How do I help my budgie be more independent?

[Periwinkle]

Peri has recently started to climb all over his cage in (I assume) desperation to come out any time he sees or hears me. It's getting to the point where he's ruining his feathers climbing the bars and I worry about him not eating as he spends all his time running around. I have to leave the room for him to stop. He used to play with his toys and try different foods, but he has stopped.

I do let him out at least two or three times a day for several hours but there are times he needs to be in his cage for safety (when I'm cooking, in meetings, etc). When he's out he is always on or near me so I can't multitask. He's only 10 weeks old so hopefully just a phase but wanted to ask:
- Is this normal? Has anyone experienced this?
- How can I encourage him to stop? And when out of the cage, how can he learn to play independently?

 

[barbs0nly]

if he has a favorite treat that he never gets, get it and encourage foraging. start easy and get harder as he gets better. also if you can get him interested in toys it’ll be tremendously helpful. maybe invest in a toy tree you can wheel wherever he is and get foraging toys onto it? babies are naturally clingy but it can flourish to adulthood, if he was hand reared or his parents didn’t have the opportunity he might’ve never learned how to work for his food, teaching him would be the best option.

 

[Ripshod]

@Britnicorn may have some advice.

 

[Britnicorn]

I had to wean Phoenix off of me. When he first moved into his cage, he would scream for me all morning, even though I wasn’t in the room, until I came and got him(All my school was online, so I was able to stay in the room almost all day long) I started by being precise about what time I let him out every day, I started at 10am, every day for a week until he stopped screaming in the morning- he learned I would come at that time (which was about an hour after I uncovered him in the morning).
After he stopped screaming in the morning, I started letting him out at 11am- at first he would scream when I didn’t show up at 10am, but he learned that I would start coming at 11am instead and eventually stopped screaming
It took me over a month, but eventually he stopped screaming for me almost entirely. He learned how to be by himself and how to keep himself occupied while I was away.

Before I got him a friend, Raijū, he would still scream for me anytime there was a noise outside the room though.I assume he thought the noise was me so he would call out for me, but now that he has Raijū he very rarely contact calls me at all. I actually think Raijū contact calls me more than Phoenix does.

Phoenix has always had a big cage, and tons of toys to play with. Some are noise makers, some are chew toys, some foot toys, etc. I’ve also been sure to put aside money so I can buy them at least one or two new toys every month. I think having a large variety of toys and changing it up frequently is important

I think it’ll be a little bit different for you since it sounds like you have to be in the same room as your bird when he’s in the cage. I would try the same thing, being precise about what time you let him out and slowly decrease the time as he stops screaming for you, but make sure you don’t pay him any mind at all. It’s like crate training a puppy, even though they whine and cry, don’t say anything and don’t even look at them. I think it’ll get better over time