I have had Lambchop now for a bit over 6 weeks now, she seems happy enough and she will let me take her out of her cage with no dramas, she will still eat from my hand from time to time and she will even let me scratch her around the head. Sometimes she gets a little stroppy with me, is it normal for a Budgie to be moody? :hap:

 

My question is: Whenever I take her out of her cage she will just sit wherever she chooses and not do anything. Is this normal? She's got plenty of toys she can play with and I have even tried playing with her. She's got those balls with bells in them but when I try to encourage her to grab it, she just wants to climb on it to sit there.

 

Also, I have tried introducing steamed vegies into her diet aswell, although she will eat them from my hand. I read someone's suggestion on putting some seed on the vegies and she will get the hint but the cheeky thing ate all the seed and left her greens. I have a cuttlefish bone in her cage and she won't touch that either.

 

Am I doing something wrong?

 

Perhaps she needs a new friend in her cage with her? I was looking into getting a friend for her a little while ago but things were really up in the air. Things have settled down now, so I am starting to look into getting another friend for her again. So if there were any breeders here in Perth who could let me know if they have any babies they were willing to sell to me?

 

Thanks.

Edited September 4, 200816 yr by Vixen

I have had Lambchop now for a bit over 6 weeks now, she seems happy enough and she will let me take her out of her cage with no dramas, she will still eat from my hand from time to time and she will even let me scratch her around the head. Sometimes she gets a little stroppy with me, is it normal for a Budgie to be moody? :hap: What do you mean by moody? Like you are scratching her and she bites? If so that is very normal. Sometimes it is just to let you know they had enough of the scratching or at times just because they want to either way you have to ignore the bite or you can say no do a gentle consquence like putting her back on her cage or something she doesn't like but won't harm her, once she is settled you can give affection again.

 

My question is: Whenever I take her out of her cage she will just sit wherever she chooses and not do anything. Is this normal? She's got plenty of toys she can play with and I have even tried playing with her. She's got those balls with bells in them but when I try to encourage her to grab it, she just wants to climb on it to sit there. Some budgies play some don't, some play when they have other budgies around them and some don't, I found that Pretty only liked to play with the plastic balls that is it. When I got Merlin as his playmate they played more together but when Pretty died Merlin stop playing as much, he likes to play with the plastic balls too so you may want to try those, anything this you can do is you can play with them it may take a couple weeks but if you are doing it she will may get interested and play the that is my toy game, don't give up, I find the simplest toys are the ones they like the best.

 

Also, I have tried introducing steamed vegies into her diet aswell, although she will eat them from my hand. I read someone's suggestion on putting some seed on the vegies and she will get the hint but the cheeky thing ate all the seed and left her greens. I have a cuttlefish bone in her cage and she won't touch that either. Kep trying with the veggies it took me 3 months for Pretty to try veggies. I would try unsteamed veggies though they are more appealing, Kale is an excellent way to start them too and you can add water with it and she may even take a bath in it. In our FAQ under the Food Section there are ideas and receipes, don't give up. Merlin never touches his cuttlebone but it is there if he needs it, if you are concerned you can shave it into her seed and mix it.

 

Am I doing something wrong? You are doing everything right, budgies are just stubborn

 

Perhaps she needs a new friend in her cage with her? I was looking into getting a friend for her a little while ago but things were really up in the air. Things have settled down now, so I am starting to look into getting another friend for her again. So if there were any breeders here in Perth who could let me know if they have any babies they were willing to sell to me? Remember you do have to have a 30 day quarantine, if I got her a friend I would do the same sex so there is no accidently babies, getting a friend will not be the solution to your issues above in fact it will probably make her harder to work with I know Pretty still loved me but Merlin was his world, when you intro another budgie they will bond together very quickly and you will now be working with 2 to tame, so if she is not tamed or bonded with you it will not help if you get a new friend, I would wait if you want her to be more tamed, 6 weeks is not a long time to bond, in fact I think you need to form a strong bond with your first budgie and that takes a good year then after that intro a new bird is easier for both human and bird. The tamed bird will teach the new bird to trust the human and the human will not get frustrated with have 2 untamed birds. That is my opinion through observation of having my 2.

 

Thanks.

I agree with what Elly has said you are not doing anything wrong. Alot of people think you get a bird and within a few weeks he will be talking and wanting to spend all his time with you. Bonding with a Budgie can take month so hang in there.

 

I have two that I am taming at the moment, Boof comes out of his cage finds a stop and just sits there and watches. Buddy comes out of his cage and runs all over my desk tries to fly and reach the box the millet is in, chews on everything and then normally falls asleep upside down! :hap: So each bird is different.

 

As for Veggie keep trying. Have you tried green leafy veggies? Mine LOVE silverbeet. Harley took 6 years before he would eat a veggie one day he tried a snow pea and then it grew from there. I know a bird that is offered veggies on a daily base look at them then says "hand over the honey stick" and I mean that in the fact that he says it (thanks to a boyfriend who thought it would be funny to teach him that phrase) some will never eat them which is a pity.

 

As you bond more you might find putting him on your shoulder and then eating some veggies yourself might sparke his intrest. Don't fret, read everything you can, try and take it in and ask questions. It will all work out.

Don't share the veges you ate with your budgie though (we have different bacterias in our mouth).

I don't think that it takes a year to form a good bond with your budgie. Each budgie is different.

Budgies do tend to play more when there are other budgies around.

Agree with everything everyone has said Especailly SW - Also Kissing on their beaks with your mouth isn't a good thing to do either

well you're doing better than i was when Bing first came home, he would be scraed ******** of his balls, it took like 2 months for him to realise they were fun and now he loves them, try roll them along a desk or the gorund of something, eventually she will be curious and play

SW is right it could take less then a year but you do want to ensure you have a bond with them before you add another one. I can tell you I had Pretty for 9 months and I a bond with him but when I did bring Merlin into the picture though he stay tamed, he did stop talking, and giving me the affection as much. Budgies would rather be with their own kind and that is not a bad thing it is a good thing but what a lot of people don't realize is the relatioship does change and they may NOT like it.

Have you tried a little bit of celery leaves? I have not yet found a budgie that didn't love them, not too much though

Hi all,

 

Am terribly sorry for not replying sooner. Just been so busy.

 

I have had Lambchop now for a bit over 6 weeks now, she seems happy enough and she will let me take her out of her cage with no dramas, she will still eat from my hand from time to time and she will even let me scratch her around the head. Sometimes she gets a little stroppy with me, is it normal for a Budgie to be moody? What do you mean by moody? Like you are scratching her and she bites? If so that is very normal. Sometimes it is just to let you know they had enough of the scratching or at times just because they want to either way you have to ignore the bite or you can say no do a gentle consequence like putting her back on her cage or something she doesn't like but won't harm her, once she is settled you can give affection again.

I mean moody as, one minute she will let me scratch her and one minute she won't or sometimes she gets scared of my hand being in her cage even when I'm not doing anything differently. IE. Moving my hand slowly toward her. Sometimes when I go to scratch her, she will open her beak like she's about to bite me but she won't.

 

 

 

Anyways, I have made a little more progress with her. I had her on my desk just yesterday and she was happy to sit next to me. I had her cage in another room as I was half way through cleaning it and I read that someone tried the trick of moving the cage away from the normal spot as their Budgie kept flying back to it's cage.

 

ANYWAYS... I stopped cleaning her cage as I went to answer the phone. I sat down at my Computer desk and Lambchop came up to me, climbed onto my hand and then up my arm and sat on my shoulder. It was soo nice. I was trying not to jump up and down with glee!

 

I also found a Vegie she likes.. Silverbeet! She can't get enough of it! lol. Clinton even steams her a little bit everytime we have it hehehe. I had her sitting on my finger the night before and was feeding the Silverbeet to her. I had to do something so I put Lambchop on my shoulder and the Silverbeet in front of her. She was happy sitting there eating it lol.

 

Another thing: Everytime either Clinton or I play a video on Youtube, whether it be someone talking or Music, Lambchop goes off! Dosen't matter what it is!! lol. Dosen't have to be a Video either. It can be Music from my mp3 collection lol. She was sitting on my shoulder the other night talking away lol. Sounds funny.

 

Ohhh and yet another thing lol, It's like she's only just discovering everything that's in her cage! She has a seed stick which apparently has bits of apple and is stuck together with a Honey compound or something to that effect! There was one that sat in her cage for AGES!! She's only just started eating them! She would rather eat that, than the seed which is in the tray down the bottom of her cage. The last couple of nights aswell, she's decided to start sleeping on her little swing. It's been in there ever since she was brought home lol.

 

It's strange, all of a sudden she's being more and more open to trying new things. Makes me so happy to know that she is coming out of shell and she is slowly bonding to me.

 

Can they learn their own names? Or just the pitch in which you say it?

Edited October 14, 200816 yr by Neat

Vixen, it really sounds like she is coming around nicely. Thank you for the update.

Thanks for updating us It is great that she is doing so well.

No probs about the update

 

I'm sorry for the amount of questions, I'm just very keen to learn! I am so glad I found this forum!

 

Is it normal for a Budgie to be giving off a lot of heat? When she's sitting on my finger, I can feel an incredible amount of heat coming off her.

 

Her feathers have also changed colour! She used to be a striking green! Almost fluro like! Now, just at the base of her tail, she is blue. Same thing as under her wings and other random places. Is that normal?

 

Also, from this picture, can anyone tell me whats wrong with her feathers? They have only just come up in the last week or so. Also, her feathers just above her cere are all dirty and sticking up all over the place. Do I need to take her to the vet?

 

Edited October 14, 200816 yr by KAZ

She is moulting Perfectly normal

MB is right about the molting.

 

Their feet tend to be warmer throughout the day especailly if they were just flying around :bump:. Do you find this to be the case this is when her feet are warm?