Budgie not happy and i need help..

mrider89

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Sep 28, 2018
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Hello! New to this forum. A little over a month ago my son found a parakeet outside when he was swinging at his grandmothers house. This bird took to him like they were best buds. so of course we made him apart of our family. We got him a cage, toys, fresh food and water every day, gets to take baths on a regular basis.
He was very go with the flow from the beginning. But now he is mean.. destructive.. and a bully to my dogs and I don't know how to correct the behavior. I try to spend time with him but he just wants to fly around my house and chews on things like my picture frames and shelves made of treated wood.
Another thing he does is pick on my poor dogs. He will land on their dog beds and rip at their toes and ears. My poor chihuahua is going to get his eyes gouged out!
He also lunges at anyone's hands that get near his cage regardless if it's to let him out or doing his food and water. AND when he plays with his toys in his cage he kinda plays aggressively so idk if this is just his personality?
I'd like to give him attention and give him enrichment but he is making it impossible.. I tried different treats to entice good interactions with us but he's not really into anything we have given him.
Lately i have been letting him out and when he starts to become destructive or starts picking on my dogs i try to put him back in his cage which leads to following him back and forth through the house until i can catch him.. Any advice will be much appreciated.. I don't just want to leave him in his cage for forever.
 

SailBoat

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Jul 10, 2015
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DYH Amazon
I'm going to let our Budgie and like Parrot members address your question. As an Amazon Snob, I have my opinions on what could be happening, but better to let the hands on member provide you with comment!


Thanks for joining and Welcome to Parrot Forums!
 

MonicaMc

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Sorry, I must ask, since you didn't mention it.... this budgie was obviously someones pet bird. Have you tried finding the previous owners? Put up signs and posters around the neighborhood, at grocery stores, vet offices, pet stores, animal shelters, etc?
 

itzjbean

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Jan 27, 2017
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Sorry, I must ask, since you didn't mention it.... this budgie was obviously someones pet bird. Have you tried finding the previous owners? Put up signs and posters around the neighborhood, at grocery stores, vet offices, pet stores, animal shelters, etc?

I thought this also. Just two weeks ago I found a parakeet outside and captured it. I didn't even think about keeping it because it is NOT native to Iowa, USA And obviously someone's pet as it did not bite me. I posted immediately on social media and found the owner within 2 hours.

What measures have you taken to return this budgie to its owner, or were you really just going to keep it without trying to find it's owner???
 

LaManuka

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May I raise a note of caution over the budgie’s interaction with your dogs? I lost a budgie to the snapping jaws of a chihuahua many years ago. There are any number of accounts on this very forum from people who thought their dogs were trustworthy and well trained and supervised where the bird has made a sudden move or the owner left the room just for a moment when tragedy struck.

This bird is a newcomer to your family where the dogs are well established. While it may appear amusing that a tiny bird can terrorise a much bigger animal, the fluttering flighty motions birds make can appeal to the predatory instincts of the even the best trained dog.

As for his behaviour that could be any number of factors. He was friendly towards your son most likely because as an escapee in a dangerous world he saw your son as a potential safe haven or rescuer. He may even resemble the bird’s previous owner who may miss him terribly. I too would encourage you to try to find his previous owner.
 
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Amsterdam

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You should give him time to adjust to your new home and dogs, try to tame him first wich can take weeks let him know your hand/fingerd are no danger to him as for the dogs he may be scared of them.
 

charmedbyekkie

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May 24, 2018
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Hi there! I met Cairo in a similar way. He landed on our balcony, lost (he had flown a few km in the span of a week). He knew we were humans (he said, "hello!" when he landed), which meant we could feed/help him. We posted to various Facebook groups, and within a few hours found his family again! They were so happy to have him back, and he was too; he started calling out to them when they arrived to pick him up. It was so wonderful to see him reunited - he obviously missed them so much. A few months later, they contacted us, asking if we wanted to adopt him (they just had a newborn child, so couldn't spend enough time with him). Now, he's here with us to stay. I hope there's a happy ending for the lost little budgie too :)



Be careful about letting birds and mammals interact. Though both sides may be considered pets, dogs/cats carry bacteria that is deadly to birds. Just one lick/scratch could mean the end of the little guy. Not to mention instinct, which years of training can't change. Many members here separate the two religiously - if the parrots are out, the dogs/cats are in a separate room with a close door between, and vice versa. There's been instances where friendly dogs have knocked over bird cages with the poor things inside!! The fear and stress alone can do a bird's heart in (we have one member who lost their bird due to the stress of fireworks going off).

As for interaction, parrots aren't like cats or dogs or horses. They've got the emotional maturity of a toddler with a good memory to boot! It can take months to years for a parrot to warm up to new people, especially since they tend to bond so closely with their flock/family. What makes it easier for me to interact with birds (after growing up with mostly mammals of various sizes) is to imagine they're a human foster child with some delays. They can have complex emotional issues, possessive behaviours in unfamiliar spaces, testing of boundaries, need to be mentally/emotionally stimulated, need to be given respect for their personal space and interaction on their own terms, etc. So think of it this way, if your son, at the age of 3, was suddenly and with no explanation rehomed with complete strangers, how would he react? And how would you want his new family to interact with him?

Another consideration: Have you taken the little one to a certified avian vet (if not certified, then at least an avian vet that's part of AAV)? If you haven't, you should. Birds tend to hide symptoms until it's too late (especially if you don't know what to keep an eye out for), and their bodies are quite different than mammals, which means you'll need a specialist. The avian vet could give you insight into whether his behaviour is hormonal (my little guy is hitting puberty soon, and I'm just hoping the teenage angst won't hit us too hard) or part of a bigger health problem.

Definitely poke around more in the forum here :) There are so many stickied posts about bonding and caring for parrots (I hope it goes without saying that your Teflon things have been tossed out).

So here's to your little friend finding his family again or, if that search fails, may his new humans learn to speak his language :D
 
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EllenD

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While I'm very happy that you are trying to give this guy a good home, I have to repeat the question of whether or not you made an effort to find his owner(s) or not...Websites like Parrot911 ParrotAlert, and most importantly both checking for a "lost bird" ad posted by his owners and posting your own "found bird" ad on all of your local Craigslist pages within a good 50 miles of where you found him (Craigslist-Community-Pets is where you post on each of the locations)...

So as far as his behavior, we don't know how old he is first of all, he may be going through a hormonal stage, if he's young enough he may be going through puberty. So that's probably at least part of the problem, but the main issue is no-doubt that he's only been in your home for just 1 month, which is no time at all for a bird in a new environment, with new owners. Even though he took to your son right away, choosing him as "his person" most likely, none of you have yet earned his trust, as this can take months to do...so he's not going to just learn to listen to you, that is taught and learned over time with positive reinforcement...

****However, I will echo what has already been said about your dogs, as what you are describing as far as his allowed interaction with your dogs is very scary....And while you're worried about your dogs being hurt by the Budgie, you need to be very aware of the fact that your dogs are the natural predators in this equation, the natural hunters, and the Budgie is their natural prey...and even though you have small dogs apparently, and they are seemingly "afraid" of the Budgie, you need to realize that it is only going to take one little "snap" from one of your dogs on this Budgie's head, and it's all over. There are not too many experienced parronts who are going to recommend doing what you are doing as far as allowing the Budgie to have free-flight of your entire house with two dogs being loose in the same areas. It's an extremely dangerous and lethal situation for the Budgie, and if I were you I would either put him in a room with the door shut when you want to let him free-fly, so the dogs can't get in, or put the dogs in a room or outside so they can't get in. Either way, they should not be allowed to freely interact the way they are, with the Budgie "landing on the dogs", as this isn't going to last for very long, and you're most likely going to end-up with a dead or severely injured Budgie...

I am not one who is against doing a responsible, temporary wing-clip in your situation, where only the outermost 4-5 primary flight feathers are clipped on each wing, and then having you and your entire family take advantage of the 1 and 1/2 to 2 months you'll have before he's able to fly again to train him using positive reinforcement techniques...You need to work on earning his trust, getting rid of his fear of hands and teaching him to readily step-up for you without biting/nipping, teaching him to not interact with or fly to the dogs at all, teaching him to come in and out of his cage without biting, etc. Chasing a non-trained, flighted parrot around a room every day to get him to go back into his cage or to get a hold of him is the worst thing you can do,
as it is doing the opposite of "earning his trust".
This is why with Budgies who are new, especially when you're having all of the issues that you are, I highly recommend having an Avian Vet or professional, experienced breeder/bird groomer do a temporary wing clip. A lot of people think this is cruel, but it's not at all. It's completely temporary, only lasts for 2 months at most if done correctly, and does not hurt them at all. And it gives you all the opportunity you need to get to work and accomplish your goals with him, so by the time his wings grow back-in in about 2 months, he won't be flying away from you anymore, he'll be flying to you. Just make sure you demand that whomever clips his wings only clip the outermost 4-5 primary flight feathers on both wings, no more! That way not only will they grow back in within a quick amount of time, but he'll also be able to glide to the ground instead of dropping like a stone, and he'll still be able to fly forward to a point, he just won't be able to get any lift....Keep in mind that even though his wings are clipped, you absolutely cannot take him outside, he still must be inside a cage or have a harness/leash on him, as clipped birds can catch wind and fly for miles, which is usually how they get lost in the first place!
 

LordTriggs

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May 11, 2017
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I'll address the part on the frames and shelves in regards to this guy as others have made well enough about finding this guy's original home and about the danger of him around your dogs

Budgies chew wood. That's one of the main things they do. Try finding some soft woods he can chew and tear apart in an effort to get it out of his system in a way that doesn't upset the home as much, but be aware that things you own will get chewed by him because that's what he's programmed to do
 

AmyMyBlueFront

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Apr 14, 2015
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Jonesy a Goffins 'Too who had to be rehomed :-(

And a Normal Grey Cockatiel named BB who came home with me on 5/20/2016.
Wondering what happened to the little budgie? :confused:


Jim
 

EllenD

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Wondering what happened to the little budgie? :confused:


Jim

I kind of assumed that the OP took-off since we all told them that they needed to try to find the bird's owner...I hate it when that happens. It's not fair to the bird or to the bird's owner, who is probably some young child that is devastated that they lost their baby...I hope I'm wrong...
 

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