SOMEONE PLEASE HELP ME!

[BigSkyMT]

What an awesome update!

Was going to say, possibly another way to get her back in the cage is to take the cage to HER instead. If the food and water is working though, use that!


You can use your cockatiels to earn her trust. If you feed them treats and give them attention, she will follow, don't worry! Monkey see, monkey do! She might not be *as* friendly, but she will learn by example!


And yes, it is possible to introduce more than one budgie into the flock.

Okay, that is great advice!! Today pepper & Hercuels flew on me & were just chilling on me for about 10 min, little bird flew over & almost landed on me, then spooked herself & flew away. So hopefully within time she will start to see me as tree Mom & not a threat

 

[Monica]

I would say that based on my own experience, she most likely will as long as you keep up the interaction with your tiels... which of course, you will!

 

[BigSkyMT]

And... I'm taking in ONE more bird
Another cockatiel to be exact. He is over 200 miles away, so it's going to be an adventure. I saw this little guy on craigslist & I couldn't look away. He looks like Pepper & Hercules mixed.
We are driving down in 12 days to get him! Previous owners wanted a lot of money for him, I talked them down to $100 but it's going to cost about that to travel & he is in a tiny cage, but hopefully I can upgrade my tiels cage to an even larger flight cage & possible house all 3 together or get him his own large cage of that doesn't work out. I will be quarantine him in my bedroom, away from other birds & have a vet app set up for testing. Question is, it's going to take about 3.5 hours to get there & 3.5 hours to get back. How can I keep stress minimal for the long ride with him home. My husband is coming with me & doing the driving. Should i sit in the back seat with him or have him by himself. Should I partly cover the back side of his small cage for the commute?
I cant wait to meet him! His name is Mozart because he loves to sing. He is around 9 months old & previous owners (before) the ones he has now, I guess really man handled him so he is going to take some time to tame him.
Attached pics of Mozart & of my two tiels, they look so much alike! ​

 

[Tiel Feathers]

What a cutie, congratulations! I would partially cover his cage and talk softly to him. Make sure he has water of course. I would probably sit next to him, but I think if you put him where he can see you that would be good too.

 

[Monica]

Make sure there's food and water (water low - or bring along sprouts and 'wet' foods if he'll eat them)

Mozart does appear to be a mix of your two! He looks to be a pearl pied!


And I'll think he'll do alright! Took two of my tiels (supposed to be fosters...) on a long road trip... smaller cage, couple of perches, food, water... mostly covered with a towel. Left before 11am, didn't get home until after 9pm... and the main reason for the trip was actually for them! (out of state vet) I did adopt Charlie from further away than where I took them, but he was a one way trip... foster home to my place.... not down to new vet, then driving around before heading back home kind of trip.... even had to put chains on car... it was miserable. (kept having issues with the chains)

 

[cassiesdad]

What a handsome guy!

Both Buddy and Milton came from long distances to us...Buddy was on the road for about 5 hours...Milton about 4. Buddy's person had car trouble getting her to us-her car broke down twice- and probably was on the road for some 12 hours before we got her home...yet she was her diva conure self...squawking and carrying on in her travel cage when we stopped for gas at 1:30 in the morning. People kept looking at us funny while we were there...

Milton's trip home was interrupted by a side trip to the AV...since she was on the way, we decided to make a quick stop, just for a fast look-see...then we were treated to an hour and a half of cockatoo screaming in the back seat.

Thank goodness Milty travels a little better now...

 

[WindGlider]

Thanks for responding! I have read about the importance of time for taming & training. I plan on not even talking to the bird on the 2hr ride home, I read it's very traumatizing & hearing our voice during that time can imprint it on them to be fearful of your voice. Also for the first 3-7 days home I am going to let him settle in completely before interacting with him. Fresh food & water with a treat in his dish, after I feel he isn't terrified of me I plan to sit and read to him & slowly go from there. My husband & I are very patient & have taken in a lot of unwanted & abused pets, so we know patience & trust bonding. After I get him *tame* I will then start socializing him with friends and family slowly. Focus on socializing and desensitization to objects then people then places. Would love to have my bird shoulder trained with a halter to take strolls in the park and hangout with me in the garden. Time will tell. Thank you for replying! So. Do you believe all cockatiels can be tamed with enough time & consistency? Also, I would never take a baby not weaned. I read about the dangers & complications of doing that. Also the lady said he might wean a week later than his siblings & wont let him go until she knows he's eating healthy on his own. She really does care, I just put the wrong impression of 'the breeder" in my first message. Thank you all so much for replying! Really is awesome be able to talk like this with others with so much experience!! It's like BackyardChickens.com for parrot owners! This is such a blessing!

After reading all your posts and hearing the kind of people you and your husband are, I think any species of bird would flourish in your home.

 

[Begone]

I will say that I don't think he will eat anything and 3,5 hrs isn't that long.
Bring water as told before and apples is good.
Bring a blanket that covers his whole cage and open up a small part when he is in the car.
He will tell you what he thinks is best. Some birds only get stressed of see especially cars and to only see at side is not good. (To only see cars swishing by from side can give them brain damage/shocked I was told)
Some bird's wants to see everything, and some prefer semi covered.

Birds that don't know me is always full covered. I don't want them to have that stressful situation as their first impression of me.

My own birds always travel so they can see me and the front window. (Never at side window)

Good luck!

 

[BigSkyMT]

Thank you all for responding & sharing your advice & stories. I will take pics & update our adventure of bringing Motzart home. I cannot wait!

I need serious help & advice with the terrified budgie that we rescued!! I let her out on the morning with the birds, but it is impossible to get her back into her cage without catching her with a tshirt. I work night shifts at the state hospital & about 10pm every night my tiels are tired & ready for bed. I get Pepper fresh warm water & he is always more than willing to go into his cage once he knows I have warm water. He LOVES warm water right before bed & gets cozy for a good night's sleep. Once Hercules sees I put Hercuels in the cage, he's ready for bed too.
BUT- little budgie, she is so absolutely terrified of humans because of her past, she flies away. I have tried everything I can think of, i have tried millet, she flies away, i tried a long perch to step up, flies away, short perch, flies away, if I even pick up a blanket or tshirt, she starts flies around the house in a panick. I have to get her into her cage for bed before I leave for work, it's my only option. The ONLY way I can get her back in her cage is catching her with a tshirt or pillow case & this is extremely unpleasant for both of us, it makes me feel so awful for her & it is a traumatizing situation for her every single night. This is making our trust & bonding peel out backwards in an awful way. If this is our forever routine, she will never trust me & is going to end up getting hurt.. I don't know what to do! Do I clip her wings & start taming process all over again? I dont want to do that, but I dont know what else to do..

WHAT DO I DO?! PLEASE HELP!!!

ALL & ANY ADVICE WELCOME!!​

 

[Begone]

No you don't clip. You don't want to create a helplessness animal, that is not a good start for your relationship.

If that budgie where mine I would never catch her, I let her stay out. Even if that means a night or too.
If you place her cage next to theirs, and make sure she sees the cage door. (a dowel is perfect to have on that door)
Hang a food and water bowl on or very near the door. When she finds it place it inside her cage.
Better to learn her to go inside herself and let you be the one that is kind to her.

She will learn your routines and also go inside her cage, just be calm and give her some time.
Train a lot for creating trust, nothing else now.

You will fix this!

 

[Begone]

How do they all get a long?
If you buy a double flight cage perhaps you can keep them together?
That would solve your problem.

If the cage is big enough with lots of toys and food bowls you can keep most birds together.

 

[MommyBird]

I don't disagree with JT, but I would prefer to try to get her tame though as it is just safer for all that way.
There's no reason she has to be out for a week or two to try.
I do agree to put a single perch on the outside of the cage, clearly obvious, so she can find the door.
I would not clip wings, but she would be in the cage until she would learn not to be terrified of me and would step up on a stick or hand.
And then, when tamer, you need to start getting her in the cage several hours before you have to. Then you'll have more patience.
Just let her in the cage and interact with her in the cage. Let her see you interact with the tiels and see how you are not a monster.

 

[Monica]

Besides what's already been recommended (and nope! not recommending clipping either!), another possibility is *maybe* taking the cage to the bird... rather than taking the bird to the cage!

 

[BigSkyMT]

Thanks for all the advice!
I cant bring the cage to her, the cage is too big & she's always up on my hanging bird tree that is all the way up to the ceiling. On my days off, I am going to try to see how she does sleeping with the other birds in their large cage & sleep on the couch incase anything goes sour. I just ordered a large flight cage from Amazon, going to try to get all 3 in the same cage, they get along great outside of the cage, hoping they do just as good inside the cage. I added a perch to the door of her cage, took away all food outside the cage so she has to go into her cage to eat & drink. This didn't work.. she went most of the day without eating & I felt bad so I gave in & gave birds food & water in their regular bowls outside of the cage... I have my work cut out for me. Just wish I could go into her little birdie mind & let her know I'll never hurt her & I love her lol. Hopefully the larger cage will workout better.
I was so confident in taming this little budgie.. now I feel like a failure but I won't give up! I tried everything you guys said 3 hours before I had to leave for work & it didn't work out. Eventually had to catch her with a tshirt... Makes me so sad for her, I know I'm awful for doing so.. I dont know what else to do. She stays in her tree gym close to the ceiling & its huge. If I even get close to her, she hops to the other end or flies around the house. It's just awful Praying the new cage will workout!
Pic of the tree gym & her temporary cage (that is too big to bring to her) to give you guys a better understanding & large cage I ordered.



ps- this was a pic from the first day o brought her cage out to meet other birds, she doesn't have her mirror anymore & put a small cozy heater in its place & she cuddles up to it every night. I threw that mirror in the trash.​

 

[juliashmulia]

Jumping in kind of late here and just wanted to make a note about the cage—those Prevue Select cages have 3/4” bar spacing, which is much too wide for a cockatiel. I would be super careful and maybe put mesh over the exterior if you can, or else sell it and buy a flight cage (still 30x20 inches but with 1/2 inch bar spacing). Someone in one of my fb bird groups had a cage with too-wide spacing and came home to their bird with his neck snapped from trying to squeeze through the bars. It’s not the most common injury but it does happen. I wouldn’t go above 1/2” for a tiel.

I didn’t read through the whole thread so apologies if this has already been said.

 

[BigSkyMT]

Jumping in kind of late here and just wanted to make a note about the cage—those Prevue Select cages have 3/4” bar spacing, which is much too wide for a cockatiel. I would be super careful and maybe put mesh over the exterior if you can, or else sell it and buy a flight cage (still 30x20 inches but with 1/2 inch bar spacing). Someone in one of my fb bird groups had a cage with too-wide spacing and came home to their bird with his neck snapped from trying to squeeze through the bars. It’s not the most common injury but it does happen. I wouldn’t go above 1/2” for a tiel.

I didn’t read through the whole thread so apologies if this has already been said.
​

You make a valid point. The cage I ordered was half in spacing but I just canceled my order before it shipped! After doing more research, I decided to make a large, indoor, walk-in aviary style cage. That way it will have a large door I can easily walk into & the birds can easily come h go as they please, also I can keep little bird (budgie) in it while I pull up a chair & she will be forced to be within 4ft of me. Going to do a lot of research in the next week before we pick up supplies. Its going to be spendy, but makes more sense than spending $400 on 2 cages & traumatizing my little budgie.
Here are some ideas people have done with PVC pipe, stainless steel mesh wire 0.25 in spacing & zip ties. Also might make it out of wood. My hubby is a commercial contractor, so he builds for a living
What do you guys think?

Thinking 6'H x 6'L x 4' W
With ALL bird SAFE materials
Of course ​

 

[BigSkyMT]

Or might fork out $500 and buy this one... its has quarter in bar spacing & plenty big enough for me to sit in there with the birds until the budgie decides to trust me or atleast be comfortable in my presence.
Overall Size: 86.5"L x 60.5"W x 80.39"H; Door size: 68"H X 31.5"W

 

[Tara81]

Those are some beautiful large cages . I suggest slowly converting your budrigar to a more healthy diet. Once he eats sprouts, vegetables you can remove the seed for a couple of hours. Then you can put a treat dish near his favorite perch, and slowly show him a ball of millet seed , move towards his treat dish and drop it in. Do this every 15-30 minutes as often as you can. Eventually he will see you are the bringer of good treats. When he is more comfortable then you can try feeding him a large millet spray from your hand , with lots of distance between you and the bird . Eventually make the millet stick smaller as he or she becomes more comfortable. Until he has to step on your hand for the millet spray. Then feed him from your hand for 2 weeks. Then when hes comfortable move your hand slowly while feeding him. Then you can move him out of the cage with your hand . Then you can get him familiar with stepping up for treats. You can also teach him to step onto a perch for a treat too , getting him used to a perch. Each step I listed may take weeks, if you feel he or she gets less confident or more scared, take a step back for a week. It just takes time and patience and lots of love gl !

 

[BigSkyMT]

Those are some beautiful large cages . I suggest slowly converting your budrigar to a more healthy diet. Once he eats sprouts, vegetables you can remove the seed for a couple of hours. Then you can put a treat dish near his favorite perch, and slowly show him a ball of millet seed , move towards his treat dish and drop it in. Do this every 15-30 minutes as often as you can. Eventually he will see you are the bringer of good treats. When he is more comfortable then you can try feeding him a large millet spray from your hand , with lots of distance between you and the bird . Eventually make the millet stick smaller as he or she becomes more comfortable. Until he has to step on your hand for the millet spray. Then feed him from your hand for 2 weeks. Then when hes comfortable move your hand slowly while feeding him. Then you can move him out of the cage with your hand . Then you can get him familiar with stepping up for treats. You can also teach him to step onto a perch for a treat too , getting him used to a perch. Each step I listed may take weeks, if you feel he or she gets less confident or more scared, take a step back for a week. It just takes time and patience and lots of love gl !

Great advice!! I ordered a large aviary, but it won't be here for a week, but the wait is worth it. I am going to put a stool in the aviary & keep little bird in it until I can gain her trust with treats like you suggested. When I first brought her home, she wouldn't even get close to millet, she was terrified. I thought for sure she'd never like anything but her seed. Boy was I wrong! She wants to eat anything & everything my birds are eating. Veggies, pellets, sprouts! As long as my birds are eating it, she will too! Her colors are so much more vibrant & shes starting to show tints of bright beautiful green. Makes my heart soar! She is so much happier & healthier in just a few short weeks! Cant wait for the aviary to come so it will be easier to bond with her & she can just fly right back into the aviary for bedtime.

On another fun adventure! My husband & I are taking a 450 mile round trip this morning to finally bring Motzart home!! I cant wait to meet him! I will keep you guys updated on his progress & also thinking of making a youtube video of his progress & taming.

I'll upload pics of his progress & if I do a youtube video I will upload it here! If you guys are interested.. I have few videos.. going to make some bird videos very soon as well
​

BigSky

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[Kenzie]

What a great thread I just spend the last 20 minutes at my work reading
What a joy to read. I've been through the taming wild budgies before. It's doable but patience is a virtue! I didn't let my male 5? year old budgie Frosty out of his cage (it was large) until I could get him to at least perch for millet. It took a lot of time but ended up working out.

Best of luck and keep updated congrats on Mozart.