lisa53stlucia

Thank you for the responses. Of course its Sunday now so the vet not open, but I will call tomorrow about the brown staining around his cere and find out what treatment this requires. We have only had him 3 weeks and have not yet taken him out of the house - if we do take him to the vet what method of transport does anyone reccommend? he arrived in a little cardboard box.. is it more soothing for them to be transported (a short distance) in that where its dark, or in a cage? Regards Lisa

great tip about removing the ladder... I'd not thought of that, thanks! I think I know what you are thinking about having a picture, to see if the bird is male/female?? I did ask for a male when we bought him.....I have attached a picture... I was assured when I bought him he was a boy, but am unsure still if he really is as his cere is an ambiguous colour, I have read that in young birds the cere changes colour? is there another way to tell if its a boy or girl that someone like me can use??Also I you can see in the picture, he has kind of brown "stains" above is cere.... is this okay? or an indication of something?thanks so much your advice on this website is invaluable to me!

Hello me again! I posted an update around a week ago and thought I'd send another post today. Birdie Num Num seems to be settling in a little now, no more pacing.... although the majority of his attention in the day is still focused on yelling out to all the passing birds outside. As we live in a leafy suburb of brisbane thats quite often. Not yet interested in any greens/veges from the kitchen but has a good nibble on Bottlebrush etc that I bring in from the garden! Is this enough greens for him? Hes also started to enjoy eating our turkish rug when hes out, is there any way to prevent him from doing this? In his cage i have an odd looking budgie toy made of wood and rope so I am hoping he'll take out all his chewing desires on that! He has started "chattering" to himself when hes in his cage, which I take to be a good thing? He'll sit and listen to me when I'm sitting talking to him outside the cage, and begrudgingly will climb on and off my finger while hes in the cage, if I try to slowly move my hand with him on it towards the cage door he leaps off so not ready for that! We let him out frequently during the day and let him explore the room and he heads home under his own steam as I've set up a ladder so he can do this - thats what I want to know though - should I have let him out of the cage before he was totally finger tame?? As when he is out and I slowly approach him, he sprints off and makes sure we're a safe distance from him, or else he dashes off to his home. I can see that progress has been made in 3 weeks but would love for some more of your fab tips to ensure I'm doing the right thing by him. Many thanks in advance for any/all feedback! Lisa

Hello there - an update... I changed the perches around and he does get a flutter around inside the cage now. i also make sure he has leafy branches hanging in the cage, he like to climb and dangle from them. Still pacing, and goes berserko during the day yelling out to all the birds he hears outside when hes not pacing, he likes to divide his day up doing these 2 things... Only eaten 1 leafy green, beetroot leaves, but saying that he was nibbling on the bottlebrush leaves on the branch today. He'll hop on and off my hand in the cage... then he gets bored of that and tries to nip my hand when i put my finger close once hes had enough. I let him out for roughy an hour every day - he jumps out his cage and rushed over to the reflective metal at the base of a stool... chatters to the other budgie he sees there, then trundles around the room trying to figure out how to unlock the windows... he'll sometimes sit on my finger for a second then, but only if it assists him getting someplace he cant get by himself...he heads home and climbs up the laddder himself when hes had enough, so sometimes hes only out for 5 mins then home, then out again later. any more taming tips for me?! or pointers if i'm doing all this completely wrong?! I read on a UK forum about winking and squinting up your eyes when talking to him, that really does seem to make him pay a little more attention to me! interesting.. (although my friend commented, after witnessing this, hes probably wondering who the lady having a stroke in front of him is!!)

thanks for that - now if only he would eat millet or play with a toy so i could use those!! only eats his seed so far, i will put some of that on my fingers next time thanks

our new budgie (had him 6 days) has started to go for my hand for a nip when i move it close to him in the cage, which he didn't do before.... maybe hes crankier than usual today! as he is new i am assuming he is maybe nipping out of fear so i shouldn't try the method talked about above? thanks

thanks for all the feedback, i'll change the perches around tomorrow. . hopefully that will make life better for the boy. we have and are continuing to let him out daily so he won't be in there all the time. we are persevering with making him our friend, hes still not overjoyed to be handled, its only been a few days though so hopefuly with time and patience he'll realise we're harmless! again, any tips you are generous enough to share will be gratefully received, by us all! thanks lisa

hope this comes through okayanother budgie person i talked to says we should handle him every day from now - like sit in the (empty) bath with him so he can't dash away and talk to him.... any comments on this

update: hes still pacing... its very odd... hes either pacing frantically or sitting peacefully on a perch in his cage.... or burrowing madly in his seed dish! yesterday a few times we let him out of the cage just to break the pacing behaiour.... he looks around the room a little, trying to fly (clipped wings), sits under the table a while then heads back to his cage. we covered more of his cage as suggested but that didnt seem to soothe him his pacing circuit was just made shorter as he paced back and forth in front of the uncovered part of the cage! he also has a little circuit of climbing up the cage wall, hanging upside down and wedging himself between the cage side and his food dish... looks to me like an escape attempt! he will sit on my finger or on a piece of wood for me to help him back into his cage... so he is less terrified of us i guess... but still wants to not be here i think! as i type hes sitting very quietly in his cage with the door open.... looking sad (i think) my husband says he needs a little cup to rattle against the bars of his cage.... dunno how to help the wee guy be happy.... he has only been here 4 days so maybe its just time. any advice appreciated please!!

thanks so much for that catherine. its weird as half of the time he is sitting on a perch, seeming quite relaxed, then suddenly he acts all stressed for a while, then back to sitting quietly... i have the rear of the (rectangular) cage covered with a cloth in daytime hours, i will move the cloth so it also covers 1 of the sides during the day also. hes eating plenty of seed but not interested in the millet or fresh veg (so far, apple broccoli and carrot) that we've offered, i leave the veg wedged in the bars near his seed for a couple of hours then remove it. hes okay when my hand is in the cage - he doesn't freak out but doesnt come too close either. i know all this takes time, and i appreciate your advice to make sure we're on the right track with him! regards lisa

Hello there, I read this post with great interest as we brought home our first budgie on Friday! He is a young bird, and after a day of barely moving a muscle, he has now progressed to doing the same - agitated "pacing" of the bottom of his cage, wedging himself in between his food and water bowls and the side of the cage and pecking at the bowls, and kicking all his seed out. Its distressing for us to see him doing this and I was wondering if anyone has any advice to help reassure the bird. Thank you thank you! Lisa