Macha still hasn’t passed the egg. They’re gonna put her under and get it out. My vet fund money is almost certainly shot. We’re gonna do a stream to raise money after I get back from everything, but in the meantime, if anyone wants to donate, my PayPal is http://PayPal.me/pepperandpals
Once everything is settled, I’m gonna try to get stickers to those who donate $10 or more. So let me know your address if you would like that.
I’ve been lucky in that both of my babies were hand-raised so they’re already pretty used to being handled. But even with that you still have to build trust.
Spend time just near the cage, talking to them so they get used to your presence. Leave the cage door open so they can come out and investigate if they feel like it. LOTS of treats. I’m trying to regain Beckett’s trust right now after having to man-handle him to give him medication for almost a month. And it’s just a lot of offering him millet and letting him learn that hands=treats=good and that hands aren’t always going to be grabby.
Respect their boundaries. You are a big terrifying giant to them and they just need to learn that you’re part of their flock. If they run away from you, just stay still and see if they come back. If they’re nippy or aggressive, back off and try again later. To tie back to personal experience, sometimes when I ask Beckett to step up he just freezes, so I give it a second to see if he changes his mind, and then slowly pull my hand back.
There are hundreds of “Budgie Taming” guides online that you should definitely look into for more precise “guides” but the big things to keep in mind that will help things go smoothly for both of you is 1) you are Big™ and Scary™ and possibly a Predator™ and 2) it’s not “taming”, it’s trust building and bonding.
And always bring it back to Patience. If you get frustrated one day and back your bird up into a corner of the cage trying to grab them, that’s going to undo a lot of time spent building trust. (Now, sometimes you have to do that for their own good, vet visits and the like, but it should never just be “AH why won’t you come to me? *grab*)
Got a little rambley in there I think but I hope it helps a little.
Good luck!! If you haven’t already introduced the new bird, while she’s in quarantine is a great time to work on taming because you’ll have one-on-one time with her. And if she thinks you’re chill, it’ll make it easier to bring the other bird around.
So my friend who has Amelia has a problem. Amelia keeps breaking out of her cage to try to hang out with her other birds and whenever she can’t escape she chews on the bars of her cage. She hasn’t been really playing with her toys because of how hard she keeps trying to break out and my friend doesn’t know what to do. I told her to keep the birds separate in case Amelia’s nose problem is mites but she feels bad for making her stressed for not being able to get to the other birds. I don’t know if I’m being too mean or if she’s being too soft. Normally I would volunteer to watch her, since I don’t own any budgies she would want to play with, but my health has taken a turn for the worst and I’m having a hard enough time caring for my guys.
Does anyone know a way to stop Amelia from chewing on the bars and trying to escape her cage? She has a ton of different toys and treats so she’s not lacking enrichment.
Is Amelia’s cage placed in another room? When I had to separate
my budgies they’d call to each other from the other room but eventually
settle down and go about their own business.
If she can’t see the other birds/hear them so well she might be less desperate to join them.
So, I have just adopted an eight-year-old budgie from my 98-year-old grandmother who knows nothing about taking care of birds. She gave her to me in a cage the size of the carrier. Every perch except one was a sand perch which breaks my heart, and she is 100% addicted to the mirror in her cage and eating a diet of only seed. This poor baby has never been groomed, socialized, or properly taken care of. She deserves so much better than she’s gotten so far and I’m praying that she will be happy and warm up to her new home. If anybody has any tips on how to wean her off of the mirror it would be greatly appreciated. I am also wondering if it would be better just to get her a mate for the cage rather than try to put her through hand taming and socializing. I have two fishers lovebirds, one is way too skittish to socialize with other birds, and my baby Zero I worry about being aggressive because she is so much smaller. My only concern about getting her companion for the cage, Is that she is an older bird. And I worry about the impact of getting a really young budgie to keep her company and then having to pass away and leave the companion alone. Hoping someone has gone through similar experiences and has some helpful tips! Thank you in advance!
For the mirror problem try introducing new toys to her cage to draw her attention away from the mirror. I watched a budgie awhile ago that had a mirror problem, he even tried feeding his reflection, & I replaced it with shiny bell toys. He couldn’t see himself clearly in the bells so he didn’t think it was another bird. I’m not sure if it’d be better to remove the mirror before she gets hooked on a new toy but if she trying to regurgitate seeds on to it you might want to take it out now.
I’m not the most knowledgeable on budgies but maybe some my followers can help you. 😊
I got a parakeet from a parrot shop back in August. They gave me the full rundown on what I need to feed him in addition to pellets, fresh fruit and vegetables, grains etc, and even gave me a list of harmful food not to feed him.
Since September I have been trying to get him to eat fresh food with absolutely no luck.
I’ve tried:
> Chopping it into little pieces and putting it in a bowl next to his food dish. He ignored it totally.
> Putting it in his food dish. Also ignored it.
> Coating it in millet or pellets. He’d just pick the pellets or millet off and leave the fresh food untouched.
> I also tried burying the pellets under the fresh food to make him dig through it, but once again he’d just eat the pellets while leaving the fruit untouched.
Once he eats all of the pellets from his bowl, he kicks up a fuss until I remove whatever fresh food is in his bowl and give him more pellets.
He used to eat dried corn from the mix of dried veggies the parrot shop gave me to give him as treats, but he won’t even eat that anymore. All he wants is his pellets. I have no idea where to go from here, does anyone have any advice?
This is such an unusual problem since he loves the pellets more than anything else. I normally eat the fresh food in front of them to show him that its yummy & safe to eat, this only really works if he views you as a flock mate. Another thing that I heard that works for some people is to add chopped greens, like you would do for a salad, to his water & he’ll get a taste of the greens when he gets a drink. Another thing I do for my birds who hate to eat their fresh food is to bake birdy bread with the fruits & veggies in it. If anyone has any tips please help. 😊
So my budgie has a special bowl her treats go into. Nutriberries, the occasional seed serving, her birdie bread. As soon as it goes into the cage she jumps to it because she knows it has good stuff.
Then I started putting chop in the bowl and (since she knows this bowl is full of good stuff) she tried it.
Another trick I’ve used with my bird (since she likes shredding paper) is I’ve hung leafy greens in her cage like I would paper or tissue and she’s got a taste for it while tearing it apart.
I would really appreciate some tips and advice! I’ve seen some great parents on here and I need your help. I’m planning on adopting a cockatiel from my friend’s parents. I have experience in caring (poorly) for birds. I had budgies when I was much younger. I need to be a 1000000% better mom. I will do more research on cockatiel care but hearing about first hand experience would be beneficial as well. He comes with a very large cage, food, and toys. Any advice is greatly appreciated!
What would you like to know? Cockatiels are my favorite bird & I know a lot about them (I also own 6 of them).
Helping out a neighbor look for a new home for her female cockatiel!
I don’t know it’s age but the owner unfortunately found out she is allergic to it. The bird will cone with the large cage & plenty of toys, owner is also willing to provide food for it for the first few months, just wants her to go to a good home.
Please if any bird blogs with a bigger fan base can reblog this & help me out that would be awesome! This bird is licated in San Antonio, TX
Due to acquiring a pigeon last night, somewhat unexpectedly, due to a friend losing their residence I need some help/advice. The friend is currently uncontactable.
Can you recommend a) a commercial well rounded pigeon feed I’m likely to be able to get locally in Birmingham, UK or b) a stop gap while I sort a suitable diet.
I was already beginning to learn about pigeon care just in case, I know pigeons have seed based diet, I just, want to make sure to feed an actual balanced diet as it were.
@tinysaurus-rex I know you aren’t in the UK but are the only pigeon person I’m aware of.
I believe most outdoor bird food is ok for them a long with dried peas & lentils. I don’t own any pigeons so I don’t know a ton about them. If anyone has any tips please help.
Flock of Wolfes 