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Chester


Cobalt

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I recently got a new budgie from a petstore (not one of those dodgy ones mind you, they're usually good to deal with). His name's Chester, he's a male, a violet cobalt color (ironically) and probably only three-five months old or so. Anyways, in the store he was a fairly co-operative budgie, fairly chirpy, etc etc. I let him have a day to settle, and then I tried to put my hand in the cage. Understandably, he tried to get away. After some time he would hop on my finger. Then we decided he was going alright so we put a mirror in there after a few days, but then came pretty attached to it, pecking at it and the sort. So we took the cage out, and over a week Chester's behavior changed pretty dramatically. The first two days or so he'd call for the mirror, and then whenever we'd try and take him out of the cage, he'd squawk angrily and start struggling, screeching and nipping. I'd put him back everytime he did it, but as time went on he just bites harder and it's impossible to not react. Chester becomes pretty anxious if I come near the cage or him when he's on a free fly around the house. Usually then I have to use a tea towel (light one, of course) to catch him, although I don't necessarily want to because now he's probably scared of it.

 

I've taken him outside in the cage, and he seems to not be nervous outside. I can't really build an aviary for him since we have two (also fairly untame) cats that, if hungry, will take to looking for birds, especially my dear flapping little feathery friend XD.

 

I'm not too sure what to do with the poor thing - one of our rooms has a glass wall, which he seems to have learned is bad to fly into, and he seems to go quiet when I enter the room, but never with anyone else. Help?

 

EDIT - Also, because of his attempted escapes, he's bent two of his long tail feathers, which is a bit of a concern. They seem to be fairly loose, so there's no doubt they'll come out... he doesn't have any difficulty flying now, though...

 

This post has been edited by Cobalt: Today, 14:21

Edited by KAZ
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I recently got a new budgie from a petstore (not one of those dodgy ones mind you, they're usually good to deal with). His name's Chester, he's a male, a violet cobalt color (ironically) and probably only three-five months old or so. Anyways, in the store he was a fairly co-operative budgie, fairly chirpy, etc etc. I let him have a day to settle, and then I tried to put my hand in the cage. Understandably, he tried to get away. After some time he would hop on my finger. Then we decided he was going alright so we put a mirror in there after a few days, but then came pretty attached to it, pecking at it and the sort. So we took the cage out, and over a week Chester's behavior changed pretty dramatically. The first two days or so he'd call for the mirror, and then whenever we'd try and take him out of the cage, he'd squawk angrily and start struggling, screeching and nipping. I'd put him back everytime he did it, but as time went on he just bites harder and it's impossible to not react. Chester becomes pretty anxious if I come near the cage or him when he's on a free fly around the house. Usually then I have to use a tea towel (light one, of course) to catch him, although I don't necessarily want to because now he's probably scared of it.

 

I've taken him outside in the cage, and he seems to not be nervous outside. I can't really build an aviary for him since we have two (also fairly untame) cats that, if hungry, will take to looking for birds, especially my dear flapping little feathery friend XD.

 

I'm not too sure what to do with the poor thing - one of our rooms has a glass wall, which he seems to have learned is bad to fly into, and he seems to go quiet when I enter the room, but never with anyone else. Help?

 

Wecome to you and Chester. The mistake you made (don't worry, we all make them and learn from them) was to give him a mirror. When you removed it, he saw it as you were removing his 'mate', and that is why he gets cross at you. My suggestion would be to start again with training him. You can look up tips in the FAQ's for specific tips. You'll just have to talk to him, put your hand in his cage and take it slowly. It's best not to react when he bites, but I know from EXPERIENCE tht this can be very, very, very hard to do :budgiedance: Persistance is the key... and work at his rate, not yours. Once you can get him to come to you and step up (possibly with a millet bribe), you'll then be able to let him out and get him back eaiser. He will learn to love you again and see you as his 'mate' Best of luck and let us know how you go! maesie xxx

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I recently got a new budgie from a petstore (not one of those dodgy ones mind you, they're usually good to deal with). His name's Chester, he's a male, a violet cobalt color (ironically) and probably only three-five months old or so. Anyways, in the store he was a fairly co-operative budgie, fairly chirpy, etc etc. I let him have a day to settle, and then I tried to put my hand in the cage. Understandably, he tried to get away. After some time he would hop on my finger. Then we decided he was going alright so we put a mirror in there after a few days, but then came pretty attached to it, pecking at it and the sort. So we took the cage out, and over a week Chester's behavior changed pretty dramatically. The first two days or so he'd call for the mirror, and then whenever we'd try and take him out of the cage, he'd squawk angrily and start struggling, screeching and nipping. I'd put him back everytime he did it, but as time went on he just bites harder and it's impossible to not react. Chester becomes pretty anxious if I come near the cage or him when he's on a free fly around the house. Usually then I have to use a tea towel (light one, of course) to catch him, although I don't necessarily want to because now he's probably scared of it.

 

I've taken him outside in the cage, and he seems to not be nervous outside. I can't really build an aviary for him since we have two (also fairly untame) cats that, if hungry, will take to looking for birds, especially my dear flapping little feathery friend XD.

 

I'm not too sure what to do with the poor thing - one of our rooms has a glass wall, which he seems to have learned is bad to fly into, and he seems to go quiet when I enter the room, but never with anyone else. Help?

 

Wecome to you and Chester. The mistake you made (don't worry, we all make them and learn from them) was to give him a mirror. When you removed it, he saw it as you were removing his 'mate', and that is why he gets cross at you. My suggestion would be to start again with training him. You can look up tips in the FAQ's for specific tips. You'll just have to talk to him, put your hand in his cage and take it slowly. It's best not to react when he bites, but I know from EXPERIENCE tht this can be very, very, very hard to do :budgiedance: Persistance is the key... and work at his rate, not yours. Once you can get him to come to you and step up (possibly with a millet bribe), you'll then be able to let him out and get him back eaiser. He will learn to love you again and see you as his 'mate' Best of luck and let us know how you go! maesie xxx

 

I didn't even suggest putting the mirror in, that was my mum XD. He was nippy before that, actually, I forgot to mention, maybe he needs another toy or two... the only one's he's got now is a little plastic budgie on one of his perches and another similar toy (only a Tweety), both that he doesn't care about. I'll give it a try, tho

Edit- Don't know if this helps, but he's a lot easier to manage later in the day. Maybe I should try handling then?

Edited by Cobalt
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Mothers... :budgiedance: You may even find he relates to his 'bird' toy also as a mate. They have been known to MATE them too... Yeah, go for some more toys and give him time. Sometimes some birds are just nippy. Lets just hope he tones it down a little (for your sake). Sounds like you are pretty cluey and know what's best for him :(Laughing out loud): . Good on you and good Luck. maesie xxx

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perhaps try clipping his wings? for his sake (no broken neck) and yours...(makes him easier to handle) it doesnt hurt him and although i have a tame baby atm without clipped wings your boy chester sounds a bit older than easily tamable age, so it may be easier for you :budgiedance:

where possible once his wings are clipped try tunneling with him on your chest and step ups... eventually he'll settle down and get slightly used to it and it lowers the amount of times you have to forcefully catch him if he's learnt to step up.

He'll still jump off alot but it decreases with time and helps alot...

this is just my personal opinion, not everyone is for clipped wings... but thing to remember is they grow back after a moult or two... but if you're aiming to acheive tameness of a bird this age i'd go for it :D

 

best of luck with him

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Sounds like an ideal alternative for our situation, actually. I'll discuss it with everyone else.

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first question:

 

How long have you had him?? You stated "recently got a new budgie from a petstore" which makes me think under a month. To tame a budgie it will take patience and time. I would start over and built up the trust with him. Millet is a great training tool.

 

It's been a while since I've trained a bird fully, so I'll leave it for others to give pointers. But we do need to know how long you have had the bird.

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Two months now, I don't know if that counts as recently. Perhaps give it three? He's a bit stubborn, which I can never really put up with in an animal |D

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:blush: okay when I first posted there wasn't all of maesie and Libby's helpful ideas :blush:

 

2-3 months is still just the start of training time for a budgie. I think you do need to remove the 'bird' toy as they can become jsut as attached to them as mirrors. And take a few steps back with his training as i suggested before. Getting a wing clip if you are not against the idea can help as he will rely on you more for moving around which means he starts to see that you are a great buddy to be around.

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I don't think he cares for the bird toy, the only time he uses it is to get away, otherwise he ignores it. I don't think we've got millet on hand, I could try that. Otherwise he's being extremely hard to associate with. I can get him to step up in the cage (not via voice command yet, just nudging lightly on his belly) although this is almost always in the evening. In the mornings and when he's out he just doesn't want to do it.

Edited by Cobalt
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I'll be sure to ask my mum to get some tonight then, and I'll see how that goes. Many thanks!

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If he's really in love with the mirror you could use it as a training aid to get him to come out of his cage. I know i use Blinkie's mirror to get him back into his cage at night, so i'm sure the reverse could work..

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You've got to be careful with that though... i have a tame weero who loves his mirror but now lives in the aviary with the other birds.. as soon as he sees a mirror he flies for it and can get quite agressive if it's not given to him...

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I don't think he cares for the bird toy, the only time he uses it is to get away, otherwise he ignores it. I don't think we've got millet on hand, I could try that. Otherwise he's being extremely hard to associate with. I can get him to step up in the cage (not via voice command yet, just nudging lightly on his belly) although this is almost always in the evening. In the mornings and when he's out he just doesn't want to do it.

 

You have been given excellent advice. I can tell you trying to get a flighted bird by you before they are tamed (and even when they are) when they are out is very difficult. It comes to be a chase game and the only one that wins is the bird on top of your curtain rods.

 

I suggest that you do a wing clip (that is my opinion of course) this will help you tame him in and out of his cage. Wings clips as my avian vet said give the bird an "attitude adjustment" (Laughing out loud) or have them settle down and of course become dependent on you.

 

I wrote up my personal experience in the training section the article is Taming your Budgie. I talk about how I tamed Pretty who was very difficult to train in the beginning along with Merlin who was much easier. Know it can take months but getting control of your bird outside of the cage is a must.

 

There are debates about wing clipping I believe it is an individual choice. Know that once I clipped the first time I didn't do it again I just let them become flighted again once they were tamed down. Pretty would get very "stinky" once his flights grew back in but he trusted me more then when he first arrived at my house at 4 months and not tamed at all.

 

I hope that helps :hap:.

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I haven't been able to get him near a vet that will do it yet, or get millet, which is annoying. I've tried using the mirror, but he's not interested anymore. I tried offering him lettuce, also wasn't interested. I put him on my shoulder before, and he stayed for a few seconds, which was good... I think I'll have to get his wings clipped, he's just not wanting to be near anyone. Although, I don't know whether the vets nearby will do this, and the nearest avian vet is an hour away, and my mum certainly won't drive out for something like that... I'll just have to see ;|.

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Millet is available in boxes in the pet section of most supermarkets :D

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I haven't been able to get him near a vet that will do it yet, or get millet, which is annoying. I've tried using the mirror, but he's not interested anymore. I tried offering him lettuce, also wasn't interested. I put him on my shoulder before, and he stayed for a few seconds, which was good... I think I'll have to get his wings clipped, he's just not wanting to be near anyone. Although, I don't know whether the vets nearby will do this, and the nearest avian vet is an hour away, and my mum certainly won't drive out for something like that... I'll just have to see ;|.

 

You can also call the local pet store whom sells birds they may clip too for a last resort, where did you buy him? Will they clip him for you. You will find this is going to be the best thing to get him tamed down at this point.

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hi, welcome to the forums :budgiedance:

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Not at the local supermarket, Kaz D<

 

He seems to have calmed down a bit now, he'll sit on my shoulder for a bit (and my head). He still gets very temperamental and decides to try and fly away, but hey, they're budgies :yellowhead:

 

He also tends to fly up somewhere high and call to me just to taunt me. Cheeky little bugger :P:

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He also seems to prefer sitting on my head or shoulder, mainly heads, but I'm trying to get him used to shoulders. It seems he just doesn't like being handled, that might just be his personality, because once he's on me and I've let him go he's fine.

 

...he's on my shoulder now, By The Way. Being a very nice companion :yellowhead:

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Not at the local supermarket, Kaz D<

 

He seems to have calmed down a bit now, he'll sit on my shoulder for a bit (and my head). He still gets very temperamental and decides to try and fly away, but hey, they're budgies :D

 

He also tends to fly up somewhere high and call to me just to taunt me. Cheeky little bugger :(:

 

Try Go-Lo or the Warehouse for millet spray if you can't get elsewhere, they usually have some.

Edited by suzii
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Well, he's improved a lot, although he does get very flighty at times and very grumpy if I don't pay him enough attention.

 

Also... he still is really scared when I hold him, I can tell in his squawking. Should I be worried? He hasn't improved at all in that area...

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