7 year old cant use wings

[corey]

Needing help please and thanks.

I adopted a 7 yrs old male budgie named Yidoh. Yidoh has been kept in a 20 inch by 20 inch cage for his 7 yrs and NEVER has come out. He is now homed in a large flight cage alone , but is next to my 2 females in their cage. Yidoh has never flown , and has never learned to be a bird. In the last 2 weeks he has however started to climb the cage , very unsteady as he has yet to get his beak and feet working together. My question is this.. Will he ever learn to fly ? He has not once even spread his wings or even tried to flap his wings. He has stretched feet and wings after resting so I do know he can move them. He will not allow me ..yet... to handle him so my trying to look at his wings are not doable at this time. He has fallen to the padded bottom I have for him as I know he just drops. He has different size perches placed so he can hop up. I am determined that Yidoh WILL have a much better life with me for the rest of his days , but I really feel for him. He just doesn't know how to be a budgie. Any help or ideas would be greatly appreciated Thank you

[Hezz]

Keep doing what you are doing, I feel. Don't try to rush things with him, as he won't know what it is all about. Having the girls next door might be just what he needs to discover how to be a budgie, but after 7 years it might just be too late. It sounds like you are doing the best you can for the poor little fella, and well done for taking him in. He might appreciate a ladder or two to get from level to level, or even perches connecting up the levels; at least his feet are getting some exercise. But remember, just because he may never learn to fly, and I seriously doubt that he will, doesn't mean that he can't be enjoying his life. Are the hens receptive to him, does he call to them? Have you tried giving him some time with the girls, or are you afraid they might bully him?

[jujubiiird]

Poor Yidoh, I am glad that he will have a better life from now on. Would love if you could post photos

[corey]

Sept 18, 2016 21:22:16 GMT Hezz said:

Keep doing what you are doing, I feel. Don't try to rush things with him, as he won't know what it is all about. Having the girls next door might be just what he needs to discover how to be a budgie, but after 7 years it might just be too late. It sounds like you are doing the best you can for the poor little fella, and well done for taking him in. He might appreciate a ladder or two to get from level to level, or even perches connecting up the levels; at least his feet are getting some exercise. But remember, just because he may never learn to fly, and I seriously doubt that he will, doesn't mean that he can't be enjoying his life. Are the hens receptive to him, does he call to them? Have you tried giving him some time with the girls, or are you afraid they might bully him?

Good morning and thank you for the reply. Yidoh may never fly but I love him as he is and he IS enjoying his new mansion , compared to his other small cage. I have put a ladder in for him but he has yet to try using it. I do add 1 new thing to the cage every other day so I don't scare him. Yes , my 2 girls are receptive of him as they cling to the bars and chat with him. I will at some point join him with them , but... my thoughts are this , and please tell me if I'm wrong... Let Yidoh get stronger for 6 mths , then get a new male so he can bond together , then maybe 6 mths later join all 4 ?

[corey]

Sept 19, 2016 2:58:48 GMT jujubiiird said:

Poor Yidoh, I am glad that he will have a better life from now on. Would love if you could post photos

Thank you. He is enjoying himself so far. I wish I could post a photo but I have no idea how lol

[starlingqueen]

If you scroll down to where it says "Quick reply" you will see a button on the left of the reply box that says add image to post. Click on that and you will be able to add images from your computer or you can use an image hosting site like photo bucket and post the link here.

[Shirls]

That is so kind of you to take this little bird on corey. Bless his little soul, he is obviously going to have a far better life with you. As with all new budgies, however young or old, it is patience you need buckets of.

I have just taken on a rehome budgie and she is coming on leaps and bounds and I have only had her 7 - 8 weeks. She, Smudge, doesn't fly very well due to the fact she was never let out, but she is much younger than Yidoh. Good luck with teaching Yidoh what he is missing, I'm sure he will improve with your encouragement. Keep us posted and do try with pictures, it would be lovely to see him.

[milliej]

I'm so glad he's been released from that ridiculously small cage, what!!!!! I do hope he has a good few years to enjoy learning how to be a budgie, well done for taking him on, poor little fella!

[corey]

Sept 19, 2016 15:05:41 GMT Shirls said:

That is so kind of you to take this little bird on corey . Bless his little soul, he is obviously going to have a far better life with you. As with all new budgies, however young or old, it is patience you need buckets of.

I have just taken on a rehome budgie and she is coming on leaps and bounds and I have only had her 7 - 8 weeks. She, Smudge, doesn't fly very well due to the fact she was never let out, but she is much younger than Yidoh. Good luck with teaching Yidoh what he is missing, I'm sure he will improve with your encouragement. Keep us posted and do try with pictures, it would be lovely to see him.

Good for you Shirls ! Smudge will improve daily I'm most positive with and for you. Yes Yidoh is older and he is having trouble doing what a bird should be doing. I have put towels on the bottom of cage for a softer landing when he tries to jump. He is getting stronger every day and learning. He doesn't give up lol. I have yet to see him even try to flutter those wings which makes me sad. He does stretch so I know he can move them. Time I suppose will tell , but I at least know he is better off with me and in his new big cage. He LOVES to climb , so that right there is a bonus

[corey]

Sept 19, 2016 21:29:08 GMT milliej said:

I'm so glad he's been released from that ridiculously small cage, what!!!!! I do hope he has a good few years to enjoy learning how to be a budgie, well done for taking him on, poor little fella!

Thank you , and yes , I hope he has several more years as he is just now learning and is having a great time just climbing around.
He loves his wood perch also. He always had just plastic. I will do whatever I need to let him now enjoy himself.

[Shirls]

I'm sure Yidoh will find out how to use his wings, bless him. If he can stretch them and preen them I feel he has use in them. It just takes times. I've had Smudge now for 8 weeks, and she still is not confident to fly around, only done it a coupe of times. But she does fly across the cage which is a large one with three other birds in. Smudge just had flimsy, tiny plastic perches too. I had to treat her feet with Fucidin for the first week she was here, they were in a terrible state! They are fine now thank heavens.

Can you post a picture of Yidoh yet, would love to see him.

Btw I have two layers of felt underneath the newspaper for Charlie, to give him a softer landing. Bought a fleece from Asda, it was really quite cheap and I cut pieces off the size of the cage floor.