Previously Tamed Budgie Now Scared of Me?

[Komsur]

Hi, I don't really know what I've done wrong, but for about 2 months or so my budgie has become less and less tame.

It started with him not stepping up when I put my finger in front of him (I'd never force him), then walking away from my finger, to only interacting with me if treats were available. I can't get him out of the cage anymore and it's really upsetting me because he used to really love flying around and now he's confining himself to the cage (maybe once a week I'm successful in getting him out of the cage, to which he just sits on top of it).

I really need some training tips, as it seems that what I've done didn't stick with him for too long. Any advice? Should I just try to interact with him in the cage until he's comfortable with me again?

I also fear that my other bird, who's completely untamed and I believe wasn't looked after very well previously, is having an impact on his behaviour as he'll get stupidly scared and then my tame one will start to get nervous. Any advice for this?

Thanks guys!

 

[Elysian]

How long have you had each bird?
Are they housed together?

The untamed bird could definitely be impacting the tame bird's behavior. They key off each other because that is how they stay safe in a flock.
I would just keep working to prove you are still trustworthy.

On the other hand, my boys seem to go through bouts of this every week. On saturday they usually fly around all day and will come to me begging for treats and might sit on my shoulder for a second- highlight of my life.
Then sometime in the middle of the week they are suddenly like "no thanks, we will not step up or come out, go away stranger"

 

[BirdLady13]

Did you start giving him less attention when you got another bird, or neglect to take him out of his cage for an extended period of time (ex. vacation)? Either way, I would begin basic command training again. I assume you're the one that taught him to step up in the first place. Are your birds in separate cages?

 

[Komsur]

How long have you had each bird?
Are they housed together?

The untamed bird could definitely be impacting the tame bird's behavior. They key off each other because that is how they stay safe in a flock.
I would just keep working to prove you are still trustworthy.

On the other hand, my boys seem to go through bouts of this every week. On saturday they usually fly around all day and will come to me begging for treats and might sit on my shoulder for a second- highlight of my life.
Then sometime in the middle of the week they are suddenly like "no thanks, we will not step up or come out, go away stranger"

I've had one nearly a year (October 10th) and the other one since February. The untamed one I've had the longest, he was bought as a pair of untamed (potentially abused) birds. I managed to semi-tame his friend before he died, but I have so far had zero luck with him.

Otherwise, I thought it might be good to buy the other bird pre-tamed, and then try to tame the other one using him as an example. Unfortunately, it seems to have worked in reverse.

They are housed together.

Funnily enough, I did manage to get him out, he was very willing, but this is the first time in ages since he's been willing to come out, and even then he put himself back in in about 30 seconds.

 

[Komsur]

Did you start giving him less attention when you got another bird, or neglect to take him out of his cage for an extended period of time (ex. vacation)? Either way, I would begin basic command training again. I assume you're the one that taught him to step up in the first place. Are your birds in separate cages?

No, I got the bird in question later on and I've given him relatively the same amount of attention, more so really because of the UK Covid lockdown. I can only think of the other week, when I was out 6am - 11pm with work, but even then he was misbehaving before that.

I'm actually not the one that taught him to step up, however, he was very obedient until a short while ago. Though, I tamed my other budgie that died in February, so I should (hopefully) be able to do the same again because he was hand-reared as a baby.

They're in the same cage, I unfortunately don't have space for two cages (yet, I want more birdies).

 

[Elysian]

In that case, my first thought is that over time he is growing more bonded to the untamed bird (which is natural, they live together) and is more reluctant to leave his friend.

My two boys have been together since they hatched, and they do NOT want to be separated. I train them both at the same time, otherwise they worry about where the other guy is and cant focus. It does slow us down because they interrupt each other

There is still hope though. Over time they've relaxed to where one of them will come out of the cage on his own, and the other doesn't feel like it so stays in.
As long as it is THEIR choice (not me taking one of them out/away) they dont cry or fret and are fine spending some time apart.
They still need to see each other though.. they just dont need to be on the same perch anymore.

And I used to have to carry them both to bed at the same time or the one left on the playstand would cry. Now they trust me and just chill and wait for me to come back for them (they can totally go to bed on their own, they are just lazy).

I think if you work harder on taming the untamed bird the bond between all three of you will grow and the tame one will come out more.
He just doesn't want to leave his friend.

 

[macaws49]

The same thing happened to me. I had to give away the new bird, my bird was back to normal in a day. He followed me around and landed on my shoulder again. I have not had good luck adding another parakeet. I have tried it 3 times. Once my bird did not want ANYTHING to do with me for a few days and there was no other bird. I know they can attach to a thing so I removed things one at a time. It was the light pointing in his cage. I removed it and put another light and within hours he was back to his old personality. Good luck

 

[BirdG1rl]

@Ripshod

 

[Ripshod]

This thread has been dead for 11 months. The OP is still active on the forums so I think we'll see if they come back to this.

 

[BirdG1rl]

Oh, sorry. For some reason, it came up in my 'new posts' list.