He’s coming home 👏👏

[criswell]

Herbie is gorgeous. I'm glad he's settling in so well, and it's brilliant that he will already take millet from you.

[tweetiepiesmom]

He's already becoming Mum's little boy!

[ladybird]

Herbie has gone very quiet. He is feeding well but not moving round his cage much. Sits and preens a lot. He has gone afraid of my hand so I am leaving him to hopefully settle for a few days. I put my hand in his cage earlier to give him some veg and he tried his best to get out of the cage….he isn’t ready for that yet.
I have been sitting next to his cage talking to him a lot and the little monkey just turns his back on me!!

[Loz]

Willful little lad!
Does Herbie get much alone time during the day? Some buds I've socialised seem to be more willing to be friendly if they've had a couple of hours on their own. Boredom makes them receptive, I guess!

[tweetiepiesmom]

When Tweetie Pie is displeased with me, he'll turn his back to me when I come to talk to him!

[ladybird]

It’s strange because when we picked him up on Saturday he was in a show cage on his own, he was chirping and climbing all round the cage, he even had a splashy bath in the bowl of water…..I jokingly said to my hubby…oh gosh he is going to be lively. He is now the opposite, I feel sorry for him he is so frightened. He will step up on my finger but he clearly doesn’t like it and I am very calm with him. He is quiet apart from now and again he whistles really loudly as though he is shouting for something or maybe his bird mates……. Every budgie is different I know…but Charlie was out and snuggling into my neck in a couple of days.. I hope I can get that bond with Herbie 🙏🏻

[Loz]

Millet is a great ice-breaker or can be. Not every budgie is equally susceptible though.
Patience and time, its usually all you need.
Finrod took over a week to start to thaw!

[tweetiepiesmom]

Yes, every budgie is different. I think he's just adjusting and then you'll see how he wants to interact with you. When I got Buddy, he'd hop on my finger if I held it near him. After a few days he stopped doing that. Now, he'll fly over to my arm if I hold it up for him and then he'll run down my arm and sit on my finger or he'll fly onto my shoulder to perch. Herbie will figure it out soon. I'm curious, why do you think he's not ready to come out for a fly around?

[ladybird]

I wanted him to settle in and be finger tamed before he came out and we have only had him two days……… about half an hour ago, he suddenly went crazy trying to get out of the cage, he was actually throwing himself at the bars and then running up and down the Perspex at the bottom of the cage , I truly thought he was going to hurt himself. So I managed to get hold of him to try and calm him down….he bit me really hard…..I held him for a while and thought he had calmed down then I put him on his perch again…..then he started going mad again…………I was going to just let him out but he calmed down …..I have never ever seen a baby bird doing that I was so worried for him. I know it sounds silly but I feel really upset.

[ffiscool]

I had one like that, might have been Max, although he didn’t move at first from his perch.

It is upsetting when they go a bit crazy.

He might be ok out of the cage?

[Loz]

We all have our method for a new birb - subject to the new birb playing by the rules!
I won't let a new budgie out of the cage until I am confident that he knows where his food and water is and that he understands that the cage is his safe place. This is usually on day three but it can take longer. To help the budgie feel safe in the cage, I am careful putting my hand in there and make no attempt to approach the birb with my hands, inside of the cage, in the initial couple of weeks or so. Millet is available in the cage, to familiarise the birb with it and so he will be ready to be bribed/ hand-tamed in due course.
I let the budgie out of the cage before he is hand-tame because I find it much easier and less fraught for the birb. I also find hand-taming outside of the cage to be much easier, physically. I am lucky in that I have a safe room for the new budgie to fly around in and I am happy to leave him out of the cage until he gets hungry. His only food is in the cage for the next day or two and then he gets offered millet from the hand.
This method worked for me for all my birbs, save for Finarfin who was less interested in millet than I was prepared for! Finarfin was very interested in me but not my hands, for some reason.
Naturally, a calm manner and constant gentle talking to the birb throughout is key.
I am confident you are in full control ladybird but I know it sometimes helps to talk about things on a forum.

[blueelephant]

ladybird I think it's normal for this stage to be fairly terrifying as a budgie mum. Silver did not move for over 36 hours. I was terrified he would starve. Barney spent periods of hours stood stock still with his head tilted staring at the floor. I honestly thought there was something neurological wrong with him and was googling madly to work out what. Both turned out fine in the end. Silver was like Charlie and cuddly from fairly early on. Barney took a few months to come round but is now lovely and friendly (albeit he doesn't give cuddles like Silver did).

Both Silver and Barney as sole birds in the vision did the mad dance on the floor side to side. I think they can see a sort of budgie reflection in the clear plastic. They could be very alarming doing this.

I think Herbie will be fine. He's probably wondering why he can't hear all the budgies he's used to hearing. I am sure he will settle in time. In a few weeks time he will have spent more time listening to you than other budgies.

Did the breeders cage have a covered top and sides? Covering three sides of the vision might help him feel more secure. Will he sit on a perch and take millet through the cage bars?

Whether he wants to come out or not is difficult to tell. He's little though and the outside world will be scary so I suspect your hand will be more familiar and you could get him home if you needed to. That or a taxi perch if you have one.

You will figure out what he is trying to say in time. Good luck!

[Marianne Marlow]

How is Herbie today ladybird?

[jellybean]

Would you consider getting Herbie a little friend ladybird, I remember you saying there were 3 babies the breeder had available.

I know the strong bond you had with Charlie, but seeing 2 (or more) budgie interacting with each other is so much fun, for them, and us.

[clow1988]

Hey!

Congratulations on little Birdie. He's beautiful!!
Can I ask do you do the winking thing with him? Also preening is a sign he's comfortable in your presence so not a bad thing. Just takes them some time do adjust he'll get there..

He's finding his bearings in his cage he will settle.. I'd keep putting your hand in and offering the millet on a long branch if needs be then shorten over time.

He will be ok!

Congratulations again