Budgerigar (Budgie)

Melopsittacus undulatus

Beginner care levelLives 5–10 years

Check whether this suits you

Small social parrot; often apartment-compatible compared with larger parrots.

Have this ready before you commit

Flight space
Needs daily out-of-cage flight or foraging enrichment, not cage time alone (enrichment need 70/100).
Group housing
Should not be kept alone; plan for appropriate same-species company (social group need 65/100).
Specialist vet
Requires access to a veterinarian who treats this group before you acquire the animal (specialist vet dependency 70/100).

What this animal needs from you

Scores are normalised 0–100 for comparison across very different animals. They are product-normalisation values with a stated confidence, revisable through expert review.

Your time and attention

Daily care/time commitment50/100confidence 60%

Human interaction need65/100confidence 60%

Enrichment/mental stimulation need70/100confidence 60%

Typical handling tolerance70/100confidence 60%

Space and environment

Space/enclosure need30/100confidence 60%

Habitat setup complexity35/100confidence 60%

Environmental control need35/100confidence 60%

Escape-proofing need55/100confidence 60%

Household impact

Noise/vocalization35/100confidence 60%

Typical cleaning/mess burden55/100confidence 60%

Typical odor burden with proper care20/100confidence 60%

Nocturnal/late activity25/100confidence 60%

Care complexity

Diet complexity35/100confidence 60%

Exotic/specialist vet dependency70/100confidence 60%

Difficulty arranging travel/care50/100confidence 60%

Likelihood of legal/import/CITES complexity35/100confidence 60%

Suitability

Beginner suitability with correct care85/100confidence 60%

Typical fit for calm supervised family households70/100confidence 60%

Need for same-species/compatible social group65/100confidence 60%

Long-term commitment35/100confidence 60%