My moody budgie

[Flowers]

Hello
Well we finally named our rescue Budgie Scooby he is coming on leaps and bounds health wise and is now around three months old. However I am having some problems with him the main one is that he is really rather moody.

When I put my hand into his cage or try to change his paper and food he squawks at me. If I put my hand near his cage he will also squawk at me but then he comes over to say hello and he bites. He is quite curious but when he sits on my hand he bites and bites and if he puts his head near me he bites my nose and everything is on his terms.

He is still very attached to his cage and a terrible flyer and really has no interest in flying anywhere I did wonder whether his squawking and biting at me was because he was protecting his domain but even when out of the cage he does the same thing he will squawk a warning and then bite. I don’t know what the squawking and hard biting is all about and how I can stop him from being so aggressive.

I could really do with some help with this pls.

[Marianne Marlow]

I'm so sorry that Scooby is biting, it does seem to be a phase that some of the young birds go through.

Could you upload a recent photo of him for us?

[reeb]

Depending on his age, he may be acting out for a number of reasons. If he is still young, it may just be a hormonal phase, almost like "budgie puberty"! I've had a few budgies who have behaved like that and then as they got older they grew out of it.

He also may just be adjusting to a new environment, as you mentioned that he is a rescue - how long has he been with you? Budgies can be quite territorial about their cages sometimes since it is the "safe space". He might also just be an anxious bird and expresses his anxiety through his aggression.

I recommend persisting with the bonding process and giving him time for adjust. It may take him months to feel completely comfortable. Hopefully he will either out-grow or stop the biting behaviour as he adjusts.

[Flowers]

I think he just loves to bite I read today that if you blow very gently on their face it can make them stop but when I tried it he tried to bite my lip owch!
Marianne I am trying unsuccessfully to post a picture will try again below.

[Marianne Marlow]

I have found that blowing on their face doesn't work.

I've also been bitten on the lip and it really hurts doesn't it, I'd never make that mistake again!

[Hezz]

Blowing on them is pretty useless. A firm no is much more useful. Young budgies often go through a biting stage during their first 12 months. With the history behind the bird, it would not be surprising if he/she was defensive of it's cage area. Only time and patience will overcome that. You need to keep interacting, lots of praise when there have been no bites and an immediate sharp no when he does. Then put him down somewhere, not the cage, if he is territorial around the cage. Don't forget to give him treats; take his attention away from biting you to nibbling something nice.

[helenmat]

I too have been bitten on the lip and the underside of my nose, ouch!! To be honest I think everyone of my young birds have bitten for a while, I just tell them no if they do and like Hezz says lots of praise when they don’t. All of mine have grown out of it. Pickle would still bite occasionally when he had had enough of being played with, it was his way of telling us he had had got fed up. He would also take a swipe if I went near his very favourite toy. It never really hurt though.

[criswell]

Criswell bit me on the underside of my nose a couple of times and it brought tears to my eyes. It was my own fault for trying to stroke him on the head with the side of my nose. Dexter still gets a bit bitey and he's 2 now. He sometimes flies over to wall hanging near my head so I reach up for him to hop over but if I put my hand too close he'll get hold of my fingers or the back of my hand and refuses to let go. I've learnt to keep my hand far enough away that he'll jump on rather than grabbing with his beak first. I've needed my OH to rescue me before when Dexter has reused to let go and I was holding a perch in my other hand with Criswell on it so couldn't rescue myself.