Budgie self love, and regurgitation.

[jeff]

Hello everyone,

My budgie Dr. Hopkins has started to discover his body. He has a toy in his cage that he particularly likes. A few times a day he'll regurgitate on it and then have his way with the toy...I know that this is normal behavior but I'm concerned that he's doing it too much and he's too attached to the toy. He'll attack me viciously if I try and touch that toy. So how much of this behavior is normal? Also, at what point should I remove a toy from his cage? Finally, should I worry about the regurgitation, does he need more food to compensate for what he feeds to his toy?  Thanks for the help.

[tweetiepiesmom]

I'm curious what others will say but I'd remove the toy now. When he attacks your hand, make the "ack, ack" sound or what some people call the chipmunk sound that budgies make to show their displeasure/warning to each other. He may even make that sound to you as you are removing the toy. Just make that sound right back at him but don't shout it to scare him.

This reminds me of the member here who had a budgie that was obsessed with his reflection in shiny surfaces. She removed all mirrors but the little guy found shiny stainless steel legs on her table!

I wanted to add that you should be weighing him regularly so you'd be aware if he's losing weight.

[ffiscool]

hi, does he come out of the cage? perhaps you could get him some toys for outside if he does..

I had a budgie that loved his mirror, but he only did that when in the cage.. when he was out, he played with other things

how old is he?

[Loz]

Can I just ask, is Dr Hopkins ever aggressive towards this toy?

My thought is that if he is, the toy should be removed.

When I first had my Mr Hibs, I gave him a mirror to keep him company. He loved the mirror but also regularly attacked it. I removed the mirror when I got a companion for Hibs, a gentle lad called Eeyore. None of my other budgies has ever had access to a mirror and I have to say, Mr Hibs is the most aggressive of the four in my flock. The other three are all basically live and let live.

Just my experience and other opinions will have value.

[jeff]

Thanks for the replies.

To answer the questions. Dr. Hopkins is a little over a year old. I bought him last March and he was pretty young. He does come out of the cage, and he's normally very tame and very affectionate, but he will attack to protect the toy, and for some reason he also will defend my computer mouse. He also will get aggressive if you sing surfin' bird by the Trashmen. He really hates that song...

I do weigh him daily, I'm a PhD student in data science so I love data. Apart from just monitoring the daily weights I apply all kinds of esoteric noise reduction algorithms to it. His weight seems to be pretty stable despite the regurgitation. However, his weight varies quite a bit even over the course of a day so it might take a little while to see a small downward trend in his weight in the actual data.

He gets very excited about anything he can see his reflection in, but I try to limit his exposure to mirrors and other shiny things. He's never aggressive with his toys or with reflections in fact it's the opposite. He will rub his head against the mirror, make kissing sounds, and he'll say "You're such a good/pretty/baby bird" to it. It's very cute.

I will remove the toy and maybe just let him have access to it in one of his out of cage play areas. Thanks again for the help.

[Loz]

Jeff, I believe that an aggressive response to having Surfin' Bird sung to them is common to all living creatures. Perfectly normal behaviour.

🤣

[tweetiepiesmom]

Ok, I just had to try it! I played "Surfin Bird" by the Trashmen to my two guys. Tweetie Pie was snoozing and he picked his head up and then went back to snoozing. Buddy was perched beside Tweetie Pie and he just started chirping and kept chirping when I stopped it. I found it annoying but it essentially had no effect on my two guys. Buddy is still chirping away and Tweetie Pie is still napping. Maybe the aggressive behavior with that song is just a UK bird thing!

Maybe we can convince Marianne Marlow to play it to her flock and see if it sets them off.

[Loz]

tweetiepiesmom have you had your budgies' hearing tested?

😂

[jeff]

I should have mentioned that it's ill advised to expose your bird to that song especially if they can already say the word "bird." Dr. Hopkins heard it twice before he started doing it too...I think he associates the word bird with himself so for him the song is the equivalent of someone yelling your name over and over...If you just ask him if he "knows about the word" he might bite you.

[Hezz]

I would definitely remove the toy, and replace it with something new, give him something different to think about. Definitely do not stand for him getting aggressive with you near the cage or doing things in the cage. I’d leave him at least a couple of weeks without the offending toy before allowing him access again but only out of the cage. Without the offending toy in the cage, the cage aggression should at least abate, if not disappear. If it continues, move him to another smaller, less interesting, less important cage with only toys that he cares little for. With little to excite him, he should become much more welcoming to your presence.

Disco balls can be useful as while shiny and enticing, the bird can’t see enough of a reflection to become obsessed with the “other bird”.

[Marianne Marlow]

I don't know this song!

Mar 2, 2022 18:31:34 GMT tweetiepiesmom said:

Ok, I just had to try it! I played "Surfin Bird" by the Trashmen to my two guys. Tweetie Pie was snoozing and he picked his head up and then went back to snoozing. Buddy was perched beside Tweetie Pie and he just started chirping and kept chirping when I stopped it. I found it annoying but it essentially had no effect on my two guys. Buddy is still chirping away and Tweetie Pie is still napping. Maybe the aggressive behavior with that song is just a UK bird thing!

Maybe we can convince Marianne Marlow to play it to her flock and see if it sets them off.

[Loz]

You're so lucky!

[tweetiepiesmom]

I played it on YouTube. It is truly annoying!

Suggestion - If you decide to play it, don't play it when Eve can hear it. She might decide to sing it and then you'll be really mad at us. 

[willowsmum]

Hope the advice helps with Dr Hopkins' toy attachment.

Yep, just knew it had to be the Family Guy song. And now it's stuck in my head again

[criswell]

I've had it in my head too willowsmum It's very difficult to shift