Budgies and tweets make for a great combination! And so we were tweeting about budgies for the February edition of our Animal of the Month feature on our Twitter feed @ExoticPetVets. In case you missed them, here is a summary of the fascinating facts we tweeted about these popular birds. Did you know?:

• Budgerigars (Melopsittacus undulatus) come from drier regions of Australia. The budgerigar is also known as the parakeet, but most commonly known as the budgie.
• Escaped pet budgies have established feral populations in Florida and other states.
• In the wild budgies eat various seeds, but commercial seed mixes can lack nutrients if it’s your budgie’s only food source.
• The ideal budgie diet is bird pellets + fruits + veggies.
• Pellets are best for budgie. Fruits and veggies should be about 20-25% of budgie’s daily diet. Avocado is toxic and don’t ever feed budgies chocolate or other junk food.
• Seeds should be weaned slowly out of a budgie’s diet under the guidance of an avian veterinarian.
• The featherless area around budgie’s nostrils is the cere. It’s a rich blue colour in males, pale or pinky blue or brown in females.
• Budgies are considered to be the most popular pet bird worldwide. They’re generally very social, gentle and affectionate. They are also fantastic mimics!
• In the wild, most budgies are green. But through breeding, pet budgies are seen with many different colours.
• Budgies live on average 6-10 years, but the oldest budgie on record is 29-year-old Charlie who lived in England.