How to catch an untamed budgie for his first vet visit without stressing him too much

[michaelnmaine]

I have a little guy, of indeterminate age, who is not yet finger trained and is still frightened of my hand. He has an appointment next week for a general exam and initial meeting (maybe wing clipping, too) with a local avian vet. My concern is how to safely and as stresslessly as possible get him from his regular cage to a new travel cage for the trip to the vet. I’m afraid that chasing him around the cage and grabbing him will set us back socializing, but is there any other way? Thanks!

 

[Owlet]

you could try to put treats into the travel cage and put it in his full cage or with the doors together so he is lured into the new cage. however no matter what you do it's going to be stressful because the vet will have to manhandle him.

 

[DonnaBudgie]

I have a little guy, of indeterminate age, who is not yet finger trained and is still frightened of my hand. He has an appointment next week for a general exam and initial meeting (maybe wing clipping, too) with a local avian vet. My concern is how to safely and as stresslessly as possible get him from his regular cage to a new travel cage for the trip to the vet. I’m afraid that chasing him around the cage and grabbing him will set us back socializing, but is there any other way? Thanks!

I absolutely hate having to catch my budgies to bring them to the vet but sometimes we have to. I just had to bring one of my girls in to have her nails trimmed and it was no fun for anyone. You may want to have someone else you trust that knows how to handle a small bird without injuring him to do it for you so you aren't the "bad guy". Another option if you can't peacefully lure your bird into a travel carrier is to use a small washcloth instead of your bare hands to capture him so he doesn't associate it as much with your hands. You avoid getting bitten this way, too. If his cage isn't way too large, you can try to bring him in his cage.

 

[ImaParrot]

Millet.
Lots of millet.

 

[clark_conure]

EXPERT ON THIS I have six budgies....
Pull the shades and turn out the lights....

They have small eyes and don't take in a lot of light and won't generally fly if they can't see.

My birds can be out on top of the cage and if I make it dark, especially if I strobe it first...it makes them root in position, then you just scoop them up, give them a kiss and put in the carrier.

Be quick, decisive, but gentle and you can catch them anytime. I'm fortunate some will actually come to me.

Another cool trick is when its dark, really dark, in the room is slipping your hand in and just gently petting them. They will stay rooted but also coo a little bit if it's very gentle. But build up a layer of trust on that first.