I made up my mind. shes not going anywhere

Piløt.bluɛ.chickɛn · Apr 20, 2026

Hey, I know it's been a minute, and the last post I made was about me thinking about rehoming pilot, which hasn't happened yet, and I honestly don't think I want to anymore, I was more so pressured at the time by the fact that my grandmother isn't the most found of Pilot, and while having a bird isn't easy whatsoever, as I knew it wouldn't be.
Although things aren't easy, nor have they ever been, my thought process is this.
I got Pilot, I committed to caring for her, and although she has a fear of hands and shes wild, why would I throw all of the good moments away for no reason.
When I first got her she was a scared little bird and she didn't really know what to make of someone wanting to interact with her, and while she was clipped for a bit she would crawl up my leg to get to my shoulder, she would sit in my hood to watch shows with me, she would sit on my shoulder while I would clean, and although she was afraid of hands I found a way to work with her through that, I started picking her up with a shirt, and that's how I would let her out of her cage so that she would have her daily out of cage time, I would let her out that way, she would preen my hair, my nose, my shoulders, and she still does those things then she eventually learned that she can fly back into her cage when she''s done socializing and that I would close her cage and let her have her space, and then the other night I had taken her out of her cage and she could've jumped to my shoulder, but she perched on my bare hand, she walked around the shirt and perched on my bare hand, I didn't make any sudden movements, and she stayed there, she wasn't breathing fast, she was calm, she didn't seem stressed (at least I don't think so), she was closing her eyes for a few seconds at a time, and would then close her eyes for a minute and then two, she looked peaceful, she would perk up when my phone would make certain sounds, and she'd tilt her head just like she does when we watch shows together.
And I can't believe that I was thinking about throwing all that progress away, Pilot has come a long way, and I think she seems happy (correct me if I'm wrong) so maybe things aren't perfect, but she doesn't seem unhappy to me, and I do love her, I seriously cant believe I was thinking of throwing that all away,

LaManuka · Apr 20, 2026

Cali&Pilot said:
Hey, I know it's been a minute, and the last post I made was about me thinking about rehoming pilot, which hasn't happened yet, and I honestly don't think I want to anymore, I was more so pressured at the time by the fact that my grandmother isn't the most found of Pilot, and while having a bird isn't easy whatsoever, as I knew it wouldn't be.
Although things aren't easy, nor have they ever been, my thought process is this.
I got Pilot, I committed to caring for her, and although she has a fear of hands and shes wild, why would I throw all of the good moments away for no reason.
When I first got her she was a scared little bird and she didn't really know what to make of someone wanting to interact with her, and while she was clipped for a bit she would crawl up my leg to get to my shoulder, she would sit in my hood to watch shows with me, she would sit on my shoulder while I would clean, and although she was afraid of hands I found a way to work with her through that, I started picking her up with a shirt, and that's how I would let her out of her cage so that she would have her daily out of cage time, I would let her out that way, she would preen my hair, my nose, my shoulders, and she still does those things then she eventually learned that she can fly back into her cage when she''s done socializing and that I would close her cage and let her have her space, and then the other night I had taken her out of her cage and she could've jumped to my shoulder, but she perched on my bare hand, she walked around the shirt and perched on my bare hand, I didn't make any sudden movements, and she stayed there, she wasn't breathing fast, she was calm, she didn't seem stressed (at least I don't think so), she was closing her eyes for a few seconds at a time, and would then close her eyes for a minute and then two, she looked peaceful, she would perk up when my phone would make certain sounds, and she'd tilt her head just like she does when we watch shows together.
And I can't believe that I was thinking about throwing all that progress away, Pilot has come a long way, and I think she seems happy (correct me if I'm wrong) so maybe things aren't perfect, but she doesn't seem unhappy to me, and I do love her, I seriously cant believe I was thinking of throwing that all away,

It makes my heart so happy to read this, @Cali&Pilot, I'm so glad you came to this decision

DonnaBudgie · Apr 20, 2026

Pilot is bonded to you. You're her person and she needs you. I'm so glad you recognize that.

DonnaBudgie · Apr 20, 2026

Post new pictures of Pilot.

DonnaBudgie · Apr 20, 2026

Ive found that Female budgies are more independent and don't need companion budgies as much as males do. My girls live with other males and females but the females mostly ignore each other and the males (unless they want to breed). Male budgies are much more sociable with other budgies. I tell people if they can only have one budgie to get a female. Pilot has everything she needs.

Piløt.bluɛ.chickɛn · Apr 21, 2026

DonnaBudgie said:
Ive found that Female budgies are more independent and don't need companion budgies as much as males do. My girls live with other males and females but the females mostly ignore each other and the males (unless they want to breed). Male budgies are much more sociable with other budgies. I tell people if they can only have one budgie to get a female. Pilot has everything she needs.

I guess I was just worried about not fulfilling her needs or that I wasn't doing enough for her, I'm also trying to work on making her more comfortable outside of her cage, so that she will let me do other things with her cage, like I'm working on making her little spots in my room where she can hang out, like I put a perch in my dresser, like in the drawer that sticks out from it, but she seems to have absolutely no interest. She used to like going over and crawling on top of this giant stuffed raccoon I have in the corner of my room and then from there climb up to my dresser, but she gets annoyed when I go over and try to get her off the top of her cage so I can take it down so I can clean it or rearrange things.
If anyone has any suggestions or anything please let me know.
I also was thinking of trying to somehow teach her that when I'm done in her cage that that's when she can go to her cage but idk if that's possible.
(ill put more photos of pilot in here later)