Huge setback potentially

[farkas]

Hello Everyone,

I have two little Budgerigars. The grandparents decided to treat my daughter by bringing her to a pet shop, they picked out two young birds, male and female, I have no idea if they were friends before being put in a cage and separated from all the other birds.
The grandparents in their wisdom thought the birds might need some air after all that and released them in their own bedroom as soon as they got home, this obviously didn't go well and apparently they needed to be grabbed to be put back in. Only after all this happened did I find out we got new additions to the house.

They got bored of the birds because they weren't tame instantly of course but I wanted to give the birds a happy life. I straight away got a much larger cage, replaced all the plastic perches with wooden ones and got various toys and mineral stones. They were understandably scared of humans but after months of spending time with them, by having them beside me while I work, getting them used to my hand in the cage, eventually they were both comfortable with going on to my finger and eating out of my hand, one even fell asleep in my hand a few times so all the hours paid off and it was great, I was able to release them in a room where I have a perch set up high above everything else and they always go back in to their cage no problem.

But unfortunately my daughter wheeled the cage into the kitchen, opened the door to feed them, spent too long away at the food and they got out, usually I would be happy just to let them go back in on their own but this time they were panicking and kept flying in to the walls and the windows, one in particular couldn't seem to fly too well after all the bangs. So unfortunately I had to try to get them back in before they hurt themselves too badly, I waited until they were on the ground, put a light t shirt on them and carefully put them back in the cage. Now they are terrified of humans again.

Is there still hope of regaining the trust of the birds? Am I back to square one and it will take a long time or will this event destroy all trust? Apologies for the long post!

[blue48]

Hi farkas , welcome to the forum.

I'm sure there's a way back here but it will take time, how short or how long depends on the personality of your budgies, and whether your daughter decides to 'help' again. They will regain trust though, if you start from square one, and I'm sure it will be shorter than the initial training time.

I had to grab my poor boy twice a day for a week to administer medicine. I'd only had him for a couple of months when he caught a claw which then got pulled out and became infected. He forgot all about it within a few weeks and was his old trusting self again.

One tip that might help if they get out again is to play budgie noises on your phone (youtube) and put it by the cage. That helped when mine decided to go flyabout before they were tame. Also make sure you cover the windows because they will think it's a way out.

[tweetiepiesmom]

Welcome! Yes, I agree with blue48. I have two little boys and one got sick. I had to separate them into different cages which upset both. The sick guy had to be grabbed to give him medicine once a day for a month. After his treatment was complete, I put them back together. I continued to interact with them as I had previously done. Before they were separated one would come sit on my hand and kiss my thumb nail. The other would come on my hand only for treats. After about a month, we are all back to where we were before.

You didn't say how old your daughter is but this could be a great opportunity to teach her about budgies' nature and how they react to a perceived threat. You could also teach her about patience as she slowly learns how to interact with the birds. There's no better feeling in the world when they trust you enough to sit on your finger!

[farkas]

Thank you both for your responses and for your welcomes! That is good to hear, I was able to get them to eat out of my hand this evening, not jump onto my hand but they ate food out of my hand when I placed it near. Although they have not gone down to their feeding station at all since the incident, I have a spare drinking station up top so they are fine for water anyway. I'm guessing it will just take a bit of time for them to feel safe again. They did their usual comfortable beak grinding post food noises after so it is looking better anyway.

My daughter is 9, she is getting better with the birds and being more patient but she keeps trying to skip to the end of the training process all the time, for instance I always whistle before I enter the room that they are in so they know it is me coming in, I sit down beside them for a bit before opening the cage door so they are not startled by me, I can leave one door open for as long as I need and they won't fly out as they know I am just getting food for them or putting my hand in, but if I open both upper doors of the cage they know it is time for them to get out and they'll head out for a bit. I'm guessing my daughter just ran up to the cage, opened the door too quickly, startled them, one got out and the other followed (she denied this of course  ). We will get there eventually! Thanks again for your help!

[Hezz]

Teaching your daughter how to approach them in the very same way that you do will help them feel more at ease in her presence. They know you, they know your routine, and I’m not at all surprised that they have gone back to trusting you relatively quickly. Make sure your daughter only interacts with the birds in your presence, so that she can learn what is needed and what is unacceptable behaviour. It is best for the whole household to know and understand each other so that unexpected events such as the kitchen mayhem is limited to the very occasional accident.

Children are usually more used to dealing with the dog/cat type of pet, and have little understanding of how different birds, any birds, are. It sounds like you are doing everything right as far as respecting the birds’ needs; I’m sure it would help your daughter in more ways than just the obvious to take some lessons from you in how to interact with them in the future. Good luck; patience is not a common trait in nine-year-olds.