Our budgie is more relaxed, but calls constantly

bonecat

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Jan 20, 2020
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Hello!

Several months ago I posted on here about adopting a budgie, Selene, after she'd been dumped by a previous owner. In the time since then she's started to blossom, moving out from one spot in a corner to play with her toys more and hop around. She's also not freaking out and zooming around when I change her food and water anymore, or flinching away when my partner or I walk past the cage, though she still doesn't like our hands inside the cage very much. We've gotten her a couple new toys, including a hanging coconut shell that she seems to love chewing on.


Right now however we're having a new issue where she's doing a "flock call" (single note ear-piercing peep) pretty constantly every morning for the last week or so, not playing with her toys, just calling and calling from the moment I uncover her cage until early afternoon. She's not screaming or zooming around her cage frantically, just the calls. My girlfriend and I are pretty sure she's responding to the sound of the morning birds outside-- "Hey, guys, I'm in here, come and play with me!" Her cere is also brownish pink and kind of crusty looking, like she's in breeding mode-- maybe she's calling for a boyfriend? :p I try to just talk to her softly when she starts up, playing gentle music, and sometimes keeping part of her cage covered, but it doesn't really seem to do much. Sometimes she even calls when I'm sitting right next to her.


I worry that calling and calling and not getting any response from the "flock" outside is stressing her out, and obviously it's not really doing our eardrums any favors. We HAVE decided that once our state starts to reopen, we're going to try and get her a friend to live with, as well as a larger cage and more toys (there is a local pet shop in our city that hand-raises and tames all their baby budgies), so she won't be lonely even when we have to both leave the house for work or other things. Though of course we'll have to introduce them slowly. In the meantime, is there anything we can do to help keep her calm and feeling less like she has to yell?
 

LaManuka

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Queensland, Australia
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Fang ({ab}normal grey cockatiel), Valentino (budgie), Jem (cinnamon cockatiel), Lovejoy(varied lorikeet), Peach (princess parrot)
Good to hear Selene (the moon goddess :) ) is settling in and becoming more comfortable with her new home. With her cere going brown and flaky and her vocalisations she may indeed be calling out for a mate, the cereā€™s colour and texture will change as her reproductive hormone levels fluctuate. You mentioned a coconut shell she seems quite taken with - is it one that resembles a nesting hollow? It may be best if you replace it with something that she doesnā€™t associate with a nest of any kind, since budgies are quite capable of laying infertile eggs with no help from a boyfriend if they perceive conditions are right. Perhaps get her a preening or shredding type of toy that she can work off some chewing instinct on without it contributing to any hormonal issues.

You can indeed consider getting her a mate, just be mindful that thereā€™s no guarantee that they will like each other so for safetyā€™s sake you may want to think about getting two cages rather than housing them in one. Plus if you end up with a male it will cut down on the chance of them breeding which opens up a whole ā€˜nother set of complications.

Nevertheless youā€™re making solid progress with Selene and Iā€™d love to see some photos if you got ā€˜em :)
 

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