My budgie doesn't want to come out cage

[dazza]

Hi
So I've had my budgie for around 5month know and he mistakenly got out his cage before he should of, he did go back adventually on his own but I could tell it was quite traumatic for him now he won't come out, he eats food of my hand and steps up no problem but when I bring him near the cage door he just flies back 2 his perch, any hints or tips would be well received here I just want him to b as happy as he can be thanks.

[jellybean]

Hi dazza, welcome to you and your little bird.
Does he/she have a name?

I would place a perch just outside the cage door, and put a treat that your bird enjoys next to the perch, maybe even a piece of millet.

If you have things, toys, swings, perches etc outside the cage for the bird to land on that is a good incentive to attract him/her out.

[Hezz]

Depends on whether you are happy to let him come out on his own, but after all this time you might just have an up-hill battle on your hands there. If that is how you want to play it, then jellybean’s suggestion is about the best you can get. You might want to think about putting a little landing platform at the entrance to give him something easily identified as somewhere to perch.

If on the other hand you want to be able to get him in and out on your terms, when you want, then I suggest you continue doing what you are doing, but do so in a small room so you have some control over where he goes and what he does. Remember too that he isn’t going to know the layout of the room he is in as he hasn’t been out to explore it. That can take some time.

If the door to the cage is a small thing, this does make it harder for a budgie to feel good about going through it, but if larger and easy for you to get your hand through with budgie and seed not being upset then continue trying but do so as many times a day as you can manage. Start with getting him onto your hand and feeding and gradually move him towards the door. You’ll get to a certain point where you will notice him starting to get a bit antsy, so stop at this point, tell him what a good boy he is and then put him back on his perch. Each time try bringing him just that little bit further towards the door, but try to stop moving him before he flies off. “Good boy” lots of praise and put him back on a perch. It is best if you put him back on the perch rather than him fly off, so that he is learning that being on your hand and being moved around on your hand is not a bad thing. If it is the movement itself that makes him wary, try just moving him on your hand from one side of the cage to the other initially so that he becomes comfortable with moved and will sit quite happily when you move around.

The more often you can run him through these steps during the day the better, and each time run through the steps three or four times and then leave him alone, or do something else that you know he is happy with. Keep each session short, just a few minutes, certainly no longer than 10 or he will start to a) disengage and b) see your attention as a pain.

So, in short … get him used to being moved around on your hand first, then gradually move him closer and closer to the door but stopping before he feels he has to move away, so that he isn’t stressed about the exercise the next time you try.

[dazza]

Hi guys thank you so much for the information, hints and tips I will gladly put them into practice I think its just a case of more perseverance on my part aswell his name is chimichurri he's absolutely lovely

[Hezz]

Lots of patience from you, lots of practice for Chimichurri, be persistent and persevere. Don’t lose sight of your “P’s”.

[Marianne Marlow]

Hi dazza

Have you had any luck getting chimichurri to come out of his cage?