dbouch4009
Moving in
- Joined
- 11/22/19
- Messages
- 10
- Real Name
- Damian
Hey Gang,
We've had a budgie for about six weeks. A relative had to get rid of a bird, and my wife grew up with Budgies and Cockatiels, so she offered to take him. They bought him new January 2018, so he's closing in on two years old. I have had practically no experience with birds until this time. My wife told me that she could tell he had been neglected because he was completely antisocial and made little noise or chatter, even before we brought him home. The perches in his cage were cemented in the crust of old droppings, and I had to soak them and scrub them quite vigorously to get it all off.
I work from home as a web developer, so he is with me all day. After six weeks I leave the cage door open and he periodically will fly in and out on his own. He has begun chirping and squawking a lot more! It always warms my heart to hear him. For weeks he barely made a sound unless we opened the windows to let in wild bird sounds, or I put on Budgie videos from Youtube. He sings much more now, though much less than a typical Budgie should be, according to my wife.
We made a rule, after realizing the extent of his neglect, that we would not try to touch him or play with him for the first two weeks. All we did was change his bedding and feed him by hand.
After two weeks we started to coax him out of his cage. Only millet would work. He could only fly for a few seconds at a time, and would inevitably botch his landing somewhere or just kind of slide into the floor and we would have to pick him back up. He's much better at flying now, and he can take a few laps around our living room and / or dining room in one flight. Very much improved! He can land pretty much wherever he wants to, as well. He hasn't made an 'improvised landing' in weeks, even when he wants to explore a new picture frame or light fixture. Warms my heart.
To this day, he is afraid to get to his food dish on the bottom of his cage. He hardly ate for the first few days, but we have since gotten into the habit of him eating about a tablespoon, a little less on most days, of seed mix out of our hand. It's funny because he will run from a hand in his cage, or bite us, and he all but refuses to go to his food dish. However, if you combine the food with the hand, he's much more pliable. It takes time to stand there with him and let him eat from my hand, but I don't mind because it's a few moments of bonding for us.
For fresh food, we have introduced mostly spinach into his diet. He loves peaches, but those are very sweet so we only give him a little chunk now and then. Apples and bananas to a less successful extent, but we keep trying. A few days ago I took to hanging baby spinach from a clip in his cage, and he will eat about half of it, while also playing with it.
He is still quiet, but much more active and social than he was before. I made a few perches from some loose wood I bought at the hardware store, about six feet high, and he will sit on them for hours if he is in the mood. Just sitting on the perch while we do housework or watch TV or something.
We talk to and sing to him constantly. He is not afraid of my face, but he is afraid of hands. In fact, it's very hard to get him to 'step up' when he's in his cage, but if I put my face in the door of the cage, he is likely to fly to the rim of my glasses and hang out for a little while. We postulate that the previous owners, when they did interact with him, it was just to chase him around the cage to grab him, that's why he's scared.
I still get bitten every day. Every single day, but much less frequent now. Usually it's just when I bring my hand with food into his cage, he'll take a chonk on my finger before stepping on. So, I don't think it's done from a place of fear, I think it's just his vibe check.
If he gets on our shoulders, he's hard to remove! He usually prefers to fly away when we put him there, but if he likes it he will stay there until it's time to eat or go to bed.
He seems to be much healthier and happier now. Attached his a picture of him, close-up. When we got him in October, he did not have that reddish color at the corners of his cere, but now he does. What do you guys think that is?? It's been there for maybe a week or so.
Check out my Cosmas the Budgie playlist here on Youtube:
The video above is from about a week ago, when he was chillin on his perch in the living room.
I've been lurking on this forum for weeks, and I figured I had better finally join and pitch in the community!
Thanks,
Damian
We've had a budgie for about six weeks. A relative had to get rid of a bird, and my wife grew up with Budgies and Cockatiels, so she offered to take him. They bought him new January 2018, so he's closing in on two years old. I have had practically no experience with birds until this time. My wife told me that she could tell he had been neglected because he was completely antisocial and made little noise or chatter, even before we brought him home. The perches in his cage were cemented in the crust of old droppings, and I had to soak them and scrub them quite vigorously to get it all off.
I work from home as a web developer, so he is with me all day. After six weeks I leave the cage door open and he periodically will fly in and out on his own. He has begun chirping and squawking a lot more! It always warms my heart to hear him. For weeks he barely made a sound unless we opened the windows to let in wild bird sounds, or I put on Budgie videos from Youtube. He sings much more now, though much less than a typical Budgie should be, according to my wife.
We made a rule, after realizing the extent of his neglect, that we would not try to touch him or play with him for the first two weeks. All we did was change his bedding and feed him by hand.
After two weeks we started to coax him out of his cage. Only millet would work. He could only fly for a few seconds at a time, and would inevitably botch his landing somewhere or just kind of slide into the floor and we would have to pick him back up. He's much better at flying now, and he can take a few laps around our living room and / or dining room in one flight. Very much improved! He can land pretty much wherever he wants to, as well. He hasn't made an 'improvised landing' in weeks, even when he wants to explore a new picture frame or light fixture. Warms my heart.
To this day, he is afraid to get to his food dish on the bottom of his cage. He hardly ate for the first few days, but we have since gotten into the habit of him eating about a tablespoon, a little less on most days, of seed mix out of our hand. It's funny because he will run from a hand in his cage, or bite us, and he all but refuses to go to his food dish. However, if you combine the food with the hand, he's much more pliable. It takes time to stand there with him and let him eat from my hand, but I don't mind because it's a few moments of bonding for us.
For fresh food, we have introduced mostly spinach into his diet. He loves peaches, but those are very sweet so we only give him a little chunk now and then. Apples and bananas to a less successful extent, but we keep trying. A few days ago I took to hanging baby spinach from a clip in his cage, and he will eat about half of it, while also playing with it.
He is still quiet, but much more active and social than he was before. I made a few perches from some loose wood I bought at the hardware store, about six feet high, and he will sit on them for hours if he is in the mood. Just sitting on the perch while we do housework or watch TV or something.
We talk to and sing to him constantly. He is not afraid of my face, but he is afraid of hands. In fact, it's very hard to get him to 'step up' when he's in his cage, but if I put my face in the door of the cage, he is likely to fly to the rim of my glasses and hang out for a little while. We postulate that the previous owners, when they did interact with him, it was just to chase him around the cage to grab him, that's why he's scared.
I still get bitten every day. Every single day, but much less frequent now. Usually it's just when I bring my hand with food into his cage, he'll take a chonk on my finger before stepping on. So, I don't think it's done from a place of fear, I think it's just his vibe check.
If he gets on our shoulders, he's hard to remove! He usually prefers to fly away when we put him there, but if he likes it he will stay there until it's time to eat or go to bed.
He seems to be much healthier and happier now. Attached his a picture of him, close-up. When we got him in October, he did not have that reddish color at the corners of his cere, but now he does. What do you guys think that is?? It's been there for maybe a week or so.
Check out my Cosmas the Budgie playlist here on Youtube:
The video above is from about a week ago, when he was chillin on his perch in the living room.
I've been lurking on this forum for weeks, and I figured I had better finally join and pitch in the community!
Thanks,
Damian
