Rescued Budgie?

[liz2]

Had this female budgie since last August..lady in street gave her to me in filthy cage as she was going to let her out as she was fed up with her...she is totally stressed..still...holds her wing in her claw when she is worried...hardly makes a sound even though I have a budgie in another cage, and mum died a month ago so I have got her talking boy who is beautiful.So she has company.. Tried putting her with my budgie..pistols at dawn job..but they like to be close to each other..she has now started chewing her sand sheets...to bits..takes her about 3 hours to reduce it to bits..any ideas what I can put in bottom of cage? tried kitchen roll and she chews that..she has toys treats everything others have put she freaks out at everything.

 

[guppy_man]

maybe she wants a bigger cage

 

[liz2]

I threw her manky cage out and got her a bigger one. I think she would be happier in an aviary but not going to build one just for her.

 

[grahamsokel]

you could try bird sand.it makes it more work for cleaning out but it has grit etc in the sand for the birds

 

[fishie_bird]

OK OK OK!! im here now, whew diddnt see this one earlyer! Ummm, you should put newspaper on the bottom of the cage, and what is she getting to eat?

 

[Nina]

The problem you will have with her is that if she has been treated in a bad way it will tke her a long time to realise that not all people are nuts.

I know you have had her since August but you must remember that before you all she knew was her previous owner. If she was in a small cage by herself she is not going to know how to treat other birds and therefore doesn't know you can't beat the crap out of them but the fact she likes to sit near them means that she is at least interested in them.

There is nothing much more you can do than give her time to get used to you and give her all the space she needs.

As for chewing the sand sheets it sounds a bit like boredom as most birds will chew/pick at things (usually themselves) when they are bored. If she allows to put your hand in try to get her used to toys one thing at a time. Give it to her to "kill" for an hour of so and then remove it and put something else in.

An avairy is a bad idea in my opinion anyway. If she is an indoor bird the scary outside would be just that scary. If she is a nervy bird anyway that may just be the thing that finishes her off.

Do you know how old she is?

 

[liz2]

The person who gave me her said about 3 years old, she had been with another bird that had died, she had belonged to her kids (dont even think about what they did to her). Tried newspaper, if you put your hand in she goes to the top of the cage and goes berserk. She has had lots of toys and wont touich any of them. She pings the bars of her cages alot. Another strange thing she has obviously never had food treats in her life she wont eat any fresh veg only seed treats. Theres my bird and mums going scatty if I walk past with anything for the guinea pigs. I always give her some but she has never ate any.

I think I will just continue with TLC..I dont think she will every change now. Thanks peeps.

 

[barbiedoll]

IMO:
budgies hate change. Have been known to drop down dead from having cage rearranged! Went away on holiday one time leaving 3rd born's budgie with 2nd born. She rearranged his whole cage as she thought it would be a real treat. we came back to a nervous and disorientated guy shivering in the corner.
Give it time. don't put hand in cage until she's happy with your close presence and soothing talking. keep at her eye-level or below while you do this-much less threatening. When she is happy with this, move on to opening the door with your hand near the door and then inside the door and so on. Slowly slowly but for several minutes only and several times a day.
keep giving variety of food tho she may never take to anything but seed.
will learn to trust you and that you mean no harm but probably will never be 'tame'

I would use bird sand on the cage floor as I am not sure newspaper ink is such a smart thing for her to eat!
But our current lutino boy never goes near the floor for some reason so we could use anything!

 

[liz2]

Thanyou darling for reply. If you love budgies you would love my mums budgie (mum sadly died a month ago) it was hand reared and mum would chat to it all day. I have written down 13 phrases that he says...he doesnt consider himself a budgie...totally ignores my girl and the rescue one..my little tart hangs upside down by one leg from the top of cage..he just looks at her..turns his back and talks to his mirror! he is telling me at this moment that "mummy has gone to bingo. dusty loves his mummy" he is now picking up my phrases as well and he keeps whistling the dogs,

 

[soritan]

IMO:
budgies hate change. Have been known to drop down dead from having cage rearranged! Went away on holiday one time leaving 3rd born's budgie with 2nd born. She rearranged his whole cage as she thought it would be a real treat. we came back to a nervous and disorientated guy shivering in the corner.
Give it time. don't put hand in cage until she's happy with your close presence and soothing talking. keep at her eye-level or below while you do this-much less threatening. When she is happy with this, move on to opening the door with your hand near the door and then inside the door and so on. Slowly slowly but for several minutes only and several times a day.
keep giving variety of food tho she may never take to anything but seed.
will learn to trust you and that you mean no harm but probably will never be 'tame'

I would use bird sand on the cage floor as I am not sure newspaper ink is such a smart thing for her to eat!
But our current lutino boy never goes near the floor for some reason so we could use anything!

Really? I could have sworm budgies love change, because they're intelligent creatures who get bored easily? It's been several years since I owned budgies, I admit.

 

[Pixie25]

budgies dont hate change, they are more scared of it initially... the important thing to remember is budgies are prey animals, new food, new environments, may be dangerous to them.

in the wild budgies are nomadic which suggests they LOVE change! but they have safety in flocks of thousands strong, a lone budgie will be nervous of new things if it is not bonded to a human companion.

in my experience budgies will more often than not pace the cage bottom and chew in a cage that is too small. what are the cage dimensions?

if you want some help at all go here

http/forums.budgiebreeders.asn.au/

 

[Shelly_Otterkin]

Newspapper is the safest thing to put on the bottom of the cage! It is made with veg. ink becouse of babys and small kids. The sand papper is costly and there is a glue they use to stick the sand on.
It sounds like your little friend has had a bad trip in life. Give it lots of time, maybe in the future it will come around.