Grover's arrival

[ruffleton]

We bought our first budgie from a local pet shop yesterday evening and although only went in to look for supplies, ended up coming away with a beautiful lime green male(unclipped and they said he was about 12 weeks). Originally we had looked to get one from a breeder but this proved difficult due to scarcity. We've named our budgie Grover. And intend to get a male friend for him called Cleveland (after Grover Cleveland the former US President.) 

We have sat on the sofa next to the cage to get Grover used to our presence. We played him some budgie sounds, country and western music. He gets quite excited when he sees and hears the budgie sounds/vids from Youtube.

We are concerned he hasn't eaten or drunk anything as far as we can tell. We've put out some veg like carrot, spinach and tomato and of course there is seed mix available as well as millet, and he has fresh water at all times.

When we're sitting on the sofa he doesn't seem to mind us being there and when we get up to go to another room, he doesn't appear to flinch. Since this morning he's been a lot less active sitting quietly and only reacting to the playing budgie youtube sounds. Does this sound normal? I know it would have been a stressful experience being brought to a new home but I will feel much better once he starts eating and drinking! 

Also I wasn't sure if he got a good night's sleep or not, I read that budgies can panic if it's too dark so we left a night light on and covered the cage partially but I don't know if it would have been too bright for him. When I went to take the cover off this morning he was already awake. What kind of darkness do your budgies sleep in best?

Is it too early to spray him with a little water? I don't think he'll be keen on having a bath on his own just yet. Also he's spending quite a lot of time preening his feathers. Is this normal?

Thank you for any advice!  photos here hope it allows me to post this google drive link  there's 4 photos in the link so please check them out. much appreciated

drive.google.com/drive/folders/1H0KZQcAwH_-Zn4LkYeBoBugwtUqiTpWd?usp=sharing

[jellybean]

Grover is beautiful, could you post a close up picture of the face, as the cere is covered with the bars of the cage and I'm not actually convinced he's a BOY.

You could cover 3 sides of the cage with a cover for 2/3 days to let Clover settle.

I would leave spraying with water or having baths until he is settled, my two prefer a tepid bath in a pyrex dish with some basil leaves rather than being sprayed.

Any new birds that you get should be quarantined for 4 weeks away from Clover, preferably in a different room altogether, this is incase the new bird is carrying any underlying infection that could be transferred to your resident bird.

The grill on the bottom of the cage is much easier to keep clean if you put the paper (NOT SANDSHEETS) on top of the grill, it is much kinder on the budgies feet too if he/she ventures to the bottom of the cage.

[blue48]

Hi ruffleton and welcome to the forum. There are people here who are very experienced and that doesn't include me. I've been owned by my budgie for a year in November and gained loads of useful hep and information from the experts here.

It will take him a few days to settle in and even longer for you to gain his trust, so I wouldn't worry if he's just sitting there and not doing much. He's probably trying to work out if you are planning to eat him. Same goes for him not eating. I don't think my boy ate for a day or so, but he couldn't resist the sprig of millet I clipped in his cage after a day or two. I would attach that millet that's on the floor to the bars near where he sits.

It was ages before I sprayed my boy, in fact I think it was during his first molt when my breeder friend suggested it might help with his pin feathers.

I cover mine at night and turn off the lights. It's what I've always done and what he's used to. I leave one blind open and there is a street lamp outside so there is some light but I doubt he can see much as I've read that budgies have very poor night vision. He's never had a problem with being in the dark.

[tweetiepiesmom]

Welcome and great that you have started introducing him to fresh foods. It may take him awhile to eat those but keep giving them to him. Here's a website that I use as a reference on what not to feed:
www.omlet.co.uk/guide/budgies/budgie_food/food_to_avoid
And here's what you can feed him:
www.omlet.co.uk/guide/budgies/budgie_food/fresh_food

Although it says that red tomatoes are OK but not green ones, I personally don't give mine any part of the tomato plant.

When I first got Tweetie Pie, it was 3 days before I saw him eat. Maybe try moving his food dish to a different spot or put a couple in to see where he goes to eat. Where did the pet shop have the food dish - he'll be used to going there to eat.

There are very experienced budgie owners here to help you. I've had my two for about a year like blue48 so I can only tell you what has worked for my guys.

[mona]

Hey there! I've my birds for just a year too.

But, I never play budgie sounds to my birds..they try talking back to them. It can be stressful for them, to not receive any response. Mine chat with the neighborhood birds out the window and some of them reply back - that's a real interaction about where they found food, predators, etc.

Now, when I look back at the videos when I brought them home, I realize that they weren't comfy with many things back then, which I didn't understood. Mine have been forever foodies and they started right away from the first day, but it could be coz I brought the same bonded pair. Your birdie must be missing the company s/he had. It's all alone, all of a sudden, without it's flock.

I found that keeping their cage location at the same place helped them adjust faster, than changing places, that kept them scared for long.

Are you providing the same diet as the place you brought the bird home? The same seed mix perhaps? Also, could your bird be eating it when you are not around?

I would agree, to put the food dish closest to the perch s/he has been on.

blue48 "working on whether the human will eat it or not" - so true!!!!

[reenie]

Hi, and congratulations on your new pal! I have a Vision cage too and I found that when I first got Stuart he was very reluctant to use the food and water bowls on the floor of the cage. I used a couple of hook on bowls higher up near to his perch and gradually moved them lower and closer to the ones that come with the cage, and he uses them fine now.

You may also find that the height of the cage is kind of wasted space. He will want to fly side to side rather than up and down. If he seems to be happy at the height he is in the picture, could you bring his toys and other perches a bit lower down where he'll be more inclined to use them?

[birdguhl]

Another point about settling a new budgie is to avoid looking directly at him with both eyes like a predator would. Try looking at him from the side, or with one eye, and trying giving him long blinks. All these will help his brain get out of imminent-prospect-of-predation mode.