Some input needed on frightened new bird

[rknol]

Hi everyone!

Last week Thursday (so 5 days ago) I adopted a beautiful blue boy from a local petshop he's called Bean. I figure he's about 6 months old (stripes on his head have receded so he had his first molt, irises are starting to develop). Right now he's quarantining in the bedroom in a separate cage (the girls their old cage, not a flight cage but spacious enough for a single bird) for 45 days + vet check-up at the end to make sure he's not sick or spreading illness to the girls.

I feel like he is having a hard time adjusting to being in his new home. He's very scared and stressed all the time, playing music or background sounds has not calmed him down so far and he has not chirped even once except for contact calls. He hasn't touched any of his toys. It doesn't help that he can hear the girls contact calling him from the other room. I'm in the room with him for like 5-6 hours each day to get him used to me just being there and from time to time talking to him. I've let him out of the cage since day 2 for a couple of hours (he always finds his way back) to see if perhaps exploring his surroundings makes him less scared, and he was curious at first but now he just flies between his cage and the highest wardrobe when I let him out.

Any idea what I can do to get him to feel more at ease? It's been 5 days now and there's been pretty much no progress in getting him feel more acclimated.

 

[wrench13]

Time. Some parrots just need time to settle in. Just make sure that you are not doing anything to break trust. Parrots are all about trust in their relations with humans.

 

[HowdyDoDee]

Greetings rknol,
Is it safe to assume he came from a bin o’ budgies with a generous number of birds in one large aviary? And He’s healthy? (His poops are normal and his appearance is too; he was checked out by a vet prior to his journey to his forever home?)

He may appreciate a millet treat and some social interaction with his new housemates. My little flock of two gals and one guy thrive in each other’s company. Safety and social ease in numbers with the flock creatures.

The males are generally less territorial than the females, and the females will hopefully welcome baby boy’s social contributions. (Maybe too much… you may end up with a clutch of little eggs before long… ) Adding a male to my flock of two females seemed to balance them out nicely. They all learn from each other, and they seem to have little or no stress now. They’re always happy, even when I crash their little party. (Haha just kidding! But human interaction becomes less important when they’ve got each other. Not a bad thing! They don’t appreciate much when I play budgie videos with audio and they can’t meet the little feathered friends that they can hear but not socialize with. They need each other.)

Let us know how it goes!

Best,
Laura

 

[rknol]

Greetings rknol,
Is it safe to assume he came from a bin o’ budgies with a generous number of birds in one large aviary? And He’s healthy? (His poops are normal and his appearance is too; he was checked out by a vet prior to his journey to his forever home?)

He may appreciate a millet treat and some social interaction with his new housemates. My little flock of two gals and one guy thrive in each other’s company. Safety and social ease in numbers with the flock creatures.

The males are generally less territorial than the females, and the females will hopefully welcome baby boy’s social contributions. (Maybe too much… you may end up with a clutch of little eggs before long… ) Adding a male to my flock of two females seemed to balance them out nicely. They all learn from each other, and they seem to have little or no stress now. They’re always happy, even when I crash their little party. (Haha just kidding! But human interaction becomes less important when they’ve got each other. Not a bad thing! They don’t appreciate much when I play budgie videos with audio and they can’t meet the little feathered friends that they can hear but not socialize with. They need each other.)

Let us know how it goes!

Best,
Laura

hi! yes, he came from a small bin full of happy birds - he looks & poops healthy (first vet checkup is next week). he doesn't know what millet is and is afraid of millet spray/doesn't want to go near it even after days. unfortunately he can't join the girlies in the same room for 40 more days, but he can hear them call from the other room which i believe is stressing him out even more

 

[HowdyDoDee]

hi! yes, he came from a small bin full of happy birds - he looks & poops healthy (first vet checkup is next week). he doesn't know what millet is and is afraid of millet spray/doesn't want to go near it even after days. unfortunately he can't join the girlies in the same room for 40 more days, but he can hear them call from the other room which i believe is stressing him out even more

Sounds like this recommendation needs clarification and/or an explanation given your current situation. Can you get another opinion?

 

[rknol]

Sounds like this recommendation needs clarification and/or an explanation given your current situation. Can you get another opinion?

this is recommendation from our reputable avian vet to avoid spread of infectious disease that don't surface until time has passed. especially for pet store birds that live under questionable conditions in the store, for which the store can't explain who they got them from or under what conditions they were bred i need to be extra careful

 

[HowdyDoDee]

this is recommendation from our reputable avian vet to avoid spread of infectious disease that don't surface until time has passed. especially for pet store birds that live under questionable conditions in the store, for which the store can't explain who they got them from or under what conditions they were bred i need to be extra careful

Again, I’d seek another opinion. Just being honest.

 

[HeatherG]

I wouldn’t. That is a common quarantine period.

Maybe you could separate the birds further or play some background music so they’re not calling back and forth as much.

 

[rknol]

I wouldn’t. That is a common quarantine period.

Maybe you could separate the birds further or play some background music so they’re not calling back and forth as much.

they are as far away as our space allows for. i tried increasing the volume of the music (which is playing most of the time) but they just call louder