Female budgie not letting the male near me

[JoshTheBadBudgieTamer]

Hey everyone, first time posting here. I don’t often type large posts, so sorry if my post is are to read.


I have a male and a female budgie in a cage together. The female (named Violet) is somewhat hand tame. My male (named Buddy) was extremely comfortable with hands when I first got him from the breeder and had them separated for quarantine. They have been in the same cage for 3-4 months now.


Ever since I introduced Buddy to Violet’s cage, Violet became very um… greedy? With attention that is. Whenever I want to interact with Buddy or if even comes close to me, Violet will chase him off, or knock him off the perch at the front of the cage. He’s since become very hand-shy and won’t even come near anymore, in fear of Violet.

My questions to you all are: Is this normal? What can I do to stop Violet from hogging my attention? Should I separate them, or is there a better option to remedy this behaviour?

Thanks to al budgie owners who even give this a read. Much appreciated.

 

[BirdyBee]

I suggest separating them. It's the best solution. If the female is abusing the male to the point that he struggles to even trust you, then they need to live separately.

If they are outside of their cage, then take only one out at a time. Taking both out will result in them attacking each other as you have explained.

 

[StormyPica]

Ok, I would disagree with Pip. As long as she isn't normally abusing him (only when you come near), don't separate them! Separation can cause a lot of stress and psychological damage, especially in budgies.

Start by target training the female. Just work on that, or work on some training element with her. She will become ore comfortable with you and that's when you can start trying to interact with the male. Every time she tries to push or bite the male, shout 'NO' at her. Not too loud, as there is a thin line between mild punishment (which is ok), and verbal abuse.

I actually had to do this with Picasso on multiple occasions. She would bite Apollo and me, and anyone she didn't like, but I would just shout 'NO' (not too loudly), and she seemed to get the point. She is not scared of me or my shouting, nor does she like it (meaning she doesn't bite me so I'll shout). Our relationship has stayed the same, she just now understands not to bite me or any of my other birds.

 

[BirdyBee]

Ok, I would disagree with Pip. As long as she isn't normally abusing him (only when you come near), don't separate them! Separation can cause a lot of stress and psychological damage, especially in budgies.

If they're always aggressive to each other, separating is better than them hurting each other. Separating can be necessary if the birds absolutely hate each other.

 

[StormyPica]

If they're always aggressive to each other, separating is better than them hurting each other. Separating can be necessary if the birds absolutely hate each other.

Totally, but if they're only aggressive when their human comes near them, training would probably be a better option.