So heres my problem i got a budge who came from an over crowded cage was possibly abused/neglected (she looks in good shape but as in no toys no treats no positive human interaction) and ontop of all this she had dislocated her wing before i got her and it was mistaken for broken and just ignored (this is after an explanation from the vet who told me the only option is surgery which is a couple hundred dollars, will probably leave her with arthritis and very risky as she might go in to shock and die....) Ive tried the TLC approach treats, greens (which my guys/gals love) but any time i get within 6 inches of her she squawks non stop till i move away....any ideas or is this pretty lil girl a lost cause

 

here she is Moxie (i thought the name was appropiate) in her usual hiding position

Edited February 18, 200718 yr by Bubbles

I don't think any animal is a lost cause.

 

Can you tell us how long you have had her?

 

There is another way from the gentle. Some here have found it ever useful to settle the bird quickly.

 

although if she has an injured wing I'm not sure if it will work.

 

What you do is catch the bird and hold her gently to your chest, if you think it helps let her climb or tunnel her way through your hands. The point is not to let her back into the cage until she has settled down and realized you are not wanting to hurt her.

Although that is a controversial method. It does work. But it depends on the bird. You could try and do things really gradually.

Like approach the cage a little closer every day.

What you do is catch the bird and hold her gently to your chest, if you think it helps let her climb or tunnel her way through your hands. The point is not to let her back into the cage until she has settled down and realized you are not wanting to hurt her.

 

 

I use this with all my birds and they mostly settle very quickly. You let them tunnel from hand to hand. With really bitey females I use gloves until she stops wanting to bite, then take them off and continue. You do not need to hold the birds tightly to do this, but make sure you are in a room they can't get out of in case they wiggle free.

 

Feathers.

Edited February 10, 200718 yr by feathers

Once you are done with quarantine -- if she sees you with a tame budgie, she may follow suit. I'd let her have her space and try millet to tempt her to some minor interaction. Just talk to her often and make slow movements around her, maybe avoid eye contact and read to her. She sounds like she needs some time.. but she looks fairly young still so I think she will come around.

She is such a beautiful bird.I have used tunnelling aswell but it hasn't worked for all birds,it is worth a try though.It takes time though.Good luck,I'm sure if you persist you will be rewarded she looks like she has lots of personality in the photo.

Goodluck with the training, ive found that the tunneling works great and using strategic feedings help so that when you get them out they are hungry so if you have millet the will love yo, by doing this a few time it should gain their trust.

Sco-tie

I have seen Feathers and Jacquie (her daughter) turn a biting nasty budgie into a tame one in just moments...I would trust their methods....or maybe they are just "budgie whisperers"

*L* My sister in law calls me a bird whisperer because of how I helped tame their budgie in a weekend. I don't know if I'd call myself that though.

 

I like the reading idea! And slowly getting closer to the cage day by day is a good way of desensitizing them to your presence. Reading a little bit a few times each day closer and closer to the cage sounds like a really good low stress way of calming her down and teaching her you're not going to hurt her. One thing that helped me with my wilder birds was to not try to do anything with them when changing their food and water and stuff each day. That way they saw the hand come in and go out with nothing scary or bad happening and food coming in too. I did this until they stopped freaking out when I put my hand in the cage. They'd still move to a corner far away from me, but not in such a frenzied way. I changed their perches and toys around weeklly as well - more hand exposure with nothing bad.

 

If your girl hasn't had exposure to treats, millet would be a great thing for her. Its very similar to the seed she's used to. Only let her have it when you're around working with her.

 

If she's afraid of toys, you can introduce her to them slowly. Set them in the room for a day or two where she can see them and slowly move it closer to her cage. She'll see that its something regular and not harmful to her and then you can put it in the cage. My guys are all a little nervous around new toys, particularly bigger ones, so I'm going through that process myself as we speak.

 

She's absolutely beautiful! I wish you lots of luck and patience!

You have been given great advice, good luck! (wish I had known this stuff when I got a couple of my rescues, they aren't exactly tame and I gave up after awhile but it would have helped to know there were other things I could have tried).

I know this isn't a very accepted method, but one thing I did with mine was to mist them down real good. Not like, dripping wet but enough to calm them down and slow them down. Then, I'd towel them very gently and get them out without letting them see me or my hands. Then, let them out of the towel into my hand. They are wet and really don't care whats going on. I then just let them perch on my hand/finger and practice the step up method. Again, they are wet, don't really know whats going on, so they'll step up most of the time. Eventually they'll start to dry off and preen once they get back into the swing of things around them. Keep doing the step up method. Every time I've done it, they preen and dry off, then they'll happily sit there. I immediately start feeding them millet and practice the step up with millet, and they start to realize they are on your hand and nothing wrong, and they are getting treats too! If they still start to freak out, then start the tunneling method until they calm down and feed them millet. Remember, it only works if you use millet as a treat and not give it to them all the time! It took me about 3 days to get the budgies at the store i help out at tamed with this method! To re-enforce this method, whenever you mist them to preen, give them millet. Sadly, my 2 budgies died in freak accidents :-(

 

And if you think the water method will make them afraid of water, it doesn't! Even after the water training, my 2 loved being misted! No fear at all! But just always remember, theres a fine line between a heavy misting and soaking the poor little thing! Rule of thumb, it shouldnt be dripping off them! If you soak it, then yes it will still work but it will make it scared of water. Hope this helps!

That sounds pretty radical but if they are in a WARM environment and won't get chilled, who knows what might happen. Let us see what everybody else thinks, thanks for adding a different suggestion.

That sounds pretty radical but if they are in a WARM environment and won't get chilled, who knows what might happen. Let us see what everybody else thinks, thanks for adding a different suggestion.

 

Yes, I forgot to mention, a warm environment is key. And if they get cold, hold them in your hands, perhaps against your chest.

Well after a few days of fairly extensive one on one time she sems to be mellowing out a little more shes almost stop the squwaking especially while i have food or treats (or oddly enough when im cleaning the poo off their branches its like she knows..)i just feel terrible cuz she still shakes the injured wing pretty hard when shes scared (like shivering) and i know that must feel horrible so i might be looking onto the surgery because after some thought a life in constant pain cant be one worth living so either way shell come out better......but as for now back to the treats....

Yay. I'm glad you are progressing so well and very happy that you are thinking of surgery. Good on you

You are just doing a fantastic job, maybe surgery is the answer, only you can tell. :greenb:

i think its great that you are thinking about surgery.

Wow! I really hope she comes round more soon!

 

Good luck with it all!

She is a beautiful bird - I hope that she comes around and learns to trust you Good luck and all the best with the surgery if it goes ahead.