Budgie Help: Frustrating & Dissapointing.

[aaronsan]

I came to the conclusion that I should just post my scenario, instead of wasting time looking for a solution. Hopefully the parrot master can solve my problem.
My budgie's behavior is very similar to a topic I read for someones love bird.
She gets lots of attention, but is somewhat scared of me.

Flies around the cage trying to be a pain in my ass until she finally steps up (Which might I add, does so fine when out of the cage).

Now here's the toughy, once I try to pet or stroke her, she's all freaking out because my hand is over her head and squawks and screams and flies off.
I thought it was a behavioral problem so we clipped her wings and thought she would calm down..
Oh jeez. Never again, she hasn't been the same since.

She refuses to eat vegetables outright. Anything healthy (Yes, I've tried a lot. Broccolli, eggs, celery, apple, grape, orange, lettuce, mixed it in with seeds. She's a seed only bird and if it's not seed she'll tantrum and throw the food tub off the cage :O)
She'll eat ONE grape occasionally, that's it.
She wont let me clip her nails and will bite people that go near her beak.

It's beginning to get on my nerves slightly because this IS my second pet, and I love her and want the best for her but no matter what I try the results don't change.
The routine goes:
I'll have to chase her around the cage if she doesn't come calmly, then once on my finger could sit there ALL day. Wont budge, seems happy.
I'll go to stroke her and get pecked, and then I stroke her wings so she can 'see' me and then get violated by her beak. So I try to catch her out and just end up with a gust of wind after she's fled to the top of her cage. She wont leave the bluddy thing.

She's also scared of:
Mirrors
Clothes
(Any form of blanket, cloth, soft material. Wont even use her tent)
Foil
Music
Being too close to a wall
hands
cardboard tubes
shiny things
celery? What the hell? lol

Yes, she's a youngling and had 2 brothers in the shop I got her from. I'm wondering if she behaves like this because she misses them, or is that just stupid thinking?
Thanks peeps.

I want a parrot, but if I can't even tame a budgie then I don't deserve one. Please help.


TL;DR: Angry budgie, scared when I pet her and then gets upset. Wont eat veggies or fruit. Likes her cage too much.

[pennyandrocky]

first a question why do you need to take her out of the cage with your hand does she not come out on her own?birds are naturally afraid of hands so you have to make her like your hands.first giving treats then letting her explore your hands on her own until she feels safe with them.do you eat any of the foods in with her? i'm not sure about but mine are flock birds and won't eat anything that i won't eat with them.my refuses to be pet but if i make a little tent with my hands or just put my hand out he will rub his face on it.

[aaronsan]

She wont come at first.
I don't grab her, I chase her with my finger if she doesn't come first time.
Once she's out she wont really leave my finger until I try to pet her.

[pennyandrocky]

put a perch outside her cage with somthing she wants next to it so she can come out to you.the cages in my house are considered a safe place no part of my hand goes in unless i'm cleaning them it helps to build trust with my birds.respecting your s space will help you bond with her.i never said you grabbed her but put yourself in the s place and how you would feel having a large hand coming into your space.

[Wiki]

Food:

Budgies (like most young children!) are notoriously fussy eaters. They'd rather starve than eat pellets sometimes. My avian vet suggests putting pellets onto a mirror to get them interested.

Except for leaves, Wiki will only eat greens it if cut up small. Be persistent and be prepared for them to throw it everywhere. I have a special bowl for greens which sits up high in the cage in the most convenient place. He has broccoli (no stems, just the tiny green bits), corn, snow peas, broccoli leaves, spinach, carrot (peel a long strip for them to shred as well as small diced), pumpkin, red capsicum, cauliflower, cucumber and the most recent: strawberry! They pick the seeds off the outside. Remember that unlike larger parrots, budgies don't use their feet to hold food. So if it's not small, then they need a platform to put it on while they eat or you need to hold it so they can break it up. I use a peg to hold leaves & strips in place.

I usually introduce new food by hand feeding - literally eating out of the palm of my hand. That's how I taught him about pellets. As with pennyandrocky's flock, a bit of "monkey see, monkey do" can help with new foods too.

Patting / Holding:

Before going to patting / holding, maybe focus on step up and come out / return to cage first using targeting? If the reward for coming out of the cage isn't attractive enough, go back to basics. Prime the clicker, target training inside the cage, then target to the door and step up.

Also, don't train them on a full crop. I feed seed in doses, rather than an all-you-can-eat buffet. Wiki has a routine - earning his millet by working for clicks, target training around the cage and out of the cage, then return to the cage for breakfast. Pellets and greens during the day, then in the afternoon, I can train again when they're hungry before an afternoon meal.

[liz]

All of the above. Also don't go over her head with your hand. Preditors attack from above.

Scared little Myrtle started with toe touch. I said "tickle tickle" to let her know I was going too then I wiggled one finger as I went to her. I have had Myrtle a little over a year now. She was a year old when I rescued her. To this day, although we are tightly bonded, I cannot touch the top of her head or back unless we are wrestling and she flips on her back to use two feet. I am using "couchy couchy" to let her know that my fingers are going under her to scritch her back.

Patients, love and respect are the key. Don't try to make her do anything. The advantage of a flighted bird is that it can fly away when scared. It will tolerate a little more at a time once it knows it doesn't really have to and will not be forced.