avantia423
Meeting neighbors
- Joined
- 1/5/20
- Messages
- 24
Hi there,
I once owned a parrotlet and we were so, so close. I tamed her when she was about three months old and we did everything together.
I now have gotten a budgie - I had done tons of budgie research in the past, but I will say I wasn’t expecting to get this budgie this day. I saw her out of maybe 300 budgies in a bird show which I had gone to for even more research, and she just called to me, I really felt drawn to her playful but non aggressive nature. Out of alllll the budgies there this one was so special because of her temperament.
Not planning to get a bird I even left the show but I turned around and went back to get her. I do believe it is a “her” as there is white on the cere nostrils though I know it is hard to tell at this age.
The problem: she cannot fly. She is reaaaaally young, the breeder said 4 weeks, but I suspected he must be fibbing and she must be more like 6, as she was still very small but looked fully fledged. I went home and realised though she may be that young, which is too young imo. Ireally hate that I had to damage the bonding process, but this morning she was flapping on a perch but not lifting and I had to inspect her to make sure she is not clipped (please don’t raise a debate here, clipping is a very personal choice and I don’t have a problem with people who clip, but I personally want my birds free flighted and my parrotlet was).
This is good as it means she is not physically unable to fly. What I am worried about is that she may not have learnt how and is too young. I purposefully avoided a hand reared parrot (again personal choice please respect that) as I wanted it to learn bird behaviour from its parents, but this bird may as well be hand reared if removed so young perhaps?
I am also worried because she is in a big cockatiel sized cage (I like to spoil them) but since I’ve put her on the ground for her own safety, this will also impede the taming process as she will feel threatened I am always above her.
I could move her to a smaller (but still very large and larger than minimum requirements) cage that is wider than it is tall and place it on my desk. But will the shock in environment change be too much? She hasn’t eaten which is normal for the first day or two, but I don’t want to prolong her fast. Or do I have to bite the bullet and just move her? What do I do if she doesn't start flying in two weeks or so? I want to wait a month or so for the first vet visit until she is bonded some, as vet visits are so traumatising when they first come home, but appearance wise she is very healthy. Clean vent, tidy cere, beautiful plumage and wings, so it’s not like the breeder was negligent. I attached a photo from last night before she was moved to the floor of the cage.
Please any help would be great. I have successfully tamed and loved and owned a much more “difficult” bird than a budgie but every bird is different and I’m stumped here
PS: She also seems to be missing tail feathers, though I thought those were more for stabilisation than lift - my parrotlet once lost several of her tail feathers at once and flew wonky but she could still fly. Perhaps wait for them to grow in and see?
I once owned a parrotlet and we were so, so close. I tamed her when she was about three months old and we did everything together.
I now have gotten a budgie - I had done tons of budgie research in the past, but I will say I wasn’t expecting to get this budgie this day. I saw her out of maybe 300 budgies in a bird show which I had gone to for even more research, and she just called to me, I really felt drawn to her playful but non aggressive nature. Out of alllll the budgies there this one was so special because of her temperament.
Not planning to get a bird I even left the show but I turned around and went back to get her. I do believe it is a “her” as there is white on the cere nostrils though I know it is hard to tell at this age.
The problem: she cannot fly. She is reaaaaally young, the breeder said 4 weeks, but I suspected he must be fibbing and she must be more like 6, as she was still very small but looked fully fledged. I went home and realised though she may be that young, which is too young imo. Ireally hate that I had to damage the bonding process, but this morning she was flapping on a perch but not lifting and I had to inspect her to make sure she is not clipped (please don’t raise a debate here, clipping is a very personal choice and I don’t have a problem with people who clip, but I personally want my birds free flighted and my parrotlet was).
This is good as it means she is not physically unable to fly. What I am worried about is that she may not have learnt how and is too young. I purposefully avoided a hand reared parrot (again personal choice please respect that) as I wanted it to learn bird behaviour from its parents, but this bird may as well be hand reared if removed so young perhaps?
I am also worried because she is in a big cockatiel sized cage (I like to spoil them) but since I’ve put her on the ground for her own safety, this will also impede the taming process as she will feel threatened I am always above her.
I could move her to a smaller (but still very large and larger than minimum requirements) cage that is wider than it is tall and place it on my desk. But will the shock in environment change be too much? She hasn’t eaten which is normal for the first day or two, but I don’t want to prolong her fast. Or do I have to bite the bullet and just move her? What do I do if she doesn't start flying in two weeks or so? I want to wait a month or so for the first vet visit until she is bonded some, as vet visits are so traumatising when they first come home, but appearance wise she is very healthy. Clean vent, tidy cere, beautiful plumage and wings, so it’s not like the breeder was negligent. I attached a photo from last night before she was moved to the floor of the cage.
Please any help would be great. I have successfully tamed and loved and owned a much more “difficult” bird than a budgie but every bird is different and I’m stumped here
PS: She also seems to be missing tail feathers, though I thought those were more for stabilisation than lift - my parrotlet once lost several of her tail feathers at once and flew wonky but she could still fly. Perhaps wait for them to grow in and see?
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