Bonding

I have 2 budgies. One male and one female. They’re currently being kept in seperate cages since they don’t get along. I keep their cages right next to each other as they enjoy each others company. I’ve had my male budgie for almost a year now and he’s pretty tamed by now, and I’ve had my female budgie for almost 6 months and I’m currently working on getting her to trust me. As some of you know, my male budgie got sick and I had to treat him with Itraconazole. I’ve been forced to give him medicine since he doesn’t want to, and now he doesn’t really like me.

I’ve tried to keep them in the same cage but they nip and bite each other and don’t get along. It’s not that they hate each other. They love to spend time outside their cage and fly around, but if one of them gets too close to the other he gets nipped at.

Anyway, my biggest problem right now is getting them out of the cage and back inside. I’m not forcing them to get out of their cage, it’s just that they don’t want to. If they however want to, I let them fly around and everything, but when it comes to putting them back inside the cage, they don’t want to. Now, both of them know the step up and down command, so that isn’t a problem. My male budgie doesn’t trust me (my hand) but he still steps up, and he starts biting me because he doesn’t want to step on my hand, which is very confusing. My female budgie also steps up and starts nipping at me, like she’s copying him. When I try to put them back inside the cage they usually fly away. And I have to start at the beginning again. Step up, biting, flying off.

I know I’m doing something wrong (or multiple mistakes). I’m a new bird owner and these are my first birds. I veen trying to read on the internet about everything but I really need some advice on this particular problem. My budgies usually associate my hand with being taken out and being put back inside the cage, and I don’t want them to see me that way. Which is probably the reason why they bite. I just have so many questions.

- Should I start all over again on the bonding? Since they see my hand as something bad when I put it in the cage?

- Should I keep letting them outside their cage if they want to?

- when they step up and bite me, how should I react? Inside the cage? Outside the cage?

Im new to budgies but I had a grey like this, and this worked for me and made it much more manageable.
Offer them a treat like a little piece of fruit or some millet and when you offer them your finger put your finger an inch or so away from them so they can choose whether they want to step up for it, do it all the time just for funsies/repitition not just when putting them back in the cage. Talk to them constantly in calm voice when you aproach and all the time until you get them back in the cage, if youre chatting calmly to them theyll feel more at ease.
When they bite dont move your hand, dont react, dont yell or move, it can be sore but you can do it, just squeeze your face. Wait a few moments after they stop then offer them to step up onto your other finger for the treat.

Parrots figure out quick they dont like the cage, but also can be afraid of certain things outside the cage, so they sometimes cant make up their mind. Make their cages a fun and rewarding place to be, with lots of toys they can destory like paper shredding toys, you can look up budgie safe ones and how to make your own, put water dishes outside the cage but only put food (pellets, fruit and veg) in the cage, be sure to monitor any decreased eating if theyre used to eating outside their cage. If they have a particular treat they like, only offer this treat from your hands. If you feed them pellets (I really reccomend this) then offering a little bit of seed mix in your hand as a treat once a day so they have to hop on to your open hands also works.. Just like retraining them almost. let me know how you get on best of luck
Let me know how you get on

the reason I say dont move when they bite is because if they get a reaction they will think a bite makes the hand go away, or the bite makes you go away or not talk to them for awhile etc, if you yell they sometimes think its a good way to control you

Try offering them a favorite treat...like millet. Open their doors,slowly just putting your hand in,palm up.with a piece of millet on it..that'll reinforce the idea of when they see your hand,you'll have a treat for them.
I don't know of a 'keet,OR cockatiel that will refuse millet Do this a couple times a day..I bet within a short time,you're budgies will be hopping on your hand looking for a reward.



Jim

Thank you guys It’s a lot better now. I’ve been trying everything you suggested and it’s working a lot better than I expected.

My male budgie has just entered the breeding season and I’m pretty sure that’s the reason he bites me, as I’ve read parrots get a bit aggressive during breeding season. I should mention that he doesn’t bite me hard, just nips my hand to let me know. My female budgie is still young and not interested in breeding. I don’t keep any nest box in either of their cages. I’m not sure what’s going on. Anyway, I really appreciate you guys for responding and trying to help me and my budgies. I’m so glad I found this website and community.