THE WEEBIL ! Is a tiny little normal green budgie. He has the vocal range of a CONDOR or an EAGLE ! He can scream like a siren.

 

I have been at a loss of what to do with him. HE SCREAMS SO LOUD. I have upset my neighbors with his noise. It's also not so pleasant in my home either.

 

I went to a new avian vet yesterday. He said the call the Weebil is making is a Warning Call. A Threat Call. But we are at a loss to what the threat is. The Vet says he is shocked by the volume of this little tiny birds call. He said he has never heard anything so loud in his life & he has Budgies of his own, so I'm sure he knows most of the calls. He also was sad to see how small the Weebil is. Weebil is a rescue bird & he endured the worse life before he ended up in my care. The Vet said he was pleased to see the Weebil was full of food & he was happy that Weebil has a good diet of fresh foods daily as well as pellets & seeds.

 

But the several months of bad living in his first home caused the bird to be so small & undernourished & Weebil suffered from it by not growing & reaching a normal size at all. VERY SAD INDEED.

 

But now the Weebil is physically healthy. Just not so well ... mentally.

 

He asked me what type of relationship the Weebil & I have. Obviously by my holding the bird in a towel & the blood pouring from my fingers he saw that we were not doing well in the BONDING way.

 

He asked me to check out the web & read about a man on the internet called the BIRD WHISPERER. Some of you might have heard about this man.

 

I thought I would go & read this Bird Whisperer's info, view his videos & see if he can help me make my little bird a happy bird. I am willing to try anything.

 

SO I DID ...

 

Weebil has lived now with me for almost 8-9 months. In that time I have only touched him a few times. Just to move him to his carrier to get to the Avian Vets for more check ups. I just hate that this bird is so frightened that he bites & chews at me like I am a huge chunk of budgie millet.

 

So .... after reading the Whisperer's data I thought ... here we go. I am going to make this bird a happy bird. But the first few hours of this new plan ain't gonna be so happy for me or the Weebil !

I went to the cage & took him out. Bite bite bite ... chew chew chew .... ouch ouch ouch I felt. I never said a thing & let him chew away. If he knows I am unhappy by the bites ... he wins. I ignored the pain. I then lightly wrapped him in my hands & sat down in a rocking chair & we had a little chat. Chat & chew I call it ... while he chewed & I kept offering my hand to him often in attempts to touch him while talking softly to him. I offered my hand by the palm or the back of the hand. He couldn't really latch on to me that way & after 40 minutes he soon tired of the biting.

 

I KNOW ... 40 minutes seems really harsh to be holding a bird against its will !

All that time I held him ... I still softly talked to him while this went on. I was also stroking the side of his cheeks & cere ... he would open his beak in attempt to bite but was not really trying to bite me at all. He would turn his head toward the tip of my finger for more touching.

 

He was not panting ... he was not struggling. He was watching me & taking on the touching. I figured as long as he was not panting & heaving with distress & not struggling we were doing okay.

 

I was shocked. He was responding. BIG TIME RESPONDING ! He made a few calls during this time. The other bird was wondering what we were doing & why wasn't she/he in on it & so it would call to us. He DID NOT ONCE OR EVER ... call in that annoying screech that I hate. During this entire time.

 

After 1 hour of hands on .... I had a new bird in my hands.

 

DON'T HATE ME ... BUT ... I clipped his wings. He let me do this without a fuss. I thought if I am going to have a daily a hands on relationship with this boy ... I must have the upper hand & I refuse to make matters worse by chasing him around trying to have one on one when he can easily get away.

 

I then held him on my fingers & placed him next to his buddy. He stepped down gradually & did not run from me.

 

He preened & cleaned & sang softly & was a new bird.

 

I wanted to cry. My girlfriend was sobbing in happieness. She was praying this would work.

 

Today. I repeated the actions. First. He ran from me & didn't want to come. I expected that. We weren't the best friends & this would take some time. But I gathered him up & sat with him for 20 mins & touched him & talked. He didn't bite. He was calm. He never said one call .... he was now resigned to this. I thought in a good way.

 

I started praising him & he was doing step ups to my fingers on both hands within 10 minutes. A few times he flew over to the cage & I would go to the cage & talk to him praising him in a happy tone & telling him how amazing he was. I would offer my finger & he would step up on my fingers right away & was willing to let me walk around the room with him.

 

NEW BIRD .... BRAND NEW BIRD !!!!!!!!!

He is now listening to me. He waits for me on the edge of the play center. I can handle this now. I am going to do this hands on training with him at least 2 times a day. All afternoon I have been going to the cage & placing my hand in the cage in front of him & asking him to step up. He does without fear or pause. I praise him like he is the most amazing thing in the world. And to me he is. I want to cry. I really do. I am stunned I have reached his little budgie wharped brain.

 

I am convinced that I have made a break through with this little bird.

 

I was almost ready to give up. Not now.

 

Now ... I am ready for anything.

 

For those who wish to read about the Bird Whisperer. Here is the site link.

 

http://www.thebirdwhisperer.com/

 

I welcome any advice or negativity in regards to this.

 

But I am now convinced this little bird will be happier & healthier & I can give him & the other budgie a better life. I needed to try something .... anything. I can't let this little guy down. He's had it too bad for so long. It's just not fair for him.

 

I will keep you posted on the work in progress.

 

Nick :ygbudgie:

I am amazed !! This is wonderful news. Noone can or should criticise what has obviously worked with patience and dedication.

GREAT JOB !!

I am so happy for you I have to do the :budgiedance: :budgiedance:

 

:hap:

Edited February 6, 200817 yr by KAZ

Thanks Kaz !

 

Lets all do the Budgie Dance ! :budgiedance: :budgiedance:

Thats fantastic news!! :hap:

 

Well done! Lucky he is not a she - or you wouldn't be able to type ever again :budgiedance:

 

You are obviously a very loving caring bird owner and now he finally trusts you - Brings a tear to my eye :budgiedance:

that is great news, it is good to hear he has settled down for you.

Well is that good news or what??? Carry on!! And by the way, clipping your birds wings is not always cruel punishment, it is definitely needed in some birds due to behaviourful issues and can even save their lives. Sometimes you have to "be cruel to be kind", pain and neglect of course, excluded. :ygbudgie:

Edited February 7, 200817 yr by Phoebe

that is such great news!!!!

you are doing a wonderful job in bonding with weebil :hap:

:budgiedance: :budgiedance:

congradulations.

Sometimes the hands on approach is all that will work

I am so happy that you never gave up on this sweet little bird.

I appreciate everyones nice comments.

 

I can't tell you how excited I am in dealing with these 2 birds now. I only want them to be happy healthy pets. Joining the Budgie Community & Forum has been so helpful. I really think that everyone's feedback & advice & comments can help us all. I doubt I would have taken such a bold step if I hadn't asked for help with Weebils screaming issues.

 

Many members advice & links took me to places where others had similar problems & they too suggested advice that led me to some possitive results.

 

What a GREAT site we have here ! Thank You all for your help.

 

Nick

That's fantastic news! I am thrilled for you both!

Keep up all that hard work, and I look forward to regular updates. I'll be checking out that website too. Yah for you both!!!

That's great to hear, well done :(Laughing out loud): .

Great news I hope he continues to improve.

Nick please check your PM's I am going to e-mail you on this method. I have learned some very disturbing information about this method and want to share with you and also help you with getting your bird to trust you with safer methods. If anyone has questions they can PM me. Thank you..Elly

Have done Elly. Not to worry.

 

This morning the Weebil came out of the cage on my finger without issue & is now preening & playing with his hen buddy. He showed no fear to my hand. I was pleased & praised him happily. We did step up for 10 minutes & he was perfect in cooperation. He even ate some new treats from my hand & now is investigating some toys he was never interested in before. While I was reading some work sitting in an arm chair close by, he was talking to me in soft calls & paying attention to my talking to him.

 

This is a good sign. I am not being forceful with him. He is watching the hands/on I am also doing with the hen & is eager to show he can also participate.

 

I find praise is really important & he is responding to my talking to him & encouraging his actions.

 

I feel the more I respond to him & encourage him with possitive attitude he will get better & better. Almost 3 days & there is a remarkable change.

 

I have not heard the screaming since I have started this.

 

Nick