Update
I decided to give him a Millet Spray alongside his regular feed and he ate that like no tomorrow and has been sleeping like a baby.. No pun intended or maybe it was haha
HELP!
Recently brought a baby budgie (6weeks old). He was great for the first few day, learnt how to perch on finger after 2 days, trilling, singing and exploring cage and house. We had guests over and we thought he would benefit from the visit and let him out... (slaps forehead) what a nightmare it has been afterward!! He has now started to pace back and forth, try and flip the bottom tray/grate off. He then caught himself in between the feed perch and feed tray/bucket screaming so I gently helped him out, he held onto my hand and went limp and struggled to breathhe made a sort of chirp but like a broken record being turned down in volume (if that makes sense).. After this ordeal he hasn’t stopped pacing, eats ALL day, rarely drinks water and contorts himself into positions on the perch to the point where he just lets himself drop to the floor; thankfully we knew to get a smaller cage when we got him so he can adjust. I thought maybe he can see his shadow on the wall but then we try to do the finger perch again and he loses it! Starts screaming, he isn’t scared of fingers/hand but HATES thumbs.. I know weird.. We tried setting him in another room covered and quite to settle him but this hasn’t helped.. Put him in the bath with his cage so he wouldn’t have anything to hurt himself on but he just isn’t going back to the gentle way he was in the beginning.. Any help would help greatly! Thanks xx
Update
I decided to give him a Millet Spray alongside his regular feed and he ate that like no tomorrow and has been sleeping like a baby.. No pun intended or maybe it was haha
Hi, and welcome. Congrats on your new budgie. Here in America most budgies are 12 weeks old or even older before they go to a new home. Your budgie is still a baby. And I suspect he is missing his family and his nest. It is good you got him a smaller cage for now. I suggest covering his cage three sides with front open in the day time and at night cover all sides. Covering gives them more security and I think it makes them feel more like being in a nest or aviary setting.
I suggest also that you get him a mirror at the pet shop. All budgies love mirrors. They are not like the bigger parrots when it comes to hormone time, which will not happen until about 10-12 months of age.The mirror will give him a friend. Also, get him a swing. Budgies also love swings.
They also love music. Play a cd or radio for him. Sit by his cage and talk softly to him. Eat a sack while sitting there and let him eat some millet while you are eating your snack.
I also would try to keep him in his cage for a few more weeks until he is older. He needs to mature more and get used to the cage because he cannot be out of cage all the time. I think the mirror will help him alot.
Last edited by maxollie; 09-18-2020 at 05:04 PM.
Thank you! I’m so glad I found this forumI’ve kept the cage covered from back and sides with the front open. He trills when I sing to him or come near the outside of the cage. We have stopped trying with the finger perch training to let him settle, may wait 10-14 days for him to calm down. Put a mirror in front of him and it seemed to help for a moment but he immediately went back to pacing. I think he may associate my husband and I as his family and just wants to get out to be closer to us but he runs a way if we go near him.. SO CONFUSING! The cage came with a swing, he currently likes to hold on and contort himself off it by flipping.. This is scary because he falls off it intentionally but it seems to make him happy. He does respond to the birds that fly around our home, we have LOTS of native Roselas and he chirps when he hears or sees them. I’ve got him near the big front window which gives him some stimulation when we aren’t home. I’ve tried the music and he just starts to scream (upset chirp) but he responds calmly to a channel on the tv that is used for Dogs :/ but then goes back to the pacing after a while.. I removed the millet so I could return it when I’m snacking in front of him. I sang to him today and he was pacing but he DID bob his head a few times which I’ve read is a good sign. I don’t know if I am over reading this situation but I just want him to be healthy and happy. I guess we will have to just take it day by day. I really appreciate your help
![]()
Each day you will see some improvement in him. Were there alot of birds in the store where you got him? Were they all together in one cage? It could be he was bullied by older and bigger birds and that could be why he cannot settle. Bigger birds can really cause emotional trauma to the smaller ones.
When you finally get to take him out of cage, I recommend taking him to a small room of your house first, and let him explore that room only each time you take him out until he is used to flying in that small area. It really is best to keep them in a small area when letting them come out to play because they can get injured if they fall behind furniture, or fly into windows or any mirrors hanging on walls. Also, if you have ceiling fans turn them off when he is out of cage. They love to fly high and perch on curtain rods. Either buy or make a butterfly net to catch him when he needs to go back in the cage. They are much betterthan having to use a towel to catch him.
Last edited by maxollie; 09-19-2020 at 06:37 PM.
He’s starting to slow down on the pacing after I covered the cage on back and sides. I got him from a breeder that had three large aviaries with about 100 birds total. The aviary he was in was only for babies and breeding pairs. He was only taken out of the breeding box two days prior when we got him. I let him out in the bathtub, that way he isn’t hurting himself. He seems to be getting better day by day which is great! So happy! I’m just treating him with Millet spray when he shows positive behaviour so that way he attributes it with a good thing.
Nina, Joe and
Rudy
Yaaaay!!! That is great news! That was a huge aviary he lived in. I am sure he missed all of those birds and his parents! Each day you will see progress. We will watch for updates.
He’s stopped pacing after we got the bigger cage. He’s adjusting better but still frightened of fingers.. We’ve given him time to adjust to his new surroundings but unfortunately we had a visitor that INSISTED he knew how to handle birds and just cornered him into the cage and just kept poking at him and that has set him back sooooo much since! So sad! We have vowed NO ONE other than us is allowed to touch him or go near him until he’s old enough to fend off any unwanted attention and maybe just a little older to snap/pinch that visitor.. LOL I know it’s a bad habit but poor Mr Rudy shouldn’t have been put through that. He loves to sing in the morning. He’s got the hang of coming to the door if the cage to tell us he wants out which is huge!![]()
Nina, Joe and
Rudy
Awwww!! He is so small and precious! He is doing great!
He’s finally coming out of the cage voluntarily and starting to feel comfortable with the figure perch training so fingers crossed he becomes a little more confident to hang out with us out of the cage![]()
Nina, Joe and
Rudy
That is great news! Once he feels confident in himself to come out of cage, he will want to be out all the time!
Bookmarks