, as soon as Buster came along he never needed to talk to me anymore as he had Buster to chat to in budgie speak. I do feel a bit sad when I look back at their videos as I know lots of talking budgies and he was better than a lot of them, but this was a small sacrifice to make to ensure he was happy with another friend. Please if you are reading my blog hoping to have a talking budgie, realize that this is a human desire and sometimes not the best for your bird. I am not one to preach about keeping single birds, but if the only reason you want a budgie is to talk I hope you soon realize there is more to them than that. Reggie does still speak one word, just one out of all of the above. Can you guess what? ......... ''Buster'' That's all he will ever say. 

Just because he stopped talking, doesn't mean our bond is broken. He will still fly to me for kisses and attention. When I get home from work he flies straight to my shoulder (99% of the time) and he will sit on my finger and rest his head just under my nose and close his eyes while he relaxes. Its not just me that he is so friendly with though, as I said, my boyfriend and Reggie are friends; I have the cutest video of Reggie telling Doug's nose that he loves it followed by multiple kisses! When we have friends over, he will be on their heads, on their shoulders, in their food! He is so friendly and it is nice to know that he feels so confident in our house even with a room full of strangers. 

He is a great traveler! I have taken Reggie home to my parents house a few times and he is always fantastic in the car. When it was just him I would be driving along to the soundtrack of 'Reggie the budgie, Buster, come on!, Whose a good boy' on repeat for 3 hours - it could get a bit much!! In strange locations he is just as friendly as at home; I can get him out in anyone's house (even the post room at my work!) and he will happily sit on my finger or jump on to his cage and be admired. When I first took him to work at Christmas I was quite a proud mumma to see how he came out of his cage and sat with me happily - I was obviously a safe place and he knew who I was and that he would be OK with me in the strange location. Love my boy! I have also left him at my sisters house over night and he just chilled on her shoulder and watched TV with her all night. 

Reggie is incredibly annoying!!!! OMG, I cannot begin to describe how irritating he is. I come home from the supermarket, Reggie is in the bag. Putting food away, Reggie is in the fridge. Making toast, Reggie is eating the crumbs. Trying to eat the toast, Reggie is in my mouth. Trying to relax in the living room, Reggie is shouting, he's on my head, he's talking to anything reflective, he's trying to eat my plants, he's in the kitchen on the sink, he's on the chopping board, he's nibbling my cables, he's talking to my toe, he's chasing Buster, he's feeding Oscar who doesn't want it, he's shouting at the top of his voice. I'm trying to file my nails, Reggie is on the file. I'm trying to eat anything, Reggie is on it. I'm trying to crochet, Reggie is on the wool eating it. I've finished a cup of tea and Reggie is beak down in my mug....... ARGH!! I love him though. 

Oh, and lets not forget the biggest annoyance - his love for Oscar. [blog post to come]

You will learn more about Reggie throughout the blog!

Buster

Hatched 26th October 2015, home 5th December 2015

Buster is my little nut case weirdo. He's a head strong, defiant little budgie who does as he pleases and does it with confidence. He is a very different character to Reggie. From the day I got him he has proved himself to be very brave which is quite different to gentle Reggie. It took Reggie nearly a month to start playing with his toys but Buster was happily attacking them after just a few days! 

Step up was no problem for Buster, he did this straight away (I approached training with Buster a little more aggressively than I did with Reggie) but he developed an obvious dislike to leaving his cage. Buster spent his first 30 days with us in quarantine in the spare room living in an old Hamster cage. This cage was perfectly adequate, it was actually very nice as a bird cage, but it was a lonely 30 days for him. He had to be separate if we were to follow the quarantine rules and so he spent many hours on his own with just my old phone playing him some music. As much as I tried to spend time with him, it was difficult, and even a little boring to sit there with a budgie that wouldn't leave his cage. But we got through the 30 days and a whole new budgie emerged when he and Reggie were introduced. 

Buster learnt to talk from Reggie but it was no where near as well as Reggie did. He slowly got clearer and I could easily make out the words Buster, Reggie, come on, good boy and baby budgie. He also copied Reggie's kisses which was so funny especially when Reggie wasn't in the mood to receive them! He was never learning to talk from me, he was learning from Reggie who had learnt from me. This is still how we work, Reggie and I are bonded, Buster and I are flat mates with a mutual friend. He is a respectful lodger in my living room, he is well trained and he is very tame and not afraid of my hands. I got Buster for Reggie to have a friend of his own kind, but for a long time Buster was very brave and domineering and Reggie backed down to avoid all confrontation. So if I am honest, Buster was not quite the temperament that I wanted for Reggie as I felt Reggie was bullied a little and I could get quite defensive of him. 

That said, Buster's attitude is definitely required now. Since Oscar came along Reggie has turned into a nightmare and I praise Buster's often feisty attitude when he tells Reggie to sod off. I wish he did it more! Since Oscar came along I have developed a much stronger love for Buster, he's absolutely the cutest of all three and I've developed a much better appreciation for him despite him not being bonded to me. Reggie was always my favourite because he is a pet, he is friendly and he likes me. Buster....well I think he could take or leave me, but I like that. He is stupid and funny and he is always performing - one day he decided he was just going to spin around on the spot - huh??. So even though he is not bonded to me I love his confidence and appearance of not caring at all. 

Luckily, because of his confident personality I don't worry about him often being the third wheel with Oscar now part of the flock. I know it sounds like I would say this to justify having three, but I know my boys and I genuinely believe that Buster is perfectly happy just chilling on his own shouting (wow does he shout!) and singing to himself. If he wants to hang out with Reggie he will, and his relationship with Oscar is truly adorable, so he isn't a real loner.