More questions about my older budgie

[Mimi75]

Thanks to everyone who advised me on how to transfer my newish 10 year old budgie to a bigger cage. She finally got out of her cage and flew around a bit! (Yay) but spent most of the time under the couch () she’s been cage bound her whole life.


My question is what are reasonable goals for her? Can we be buddies?


Here’s some information about her.


She will nibble on spray millet if I am holding the other end but takes some time to psych herself into coming over to the cage door to get it. So clicker training seems unlikely


She enjoys watching us and seems to like when we talk to her. But panics when I reach in to change food or water.


I am going to work on adding veggies soon. Thought I would start with broccoli? I didn’t want to change everything on her at once. She always leaves the pellets behind.


Also she has shown no interest in wood toys or branches yet.


Should I get another budgie? I was thinking a similar age(similar energy levels) and gender(no babies) Or will she not appreciate that. She has always been a single bird.


I have had her 5 months. Her name is Tweety

 

[Lady Jane]

Generally I advise to let the bird lead the way. Work with her at her pace. If you have enough patience she will come around. She is a traumatized budgie in need of gentleness and understanding. No to another budgie right now until she is comfortable enough not to go under sofa or hide in other closed off places. Wait until she is out of the cage to do the cleaning and food changes. She needs no more stress in her life. Good luck and keep her safe. Thanks

 

[simon777]

Will Tweety sit on top of the cage while you change water and food and possibly cleaning as well. If you are talking to her and telling her what you are doing, while you are doing it, she should feel more comfortable. You may find she will start wanting to go on top of the cage to get you to do the changes and cleaning.

 

[Davi]

I agree. Even though you've had her for 5 months, it's really not very much time in birdie world. Patience, and LOTS of it, is key. As for toys, start with some super easy ones, perhaps even paper-based (or balsa, which is very soft) and go from there. But as you said, it's important not to change too much at once. I have an 11 year old budgie, Hawk, who we've had since he was just a few months old, and he still tends to freak out when I need to do anything in his cage (and his cage is very big). So always move very slowly around her, with a reassuring tone of voice and a "all is well" attitude. I think you're off to a great start, but I wouldn't introduce a new budgie right now. She needs more time and space, so to speak. Hope this helps and please keep us posted!

 

[Mimi75]

I’m not really sure. She only got out the once and I don’t think it was on purpose. I usually just leave the door open when I am around and hope she comes out.

I was thinking of putting some perches around the room that might be more appealing places to land. When she had her big adventure she only had the back of couches or picture frames to land on.

 

[Mimi75]

Yes I always try to have a calm cheerful demeanour around her. Her previous owner was very chatty. I try to narrate what I’m doing in general. And make small talk. When she’s in the right mood she talks back. It’s cute.

 

[Mimi75]

Thanks everyone btw. Hope my last post didn’t come across like I was saying ‘yeah, I know’ I read most posts a couple of times and appreciate the effort people make to give well thought out responses.

 

[Tazlima]

No reason you can't start clicker training at this point if it's something you'd like to do in the future. If she'll accept treats from you, even slowly, then you already have a beginning. Just do exactly what you've already been doing... just click first.

- Click (hold the clicker far away, or behind your back or in a pocket. The goal is to let her hear it without being frightened by the sight or sound - heck, if she's extra jumpy, you can start by standing across the room to click, putting the clicker down, and then approaching the cage).
- Present Treat as usual
- Wait for bird to nibble treat
- Praise

That's all you need to start teaching her that clicks = treats. By the time she's comfortable enough to try something more advanced, she'll already have lesson #1 down cold.

 

[Lady Jane]

My budgies have a few things hanging from the ceiling that they really enjoy. One is a scarf hanger that is not made for birds but it works really well. You can see it in the photo and I bought it on Amazon. Not expensive at all. The other thing is an orbit that they both love.