The Return of Munchy

[Deleted]

Hey everyone! It's been a while since I've posted anything.

Munchy's made a bit of progress. He'll now step up onto my finger without me touching him, sometimes, although other times you still have to press him quite hard. He prefers shoulders to fingers and still much prefers being inside his cage to outside it.

I have had absolutely no luck with getting him to accept being held, which I accept but is a bit awkward when I have to catch him to put cornflour on a broken feather. He just bit me really hard when I was trying to get hold of him to try to get him used to it again. It's really hard to reward him because he just doesn't accept any 'rewards' and by the time he does he's probably oblivious to what he did that was good.

Plus I think he's a lot crankier than usual now because he seems to be starting his first moult, judging by the prickles sticking out of his head and body. He's biting occasionally just when we try to get him on our fingers. I don't mind him nibbling my nose but my finger still hurts from about 15 minutes ago. I really need some way to get him to stop biting but then I'd need to have him on my finger and he doesn't normally bite unless you hold something close to his face (and then he never bites it if you actually want him to unless it's just a finger).

*Sigh*

On the plus side, he's learnt a couple of whistles and is starting to talk a bit, although it still sounds really croaky. Hopefully he'll stop being such a grumpy meanie once the moult is over.

[Bird Junky]

Hi Some birds are quite mercenary & will refuse to do

what you want. I never ask a bird to do anything

without a small gift. (bribe) You have to convince him

your the nicest person in the world. You say he

doesn't like being grabbed. Don't forget in his eyes

your just a better looking version of King Kong.

Biting, keep your nose & fingers away from his beak

unless your giving him a treat. You can't beat a treat. B.J.

[Hezz]

I don't think there is a bird in the world that LIKES being held, Ira, so it isn't a matter of him liking it, but accepting it. Can't remember, how old is Munchy? Remember the terrible teens if he is around that 3-12 months and as you mentioned, he will be grumpier while moulting. Eggfood is good to keep his protein up, and a misting every day or two to help his itching and get rid of some of the keratin sheath over the feathers.

Can you get a hold of him with one hand while bribing him with millet with the other???

[Deleted]

Yeah, I know Hezz. It's just trying to get him to accept it that's the problem. I made some progress one day by giving him a seed every time he let me touch his back and could eventually get a grip on him, but the next day he wasn't having any of it. Darned bird's too smart ><

I think he's about 4 months. We've had him for 2 3/4. I always put a bit of eggfood in with his seed anyway but I've been putting more in since his moult started in the hope that even if he doesn't eat it directly he'll take some with his seeds. He also now like boiled carrot, raw broccoli and hard boiled egg, so he's had half an egg over two days at well.

I'll give that a try, Hezz, but I might wait until he's finished moulting and until I've moved his rope perch back out of his cage because getting both hands in is tricky even without obstacles ^^ And we don't have a misting bottle but I have some free time between lectures today so I might dash out and see if either of the pet stores in the market have any.

[Deleted]

Okay, got the water bottle. How many times should I spray him with it each time and how often should I do it?

Also, I tried bribing him with millet. I managed to get my hand quite close to him but as soon as he sees it he stops eating the millet and threatens to bite me. I can then get him to start eating the millet again with a lot of trouble, but as soon as I get my hand into a position where I can get a hold of him he sees it and either jumps onto my hand or tries to climb the millet. It's happened every time I try and by the end of it he wouldn't even eat any of the millet. So, I don't know what to do. I might as well just give up and next time I need to pick him up because a feather's broken and I want to stop it bleeding all over him I guess he'll just have to lump it if I can't catch him at the time. *Grumpy*

*Sigh* Guess I'll just have to try again tomorrow.

[Hezz]

It won't hurt to wait until he is finished moulting to start with the "bribe and snatch" routine. Sorry, don't take that seriously, I didn't actually mean make a grab for him, ;D . I can't remember how I got my guys used to being caught up. As I remember, I used to do it almost every morning when I went to get them out of the cage. But I have made it a point to teach them to wait until they are invited out by hopping onto my hand, when I offer it, and then they walk up my arm onto my shoulder or flit off to exercise their wings. And that is after we have said good morning with a smooch on the belly . Sparky the little feral, still manages to slip past me sometimes, but I just followed him around the cage with my hand until he resigned himself to the fact that this woman was NEVER going to give up. Now he will flit about a bit sometimes, others just hunkers on the perch in that resigned "okay, catch me" look about him. Smudge just hunkers down immediately and quacks at me like a duck.

For the misting, it doesn't really matter how many times you mist him, just make sure he has time to dry off and be gorgeous before it starts to get cool in the evenings. If he is in central heating, make sure he has time to dry before bed. How many times in one sitting? Vary it. Make him really wet one time, just a small mist the next, if you want to, but it is really just about making his feathers moist and moistening up the sheath that covers the feathers so it is easier for him to preen off or rub off/scratch off if they are on his head.

[Deleted]

*Sigh* Well, I'll give it a go. I just hope he stops being so horrible after he's done moulting. This morning I had him on my shoulder and needed to take him off so that I could go and get changed. He refused to get onto my finger and kept threatening to bite me. Problem was, I couldn't just leave him there so I had to keep trying, so I tried warning him not to bite me and because I did that he bit me. Little rat. All I was doing was offering a finger, it's not like my hand was in a position to pick him up. We're having a case of budgie hormones vs human hormones at the moment but he certainly knows how to pick which times to make me upset and grumpy. He really doesn't like me. I always knew he didn't but everyone seems to be trying to convince me otherwise. Really struggling to remember why I was so happy to get him in the first place. Should've gotten a tame one. Sometimes Munchy seems tame but then half and hour later he couldn't care less if you dropped dead. Putting him back in his cage isn't a punishment either because he doesn't even seem to like being outside. He always goes back in as soon as he sees his cage. But he's definitely not coming out of his cage until after his moult.

Guess I'll just chase him around his cage with my hand once he's done moulting and hope that he's more receptive to not attempting to rip my hand to shreds.

Well, he's had a good spray this morning so hopefully that'll help him a bit. And he's got a nice piece of broccoli. Also, even when he can see what's all around him he doesn't play with any of his toys that go on the floor. I can put him somewhere where he can see everything and he just stays still. He only touches anything that's hanging up. He played with his ball when I tied string to it and tied it to the top of his cage hanging down to his perch but I can't do that with the little toys that he's supposed to try to knock over that don't fall down. He won't go down to the floor of the cage to play with them, even though his perches are quite low down anyway. The only time he went down there was when my granddad had accidentally spilt his seed on the floor and I'd taken the bowl out to fill up in the morning and Munchy had gone down onto the floor to eat the spilt seed before I could remove it. Trouble is, I don't really want to put seed on the floor of the cage, as some people suggested to get that baby bird Olly to eat because he obviously poops on the floor a lot and I'm not sure whether it's really okay for him to eat seed that's surrounded by his droppings.

[Deleted]

Well, I'm not upset with him anymore. My nan gave me a pair of thick gloves to handle him with whilst he's grumpy. Sadly they scare him a bit but even when he's not running away from them I can't put my finger near him, even wearing the gloves. Earlier he looked ready to bite me when I definitely hadn't done anything wrong, so now I can't get close to him in case he tries again.

[Hezz]

Ira, don't take it personally, hun! He is just being a nasty little teenager! I found a way around Smudge biting me - hens are the worst, let me tell you! It took a good twelve months before I was SURE she wasn't going to nip my ear while she sat on my shoulder. If you think you can persevere, I can PM you.

As for getting onto the floor - many budgies won't. Again, it isn't about you. It is about what he is comfortable with. Why not try putting these toys onto the floor of the lounge or where-ever he is allowed out? That way he can see what is going on well enough to be able to escape if he feels threatened. Or on a table would be even better as he will then be higher up.

[Deleted]

I know. I think he's a bit scared of me right now, too, but I'm not sure which of us trusts the other the least. I don't mind him nibbling me, just not the hard biting unless I've really done something wrong. I won't give up though, it's just been a bit of a shock. He seemed so laid back before.

Well, the only place I've seen him run around is the back of the sofa. Once he ascertains that his cage isn't in the room he stays still, and if it is in the room he flies back to it. Also, he normally runs up to my shoulder and it was trying to get him onto a surface with his ball yesterday that caused him to bite me ^^; I'll give it another try though.

[Deleted]

Eheheh, he bit my boyfriend too XD Sadly I always get bitten when I can't see it coming. Getting a bit better at touching him again now, but if he doesn't look inclined to step onto my finger without me pushing against him then I'm leaving him alone. I cleaned his cage fully this morning so he spent a long time outside of it whilst it was drying and is now exploring the new layout. He seems happy at least

Would it help his biting problem if, when he bites me, I keep my hand where it was and don't pull it away to show him that biting isn't going to get me to go away?

[Bird Junky]

No he'll think your a Masochist. Yours B.J.

[Hezz]

Mar 18, 2012 13:15:04 GMT Ira said:

Eheheh, he bit my boyfriend too XD Sadly I always get bitten when I can't see it coming. Getting a bit better at touching him again now, but if he doesn't look inclined to step onto my finger without me pushing against him then I'm leaving him alone. I cleaned his cage fully this morning so he spent a long time outside of it whilst it was drying and is now exploring the new layout. He seems happy at least

Would it help his biting problem if, when he bites me, I keep my hand where it was and don't pull it away to show him that biting isn't going to get me to go away?

It has helped others with their biting budgies in the past. Hope your pain threshhold is pretty good. Try not to react at all, and that means not making any ouch sounds.

When you are trying to get him onto your finger, present your hand/finger with the palm/pads of the finger, rather than the back of your hand. The skin on the back of your hands is very thin, with lots of nerve endings, whereas you have thicker skin on the inside of your hand and fingers. This will enable you to withstand the bite more, but tell him off if he does bite ...... especially if you see him getting ready to lunge at you, the way they do when they are going in hard, give him an ah, ah ...... same as you would a dog.

[Deleted]

Thanks Hezz! I'll give that a go. I'll try to keep my hand relatively flat though because he once got onto the palm side of my finger and looked about ready to bite my thumb. And when he was on my shoulder and I warned him not to bite innthat way he did it anyway, or maybe because of. But I'll try my best and my boyfriend should be able to help. He didn't seem to mind the bites.

Also, do you know any way to encourage him to come outside and explore. He's probably a bit nervous but will come out for food and then go straight back in.

[Marianne Marlow]

I tend to find that clipping some spray millet (just a small bit) near the door so that the budgie has to stretch outside to nibble some works