thinking ahead

[Mybluebird]

I am in the process of taming my budgie, Sweetie. She does not step up on my finger yet and reading other folks' postings, it may take awhile before we get to that point. I'm concerned about what to do if I need to take her to the vet. She's in a rather large cage and I have a small cage that I can use to take her to the vet. How would get her from her large cage to the small one other than chase her around with my hand until she gets tired as I try to catch her? Maybe I'm just obsessing when I read about birds that are sick and need to visit the vet.

 

[Monica]

If it's an emergency, then you simply do what you must!

But if it's not, give yourself some extra time! You could try removing all food from current cage, then placing it into the carrier and putting them face to face so the bird learns to go into the carrier for food. Better yet, work on this prior to actually needing to go to the vet if the carrier isn't a small cage. Once in the cage/carrier, close the door.

 

[Beasley]

If an urgent medical need arises, and hopefully it will not, the quickest and easiest way to minimize stress is to towel her. Just toss a little towel over her, scoop her up, and place her in the travel cage. It is best to get her used to going into the travel cage on her own before you ever need it like @Monica suggests.

 

[Mybluebird]

Ahh. I hadn't thought of that! Will give it a try. I think Sweetie is getting ready to go through her first molt because she seems to be dropping many small down-type feathers and she's lost four longer feathers. She's more droopy in the morning and as soon as the sun goes down, she fluffs up and goes to her night perch spot. She's eating well and is very active during the day. Right now she just finished eating and is singing and jumping/flying around. I just worry about her health and everything "different" worries me. Maybe I just need to calm down

 

[Lady Jane]

You may want to consider perch training her while she is inside the cage. Basically this means to hold a short perch along with a millet spray in your hand. Gently put it in front of her indicating you would like her to step on the perch. This eliminates the birds fear of hands since you have a treat for her as well as the perch. I used a ladder to train my birds to step up because they were very used to the ladder.

 

[Zara]

If an urgent medical need arises, and hopefully it will not, the quickest and easiest way to minimize stress is to towel her. Just toss a little towel over her, scoop her up, and place her in the travel cage.

You could use a clean cotton Tee shirt, you might find it easier (you bird has a little beak so you don´t need the thickness of a towel).
If it is an urgent emergency, 100% scoop her up and go.

You may want to consider perch training her while she is inside the cage. Basically this means to hold a short perch along with a millet spray in your hand. Gently put it in front of her indicating you would like her to step on the perch. This eliminates the birds fear of hands since you have a treat for her as well as the perch

This is a great suggestion, something you could work on
Also worth leaving the travel cage open and nearby with some treats in during out of cage time.

 

[Mybluebird]

I have her in a large cage and she hasn't been out of the cage yet mostly because I don't know how I would get her back into her cage. What's the story here - will she go back in on her own? She has just now started to beak a bell on the bottom of her swing but isn't playing with other toys. She dances back and forth on her perch, jumps around and flies from perch to perch and to the cage bars. She's also started chewing on one of the natural perches. I'd love to let her out and the room has already been made bird safe in anticipation of that. How can I make this happen and alleviate my concerns about getting her back in her cage or what to do if she she lands somewhere and can't figure out where to go? Should I maybe roll her cage to my bedroom which is smaller and let her out there?

 

[Zara]

The key things are bird proofing the room (which you say you did), and having time.
Just open the door and let her come out in her own time. You can attach a perch to the outside of the door to encourage her in and out of the cage.
If you have a large living room, then by all means, if you feel better, let her out in your bedroom

what to do if she she lands somewhere and can't figure out where to go?

I´m not quite sure what you mean by this. If your bird is flighted, they will fly to where they want to go. If not, you will need to provide ladders or ramps.
Block off any nooks or small spaces with boxes or towels (under the sofa for eg).

Keep some treats on hand should she come over while she´s out, you can reward her.

She will go back to her cage when she is hungry. Be sure to give her a nice treat when she finally goes in. Don´t lock her in the first time she goes back to her cage every time or she will smart up to it.
You might find this easier in the afternoon rather than morning.

 

[Mybluebird]

Thanks - that gives me a plan. I'm usually home in the afternoon (Exercise classes, etc are usually morning) and that's when she is most active. Yes, I was thinking about her getting under the sofa. I'll drape towels over the sofa. I do have a perch that I can put below the door. Will give it try and post the results!

 

[Lori D Pert]

Absolutely if you feel more comfortable in a smaller room then start with your bedroom. Put a few perches by the opening of the cage on the outside so she can find her way in easier. You may want to put some toys and rope perches on the top of the cage to encourage play outside the cage. She may not come out readily but let her take her time. Have areas around the room where she can land. Her first few flights outside the cage will be clumsy but allow her to explore. Hold a perch or ladder and encourage her to land on that. It takes time but each flight outside the cage wil get better and will give her confidence flying. I started by standing in the room with Sam and holding my phone which had budgies on youtube playing. Sam's curiosity won out and she started flying right to my phone so you could try that. To this day that is how I get Sam back in her cage at night...lol.

 

[Lady Jane]

Try not to show your anxiety when she flies about. Birds pick up on that and become anxious too. Take another look around the room to be sure it is flight safe.

 

[Mybluebird]

Will do for sure. I do suspect she is going through her molt. She doesn't have any pin feathers but I was looking at her wings today and noticed she's missing the 2 longest feathers on her right wing - they must be the ones I saw on the bottom of her cage. I think I will let her out in my bedroom first just in case she has trouble flying.

 

[TwoTinyTrees]

If it's an emergency, then you simply do what you must!

But if it's not, give yourself some extra time! You could try removing all food from current cage, then placing it into the carrier and putting them face to face so the bird learns to go into the carrier for food. Better yet, work on this prior to actually needing to go to the vet if the carrier isn't a small cage. Once in the cage/carrier, close the door.

This is what I used to do with my untamed cockatiels..a few hours before their appointments i would take some miley in there and viola!
always worked lol

 

[Lori D Pert]

I hate to admit this but when I first let Sam out of her cage she was not completely finger tamed. She was coming up to my face outside the cage and nibbling my nose but when I would put my hand in the cage she would jump on briefly and then jump off. She was dying to get out of the cage though so I brought her to my spare room. Quite small and I put some over the door hooks on the closet doors and hung some shower caddys off them and attached rope perches and toys. Took a few days for her to come out but on day 3 she braved it and went for a very clumsy spin around the room. She actually landed on my arm and I could see she was rattled so I brought her back to her cage on my arm. Next day she landed on me again and I walked her to her play areas. Was all downhill after that. Within 2 weeks I let her out in the living room with the same landing spaces. She is now an avid and confident flyer and does acrobatics throughout the house. Just give Sweetie lots of time and allow her to choose her pace. If today doesn't work then tomorrow may. Be calm yourself and she will pick up on that. Budgies have been flying for centuries, let her find her way.

 

[Monica]

Her cage is rather bare, too. She could definitely use more toys as well as natural perches. The long wooden dowels are not good for their feet.


If you do decide to take the plunge and let her out, that could be a great time to introduce more toys into the cage. She would benefit from some made out of yucca or balsa, some with craft sticks, etc. More things to interact with, chew, and keep her mind busy.

 

[Fergus Mom]

But if it's not, give yourself some extra time! You could try removing all food from current cage, then placing it into the carrier and putting them face to face so the bird learns to go into the carrier for food. Better yet, work on this prior to actually needing to go to the vet if the carrier isn't a small cage. Once in the cage/carrier, close the door.

For the reasons mentioned here Anne, @Mybluebird this is why it was so important to me to get mine to go in the travel cage. Sometimes I call it their 'play cage'... (thought I'd use that word to psych them out LOL!)
I found (after experimenting with MANY) travel cages that they like the ones with the huge doors on them!
Much easier to get them to go in there in my opinion.
So now they alternate from their regular cage to the travel cage during the day just for the heck of it, after they have had free fly time in our room. If I roll the travel cage next to the regular one they will usually always go in too.
When mine first began getting out and seemed not to know how to return, I would make a noise on the bars of the cage so that the sound would sound similar to them climbing on the bars, etc. (run back of my fingernail across bars) and this is still what signifies that they should return to the regular cage. When I do make that sound and they comply, I clap loudly, and tell them what GOOD birds they are!

 

[Mybluebird]

Thanks Monica. Yes her cage needs more toys and better perches. I was waiting for her to get out the cage so I could get in there and move things around without her freaking. You'll notice I have 2 natural perches. When I first put those in she wouldn't sit on them. Now she does and she's even chewing on one. So I'll put in 2 more. I was afraid if I put them in all at once she'd be hanging on the bars in fear!
Thanks Elly for your suggestions. I think maybe the travel cage I have for her may not be the best. I need to look around for a different one. The one I have is just a small regular cage with a small door. I like the idea of running my fingernails on the cage bars to train her when its time to go home.

BTW - how do you get the blue member name in your post? Cut and paste doesn't work. Thanks for all the suggestions - much appreciated.

 

[Lori D Pert]

BTW - how do you get the blue member name in your post? Cut and paste doesn't work. Thanks for all the suggestions - much appreciated.

I notice that it comes up for everyone else but is missing on your own posts. Right now I am showing a pic of Sam but my name is missing below that until I hit "post". wierd..lol

 

[Khizz]

Mine are not hand tame but I let them out quite often. Mabel likes to go up and do "zoomies" round the room. The first few times were disastrous. They hit things, kept landing on random things (I have some funny pics of Jeff perching on a nice summer hat!) and wouldn't come back for ages. Now they are pros!

I try to let them back in the mornings when they get their chop for breakfast. That way, if they do go out I can get them back in by emptying their chop bowls after 2 hours and fill it with seed. They usually go back in when I fiddle with food bowls. If they are really not behaving I actually leave the room for 5 minutes and keep close by. They eventually get bored and fly back in.

You should probably make the first few times on a day when you have nothing else to do, so you can learn what works.

Good luck with it all!

 

[Mybluebird]

Thanks Khizz - will do!