Adding untamed adult budgie to home with one tame budgie

[jimr]

Hi there.  I've had 4 budgies across the decades, and all have been tame and more or less bonded to me within the normal variations of budgie personalities.  I've always acquired the birds as juveniles, though, and they were relatively easy to tame and bond with.  I currently have a ~5 yr-old budgie (Piper) who is tame and well-behaved, and enjoys spending time with me.  He has the run of the house, and we get along swimmingly.

Yesterday, I adopted an adult untamed budgie.  He came from a home where he was kept in a large cage with a dozen or so other adult untamed birds, but the owner has become ill and was no longer able to care for the birds, so they are being adopted out.  They all appeared healthy and well cared for, just not tame.

My new-to-me bird is in a separate cage from Piper.  He's been in the living room and I've been around all weekend, so he's had some exposure to me.  Piper has often been in the room, and has even landed on the cage a couple of times (he's used to that cage being open and having additional toys in it, so he might be a little confused about why he can't get in it right now.  I'm sure the birds have noticed each other, but there's been no direct interaction between them, yet.

If this were a younger bird, I'd be comfortable starting to enter the cage and trying to get them used to my hand, but working with an adult bird is uncharted territory for me. 

I've read other posts here about using spray millet as a reward to help with training, but apparently this bird is unfamiliar with the stuff or is one of the 12 birds in the world that doesn't like it--so far, he's been picking around the sprig I pinched off and set in his seed cup.  I'm hoping that either he'll get brave and try it soon and figure out it's really good, or that maybe I might be able to get Piper to munch on some in his immediate vicinity and maybe he'll get the idea from that.

Any suggestions on how to approach taming an older bird who doesn't (yet?) appreciate spray millet?

[Hezz]

There is no difference in how you approach an older bird, compared to a younger one. The difference will be the time it takes and the amount of patience needed. The new bird should have been quarantined away from the resident bird for a good four weeks to be sure that the new bird is not harbouring any latent illness or infection that could possibly be passed on to the other bird. It is too late to do that now since they have been sharing the same room.

All you can do is what you would do with a younger bird - approach slowly. be prepared for any quietening to take some time (you don't know what the birds had been used to regarding human interaction, loud noises etc) and take your cues from how the bird reacts.

[jimr]

I live in a very small space, so quarantining would not have been practical; I'll just have to take my chances.

Thanks for the info. So far, the new bird has been very still and quiet in his cage, though he has made some muted chirps in reaction to Piper's chatter and calls. He has made some small attempts to feed, though nowhere near as much as I would normally expect.  (I know birds can be picky about their food, so I'm not too surprised.  The person I took the bird from could not give me specifics on their normal food, but I saw a seed mix and some cucumbers in the cage.  Piper gets Dr. Harvey's, so that's what the new bird's getting right now, too.)  Oddly, he hunkers down in the seed bowl almost as if nesting, and sort of pecks a little bit just where he can reach without moving. I have not yet seen him take any water, but I'm not watching all the time. It's in a reasonably large bowl so I'm pretty sure he'll figure it out when he wants it.

I'm hoping within a few days he'll perk up a bit as he adjusts to the new environment. I am trying not to disturb him too much until then, but I am occasionally approaching as close as I think I can without spooking him, and gently speaking and whistling to him. I'll continue to take it slow and easy, and hopefully we'll eventually make some progress.