Ask Lafeber

Budgie so scared and freezes

I recently got a budgie from PetSmart, a few days days ago. I asked people on facebook groups what gender and age the budgie was, everyone agreed that it was a ≈2 month old male. Today is day 4, and he’s still scared of me and everyone around him. He has a good sized cage, he eats around us, but he gets freighted so easily. We keep him in the living room so that he doesn’t get bored and so he can get attention from all family members. During bedtime, we keep him in the laundry room (no smells or anything), where we close the door so it’s dark. During the day he barely moves around his cage, barely eats, i don’t think i’ve ever seen him drink water. When I offered some millet (i put my hand in the cage), he quickly panicked and ran away, but then i persisted and got close with the millet, he stared at it for like 15 seconds, then started panicking and flying again. What do I do? I really want a fun interactive Budgie.

Hi,

You are moving too fast with him. It takes time for a new bird to trust you. He hasn’t even had the chance to settle into his new home. I would not move him at night. This is confusing for him since he doesn’t know this home. If people stay up late, you can cover the cage. It’s much more important for him to have a stable environment and not be moved around. He should not be near a door or in a place where people can enter the room and startle him. He should be able to see people approach – not have someone show up behind him. He is a prey species and sensitive about being startled or grabbed. I’ll give you the links to our behavior and training pages to help you understand how to work with him. It could be weeks before he is ready for any attempts to tame him. He has to trust people first.

Pet Bird and Parrot Behavior

Teaching Your Bird

Thank you for asking Lafeber,

Brenda