Birdiechicken
New member
- Aug 3, 2024
- 4
- 4
Hi! Hope you and your birdies are doing well. This is going to be a long read.
I have 6 budgies, 3 males and 3 females. All are pretty used to me and enjoy my presence. They are not fully tamed yet. The progress is slow, but we are getting there.
I initially had two budgies, a pair of male and female. A family member brought them home and they were neglected after two to three days of hype. I had no interest in birds before, they kinda scared me because of past experiences. But I felt bad and unwillingly took on the responsibility to care for them. I didn't know anything about bird care, went into it all blind. They were on a heavy seed diet and trapped in this tiny cage with no enrichment. I thought they wouldn't live long because of a previous experience with budgies so I just didn't pay much attention. I was just the food provider for them, nothing else. Few months passed, and none died (I feel horrible saying this now). Instead, both of them got comfortable with me. They tolerated my presence and didn't panic when I put my hand in the cage. I picked up on this. And that made me surrender. I was like, there has to be a way to take care of them, build trust and bond with them. I wanted them to step up on my hand. So I went on a deep dive for research on parrot training and care.
Things started to improve between me and the budgies. They started to trust me enough to eat veggies from my hands and I used that to my advantage to introduce them to a healthier diet. But there was one variable that I missed. There was a nesting box in their cage and they were brought home with it so they could have babies and have a larger flock. I didn't know it had to be removed. The pair didn't breed at this point. Maybe they weren't ready, maybe they were not comfortable.
Regardless, a few months of my love and care encouraged the pair to breed. They felt safe enough with me, and the female laid her first clutch of eggs in winter months. Again, I was ignorant. She completed the brooding process, the male fed her throughout and one chick came into this world. The parents raised it well. And the chick was soon ready to leave the nesting box.
This is where things started to get worse. The female got extremely territorial and aggressive. As she was getting ready to lay again, she started to take her anger out on her mate, and almost bit his skull open. I intervened, but didn't separate them and kept a close eye. I didn't have a separate cage or a place to keep one of them. I discussed getting a new cage. Meanwhile, the chick grew, and another clutch of eggs were laid by the female budgie.
A few weeks later, the female bit her mate again. There was blood and that was my last straw. I took my boy out, treated the wound and blood. Thankfully, he did well and I put him separately for a while in a box. But the chick was in the cage, it was still juvenile and calling out to his dad. The male was eager to reunite. After some time, I put them back together but the atmosphere was still tense and I knew they had to be kept separately. A few weeks later, we were able to get wider cages. I felt better. The second clutch hatched with three chicks this time.
With 6 now, I was researching and trying to train them, but only so much training and bonding could be done when they were busy with each other rather than me. I didn't understand the cause. The female budgie laid another batch of eggs but this time, they were all infertile. I finally caught on to the problem and removed the nesting box. Soon, spring time rolled around. The chicks and the adults got hormonal and aggressive. I fixed their sleeping schedule which helped, thankfully. Removing the nesting box also helped a lot, but the matter of taming was still unsolved.
None of my birds were tamed, hand-trained and I was panicking. I almost gave up many times. I was too lost and the worst part of it all was I was the only one who cared enough to worry about this. A part of me wanted so badly to have some help from my family, someone who could look after them when I was not around. I am a student with a busy workload.
After so many months, I had been unsuccessful in my desire to tame them. I spent countless hours finding gaps in my knowledge, and decided on diet conversion as my number one goal. I had tried it before but my progress halted because of inconsistency. It wasn't smooth and I'm still working on it, but they have gotten so much calmer, playful, and energetic now. The behavior change is definitely there and I'm happy about it. I used this to train them to target and now, they are eager to train. I use observational learning a lot as well. I even got 3 of them to step up onto my hand though they're still not comfortable leaving their cages yet.
My problem is my family. We live together and they acknowledge how bonded my birds are to me and my progress. But they take no part, whatsoever, in training and bonding with them. None of them do. I understand that birds are hard pets, but dedication and consistency is very important. And since I have made progress myself, I am willing to guide them through it. But they show no interest. And I am also quite scared of leaving my birds alone with them because of previous attempts at catching and grabbing them despite my efforts to stop which not only obviously traumatized them, but traumatized me as well. It's not fun seeing your hard work go down the drain like that.
I know my birdies are becoming one-person birds. I don't want it, but I am helpless. I am also frustrated because my family members are pressuring me into breeding them again. They keep pushing me to put in nesting boxes. And I am tired of explaining over and over again how the chicks are not one year old yet and I would rather improve my bond. Of course, there is the problem of inbreeding too. I am now well-versed in understanding that breeding is a huge responsibility, only the most experienced should handle it, not everything can go right and you might be left with chicks to take care of on your own with no experience. It's a lot, and I frankly don't even have the time for all that. I can't take care of more birds.
I love my feather balls, but they are already a handful. I am slowly fixing my relationship one step at a time, but I am having a difficult time with my family who fail to understand me and the birds.
The thought of re-homing them has been weighing heavily on my mind lately, but I really don't want to let them go. They're getting more bonded to me and I can't begin to express the chirps and immediate welcome they give me when they see me. I know I have been the worst owner, but they have brought so much light and joy into my life that I don't want to lose them.
Thank you so much for reading all this. I have no one to discuss this matter with, so I asked here. Any advice and opinion is welcomed.
I have 6 budgies, 3 males and 3 females. All are pretty used to me and enjoy my presence. They are not fully tamed yet. The progress is slow, but we are getting there.
I initially had two budgies, a pair of male and female. A family member brought them home and they were neglected after two to three days of hype. I had no interest in birds before, they kinda scared me because of past experiences. But I felt bad and unwillingly took on the responsibility to care for them. I didn't know anything about bird care, went into it all blind. They were on a heavy seed diet and trapped in this tiny cage with no enrichment. I thought they wouldn't live long because of a previous experience with budgies so I just didn't pay much attention. I was just the food provider for them, nothing else. Few months passed, and none died (I feel horrible saying this now). Instead, both of them got comfortable with me. They tolerated my presence and didn't panic when I put my hand in the cage. I picked up on this. And that made me surrender. I was like, there has to be a way to take care of them, build trust and bond with them. I wanted them to step up on my hand. So I went on a deep dive for research on parrot training and care.
Things started to improve between me and the budgies. They started to trust me enough to eat veggies from my hands and I used that to my advantage to introduce them to a healthier diet. But there was one variable that I missed. There was a nesting box in their cage and they were brought home with it so they could have babies and have a larger flock. I didn't know it had to be removed. The pair didn't breed at this point. Maybe they weren't ready, maybe they were not comfortable.
Regardless, a few months of my love and care encouraged the pair to breed. They felt safe enough with me, and the female laid her first clutch of eggs in winter months. Again, I was ignorant. She completed the brooding process, the male fed her throughout and one chick came into this world. The parents raised it well. And the chick was soon ready to leave the nesting box.
This is where things started to get worse. The female got extremely territorial and aggressive. As she was getting ready to lay again, she started to take her anger out on her mate, and almost bit his skull open. I intervened, but didn't separate them and kept a close eye. I didn't have a separate cage or a place to keep one of them. I discussed getting a new cage. Meanwhile, the chick grew, and another clutch of eggs were laid by the female budgie.
A few weeks later, the female bit her mate again. There was blood and that was my last straw. I took my boy out, treated the wound and blood. Thankfully, he did well and I put him separately for a while in a box. But the chick was in the cage, it was still juvenile and calling out to his dad. The male was eager to reunite. After some time, I put them back together but the atmosphere was still tense and I knew they had to be kept separately. A few weeks later, we were able to get wider cages. I felt better. The second clutch hatched with three chicks this time.
With 6 now, I was researching and trying to train them, but only so much training and bonding could be done when they were busy with each other rather than me. I didn't understand the cause. The female budgie laid another batch of eggs but this time, they were all infertile. I finally caught on to the problem and removed the nesting box. Soon, spring time rolled around. The chicks and the adults got hormonal and aggressive. I fixed their sleeping schedule which helped, thankfully. Removing the nesting box also helped a lot, but the matter of taming was still unsolved.
None of my birds were tamed, hand-trained and I was panicking. I almost gave up many times. I was too lost and the worst part of it all was I was the only one who cared enough to worry about this. A part of me wanted so badly to have some help from my family, someone who could look after them when I was not around. I am a student with a busy workload.
After so many months, I had been unsuccessful in my desire to tame them. I spent countless hours finding gaps in my knowledge, and decided on diet conversion as my number one goal. I had tried it before but my progress halted because of inconsistency. It wasn't smooth and I'm still working on it, but they have gotten so much calmer, playful, and energetic now. The behavior change is definitely there and I'm happy about it. I used this to train them to target and now, they are eager to train. I use observational learning a lot as well. I even got 3 of them to step up onto my hand though they're still not comfortable leaving their cages yet.
My problem is my family. We live together and they acknowledge how bonded my birds are to me and my progress. But they take no part, whatsoever, in training and bonding with them. None of them do. I understand that birds are hard pets, but dedication and consistency is very important. And since I have made progress myself, I am willing to guide them through it. But they show no interest. And I am also quite scared of leaving my birds alone with them because of previous attempts at catching and grabbing them despite my efforts to stop which not only obviously traumatized them, but traumatized me as well. It's not fun seeing your hard work go down the drain like that.
I know my birdies are becoming one-person birds. I don't want it, but I am helpless. I am also frustrated because my family members are pressuring me into breeding them again. They keep pushing me to put in nesting boxes. And I am tired of explaining over and over again how the chicks are not one year old yet and I would rather improve my bond. Of course, there is the problem of inbreeding too. I am now well-versed in understanding that breeding is a huge responsibility, only the most experienced should handle it, not everything can go right and you might be left with chicks to take care of on your own with no experience. It's a lot, and I frankly don't even have the time for all that. I can't take care of more birds.
I love my feather balls, but they are already a handful. I am slowly fixing my relationship one step at a time, but I am having a difficult time with my family who fail to understand me and the birds.
The thought of re-homing them has been weighing heavily on my mind lately, but I really don't want to let them go. They're getting more bonded to me and I can't begin to express the chirps and immediate welcome they give me when they see me. I know I have been the worst owner, but they have brought so much light and joy into my life that I don't want to lose them.
Thank you so much for reading all this. I have no one to discuss this matter with, so I asked here. Any advice and opinion is welcomed.
Last edited:
It encouraged me. 
