someone suggested i crosspost this here from r/parrots
for background information, my parents got me two budgies as a child (7 years old) and as expected, i lost interest in them within a week. up until 5 months ago, my sister had been the one tending to their basic needs until one dropped dead.
for the first time, it just hit me that i let a living being suffer for the majority of its life in deprivation without ever having a chance of making any happy memories and the guilt hit me very badly. my parents bought another bird to replace to previous one very shortly after and two weeks ago, the older budgie dropped dead as well.
i know i'm a shit person and i can't believe it's taken me this long to even man up the balls to do anything about it but this isn't right and i have to fix what i can despite knowing this guilt will haunt me for the rest of my life.
as of right now, i'm still a broke teenager fresh in high school. my parents aren't very willing to spend money on the bird outside of providing for food (which is unfortunately a diet of seeds, though i have been adding vegetables) and i'm at my wits end on what i could do to provide sufficient enrichment (toys, treats, etc). i have started watching youtube videos for information but i'd appreciate any info and tips anyone might have. i feel i must also clarify that i have a dog that has not been trained to behave around smaller animals. not sure how much this will change up any responses but this certainly makes things more difficult and if things seem too bleak, i'll look into rehoming (though i unfortunately don't live in a very convenient location)
thank you.