Help: adult rescue budgie adaptation to new home (beginner owner)

[MaggieBee]

Ok, so:

I just got my first bird yesterday. It wasn't something I planned for – he was kinda dropped on my lap. Literally. More specifically, by my dog. Thankfully, she didn't hurt him (and, in fact, seems rather taken with him; supervised interactions through the cage have gone well) and since he seems healthy I decided to keep him.

He's clearly not wild, probably ran (or was tossed) away, but I live in the middle of the countryside so finding his previous owner's downright impossible.

My best friend is an experienced bird keeper so I'm all set for the basics. He has a tall cage with plenty of wooden perches, a swing and a (bird-safe) log to explore, drinking and bathing water, pellets and veggies to choose from, and a window location with a few hours of direct sunlight in the morning.

I intend to take him to a vet as soon as the COVID shutdown is over, but for now he seems alright. His legs and wings are unharmed, he preens and eats normally (completely overlooks the pellets if seeds are available and hasn't touched the veggies yet, so I'm guessing the previous owner didn't pay much attention to his diet?), doesn't pick, and for all intents and purposes seems to be in perfect health.

He's just really quiet? Quieter than any budgie I've met, really. I've only heard him chirp once and he mostly sticks to the one perch and other than preening doesn't move much. Clicking and whistling catch his attention for a second but he quickly loses interest.

I suppose it's because he's still adapting to his new home, but I'd like to get a second opinion. Is there something I could do to help him adapt?

The aforementioned best friend has never kept anything smaller than a lovebird, so I imagine experienced budgie owners would be better equipped to advise me. She's given me some general directions: keeping him near me in a stress-free environment, not trying to handle him (other than to move him out off the shoebox and into the cage), etc.

Update: since I began writing this post he's made a go at the swing, missed it, tried again, missed it, flew headfirst into the log and has been doing his eerily-quiet thing there instead. Go Cori!

Lastly, here's a picture to brighten your day:

 

[Ulis_Beast]

Hi Maggie and Cori!
Welcome to AA.

Cori really looks like someones pet and is GORGEOUS.
It's a lot to take in for a little budgie, losing a previous owner and good knows what else, plus being introduced to a completely new enviroment.
I'm certain your ears will be ringing with his song as soon as he has settled a bit. Same goes for the moving around and playing.
But my expirience is limited so I'll tag a few people for you:
@Ripshod @Lady Jane @Monica @Budgiebonkers

Edit: dog saliva is really toxic to birdies.. Keep a close eye on Cori and maybe plan for a vet visit sooner..

 

[Dorcas George]

He's a cutie. As you can see from my avatar, I also have a little yellow and green boy. He is Packer and his buddy is Frost. There are lots of more experiences budgie owners here. You may or may not have noticed there is a whole forum, Budgie Blvd, just for these little birds. So I'm sure others will be giving you ideas too. Meanwhile, my initial thoughts: Well, I am astonished that your dog dropped him in your lap! WOW! Fortunate bird. I'm glad you haw a bird-owner friend to get you started. We can only see a bit of the cage here, but budgies do like to fly horizontally, so I hope it isn't one of those pretty but not always suitable, tall and skinny cages?

As for food, yep, probably only fed seeds. You can introduce pellets gradually. It took Packer months to even try one. Frost was easier. As for veggies, I though they'd never take the plunge. I tried all kinds of things. Some budgie people make a chop of veggies and put it in a dish and sprinkle millet on it. My boys do eat broccoli out of a dish sometimes, but they seems to prefer veggies hanging from their cage. It took a long while, but now they like cilantro, broccoli, kale, parsley, and I found fennel in the store last week. Don't usually see that, so I tried it. They LOVE it. The favorites are carrot greens. Not the carrots, just greens! And the leaves from celery. Keep trying and hopefully as your new bird gets comfortable you will see some experimental nibbles happening.

As for being quiet, I'd be surprised if he was chirpy! You don't know what happened before he came to you. Most likely he is adjusting to his new surroundings and new person. Budgies are flock birds, and you will see as you look around here, that lots of us budgie owners have more than one. I'd try budgie sounds. There are a lot of You Tube budgie videos. Most budgies love them! It will likely help him feel safe and I'd expect that you will eventually hear him being more vocal. Give him time.

This is a great place.

 

[Ripshod]

Great advice from @Dorcas George there. As a new bird carer I'm not going to flood you with more info, you have a lot to take in already.

dog saliva is really toxic to birdies.. Keep a close eye on Cori and maybe plan for a vet visit sooner..

I can't reinforce this enough. Even though he may not be injured he'll be injesting bad bacteria when he preens. It would be good to offer him a bath (shallow bowl) and change the water if/when he does.

 

[MaggieBee]

Hi Maggie and Cori!
Welcome to AA.

Cori really looks like someones pet and is GORGEOUS.
It's a lot to take in for a little budgie, losing a previous owner and good knows what else, plus being introduced to a completely new enviroment.
I'm certain your ears will be ringing with his song as soon as he has settled a bit. Same goes for the moving around and playing.
But my expirience is limited so I'll tag a few people for you:
@Ripshod @Lady Jane @Monica @Budgiebonkers

Edit: dog saliva is really toxic to birdies.. Keep a close eye on Cori and maybe plan for a vet visit sooner..

Thank you for the reply! I'll make sure to do that. My local clinic is only taking emergencies at the moment, but I'll try to ring them for advice at least.

 

[Ulis_Beast]

It is a crazy time.. Do ring them up.. ask if there is atleast something you can do... Maybe some natural antibiotic readily available that you could give to Cori (maybe ginger?)
I know you don't know him yet, but the moment you see he's not even doing the things in a manner he did thus far.. It becomes an emergency. Little ones go downhill so fast
@Ripshod do you think a shower would be helpful, to wash off the remainder if saliva?
.. As much as wasn't preend off already?

 

[MaggieBee]

He's a cutie. As you can see from my avatar, I also have a little yellow and green boy. He is Packer and his buddy is Frost. There are lots of more experiences budgie owners here. You may or may not have noticed there is a whole forum, Budgie Blvd, just for these little birds. So I'm sure others will be giving you ideas too. Meanwhile, my initial thoughts: Well, I am astonished that your dog dropped him in your lap! WOW! Fortunate bird. I'm glad you haw a bird-owner friend to get you started. We can only see a bit of the cage here, but budgies do like to fly horizontally, so I hope it isn't one of those pretty but not always suitable, tall and skinny cages?

As for food, yep, probably only fed seeds. You can introduce pellets gradually. It took Packer months to even try one. Frost was easier. As for veggies, I though they'd never take the plunge. I tried all kinds of things. Some budgie people make a chop of veggies and put it in a dish and sprinkle millet on it. My boys do eat broccoli out of a dish sometimes, but they seems to prefer veggies hanging from their cage. It took a long while, but now they like cilantro, broccoli, kale, parsley, and I found fennel in the store last week. Don't usually see that, so I tried it. They LOVE it. The favorites are carrot greens. Not the carrots, just greens! And the leaves from celery. Keep trying and hopefully as your new bird gets comfortable you will see some experimental nibbles happening.

As for being quiet, I'd be surprised if he was chirpy! You don't know what happened before he came to you. Most likely he is adjusting to his new surroundings and new person. Budgies are flock birds, and you will see as you look around here, that lots of us budgie owners have more than one. I'd try budgie sounds. There are a lot of You Tube budgie videos. Most budgies love them! It will likely help him feel safe and I'd expect that you will eventually hear him being more vocal. Give him time.

This is a great place.

Hi, thank you for the reply! The cage is relatively wide, he can fly a couple of flaps from one side to the next. I couldn't afford anything bigger, but as soon as he's settled in I'll start trying to tame him (the friend is a big help, she's basically written me a how-to guide through WhatsApp, bless her) so hopefully he'll be able to fly a little around the room some day.

He's given the celery stalks some nibs, so I'm optimistic. I've started a batch of sprouts (kale, broccoli and cilantro) to mix on top of his seeds to trick him into eating his greens... we'll see how it goes.

I've already gotten him some sounds! Made a YouTube playlist of budgie sounds, whistling and assorted electronic chirping to shake things up. He's very interested on R2-D2 noises, of all things.

Here's the cage (should I get some subtract?)

 

[Ripshod]

do you think a shower would be helpful

A full-on shower would be out of the question, he's already stressed from being picked up by a big hairy mammal. A little spritz will just leave the saliva and bacteria where it is.

 

[tka]

Tell your clinic that he was in a dog's mouth. He may have non-visble injuries or tiny cuts where your dog's saliva may have entered his bloodstream: dogs (and humans!) carry a type of bacteria in our saliva which is very dangerous to birds. This is a bird emergency - if he were mine, I would get him on antibiotics as soon as possible. Ginger etc is not going to cut it.

I would also not allow for any interactions between your dog and Cori through the cage. If you can, keep them in separate rooms altogether. Being around a predator is likely to be intensely stressful for him and not helping him settle.

His cage looks good and I can see that you're trying to give him a good life in a less than ideal situation! Well done, and thank you for taking him in and caring for him.

 

[MaggieBee]

Great advice from @Dorcas George there. As a new bird carer I'm not going to flood you with more info, you have a lot to take in already.


I can't reinforce this enough. Even though he may not be injured he'll be injesting bad bacteria when he preens. It would be good to offer him a bath (shallow bowl) and change the water if/when he does.

He hasn't hit the bowl yet, and has preened a lot since then... I'll keep an eye on him. Last few hours he's been getting more active and exploring, flapping around, even chirping a little, and in general not acting like he's in any discomfort. So here's to hoping! Thank you <3

 

[MaggieBee]

Tell your clinic that he was in a dog's mouth. He may have non-visble injuries or tiny cuts where your dog's saliva may have entered his bloodstream: dogs (and humans!) carry a type of bacteria in our saliva which is very dangerous to birds. This is a bird emergency - if he were mine, I would get him on antibiotics as soon as possible. Ginger etc is not going to cut it.

I would also not allow for any interactions between your dog and Cori through the cage. If you can, keep them in separate rooms altogether. Being around a predator is likely to be intensely stressful for him and not helping him settle.

His cage looks good and I can see that you're trying to give him a good life in a less than ideal situation! Well done, and thank you for taking him in and caring for him.

I'll do that, thank you! He actually acted pretty chill with her, actively shuffling in her direction to investigate, but there's always the risk of her trying to lick him through the grating, so he's on top of my desk now (as you can see in the picture). She's going to pine, but when can you do.

I'm trying to ring the vet office

 

[Monica]

Please try and make an effort in finding his previous owner. You don't really know if he was released or accidentally escaped.

Also do try and get him seen sooner rather than later. Birds who are outside in the elements long enough can get sick as is, without even bringing dog saliva into the equation.

Your vet office might not treat birds so you may need to ask for recommendations and do some research to find someone who can help.


Here are ideas on getting him to eat a more varied diet. (you are already on the way! well done!)

Converting Parrots to a Healthier Diet - Tips

A healthy parrot starts with a healthy diet. Although the perfect diet is controversial, many parrot enthusiasts and experts agree on one thing; a seed only diet is a diet that is lacking in essential nutrients, vitamins and minerals. Studies have shown that adding fresh foods and pellets to a...

forums.avianavenue.com

 

[MaggieBee]

Please try and make an effort in finding his previous owner. You don't really know if he was released or accidentally escaped.

Also do try and get him seen sooner rather than later. Birds who are outside in the elements long enough can get sick as is, without even bringing dog saliva into the equation.

Your vet office might not treat birds so you may need to ask for recommendations and do some research to find someone who can help.


Here are ideas on getting him to eat a more varied diet. (you are already on the way! well done!)

Converting Parrots to a Healthier Diet - Tips

A healthy parrot starts with a healthy diet. Although the perfect diet is controversial, many parrot enthusiasts and experts agree on one thing; a seed only diet is a diet that is lacking in essential nutrients, vitamins and minerals. Studies have shown that adding fresh foods and pellets to a...

forums.avianavenue.com

Thank you for the advice!

If I could find his previous owner I would try, but where I live it's a needle in a haystack situation. It's all sheep and highways and the odd smattering of houses in the distance. I know he doesn't belong to any of my immediate neighbours because I checked first thing, but outside of that it would take a lot of gas and time with no guarantee of success, and we're on shutdown. I hope he was released and there's nobody mourning his loss right now.

My local vet office treats everything and anything. Perks of living in the middle of nowhere! I called, she said if the dog saliva were to have any negative effects he would be showing it by now (she put it a little more bluntly), to keep an eye on him and keep the cage out of doggy reach. Luckily, it's pretty warm around here, so hopefully that didn't affect him either...

 

[Mybluebird]

The vet might know if anyone has lost a parakeet recently or you might think of posting a note on his/her bulletin board.

 

[Kiwi & Co.]

You could try looking on craigslist or one of the websites for lost birds/pets

 

[MaggieBee]

You could try looking on craigslist or one of the websites for lost birds/pets

I'm from Portugal. We don't really do craigslist here. I mean, it exists, but people mostly use it to sell used furniture and drugs. My usual technique ( works with lost dogs) is the boletin boards on cafes and stuff, but again... shutdown.

 

[Monica]

You don't have to drive anywhere to go searching - you can try local groups first -your local ads, your local newspaper outlet, Facebook groups (if you use FB), etc.

If you DO make flyers, you can put the flyers up at the vets office, pet stores and local grocery stores. (when you can get out)

 

[Dorcas George]

Great start!

 

[MaggieBee]

Great start!

 

[Mybluebird]

If no previous owner is found, looks like Cori will have a loving home with you. Have fun with your beautiful new guy!