Cowardly budgie - need tips

[Pureblood]

Hey guys,

so about 2 months ago I acquired a new budgie to keep my female company and they're pretty good together now after they've been in the same cage for about a month.

The female loves going out of her cage and she knows her way around the lovebirs because I used to let her out with them. As the male arrived I decided to let them out separately (lovebirds by themselves and then the budgies by themselves) because he is not in good flying shape (needs some conditioning haha) so in case of any quarrels he would be a bit wobbly to fly off. His flying and overall body awareness is getting better BUT - he doesn't want to leave the cage.

First I thought he might be intimidated by the lovebirds, but they're not outside when they are and their cage has the top covered so if the budgies land on it one of my naughty lovies can't get to their toes (2 are calm and okay and don't even notice the budgies but 1 is pretending to be the boss of everything).

Then I added an extra perch right out their door and added some food to it. It made him get out on the perch and eat, but he'd just go in and out. If he flies off of it it's for one circle around my room and then he just goes back on top or on the side of their cage. If the female is up there they will hang out a bit but his primary wish is to go back in the cage. In the last month he left the cage only 3 times!

Today and last time when I opened their cage for them to fly he didn't even leave it. He sits either on the perch right above the door or right next to them and looks outside. He doesn't want to exit and he doesn't want to play when he's outside and the female is reeeeally trying so hard to animate him. She exits almost immediately but comes back after a few flying circles because he stays inside.

Any tips and advices on getting him flying more or getting him out and about?

Here's a picture of him, he's the green one and the female is blue with white

 

[MonicaMc]

As far as I can tell, they are both lovely males!


By any chance, is it possible to remove the top of the cage and see if he'd be more willing to come out by climbing up and out? Or maybe the door isn't big enough for him to feel comfortable going in and out of?


It can certainly take time for them to feel comfortable in new and scary surroundings! Maybe he never had the opportunity to come out from wherever he came from so the idea of coming out is terrifying for him?

 

[BoomBoom]

Beautiful photos! I'd take his lead on this one. When he's comfortable, he'll take the leap. The more he settles in and sees the other birds flying about, the more he'll realize it's safe.

Maybe I missed it in your post but do you have tree stands / stations in other parts of the space for the birds to hang out in? If so, putting his favorite treats there would give them a reason to explore / chill.

 

[Pureblood]

The cage cannot open from the top, only has that one door, sadly. The door is pretty huge, even too big as I cannot fit the bath to it without having enough room for the budgies to fly out xD The lovies have smaller doors, juuust right for the bath.

He came from a breeder so I ASSUME he was in an aviary (he's about 8 months old) but I never saw how he keeps his smaller birds, I know the bigger birds are in huge aviaries.

I have one station up on a shelf where they like to be and fly around buuuut they are really not interested in playing on it xD They all prefer ropes on the window, curtains, top of my closet and hanging around on photo frames... except him, he sits on the top of the cage... -.-