• Welcome to Avian Avenue! To view our forum with less advertisments please register with us.
    Memberships are free and it will just take a moment. Click here

It's been 2 months and pet bird is still scared

buttonsbob

Sitting on the front steps
Joined
3/3/21
Messages
16
Hi everyone, i'm new to this forum and this is my first post here! I brought home a four month old male budgie two months ago. I have a 2 year old male lovebird at home and despite the risks of having a lovebird and a budgie together, our birds have gotten along together quite well thankfully. My budgie had his wings clipped before we brought him home which I was unaware of but I guess that's how new birds are taken home? We kept our two birds separated from each other and I went by the textbook on how to bring home a new bird and make it feel welcome. My budgie is still very timid and it's been two months. I've given him space for the first few days, he didn't even know what spray millet was but once he had a taste he seemed to enjoy. I've held my hand in the cage with the treat and he refuses to come on my hand. I'll feed him millet on the stick, and he takes millet from my fingers but once i put the treat in the palm of my hand, he REFUSES to come on my hands and would rather eat the crumbs of the millet on his perch and then walks away. I sit and talk with him, play music and do all that. He also will only come out if our other bird is with us or else he doesn't like humans. I think my mistake was that we introduced our birds too soon (it was an accident) and since then our budgie has grown to love our lovebird and bonded with him. He comes on our arms only when our lovebird is on us. His personality is quite strange but sooo adorable. He rarely bites unless pushed to his limits, he's quiet but chirpy when there's music or background noise, and he's been handheld since birth so he's not scared of hands but still scared of my hand which is understandable.

My main issue: Our budgie has clipped wings and when he flies he falls to the ground. I think he is terrified of flying because every time he's flown, he ends up on the ground and not where he wants to go. He flies once and immediately goes back to his cage and stays there. That's his safe space. We've had him for two months but he only enjoys being in his cage. His cage is filled with many toys and he's always playing with them and never seems bored (Which is good!! I love that he's mentally stimulated and happy). But he doesn't want to come out. I've put sooo many toys out in a small room in hopes he would fly around and explore but he simply refuses to step out. He is so scared of the outside world apart from his cage and i don't know what to do. Our other bird is SUPER active and always flying and i can tell the budgie wants to play with him but he simply doesn't try. I don't know what to do. I'm at a loss of how to fix this. Last week he used to attempt to fly with my other bird but revert back to his cage. This week he barely wants to come on top of his cage and enjoys time in his cage only. He also doesn't want to spend time with us humans and i can understand his fear because we're so much bigger than him and this poor baby can't even fly well! :(

Things I've attempted:
1. Bribe him with treats: I've tried luring him out the cage with treats but I feel like he's not THAT crazy for spray millet so he doesn't care.
2. I've taken out all the toys in his cage and put them on display in a small room - I even placed them at his level so he can comfortably fly there since it's lower
3. My lovebird enjoys flying around and I can see my budgie gets so inspired and wants to join him (he sometimes does but ends up on the ground and flies back to his cage)
4. My lovebird also plays with the toys I put on display for the budgie so he knows he can play with them too
5. I've taken his cage out of the room for FIVE MINUTES while he was out but it only stressed him out more!! I brought the cage back in the room and he was so relieved.

What do I do??? He doesn't even trust me enough but sometimes I'll talk to him and he talks back. He only seems to be interested in his cage and my other bird and I guess he has no interest in creating bonds with us humans. I really love him and I want him to feel comfortable. I feel like he feels SUPER discouraged to come out his cage because he knows he wouldn't be able to fly but he hasn't even tried going on the mini toy section I made him :( please help me.

Another thing, he randomly starts twitching his head and then jumps around? For like thirty seconds and stops. Is this normal behaviour? I know head twitching in budgies is normal but google is telling me he's having seizures. Also I feel like he's traumatized of coming out now because of his constant banging into walls which makes me so sad because I cover up my mirrors and such but he can't reach the destination he's going to that he ends up crashing. Should I get him checked by a vet to see if he has a concussion or anything because He's crashed many times before and gets up and acts like nothing happened.
 

buttonsbob

Sitting on the front steps
Joined
3/3/21
Messages
16
One more thing! I've also tried stick training and that was working for a while but he just lost interest all of a sudden
 

Zara

♥❀Livin´ in Lovebird Land❀☼
Super Moderator
Avenue Veteran
Celebirdy of the Month
Mayor of the Avenue
Avenue Spotlight Award
Avenue Concierge
Joined
1/8/18
Messages
31,366
Location
Reino de España
:bump4: (for visibility)

Ps, I wouldn´t let them be too close together for safety reasons.
 

Hipcricket

Strolling the yard
Joined
3/4/21
Messages
88
Location
Cricketville ON
Hi there! I can relate to your story. I too, brought home a four month old English Budgie and it’s been about 6-7 weeks I’ve had him. He also had arrived wings clipped and flies to the floor.
Im also seeing a real fear of coming out of his well appointed cage. He will take food from my hand, he will step up if out and stuck, but he will not step up under any other circumstances. I see progress however. He will play with my fingers a bit, he does bite them but mostly just tastes them. But as you are experiencing, he doesn’t come towards my hand - he will wait for me to come to him. Except one time when he got lost in the hallway. That time he came a running! lol So, I relate. But I see progress. It’s very hard sometimes, to stay patient and positive - but that’s really the only thing I can see fit to do! I’d say keep working at it. Give him time and - as I’m fast coming to terms with - keep expectations fluid! I had hoped for a little cuddle bug. What I’ve got is a big personality more akin to a bulldog than a love bug! It’s a work in progress! Maybe a suggestion might be to separate the birds when working with him? Like, take him into a different room? But I’m definitely not a seasoned bird trainer!! Patience seems key. They all take as long as they take I’m learning! Hugs!!
 

DesertBird

Rollerblading along the road
Celebirdy of the Month
Avenue Spotlight Award
Joined
1/9/21
Messages
1,145
Location
NY, USA
I just wanted to say that it took my budgies 3 months to actually started coming to me without millet and to let me pet them. Two months really isn't that long, especially with a clipped birds. I noticed that my budgies suddenly got a lot friendlier once they could fly better.
 

buttonsbob

Sitting on the front steps
Joined
3/3/21
Messages
16
Hi there! I can relate to your story. I too, brought home a four month old English Budgie and it’s been about 6-7 weeks I’ve had him. He also had arrived wings clipped and flies to the floor.
Im also seeing a real fear of coming out of his well appointed cage. He will take food from my hand, he will step up if out and stuck, but he will not step up under any other circumstances. I see progress however. He will play with my fingers a bit, he does bite them but mostly just tastes them. But as you are experiencing, he doesn’t come towards my hand - he will wait for me to come to him. Except one time when he got lost in the hallway. That time he came a running! lol So, I relate. But I see progress. It’s very hard sometimes, to stay patient and positive - but that’s really the only thing I can see fit to do! I’d say keep working at it. Give him time and - as I’m fast coming to terms with - keep expectations fluid! I had hoped for a little cuddle bug. What I’ve got is a big personality more akin to a bulldog than a love bug! It’s a work in progress! Maybe a suggestion might be to separate the birds when working with him? Like, take him into a different room? But I’m definitely not a seasoned bird trainer!! Patience seems key. They all take as long as they take I’m learning! Hugs!!
Yes!! I've actually been seeing progress since I even uploaded this post (which was only 4 days ago). Sometimes when i talk to him he'll come towards me and hop on the cage bars where I'm at and mutter some stuff back. He doesn't do this with other family members so I know he's doing this because he trusts me since I spend the most time with him. I've also separated them few times which I think has helped a bunch, thanks for that suggestion.
 

buttonsbob

Sitting on the front steps
Joined
3/3/21
Messages
16
I just wanted to say that it took my budgies 3 months to actually started coming to me without millet and to let me pet them. Two months really isn't that long, especially with a clipped birds. I noticed that my budgies suddenly got a lot friendlier once they could fly better.
I have been seeing some progress over the course of the two months but you're right I feel like 2 months isn't a long time. I think I'm just stressing because I want him to be completely okay but I have to remind myself that birds don't trust as easily as a dog and cat do. They won't just come to us right away so its a process for sure. It just worries me because I feel like my budgie feels so discouraged and scared to even attempt to fly out because he knows he will end up on the ground.
 

Shezbug

ASK ME FOR PICTURES OF MY MACAW!
Super Moderator
Avenue Veteran
Celebirdy of the Month
Mayor of the Avenue
Avenue Spotlight Award
Joined
4/28/18
Messages
25,837
Location
Vic, Australia
Real Name
Shez
Can you run ropes, perches or ladders around where your bird needs and wants to go to help it be independent and get about? I think the ability to freely and safely go where it wants to go would be a big help with its confidence and happiness.
 
Top