Mar 16, 2018 18:32:14 GMT
shaggywillow
Brand New Budgie
Posts: 57 
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Post by shaggywillow on Mar 17, 2018 15:11:16 GMT
Hi all!
I've had my budgie Willow for exactly a week today and in the last 48 hours she's been keeping me on my toes!
She seems generally unafraid of my hand/fingers now and will step up when I put my finger to her chest and say "Up" and goes down when I say "Down." This is when she's inside her cage.
The problem is - she has discovered the joys of being out of her cage!!! Too soon, perhaps? Initially, she managed to sit on my finger nicely then, a minute later, I put her back in her cage. I did this several times (it was going really well!) - BUT THEN she discovered, "hey, I can fly away and explore the room!" Since then, she's been playing this game called "Flying to the Top of the CD Tower and Staying There Til You Fetch Me (oooh let's do it again!)."
I fetch her using a little wooden ladder - then i transfer her on my finger for several seconds, but she flies back to the top of the CD tower again! This can happen for 5-6 times, til I act quickly and manage to get her on my finger and back into her cage (and give her a nibble on a millet spray).
Trouble is, NOTHING tempts her to fly back. In the week I've had her, I've observed that she's not food oriented. She eats in her cage, but is not really tempted by anything outside of her cage.
there a moments she wants to be out of her cage so much that she would courageously hop on to my hand/arm/shoulder and use it as a launch pad to fly off to the top of the CD tower!
Am I reinforcing bad behaviour here? Should I just leave her at the top of the CD tower til she comes? (Note: sometimes she chooses the top of the uplighter - but I always get her down from there quickly, and it's never switched on when I let her out!)
On the odd occasion, she'll just sit quietly on my finger and she looks like she's very relaxed (maybe sleepy) - but this is infrequent.
Any advice? Feels like I'm playing a game - fun for her, I'm sure!
Thank you for any response/advice you can give.
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Post by Shirls on Mar 17, 2018 15:25:26 GMT
Hello shaggywillow and Willow. Personally I wouldn't worry about her on the top of the CD tower. Let her fly round and explore, its good exercise and great entertainment for her. But she will need to know when she has to go back in her cage. Don't feed her while she is out, she will go home when she is hungry or thirsty. Only let her out when you have time to supervise her, in time she will get to know your routine and the routine of getting her back in. A lot of us on here have what we call a 'taxi' stick. Try and get her to step up on a spare perch or branch and ferry her around, she will soon get to trust the stick and you will eventually be able to put her back in her cage. A week is not long enough to train a budgie to do anything!!  |
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Mar 16, 2018 18:32:14 GMT
shaggywillow
Brand New Budgie
Posts: 57
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Post by shaggywillow on Mar 17, 2018 15:47:37 GMT
Hello shaggywillow and (budgie name). Personally I wouldn't worry about her on the top of the CD tower. Let her fly round and explore, its good exercise and great entertainment for her. But she will need to know when she has to go back in her cage. Don't feed her while she is out, she will go home when she is hungry or thirsty. Only let her out when you have time to supervise her, in time she will get to know your routine and the routine of getting her back in. A lot of us on here have what we call a 'taxi' stick. Try and get her to step up on a spare perch or branch and ferry her around, she will soon get to trust the stick and you will eventually be able to put her back in her cage. A week is not long enough to train a budgie to do anything!! Hi Shirls! I think my expectations of Willow are too high! You're right - a week is nothing! The thing is, I had a budgie when I was younger and she was very very tame. BUT.... The advice given to me back then was to clip her wings (quite a harsh clip - she could not fly at all), so she was very dependent and close to me. This time, my feelings about wing clipping have changed, and I want Willow to be a proper bird - happily using her wings, in her cage or in our living room. BUT, there are moments when she's smugly sitting on top of the CD tower (for the umpteenth time) and I have quietly threatened her with wing clipping! (I'm tempted but I won't !)  i guess I just don't want to reinforce bad behaviour (in me and in Willow), and my fear is that she is becoming too dominant and I'm becoming a doormat - or a "taxi service!" Yes, I'm using a little ladder as her "taxi stick." How long should I let her sit on the CD tower? What if she is able to hold her hunger and not want to fly back to me or to her cage at all? Do I just keep taxiing her back using the ladder or my finger? Is this not teaching her to think - "Ha! I've got the human wrapped around my little claw!"  |
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Mar 16, 2018 18:32:14 GMT
shaggywillow
Brand New Budgie
Posts: 57
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Post by shaggywillow on Mar 17, 2018 17:08:55 GMT
P.S. What will actually help her sit on my finger for longer than 15 seconds? What can I do to keep her from flying away almost all of the time?
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Post by Hezz on Mar 18, 2018 1:33:34 GMT
Until she is consistently stepping up and down for you, I would not use a bigger room for her out of cage time. By using a smaller room - bathroom, small bedroom etc - you are able to contain her flying to some extent and limits the amount of time you spend following her back and forth to retrieve her from her high perch. It also saves them from high-speed crashes while they are still learning the confines of the rooms.
If you are going to continue to use the lounge room, as soon as she sits somewhere you don't wish her to be, immediately retrieve her and try to divert her attention by other means - maybe a favourite toy that she only has when you are working with her.
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Post by Shirls on Mar 18, 2018 8:58:23 GMT
That is good advice that Hezz has given you. I would also just distract her from the CD tower, not put her away but she would fly and land somewhere else. My Pip would continually land on the top of my curtains and chew the header tape, I put the stick up for her to get on and took her away, saying 'no' each time. Now I can just say 'no' when she is up there and go to get up and she flies off. Basically its just perseverence and continuing to do the same thing each time. Hope that helps. |
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Mar 16, 2018 18:32:14 GMT
shaggywillow
Brand New Budgie
Posts: 57
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Post by shaggywillow on Mar 18, 2018 12:42:20 GMT
Until she is consistently stepping up and down for you, I would not use a bigger room for her out of cage time. By using a smaller room - bathroom, small bedroom etc - you are able to contain her flying to some extent and limits the amount of time you spend following her back and forth to retrieve her from her high perch. It also saves them from high-speed crashes while they are still learning the confines of the rooms. If you are going to continue to use the lounge room, as soon as she sits somewhere you don't wish her to be, immediately retrieve her and try to divert her attention by other means - maybe a favourite toy that she only has when you are working with her. Thank you, Hezz, for taking the time to respond. The only room we can use for Willow, really, is our lounge/living room. It's not a bit room - it's about the size of a normal bedroom. i will persevere during "flying exercises" to keep retrieving her. Diverting her attention won't be easy - she doesn't have a favourite toy (yet?), and she seems completely uninterested in any food item (including millet) when she's outside her cage! To retrieve her, I use my finger OR her little ladder (for places my hand can't reach). I'm trying to be patient with my young, stubborn friend  |
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Mar 16, 2018 18:32:14 GMT
shaggywillow
Brand New Budgie
Posts: 57
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Post by shaggywillow on Mar 18, 2018 12:46:39 GMT
That is good advice that Hezz has given you. I would also just distract her from the CD tower, not put her away but she would fly and land somewhere else. My Pip would continually land on the top of my curtains and chew the header tape, I put the stick up for her to get on and took her away, saying 'no' each time. Now I can just say 'no' when she is up there and go to get up and she flies off. Basically its just perseverence and continuing to do the same thing each time. Hope that helps. Hi again, Shirls. You're so kind to write again. thanks for sharing your experiences with Pip!!! My Willow sometimes chooses to do land on top of the curtains too - but no chewing yet! When you retrieved Pip from the top of your curtains, did you put her back in her cage immediately? Or were you happy for her just to land and stay somewhere else? |
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Post by Shirls on Mar 18, 2018 16:31:35 GMT
Just let her stay somewhere else shaggywillow. For the first few times she flew back to the curtain, but I think we have broken the habit now!! |
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Post by Hezz on Mar 19, 2018 4:09:31 GMT
Make sure that there are other places in the room that are hers to land on. Provide a tree, play gym or something similar so she knows where she is allowed to land. It is all well and good telling her where not to land, but she needs to know that there are places she can go and not be shoo-ed off.
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Mar 16, 2018 18:32:14 GMT
shaggywillow
Brand New Budgie
Posts: 57
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Post by shaggywillow on Mar 19, 2018 11:42:33 GMT
Make sure that there are other places in the room that are hers to land on. Provide a tree, play gym or something similar so she knows where she is allowed to land. It is all well and good telling her where not to land, but she needs to know that there are places she can go and not be shoo-ed off. That makes so much sense! Thank you again, Hezz!!! Time for me to get creative and think like a budgie Really appreciate your wisdom. God bless you. |
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Post by Hezz on Mar 19, 2018 20:16:31 GMT
Also, even though you say she isn't food receptive, only have food available in her cage, except if she does start to respond to bribery of the millet kind, and then only as a treat or reward ... for staying off the CD tower, perhaps. |
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Mar 16, 2018 18:32:14 GMT
shaggywillow
Brand New Budgie
Posts: 57
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Post by shaggywillow on Mar 21, 2018 13:06:07 GMT
Also, even though you say she isn't food receptive, only have food available in her cage, except if she does start to respond to bribery of the millet kind, and then only as a treat or reward ... for staying off the CD tower, perhaps. Hi again Hezz and Shirls just an update.... Willow and I have had good days (behaving well during "up/down" exercises) and moments of calm when she's sitting on my finger for longer than 15 seconds; as well as bad days --- like today! --- when she does nothing but fly off to the top of the CD tower over and over and over again til I'm hot, sweaty and irritable! I'm sure she knows it and is doing it deliberately  I've tried to create other perching places (no joy) and she has chosen the mantlepiece - i suspect, because there is a large mirror there! She is very comfortable sitting in front of that mirror and even relaxes/preens there ( see photos). In my mind, I'm happy if she's calm and I get some calm too --- and I'd rather she perch on the mantlepiece than on the CD tower, OR WORSE, on the uplighter (which is her second choice, but a dangerous one!). EVERY TIME I open her cage (to clean, replenish food, etc), she just jumps on my hand and makes for the door to escape. EVERY SINGLE TIME  Have I made a big mistake now? If I have, it's a shame as she seems so relaxed on the mantlepiece... P.S. She is NOT food receptive! Just loves to be out of her cage so much!     |
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Post by helenmat on Mar 21, 2018 15:13:12 GMT
It looks like progress to me, the mirror on the mantle piece is a definite hit and much better than the other places. Most birds would rather be out than in, so long as you can find a way to get her back in that’s great. The fact that she is jumping on your hand to come out means she is seeing you as a good thing.
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Mar 16, 2018 18:32:14 GMT
shaggywillow
Brand New Budgie
Posts: 57
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Post by shaggywillow on Mar 21, 2018 15:28:42 GMT
It looks like progress to me, the mirror on the mantle piece is a definite hit and much better than the other places. Most birds would rather be out than in, so long as you can find a way to get her back in that’s great. The fact that she is jumping on your hand to come out means she is seeing you as a good thing. - wow, thanks for writing and for assuring me that "it looks like progress!" I've been thinking that I'm failing this and that a budgie is training me (and not the other way around!). She still tries to make it for the CD tower - I guess it's because it's the highest place - but likes settling a bit on the mantlepiece where she can see "another budgie" My initial interpretation of her jumping straight on to my hand when she's in her cage is - "Ha! My taxi has arrived! I'm outta here!" What i would really really really want is for her to sit on my finger and like it enough to stay perched on my finger for a while. At the moment, I just feel used  But hey - if this is progress, I'm happy to learn and accept that! Thanks for helping me understand more. |
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