Ask Lafeber

new bird not eating & very skittish!

i got my new bird yesterday, zim, and hes fully flighted, beautiful long feathers. we let him out on the first day, but he kept on accidentally hurting himself by running into things, and if i tried to help him by putting my hand near him so he has the option to be ‘ rescued ‘, but that makes him fly even more and get hurt more. it took us almost 30 minutes to get him back in the cage! he got on my hand 2 times, 1 in the cage when he was on the side, and 2 when he fell in a box and climbed onto my finger. he lets me touch him if im very slow, but im not sure how i get him to trust/bond with me hence he wont eat & is very very flighted & skittish. i really want to let him out again, but he scared he will get hurt, he got hurt in the middle of his cere last time. zim is a budgie, and so is my other bird. would introducing him to my budgie make him settle in more? he has got a vet check up, he is healthy.

Hi Selah,

It’s much too soon to be letting the new bird out of the cage. Zim is in a new place and needs time to settle in. He has already hurt himself, but it could be worse – he could break his neck or die from a head injury or suffer broken bones if he flies into something at full speed. He needs to be where it is quiet for at least a few days, possibly longer. Do not try to handle him yet. Speak softly to him and sit near him, but don’t reach for him. Budgies are prey animals so when they get scared, they try to get away. Do not put him in the cage with your budgie. And if you want the birds to be tame, you should never cage them together. When birds share a cage, they bond with each other and usually will not want to be handled anymore. In the meantime, here is some information on what to do when you have a new bird:

Teaching Your Bird

Thank you for asking Lafeber,

Brenda