I didn’t realize how exhausting this would all be.

[Rico_Tiel]

To preface: I AM NOT UPSET WITH MY BIRDS, JUST DOING A TINY RANT! I love both of my nuggets very much, just they are quite tiring.


So, I got Cricket the loaf of Cornbread exactly one week ago now and I love her as much as I love Rico. However, this is a lot more exhausting than it ever was with Ice and Tea. I know they aren’t comparable as they were together most their lives, were rescues, and didn’t want a lot to do with me aside from passively hanging around or doing some training. But it was not super exhausting. Cricket’s craziness and spunkiness is a huge shift in energy as Rico is a lot more laid back than she is. Rico’s craziness is almost nothing compared to Cricket! She is always bouncing off the walls, running around, jumping around, and just being a little tiny crazy ball of lightning. It’s quite entertaining to watch, but it is exhausting to keep her from annoying Rico, jumping off the play stand and smacking into the floor, keeping her away from the floor when it hasn’t been swept yet, etc. And Rico is also super exhausting. He is always trying to get into her cage and nest, which results in me getting bit or intimidated by his beak that is 1000% going to bite me hard enough the bleed. He will land on her cage, he will land on my table that has crickets cage, a couple books, and my ‘treasures’ if you will, he will land on the TV table and go crazy over his reflection in the glass, and he will pretty much do everything he isn’t supposed to. I know, it’s just him being a bird and he is probably just doing it for attention, but having to constantly get up and move him is quite exhausting. I love my birds infinitely of course, it’s just the change has had me tired lately. I know it will get better as I get used to it, but I just had to get this off my chest. Any advice or tips will be greatly appreciated. Thanks for reading.



TL;DR Cricket (new budgie) and Rico (older tiel) are very tiring since I am keeping my eyes on two chaos potatoes instead of one. Rico is being a nut job and Cricket is being crazy.

 

[Jcas]

To preface: I AM NOT UPSET WITH MY BIRDS, JUST DOING A TINY RANT! I love both of my nuggets very much, just they are quite tiring.


So, I got Cricket the loaf of Cornbread exactly one week ago now and I love her as much as I love Rico. However, this is a lot more exhausting than it ever was with Ice and Tea. I know they aren’t comparable as they were together most their lives, were rescues, and didn’t want a lot to do with me aside from passively hanging around or doing some training. But it was not super exhausting. Cricket’s craziness and spunkiness is a huge shift in energy as Rico is a lot more laid back than she is. Rico’s craziness is almost nothing compared to Cricket! She is always bouncing off the walls, running around, jumping around, and just being a little tiny crazy ball of lightning. It’s quite entertaining to watch, but it is exhausting to keep her from annoying Rico, jumping off the play stand and smacking into the floor, keeping her away from the floor when it hasn’t been swept yet, etc. And Rico is also super exhausting. He is always trying to get into her cage and nest, which results in me getting bit or intimidated by his beak that is 1000% going to bite me hard enough the bleed. He will land on her cage, he will land on my table that has crickets cage, a couple books, and my ‘treasures’ if you will, he will land on the TV table and go crazy over his reflection in the glass, and he will pretty much do everything he isn’t supposed to. I know, it’s just him being a bird and he is probably just doing it for attention, but having to constantly get up and move him is quite exhausting. I love my birds infinitely of course, it’s just the change has had me tired lately. I know it will get better as I get used to it, but I just had to get this off my chest. Any advice or tips will be greatly appreciated. Thanks for reading.



TL;DR Cricket (new budgie) and Rico (older tiel) are very tiring since I am keeping my eyes on two chaos potatoes instead of one. Rico is being a nut job and Cricket is being crazy.

Your birds are so lucky to have someone who is so invested in their happiness and safety! When I first got JJ, he reduced me to tears on more than one occasion; getting overwhelmed totally happens, but keep reminding yourself it’s only temporary! A lot of changes have happened for you, Rico, and Cricket. I think with a little bit of time, you and your birds will settle into a new routine and find your groove. Just keep reminding yourself that the chaos is only for a short time until you and your birds figure out a new normal, so to speak. As far as Cricket’s energy etc, Fay was my first female budgie and I adopted her when she was six or seven months and she was nuts! I don’t know if it’s partly because she was female or just her personality but she was everywhere and into everything. Honestly, I’m glad I adopted her because an inexperienced bird owner may have been in for a surprise! However, by the time she hit about a year old, Fay settled down considerably and I imagine Cricket will too. One thing Fay still loves to do is strip bark off of branches. It will keep her busy for quite a while. I’m lucky to have a lilac bush in the backyard for a source of bird safe branches ( once sterilized) I don’t know if you have any access to unsprayed, bird safe trees? It does make a mess though, lol! Hang in there, you’re doing a great job!

 

[DonnaBudgie]

To preface: I AM NOT UPSET WITH MY BIRDS, JUST DOING A TINY RANT! I love both of my nuggets very much, just they are quite tiring.


So, I got Cricket the loaf of Cornbread exactly one week ago now and I love her as much as I love Rico. However, this is a lot more exhausting than it ever was with Ice and Tea. I know they aren’t comparable as they were together most their lives, were rescues, and didn’t want a lot to do with me aside from passively hanging around or doing some training. But it was not super exhausting. Cricket’s craziness and spunkiness is a huge shift in energy as Rico is a lot more laid back than she is. Rico’s craziness is almost nothing compared to Cricket! She is always bouncing off the walls, running around, jumping around, and just being a little tiny crazy ball of lightning. It’s quite entertaining to watch, but it is exhausting to keep her from annoying Rico, jumping off the play stand and smacking into the floor, keeping her away from the floor when it hasn’t been swept yet, etc. And Rico is also super exhausting. He is always trying to get into her cage and nest, which results in me getting bit or intimidated by his beak that is 1000% going to bite me hard enough the bleed. He will land on her cage, he will land on my table that has crickets cage, a couple books, and my ‘treasures’ if you will, he will land on the TV table and go crazy over his reflection in the glass, and he will pretty much do everything he isn’t supposed to. I know, it’s just him being a bird and he is probably just doing it for attention, but having to constantly get up and move him is quite exhausting. I love my birds infinitely of course, it’s just the change has had me tired lately. I know it will get better as I get used to it, but I just had to get this off my chest. Any advice or tips will be greatly appreciated. Thanks for reading.



TL;DR Cricket (new budgie) and Rico (older tiel) are very tiring since I am keeping my eyes on two chaos potatoes instead of one. Rico is being a nut job and Cricket is being crazy.

It will get much easier after Cricket's kings grow back and you aren't constantly having to retrieve her from somewhere. Otherwise, I think that maybe you're making this more work than it has to be. Other than for safety issues when one of them can get injured, try to just let them do what they want. Cricket will calm down somewhat when she gets a little older. Then you and your winged terrorists will be able to hang out and contentedly grind beaks together!

 

[Rico_Tiel]

Your birds are so lucky to have someone who is so invested in their happiness and safety! When I first got JJ, he reduced me to tears on more than one occasion; getting overwhelmed totally happens, but keep reminding yourself it’s only temporary! A lot of changes have happened for you, Rico, and Cricket. I think with a little bit of time, you and your birds will settle into a new routine and find your groove. Just keep reminding yourself that the chaos is only for a short time until you and your birds figure out a new normal, so to speak. As far as Cricket’s energy etc, Fay was my first female budgie and I adopted her when she was six or seven months and she was nuts! I don’t know if it’s partly because she was female or just her personality but she was everywhere and into everything. Honestly, I’m glad I adopted her because an inexperienced bird owner may have been in for a surprise! However, by the time she hit about a year old, Fay settled down considerably and I imagine Cricket will too. One thing Fay still loves to do is strip bark off of branches. It will keep her busy for quite a while. I’m lucky to have a lilac bush in the backyard for a source of bird safe branches ( once sterilized) I don’t know if you have any access to unsprayed, bird safe trees? It does make a mess though, lol! Hang in there, you’re doing a great job!

Thank you so much. This was definitely a mind cleanser to read. Once we find our new schedule and routine that works, it will go from an angry sea of chaos on a canoe to smooth sailing on a yacht. Getting overwhelmed and overstimulated is fairly common for me as I do have autism but I have never been pushed like this by my birds. I do think that once she grows in her flighters, it will be 100 times easier as I won’t have to keep her from taking a huge leap off the play stand and crashing into the floor and she will be able to do what she wants…instead of taking a leap of faith in hopes that I will be right next to her to catch her.


Yikes Fay sounded like she was a bucketful! She sounded like a fun yet challenging bird. It is good that she chilled out though haha.

I do suspect that cricket is more like 3 or 4 months old as she doesn’t have the baby baby eyes. Like, they are normal sized but have no iris if that makes sense? So she will probably mellow out sooner and get her flights sooner.

Oh! Yes, we have birch, spruce, and crabapple trees! No way of cleaning it though aside from scrubbing, baking smaller ones, and UV treating it on a sunny day (which this summer seems unlikely as the summers are getting rainier and rainier. Yay climate change…/s)

Again, thank you so much for this, it was a good mind cleanser and brought some good thoughts to mind.

 

[Rico_Tiel]

It will get much easier after Cricket's kings grow back and you aren't constantly having to retrieve her from somewhere. Otherwise, I think that maybe you're making this more work than it has to be. Other than for safety issues when one of them can get injured, try to just let them do what they want. Cricket will calm down somewhat when she gets a little older. Then you and your winged terrorists will be able to hang out and contentedly grind beaks together!

you could say that again! Flighted birds are ironically enough, easier to work with than birds with traumatic clips. And I’m not really trying to keep her out of stuff, it’s more Rico I’m trying to keep him out of or off of things. The TV isn’t bad, I’ve enforced it enough that he is not to land there (thanks spare toy clips!) that he doesn’t do it anymore, but it’s the other things like crickets vacant cage, the desk her cage is on, the tv stand (he has a huge issue with reflections, so no mirrors or reflective surfaces for mr Rico!), etc.

Rico chews on the desk which, while it is raggedy and a bit ugly, it’s still nice enough to want to be salvaged. Also, I dunno what wood it’s made of so I can’t have him casually eating it lol

Rico gets hormonal and aggressive over his reflection and my tv stand is made of a black, reflective glass that he loses his mind over and I usually end up getting bit over it.

Cricket’s cage is like a nest to him, so when her cage is vacated, he goes into it, gets nesty, and bites the heck out of me when I try to get him out. I say the evil magic words to my Alexa (Alexa, I farted.) and he flees his “nest” and I can prevent him getting into it.


Cricket will definitely go from a crazy lightning ball with chicken legs and full sentience, to a slightly less crazy, flying terrorist who strikes fear into the hearts of many with her sass and beak.

I appreciate this! Thank you so much Donna!

 

[Jcas]

Thank you so much. This was definitely a mind cleanser to read. Once we find our new schedule and routine that works, it will go from an angry sea of chaos on a canoe to smooth sailing on a yacht. Getting overwhelmed and overstimulated is fairly common for me as I do have autism but I have never been pushed like this by my birds. I do think that once she grows in her flighters, it will be 100 times easier as I won’t have to keep her from taking a huge leap off the play stand and crashing into the floor and she will be able to do what she wants…instead of taking a leap of faith in hopes that I will be right next to her to catch her.


Yikes Fay sounded like she was a bucketful! She sounded like a fun yet challenging bird. It is good that she chilled out though haha.

I do suspect that cricket is more like 3 or 4 months old as she doesn’t have the baby baby eyes. Like, they are normal sized but have no iris if that makes sense? So she will probably mellow out sooner and get her flights sooner.

Oh! Yes, we have birch, spruce, and crabapple trees! No way of cleaning it though aside from scrubbing, baking smaller ones, and UV treating it on a sunny day (which this summer seems unlikely as the summers are getting rainier and rainier. Yay climate change…/s)

Again, thank you so much for this, it was a good mind cleanser and brought some good thoughts to mind.

Glad my words helped clear your mind a little; I think we’ve all been where you are with your birds at some point in our relationship with them. We love them but. . . That doesn’t mean they can’t drive us up a wall, too! As far as tree branches go, I use whatever is small enough to fit in the oven, scrub, then bake on low heat for about an hour. That seems to work just fine.

 

[Keet_Krazy]

I wouldn't rely on Cricket calming down when she gets older. I have an about 4 year old budgie girl who is more work then my cockatoo 🥲. She somehow broke a hard plastic bead the other day . Love her to pieces 🥰
You'll soon learn her quirks and how best to deal with them.

 

[Rico_Tiel]

I wouldn't rely on Cricket calming down when she gets older. I have an about 4 year old budgie girl who is more work then my cockatoo 🥲. She somehow broke a hard plastic bead the other day . Love her to pieces 🥰
You'll soon learn her quirks and how best to deal with them.

I know, I’m not counting on it, but it is a hope that she will mellow out even a tiny bit. I know that budgies are hellbent on being the craziest little gremlins in the room, but I musta forgot how crazy they really are!

The more she comes out of her shell, the more I’ll learn about her. A week in, I already know she is one sassy girl! And I dunno if it’s just me or what, but sassy birds are always the funniest birds to have.

Hold up, she BROKE a bead?! Like, just chomped it one day and it shattered? How?! What sort of witchcraft is that?

Thanks for the advice, I really appreciate it!

 

[Rico_Tiel]

Glad my words helped clear your mind a little; I think we’ve all been where you are with your birds at some point in our relationship with them. We love them but. . . That doesn’t mean they can’t drive us up a wall, too! As far as tree branches go, I use whatever is small enough to fit in the oven, scrub, then bake on low heat for about an hour. That seems to work just fine.

I really do appreciate your messages and advice! Thank you so much! And yes, I adore my birds to bits but sometimes they are too much at times. Even Rico drove me nuts a few times just by himself.

Thank you! I always thought I had to use big jumbo branches but I do think I could make some toys out of branches! Like using a saw to cut the branches into slices after “curing” them and then drilling holes into them, buying jute, paper straws, and plastic clasps, and then building the toys. I could use my bird toy blueprints that I was gonna use for an Etsy ship (it was scrapped because we forgot about it and I lost interest after a few months) and construct those too. Thanks for the advice Jcas! I appreciate it!

 

[Keet_Krazy]

Hold up, she BROKE a bead?! Like, just chomped it one day and it shattered? How?! What sort of witchcraft is that?

'Twas whole one day, broken the next...

 

[Rico_Tiel]

'Twas whole one day, broken the next...
View attachment 51192 View attachment 51193

Holy cow she really did! Budgies are no joke!

 

[Cottonoid]

I'll just chime in to say that what you're feeling seems really common with a second bird! I had days of feeling I was in over my head with Cotton for sure, and I know I would have with Opie too if he had been my first bird, but putting them together is VERY different than building a new relationship with one birdo. I question regularly whether I'm doing the right thing by both of them and it was a major mental juggling act the first few months. Thankfully it was winter here at the time so my dog didn't notice she wasn't getting as much attention

I think that the fact you've noticed this about yourself shows that this will pay off once you all have each other figured out. You're very attentive and sympathetic to their needs and before you know it, you'll be back to a little family, just with a new dynamic

 

[Rico_Tiel]

I'll just chime in to say that what you're feeling seems really common with a second bird! I had days of feeling I was in over my head with Cotton for sure, and I know I would have with Opie too if he had been my first bird, but putting them together is VERY different than building a new relationship with one birdo. I question regularly whether I'm doing the right thing by both of them and it was a major mental juggling act the first few months. Thankfully it was winter here at the time so my dog didn't notice she wasn't getting as much attention

I think that the fact you've noticed this about yourself shows that this will pay off once you all have each other figured out. You're very attentive and sympathetic to their needs and before you know it, you'll be back to a little family, just with a new dynamic

Thank you. This does add a little perspective and is assuring. I think I just gotta find a new groove and keep working with them. Today, they shared a toy which is a great sign! I’m still trying to find what works and what doesn’t. So far I’ve got a crude schedule. Wake up, change food and water, shower if my parents are gone, if not the go get breakfast, let the birds out, hang out, take a break and put them away, let them out an hour later, continue until 9 PM, put the birds away, cover their cages, play ark until I feel like I’m dying, go to sleep. Rinse and repeat. It isn’t perfect but it works right now. Once we figure out the new dynamic, we’ll be sailing smoothly. Again, thank you so much for your words, it means a lot. Thank you.

 

[Botsari]

I mostly have experience with other types of birds, but from what I have observed birds in a new or suddenly changed environment have different levels of reaction to new things that they progress through. First there can be outright fear and panic. Later this can turn into frenzied interest, curiosity for, and experimentation with all the things they had previously feared. This often seems to lead to a period of weeks to months of bouncing around the room messing with stuff. Later on this does seem to quiet down, and depending on the bird's personally may turn into more mild curiosity, or even abject indifference to some things it used to be obsessed with. If you later get a NEW thing (or bird) the bird may go through the same process again with just with that thing. So I'd say wait your guys out a bit - sounds like they are still interacting with their new situation as an instinctual way to learn about it. My money is on the bet that their overall behavior will still be changing and adapting for some weeks to come. So probably too early to be that worried.

 

[Rico_Tiel]

I mostly have experience with other types of birds, but from what I have observed birds in a new or suddenly changed environment have different levels of reaction to new things that they progress through. First there can be outright fear and panic. Later this can turn into frenzied interest, curiosity for, and experimentation with all the things they had previously feared. This often seems to lead to a period of weeks to months of bouncing around the room messing with stuff. Later on this does seem to quiet down, and depending on the bird's personally may turn into more mild curiosity, or even abject indifference to some things it used to be obsessed with. If you later get a NEW thing (or bird) the bird may go through the same process again with just with that thing. So I'd say wait your guys out a bit - sounds like they are still interacting with their new situation as an instinctual way to learn about it. My money is on the bet that their overall behavior will still be changing and adapting for some weeks to come. So probably too early to be that worried.

It’s Rico who is being crazier and more irritating than cricket if I’m being honest. I still love him to death but GAH he is gnawing on my nerves! Today he was much better behaved since I was paying more attention to him than just letting him do his thing so I do believe it was all for attention. Him and crick are being nice to each other and hanging out together too. Cricket is less fearful of me since she wants to be around Rico, and he wants to be where I am, which is usually around my hands. Cricket is definitely exploring the play stand and she is investigating the toys hung on it. Once her wings grow in, she will most likely behave like the L4D2 hunter. Jumping around and being a little terror and getting into things, which I look forward to. Thankfully she isn’t a huge terror who is fond of being a brute like Rico (my friend and I would always describe him as the Tank from L4D since he has quite the temper. You could probably guess I have a mild obsession with the game lol) and she has never once bitten me! Which I find to be so interesting as I have never not been bitten by any bird I have ever had, ESPECIALLY in the beginning. But once cornbread cricket gets her flight, she will explore EVERYTHING and I cannot WAIT!

 

[DonnaBudgie]

What I've noticed with Rocky is that when she's out of her cage she has certain places she flies to and ignores the rest f the room. She wants to be on our heads, shoulders, the dining table, her cage top, her playstand, and on the four other cages of budgies. She flies between these places but fortunately she pays no attention to other potential perching places. This makes it easy to keep track of where she is. She likes it when I toss piece of cloth she likes on top of her and play "birdie burrito", rolling her up in the cloth and then unrolling it. She's one wierd budgie! Rocky's wings are slightly trimmed (I don't want her in the cupola 16 feet up) but she's still a very strong coordinated flyer.

 

[DonnaBudgie]

What I've noticed with Rocky is that when she's out of her cage she has certain places she flies to and ignores the rest f the room. She wants to be on our heads, shoulders, the dining table, her cage top, her playstand, and on the four other cages of budgies. She flies between these places but fortunately she pays no attention to other potential perching places. This makes it easy to keep track of where she is. She likes it when I toss piece of cloth she likes on top of her and play "birdie burrito", rolling her up in the cloth and then unrolling it. She's one wierd budgie! Rocky's wings are slightly trimmed (I don't want her in the cupola 16 feet up) but she's still a very strong coordinated flyer.

I think Cricket will find her own favorite places and you will be able to spend less time worrying about what she's getting into.
Maybe Rico is a bit jealous? Make sure you give him LOTS of attention!

 

[Rico_Tiel]

I think Cricket will find her own favorite places and you will be able to spend less time worrying about what she's getting into.
Maybe Rico is a bit jealous? Make sure you give him LOTS of attention!

Cricket definitely already found a few of hers! Her rope perch, manzanita perch, the boing on the play stand, and the pollen perch on the play stand. She really likes those spots.

Rico may be jealous, although I am giving him lots of attention. Scritches, peekaboos, training, etc. Once I begin to get my allowance (15 bucks a week soon instead of 0.) I will get some avicakes for the borbs to eat and munch on. Rico has only ever had NutriBerries and treat sticks, so I’m sure an avicake will be a nice treat for him and crick.

 

[DonnaBudgie]

Cricket definitely already found a few of hers! Her rope perch, manzanita perch, the boing on the play stand, and the pollen perch on the play stand. She really likes those spots.

Rico may be jealous, although I am giving him lots of attention. Scritches, peekaboos, training, etc. Once I begin to get my allowance (15 bucks a week soon instead of 0.) I will get some avicakes for the borbs to eat and munch on. Rico has only ever had NutriBerries and treat sticks, so I’m sure an avicake will be a nice treat for him and crick.

I love your pictures of the two of them together! So cute! Avicakes are nice because they're softer than Nutriberries but pretty expensive so they're more of a treat.

 

[Rico_Tiel]

I love your pictures of the two of them together! So cute! Avicakes are nice because they're softer than Nutriberries but pretty expensive so they're more of a treat.

I love those pictures too! I got some more today!

They are so different yet so perfect together!

Avicakes are more expensive for you?For me it’s the opposite! Avicakes are 8$ and nutriberries are 12$! (Unless you buy it in petco in person, then the prices are higher) where do you get your avicakes and nutriberries? I get my NB from Amazon, and sometimes petzoo. I’m planning on getting the AC on Amazon too.