Hello all!
My name is Sarah and I am new to the forums. I just wanted to ask a couple of questions about bringing home my new budgie Piccolo.
Firstly, I bought my bird from a pet store (I know - big no-no...) that I frequent when I buy food for my mother's dog. The birds were advertised as "hand-tamed budgies" and kept seperate from other "wild" budgies in another section of the store. The man who helped me select my bird said that he was a 6-week old boy. I have posted a picture of Piccolo below.
Secondly, I know there are many competing methods about how to bond with budgies. At the moment, I have tried to give my new little friend some time to get adjusted to his new cage and surroundings. However, on some occassions I have been attempting to encourage him to come out of the cage. He isn't really responding to food bribes and I will admit that I have been using my hand to try and take him out to sit on the floor or on my computer desk to have a look around. I do this for about 10-15 minutes before returning him to his cage, and roughly 4 times a day. Is this okay, or should I be trying to get Piccolo to interact with me more?
Lastly, I wanted to check about how often Piccolo should be eating. I haven't physically seen him eat yet - when I took him out before I left some seed and some apple in a dish - he picked at a couple of bits of seed. He is not pooping often yet and some of it is clogged around the vent, although this problem seems to be doing a bit better compared to yesterday. Do you think it could be just stress in a new environment? If so, can you suggest anything I can do to help him be a little less stressed? Music? Alone-time?
Thanks for your help, everyone!
