Letting Billy out of his cage

[annwlynn]

Hi I have had Billy since he was 12 weeks old he is now 6 months old & is getting tame . He jumps on my hand when I put it in his cage . He will play with toys in my hand & comes to the bars to have his beak & cheeks stroked . He has a flight cage 3 ft long & flies around that fine. My problem is I want to let him out but I’m afraid he will hurt himself as my room is large & has shelves computer & furniture .Canyou please help me my husband doesn’t want to let him out as well because he also is frightened he will hurt himself thank you

[Loz]

Others will give you a more comprehensive overview on keeping your budgie safe outside his cage.

My thoughts - cover or remove any mirrors in the room, to ensure he doesn't fly into them. Windows need to be covered for the same reason - use net curtains, wire mesh, or stick-on decals, so your budgie knows that something is in the way of his free flight.
Ensure there are no gaps behind furniture, etc that he could fall into but not get himself out of.
Any grills, such as you see on the back of some TVs need to be addressed so that his claws cannot get stuck.
"Airlock protocol" - make sure that if he somehow gets out of the room he is in, he doesn't have access to the outside world.
Ensure that Windows are secure and cannot open in such a way that would let your budgie out.
Ornaments should be secure so that he cannot topple them.
Plants that your budgie has access to must be non-toxic (and you don't mind him wrecking!).
Loose paint removed so he cannot nibble on it.

There's more but that'll do for starters. Others will have valuable insight (plus I'm sure to learn something, too!).

[annwlynn]

Thank you so much for replying so quickly . I will take everything you have said on board & look forward to hear other peoples advice . I really want to get this right . I would never forgive myself if anything happened to him Ann

[Loz]

I meant to include another important thing - make sure there are no loose threads that a budgie can get entangled in. I know this from frightening, nearly bitter experience!

[tweetiepiesmom]

Congratulations on taming your little guy so quickly - it shows he trusts you! Most people think that when they open the cage door, their budgie will immediately come flying out. I and many others have not found that to be true and they have to be coaxed out. Place a perch on the outside of the cage near the door so he'll have a place to sit and view the outside world. loz has given you good advice on how to prepare the room. The first time you let him out, make sure you have plenty of time in case he wants to fly around. He may make a flying dash around and land somewhere and then stop to look around. You can offer him your hand and taxi him back to the outside of the cage. If he doesn't hop up, its ok. Let him perch and look around. He will find his way back to the cage. I also have one big room that is kitchen, dining, living rooms. My two guys come out and fly in the area closest to their cage and they established their familiar territory to fly in. The first time out of cage may be the mad dash, he might fly into the wall and even fall to the floor. He shouldn't be hurt doing this but be there to offer him a hand up. Place him on the outside of the cage or on a play gym you have set up for him. Don't put food for him outside the cage until he gets used to being out and flying back in to eat, then you can put food outside to encourage him to play more outside.

Other people here will take the cage into a small room such as the bathroom or smaller bedroom. Once they've made the room safe, they'll let the budgie out to fly. That didn't work for my guys because the room was too strange and they retreated to the back of the cage scared.

Good luck, you're going to love watching him fly around. Do let us know how it goes.

[ffiscool]

Well done so far. I used to put post it notes on windows, glass front cabinet, reflective prints on the wall. They do bash into things, but after once or twice it will be ok probably, but Lea e whatever you use, up and take bits down, more and more.

I also had cushions down gaps

[starrymist]

I put rolled up newspapers to block any gaps behind radiators, units, book shelves etc. And have started off in a small room, the bathroom, then progressed to a bigger room. I have a new little guy so will be starting this process with him soon.

[annwlynn]

Thank you all for advice. Will I always have to cover windows & shelves & furniture or will Billy ever be able to sit on window sill looking out in the sun

[Loz]

May 1, 2022 15:57:24 GMT annwlynn said:

Thank you all for advice. Will I always have to cover windows & shelves & furniture or will Billy ever be able to sit on window sill looking out in the sun

In my flock's case, they peak behind the net curtains to look outside.
Mirrors though, need to be covered whenever the birds are out, in my experience

[tweetiepiesmom]

My windows are not covered now. I did put a post-it note in the middle of the window but don't anymore now that they've gotten accustomed to the room.

[Hezz]

There are many ways to budgie/bird-proof a room, so find what works best for you. If you have curtains or blinds, use them in the beginning as your bird does not yet know the layout and dimensions of the room that will be his new playground. If keeping curtains and blinds drawn makes everything too dark, you can use pieces of paper blu-tak’ed to the glass to break up the expanse of window. Initially have these quite close together so that there is little glass to see and gradually over a few weeks take some down, rearrange what is left so that your window areas become larger and paper spaces much smaller. You will get a sense of when he has learnt the room layout and the final pieces of paper can come down relatively quickly.

If heavy furniture doesn’t fit snuggly up against a wall but leave a space where a small bird could become caught, block these spaces with whatever you can - towels, newspapers, pillows etc, something soft that can be stuffed down into the gap. If the furniture has a gap at the bottom, sitting on legs and not flat on the floor this is not so important as long as you can reach to the back if he does find himself down the back of a cupboard. A member a while back had the situation of the budgie falling down the back of a dresser that a huge fish tank sat on. To retrieve the bird they had to empty the fish tank to make the dresser light enough to be pulled out from the wall, retrieve budgie, refill fish tank and return fish to their rightful place, a round “trip” of several hours. Again, once your bird knows the space, some of the precautions can be removed, or you will find neater ways to block budgie access points. Getting him used to stepping up onto a spare perch can make retrieval much less stressful.

Make sure there are at least two places in the room that are his, and the further apart the better for exercise reasons. Usually the top of the cage can become a playground but also have another place that is either a play gym or perching tree, somewhere is his place to play, make a mess, play with toys, perch on without getting into trouble. If either of you are in any way handy with tools, it can be great fun making play areas and setting them up with foraging toys, bells, swings etc.

Initially keep all food restricted to in the cage itself. This makes getting him back home into his cage in the early days much easier as he will want to go back home when he gets hungry. Don’t leave him out unsupervised unless you are very sure that there is no way he is going to be able to hurt himself or get into a position that he can’t get out of. Over time you may become comfortable with leaving him out during the day when no one is home, but not worth the risk if you are in anyway concerned.

While you may like for him to be able to come and go from his cage during the day when you are home, teaching him to sit on your finger and moving him out of the cage can be a useful tool, rather than having him come shooting out of the cage before you are ready for him, also start working with getting him used to your hand being over the top of him and gradually work towards being able to hold him securely. This can make health checks, giving medicines and vet visits much less traumatic for all involved. I make sure to handle my birds at least twice a week, more if anything is happening that I need to check on. They learn quite quickly that you holding them, even poking and prodding them gently is not the end of their life and that they will be returned to their cage or a perch in a short time.

That’ll do for now.

[annwlynn]

Thank you all for all the good advice I will try to Billy proof & hopefully let him out I am still a bit apprehensive. I just don’t want to kill him as that would break my heart . You hear a lot of horror stories

[tweetiepiesmom]

Unfortunately, accidents happen even with the most experienced people because you can't predict everything that might happen. Being there to help your little guy is the best thing. Open the cage door and relax, enjoy seeing him fly around!

[Hezz]

The biggest dangers to new budgies are open windows/doors and ceiling fans left on. Have a routine that you religiously follow each and every time you are about to open his door - doors, check; windows, check; ceiling fans off, check; nothing on the stove, check, visitors coming, put him away for his own safety. Once he is free flying, don’t leave deep bowls of water sitting in the sink and get the rest of the household trained to put the toilet seat down! A budgie cannot pull itself out, or fly out of deep water.