BUDGIE DRAMA – some advice might be needed

[fiddlejen]

I currently have 6 budgies. Two males (one green, one blue-lacewing) and four females (two blue-lacewing, one albino). Jefferson (green male) and Calliope (albino female) are the parents of the other four.

They are all various levels of less-than-tame. They have freedom of the front rooms during the day, and must return to their cage for sleep at nighttime. (Keye, blue female, is the only one who resists.)

I’ve gotten used to much screaming, angry chirping, kerfuffle and disputations, accepting this as normal flock-interactions. They all mate and lay, and I actively check for eggs to discard.

One of the blue females, Keye, has been far less group-oriented than others. I’ve suspected she might be at center of many disputations, but it’s been hard to tell. I’ve pondered trying to separate All the females, but have not taken any action.

So. Monday of this week. There was a Thump, then screaming. (I work-from-home, in the back room.) I went to the front. A green and a blue, rolling around Locked in a fight. Took some struggle to separate them. The green female was obviously Riker. Once separated, I realized I had not identified the blue, although I Suspected it was Keye.

Then Tuesday, yesterday. Pretty much the same. Riker and Keye. This time separating them I held onto Keye – although in fact she had a death-grip on me. She bites much harder than the other budgies!

I put Keye in the cage that Jefferson and Calliope lived in originally. Half-Inch bar spacing. Secured the door. Then immediately had to take a work phone call.

I heard budgie-screaming while on the phone. BUT I’ve gotten used to this. Once call was over went to move Keye’s cage near me…

….NO KEYE!!! Fluff on the bars. She had Squeezed herself out of the cage THRU THE BARS. !!!!!!!

Fortunately (and surprisingly), I re-captured her again her fairly quickly. This time I put her in a smaller cage. 3/8 inch bar spacing. A cute little cage – but – Not large enough for a permanent budgie-home.

This was yesterday. She spent the rest of yesterday trying to escape the little cage. (She even tried to pull up the bottom grate.)

Meanwhile I noticed budgie-volume from the living diminished. Still plenty happiness, but not nearly as much alert-screaming & angry-chirps.

Since then, I’ve kept her in the separation cage. Brought into my workspace again today. And again today, the rest of the budgies are active & happy. Far less angry yelling sounds. I’m noticing the other budgies today cooperatively exploring some areas which Keye had previously claimed as her own.

Today Keye has calmed down. She's just hiding – but normally, she spends her time mostly hiding or fighting anyway.

So I wonder about keeping Keye permanently separate. She’s far less-distressed by alone-ness than the other budgies would be. None of the other budgies seem distressed by her absence. (Which would not be true of the others.)

To keep her permanently separate, I’ll need a new cage, larger but with Small Bar-Spacing. Unfortunately the price of such cages has about doubled from a year ago!!! She may need to suffer a small cage longer than I’d prefer.

Perhaps with her separated, perhaps I can work to tame her. However, given any chance, she’ll “escape” up high again. Then all my time will be spent chasing her instead.

So maybe I should get her clipped. Then… if clipped… perhaps she could rejoin the budgie-flock? OR at least if not-flying (temporarily), she could stay in the smaller cage while I work to tame her a little? IF she were clipped, I could allow her out-of-cage freedom, so small cage would be less-restrictive.

But I just feel really unsure. At this point I could use some help to think this through.

 

[StormyPica]

I think it is important to try to keep her with a flock, so you may want to try clipping. Some budgies, however, just cannot stop fighting or picking fights. In that case, you'd have to separate her. Make sure she gets 12-14 hours of sleep a day, and plenty of attention from you!

 

[Laurasea]

Stressful development..
Because a flock will turn on a member with health issues, and you mention her hiding a lot. The first thing I would do is make sure just doesn't have something subtle going on..poop watching, weight checks, stains above nares..

Then if its just behavioral , with her being the odd one out. You have already shared thoughtful and insightful solutions...I don't know what to add

 

[fiddlejen]

I think it is important to try to keep her with a flock, so you may want to try clipping. Some budgies, however, just cannot stop fighting or picking fights. In that case, you'd have to separate her. Make sure she gets 12-14 hours of sleep a day, and plenty of attention from you!

Thank you. I do feel she is more aggressive than the others. Your thoughts are helpful. I have gone ahead and scheduled an appt to get her clipped on Friday.

It seems like she has combined elements of her mom's & dad's personalities in ways that are working against her.

Dad is hyperanxious, but bold & assertive, and very Very social (except that he Never wants to be touched). He wants to FLY, he thinks flying is Life, but otherwise his only interest in exploring is to keep tabs on all his flock.

Mom has no fear, and will defend violently IF she feels aggravated, but is otherwise docile. Mom does not really care about social activity or flock interaction, much, but will simply move away if annoyed. Mom likes to explore, and to find quiet places to be alone.

So Keye... is mostly annoyed by flock interactions. And, like her mom she has no fear. She likes to explore. But, like her Dad, she is Not docile. She is assertive (to the point of aggressive) and Bold. She will aggressively defend or attack if annoyed, which seems to be quite often. Also she seems to want to territorially Claim the places she explores, which is leading to further disputes with other flock members.

 

[fiddlejen]

Stressful development..
Because a flock will turn on a member with health issues, and you mention her hiding a lot. The first thing I would do is make sure just doesn't have something subtle going on..poop watching, weight checks, stains above nares..

Then if its just behavioral , with her being the odd one out. You have already shared thoughtful and insightful solutions...I don't know what to add

Thank you for these thoughts. At this point I can't really do weight checks, as she refuses handling, but I will begin after she's clipped. (I've scheduled for Friday.) I've had her next to me so far all day, so (at your suggestion) i've been able to check her nares and they look fine for now. Likewise will be keeping an eye on her poos as well. I feel it's probably just behavioral, her default personality, but I will keep a close eye. Thank you!

 

[Tiki Bird]

Holy moly I only have 2 budges at the moment and in the past only kept one at a time. I had no idea they could be so mean to each other!

So I'm by no means an expert but sometimes with other animals shaking things up a bit can distract them and give them a new perspective. Move the cage, split the flock up into singles or pairs for a while, rearrange things inside the main cage. Keep the picked on bird in the main cage and reintroduce the others slowly back to it after a week or so.

 

[Teddscau]

Some budgies can be mean/hormonal. I’d give Keye a mild wing trim (a couple of flight feathers on each wing) so it slows her down, but she’s still able to gain lift. I’d buy a cage with proper bar spacing as well so you can stick her in there for a couple of days whenever she’s being a menace. Separating her from the rest of the flock for a few days every now and will usually make a bully behave for at least a couple of days upon reintroduction to the flock.

As mentioned before, they should be getting at least 12–14 hours of darkness each day to help prevent breeding. I‘ve only ever had one egg, and that was from a newly adopted budgie who was a known chronic egg layer.