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Posted by louanne and jade on Tue, 02/13/2007 - 13:07 :: Budgerigars
Hey there! I took my budgie(PICO) out of his cage on Sunday for the first time. The first second I took him out, he started flying around and around my room and of course he was scared!. Well ..i got kinda scared as well because he started hitting the walls, I'm sure thats pretty common though, is it? But all i did was to tell, "It's O.K., Pico!" After a few more circles around my room he finally landed on my desk. I had lots of things of my desk so he was surrounded of my junk. I didn't dare to try to get I'm on my finger because sometimes he just jumps off and then if that would have happened he just would have flew and hit the walls again. Eventually I got him back in the cage but then i noticed that his cere looked as if it was scratched between his two nostrils, the cere kinda looked like if he had layers and it took a stripe off. I'm not quite sure how to explain it so I'm hoping that you know what I'm talking about haha..I was wondering if that would come back to normal?

Here's a different story lol:
I think that I should have waited a bit longer to take him out of the cage because when he goes on my hand, sometimes he just jumps off. But he doesn't jump of because he's scared of anything, well at least it doesn't look like it, he would just jump off to go to his bell which he plays with it almost all day long, and it's pretty cute :) lol. And other times, i would put my hand in front of him so he can get on but he goes to the other side of the perch, so i go to him again and try, and he does the same thing! I thought that I could give him some spray millet but he just won't eat it!! A while ago he was scared of it but now he isn't, all he does is he nibbles on it and he doesn't realise that it's seeds like what he eats everyday. I even fake that I'm eating it, which usually encourages him to at least nibble on it but won't eat it! Anyone got any advice for him to stay on my finger and for him to start eating the millet?
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Posted by karen on Thu, 02/15/2007 - 21:52.
It sounds like he scraped his cere, which should not be a problem; it should heal right over.
He could still hurt himself flying into things so you need to be careful when he's out at first. Realize that even a big cage doesn't allow him to fly like he can in a room. When you have him out, he's in an unfamiliar place, doesn't know where he can land safely, doesn't know what windows are, and doesn't really know how to fly in large spaces yet. He will learn soon but you have to keep himk safe while he learns... keep him calm, put his cage where he can easily see it to land, don't grab at him or frighten him, cover windows. If possible, attach a perch to the outside of the cage for him to land on (preferably a perch that looks like his cage perches).
Most birds find millet is a treat, but if yours doesn't you can try other things. Try taking out his seeds and offering him a dish of veggies for a few hours. This has two purposes: to get him to try veggies and to get him a little hungry since he probably won't like veggies too much. Then try offering a but of his regular seeds as a treat to let him get used to your hands. Another thing to try is to play with him by reaching in and batting at his favorite toy with your fingers (many budgies love that).


Karen
Chico (conure) and Pippin (budgie)
WI
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Posted by alexawolf on Fri, 11/28/2008 - 14:56.
When I first let my budgie out of his cage, he too flew into walls. Someone told me that budgies interpret blank wall space (and possibly furniture that is monochromatic without much variation in shape) as open space until they learn differently. Try putting small things spaced out on the wall so he can recognize that something is in front of him.

My budgie once visibly hurt himself - he had a small drop of blood at the top of his beak after crashing into a wall. It was Sunday and I thought if he showed anything weird on Monday, I'd take him to the vet. Monday he was okay. If that happened now, I would take him immediately. Crashing into walls probably sets the bird up for arthritis later, and it could also cause a concussion. Maybe you should do a partial trip on his wings so he can fly a little, but not so high or far.
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