Post by blumuffin on Mar 20, 2020 10:31:32 GMT
So my two budgies are comfortabke with my hands but don't really step up on command. Mango has actually been climbing over my hands twice, and if i give him the chance he will step onto the millet sprig. Muffin does step up, but only with prompting, and he's scared of going closer to the millet because of Mango.
My plan is, keep working on getting them comfortable with my hands, and not getting them to step up out of the cage, but rather letting them eat from my hand.
So in a few months, once i get them in a real cage, with a proper door that can stay open & is bigger, i can tempt them out with millet and work with them around me every day, so eventually they will land on my etc. Because, if my hand is just holding the millet, they will have to perch on my hand to get to it. Or, i can hold a perch and get them onto the perch. In the current cage I have, it's too small for me to bring a perch in for them to step on it.
Now onto the worrying part:
Muffin and Mango's fights have been getting more frequent.
Yesterday, i saw Muffin's tail in Mango's beak. Not sure if it was friendly preening turned wrong or an agressive move - i didn't see the context. Sometimes, when Muffin is on the swing, facing the window, Mango is on the wall behind him. Once or twice, I saw Mango jumping up behind him, almost crashing into Muffin, so he could get on the swing. I know budgies have better hearing and vision, but Mango was right behind him, and it didn't look like Muffin was expecting anything.
Muffin has ended up flying onto the cage floor once or twice, and Mango onto a lower wall.
Mango does seem to be pushing Muffin around a lot. I see Mango making Muffin jump from the food bowl from the swing, and Muffin just sits there. Not even eating, because he's scared to go onto the other perch.
And I haven't seen them preening eachother lately but they do seem to regurgitate to eachother, but it always ends in a fight (i'm not an expert in that area so i'm not sure why they would 'peck' eachother afterwards.)
I did manage to capture some video. Luckily, their cage is in a room where i am a lot, so I can capture a lot of videos and see what they're doing.
I'll post the videos in the comments. And a bonus photo of Mango doing.... a cute thing in the corner of his cage. I don't know how to explain it. But it's very cute.
Thanks for any help,
EDIT: By fighting i do *not* mean rolling around on the floor/causing physical harm to eachother. I just mean pecking at eachother's beaks (not in the way like asking for food, but quick and aggressive.)
My plan is, keep working on getting them comfortable with my hands, and not getting them to step up out of the cage, but rather letting them eat from my hand.
So in a few months, once i get them in a real cage, with a proper door that can stay open & is bigger, i can tempt them out with millet and work with them around me every day, so eventually they will land on my etc. Because, if my hand is just holding the millet, they will have to perch on my hand to get to it. Or, i can hold a perch and get them onto the perch. In the current cage I have, it's too small for me to bring a perch in for them to step on it.
Now onto the worrying part:
Muffin and Mango's fights have been getting more frequent.
Yesterday, i saw Muffin's tail in Mango's beak. Not sure if it was friendly preening turned wrong or an agressive move - i didn't see the context. Sometimes, when Muffin is on the swing, facing the window, Mango is on the wall behind him. Once or twice, I saw Mango jumping up behind him, almost crashing into Muffin, so he could get on the swing. I know budgies have better hearing and vision, but Mango was right behind him, and it didn't look like Muffin was expecting anything.
Muffin has ended up flying onto the cage floor once or twice, and Mango onto a lower wall.
Mango does seem to be pushing Muffin around a lot. I see Mango making Muffin jump from the food bowl from the swing, and Muffin just sits there. Not even eating, because he's scared to go onto the other perch.
And I haven't seen them preening eachother lately but they do seem to regurgitate to eachother, but it always ends in a fight (i'm not an expert in that area so i'm not sure why they would 'peck' eachother afterwards.)
I did manage to capture some video. Luckily, their cage is in a room where i am a lot, so I can capture a lot of videos and see what they're doing.
I'll post the videos in the comments. And a bonus photo of Mango doing.... a cute thing in the corner of his cage. I don't know how to explain it. But it's very cute.
Thanks for any help,
EDIT: By fighting i do *not* mean rolling around on the floor/causing physical harm to eachother. I just mean pecking at eachother's beaks (not in the way like asking for food, but quick and aggressive.)