Nasty pecking?

[budgiemadness]

Charlie and Tommy get on brilliantly. But when they start climbing up the side of their cage Charlie always pecks Tommy's tail. Is he being nasty and why won't he stop when i tell him? He makes Tommy squeak.

[samwiseg]

Sorry, cant help you there this time - I only have one budgie and she pecks my partner's stubble/face until he squeaks despite me telling her off ;D Perhaps someone who keeps more than one will be able to help you soon

[Thomas (Banned)]

Mine sometimes do it when they're eating.

They'll all try and eat from the same bowl. It normally always ends up in tears as they can't share. I've seen them nip each others tails as if to say 'get out my food', despite there being several pots for them to eat from.

Still, they'll fight over one.

[sarah*glittergirl2212]

Mine haven't got a decent tail feather between them now, they try to pull each other off the swings at bedtime.

[budgiemadness]

Yeah he doesn't let him eat either. Charlie seems to be filling out as he grows but Tommy looks thin. And how come he can't fly or balance? Thanks all.

[sarah*glittergirl2212]

Post a pic of them if you can so we can see the pair of them, and if possible the cage too.

[Hezz]

Have you got two food pots for them? One bird is always going to be dominant - the ruler of the roost, and most cases this ends up being the female, if you have one. Bent tail feathers - tail feathers, as Sarah mentioned are a prime target! You may also find Charlie will leave Tommy alone for a while but then start up again. Charlie isn't reeally being nasty, he is just being the boss. Also Charlie isn't going to stop because you tell him to - he doesn't understand what you are saying. Personally and from my own experience of three birds together, I would always have as many seed pots as there are birds. That way it doesn't matter that they won't share, and you can bet your last dollar Kingpin Charlie isn't going to share, so while Charlie is at one pot, Tommy is able to feed at the other.

I have three budgies. I have three seed pots, I have three (at least) kebabs of vegetables, I hang up three little bunches of grass every day and three little twigs of whatever tree is on the menu for the day. The whole budgie food routine is x3

Also who is it can't fly or balance? We need photos to see what may be the problem there. That sounds a more serious issue.

[budgiemadness]

Ok thanks. Yes they have got two seed pots and two water bottles. I haven't tried them with veg yet. Oh i tried lettuce but they were scared of it!
It's Tommy who can't balance well. When he is climbing he falls off the side and sometimes if i go near their cage he falls off his perch. It may be because he is young but he can't seem to fly either compared to Charlie. Not sure. Never had them this young before.

[budgiemadness]

I will post pictures asap. Their new cage used to belong to a Cockatiel and the bars are bigger and it is a lot higher. But do you think that could cause probs?

[Hezz]

Feb 7, 2012 17:21:34 GMT budgiemadness said:

I will post pictures asap. Their new cage used to belong to a Cockatiel and the bars are bigger and it is a lot higher. But do you think that could cause probs?

Without seeing it, no, I wouldn't imagine so. But back to Tommy and not flying, has he ever been able to fly? Have you got a photo you can post so we can see if he has all his wing feathers?

[milliej]

My two do it too! Although Mischief the female is a bigger culprit and what a noise they make, they obviously don't like having their tail feathers 'tweaked'! Doesn't seem to harm generally although Sid's were bent for a while once, I think the noise they make is worse than the deed.
My two still vie for who's the boss but Mischief generally wins (hence the saying - hen pecked I suppose!)
Only twice in over five years have mine got out of hand and it was mischief who lost all her tail feathers and there was blood involved but I'm not sure if that was Sid trying to mate and she wasn't having any as she's had previous mates and is older than him. Or that may be putting human emotions on our feathered friends! They certainly let each other know when they don't want any attention tail wise or other wise.

[budgiemadness]

Sorry but i couldn't get Tommy to cooperate. Here he is.

Attachments:

[Hezz]

What a sweety! How old is Tommy, BM? He seems to have a relatively full contingent of flight feathers from the photo. If he is only a baby (am I seeing bars on his forehead in the photo? It is a bit hard to make out.) maybe he only needs practice, but if he is older then I have no idea what the problem could be, and other than seeing a vet, no advice to offer, either.

As we have said, more than one budgie tends to bring out the competitive side of the birds and one will be the boss. Usually it isn't a problem and they get on as long as #2 budgie knows his place. If there starts to be blood involved, then interfere, but othrwise leave them to sort themselves out.

The thing you can't ignore though, is Charlie not letting Tommy eat. I suggest let one or the other out and either leave Tommy to feed in the cage or while he is out give him a seed pot to help himself while Charlie is shut in. If Charlie continues to be a bully, you may need to consider separating them and giving them time out of the cages together but having separate cages.

[budgiemadness]

Thank you all for your advice. I will take note. Yes Tommy is a baby. About 4months old. Bars on his head?? He IS eating it's just that Charlie often interferes. But i have just refreshed their seed pots and Charlie let Tommy eat happily. I will keep my eye on them.

[Hezz]

Feb 9, 2012 15:57:14 GMT budgiemadness said:

Thank you all for your advice. I will take note. Yes Tommy is a baby. About 4months old. Bars on his head?? He IS eating it's just that Charlie often interferes. But i have just refreshed their seed pots and Charlie let Tommy eat happily. I will keep my eye on them.

Sorry, his baby bars on his head feathers. The stripes go all the way down to their cere as babies, and as they go through their first moult (or two) they lose those baby feathers and the new feathers don't have the "stripes" until their head is mostly a single block colour. They still keep the bars on the sides of the heads, just not on top.