New bird owner

[Cflores]

Hi I just bought my first bird ever. And even though I have been reading a lot in parakeets I feel list. I got him home today but he is not clipped. I don't want to scare him more. He looks so stressed. He just sits high up in his new cage. He came from a pet store with a bunch of other birds.any advice to help me make my feathered friend home plz.

[Wolf]

Hi and welcome to the forum.

This is normal behavior for any parrot and I am so glad that he was not clipped when you got him. Right now your bird is scared as he has just lost everything that he was familiar with and is now in a totally new and alien environment and he is all alone and then he is also afraid of you and does not know if you are going to eat him or not. At this early stage he has no reason to trust you.

For now you should place his cage so that the highest perch is about at your eye level. The cage should also be placed near a window so that he can get the light for outside, but not be placed directly in front of the widow , it should be like next to the window and with one side of it along a wall as this will help him to be less scared as he does not have to watch every side for predators.

For the next couple of days try to spend time in the same room as he is in but kind of stay back from the cage and talk to him Use his name a lot and give him a lot of good bird type of praise using his name. A parrots name is as important to him as your name is to you and in fact their parent birds name the babies and use that same name for them their entire life. Play some music for him, something that is easy listening as they truly love music. And while you are in the room with him puttering around, watching TV, reading, playing games or whatever wander over to his cage and place a small piece of millet in his food dish and wander back away.

This will help him to begin to see that you are not going to hurt him. It allows him to watch you and get used to your movements as well as your voice and lots of talking to him using his name will begin to help him to relax with you in the room.

This is all that I would do with him for the next two or three days. If he has started to relax with you in the room with him then we can begin to hand tame him, but not until he begins to relax in your presence.

[liz]

Welcome to the forum.

I would: parrot proof the room you are in the most then open his door. More likely than not he will just climb to the top and sit there watching you. He needs to know that you trust and value him even before he trusts you. If he flys in a parrot proof room he should not get into trouble. If he does you know that you have not parrot proofed enough. If you need to pick him up from the floor to put him back and he does not step up yet, he will let you scoop under him with both hands once he is tired. The scoop teaches him that you will not hurt him and you can build on that. Myrtle is the only one I did not have to scoop. Before her wings grew back she would walk to me then climb to my shoulder for me to transport her back to the top of her cage.

[Pajarita]

Welcome to the forum! All great advice but, for a budgie to be happy, I would recommend a companion - and if you can manage three of them so you have 2 males and 2 females, it would be even better (budgies are INTENSELY flock oriented)

[owlyssa]

Welcome to the forum and I wish you and your new budgie the best of luck!

I have never personally owned a parakeet myself, but I had friends who owned a pair of them, and my sister now has a pair of her own. I would second the suggestion of getting your budgie a companion or three. And once your bird has acclimated to their new environment more, you can begin to get them more comfortable with you by offering them small portions of healthy treats whenever you handle them, to associate your touch with positive reinforcement. I had done this with my late 'tiel and I found food to be the best form of communication--that I was friend, not foe--earlier on in our relationship. Eventually, as our bond strengthened and she became more familiar with my touch, I phased out the treats in favor of pets and cuddles.

Again, the best of luck to you!

[Wolf]

Hey, I thought that I would drop you a line and ask how things are going with you and your new friend the budgie. I was curious if you have named him yet and if he has started to relax when you are in the room with him. I also though that if you aren't sure on how to tell if he is starting to relax with you hanging around with him that I would give you a link that tells you about their basic body language to help you with this
http://littlefeatheredbuddies.com/info/ ... guage.html
I hope that this makes things just a bit easier for you.