# Seeking budgie advice



## Koira (Aug 11, 2010)

I have a young, (three years at max), female budgie/parakeet that I got from the petstore. Now, the petstore is the last place I'd ever purchase an animal, but she had broken her leg when it got caught somewhere and they were looking to give her to somebody for free because they could no longer sell her. Seeing that she was healthy and that her leg was fully functional, we decided to adopt her a few days later, (cage with starter kit was 50% off too, win win for all), since we had been thinking of adding a new pet into our home and had considered budgies as well. We knew from the start that she wasn't going to be as easy going as, say, a hand raised budgie from a breeder or private household.

We've grown very fond of her anyway. We let her out of her cage whenever we're at home, and she will frequently come perch near us to inspect what we're doing. She also likes to sit on our heads, and loves chirping and rubbing her beak against our noses. I'm assuming these are signs of affection, but correct me if I'm wrong. 

Another thing she does that is rather a mystery to me, however, is sometimes when she's rubbing noses, she suddenly arches her back and wiggles her butt, and her pupils get super small and she starts to sort of shiver a little bit. She'll let us pet her and handle her in any way. I'm guessing this is something sexual? But I'm not sure, any advice?

Anyway, the main thing is that she is terrified of hands. I think this is probably because of when people handled her to fix her leg, it must have hurt her, poor thing, and she doesn't seem to connect hands and head together as the same thing. I've spent lots of time on methods to train finger shy parrots and budgies to accept hands and fingers, but she becomes very aggressive and has a sharp, strong little beak that hurts really bad. Naturally I flinch when she bites, giving her the impression that biting will make me go away, which I don't want her to start doing regularly. If you think there's no way to fix what has been damaged, though, we're alright with just rubbing noses.

I also know that budgies are usually kept in pairs, but we have her as a sole bird. We're worried about how we would choose and introduce a new partner to her, and unsure of whether it would be alright to get a male or if she would fight with another female. She is rather petite and missing several toes, (we were petsitting a rat and she got out of her cage and started pecking him, so he bit several of them off, we stopped the bleeding and disinfected everything and she's fine now, just is missing them), so she would probably loose a fight anyway. So overall question here, should we think seriously about getting another budgie?

Finally... Any tips for getting her to stop peeling paint off our windowsills?


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## poohdog (May 16, 2010)

It's always difficult when introducing a new bird into the territory of an old one.The best way...but not always feasible is to put the new bird in a cage alongside so they get used to each other...but even then there is no guarantee.
I have two conures that have lived next to each other in seperate cages for four years,but they fight like hell if they are allowed out together???

The nose rubbing bit is a sign the bird accepts you as a prospective friend and partner,as far as the bird is concerned your nose is your beak,and beak to beak contact is part of their behaviour pattern.The fear of hands will be hard to overcome if the bird has had a bad experience in the past.

Many pet shop birds are relaxed if you approach their cage with your body...but will show signs of fear if you raise your hand to the cage.

As for the paint stripping ...all hookbills can be sods for chewing things and you'll have to discourage this in your own way.

The bird may be fine with a new partner...better the opposite sex...but it really is a case of 'suck it and see' 
If a new addition is finger tame this would encourage your bird to accept your finger as harmless.


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## Koira (Aug 11, 2010)

Alright, yeah I was assuming she was taking the nose rubbing as beak rubbing, since I know pairs do that. I think I'll just leave the hands be, it seems like a big hassle just to get her to sit on a finger, when we love her as is. 
I wasn't sure about the male/female thing, and even though I can understand that she'd get along better with a male, what about reproducing? She's been laying eggs the past two springs, and I know what a hassle it is when chickens get broody... And dont' want little peepers. 

Unfortunately if the relationship between them didn't work out, we don't have the room for two cages with separate birds. Maybe if I warned the seller that it might not work out, and make sure I could return the bird if it didn't? Maybe I could try multiple birds, or would this make it too stressful for the bird I do have? Also, I commonly see cockateils and budgies being housed together, might this work out better?


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## poohdog (May 16, 2010)

Depends on how much space you've got...bigger the cage the less chance of arguments...it's all down to the individual temperaments.You'll always get eggs off any hen birds...just throw them.I've got a quail that lays every day.


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## toby13 (Apr 5, 2008)

This is a perfect example of why never to buy from petshops/stores. Always get in contact with a local breeder or dealer in your area


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## Sleeping_Lion (Mar 19, 2009)

Can I just ask how you know it's female? Males can have a wattle grow over the cere, which makes it look brown, when in fact the cere underneath is blue. I had this happen to one of my male budgies, and if you didn't know, you'd have thought it was a hen with a wrinkly cere. 

The only reason I ask, is it sounds like a boy when you describe the rubbing noses, and bum wiggle. If it is a cock bird, he could be getting just a tad frisky, one of my tame birds used to get like this with the mirror.


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## Koira (Aug 11, 2010)

It wasn't a purchase, it was an adoption, and we knew very well that there could be problems with a young bird that's had a dodgy background. But she's turned out well other than this.

Well, unless cock's lay eggs every spring, I have reason do believe it's a female.


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## Sleeping_Lion (Mar 19, 2009)

Koira said:


> It wasn't a purchase, it was an adoption, and we knew very well that there could be problems with a young bird that's had a dodgy background. But she's turned out well other than this.
> 
> Well, unless cock's lay eggs every spring, I have reason do believe it's a female.


Lol, definitely a hen then!!! Just noticed your post earlier mentioning egg laying, that's the hazards of skip reading inbetween work!


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## Koira (Aug 11, 2010)

Haha, no prob. XD
Any reason that a hen would be doing the butt wiggling, nose rubbing thing? I call it "the trance", because it's like she's hypnotized. None of my budgie books say anything about it. The oddest thing is how her pupils get really small, making her eyes mostly white space.


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## Koira (Aug 11, 2010)

poohdog said:


> Depends on how much space you've got...bigger the cage the less chance of arguments...it's all down to the individual temperaments.You'll always get eggs off any hen birds...just throw them.I've got a quail that lays every day.


I do just throw the eggs out, and I'm used to chickens, but budgies only lay eggs for a week or so a year. Will she just ignore them even if she has a male, like she does now? Is it not a hassle to remove them if she doesn't ignore them?


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## poohdog (May 16, 2010)

It would be unusual for a budgie to sit tight on eggs mated or not without some form of nestbox.Unlike zebra finches that will incubate eggs on a cage floor amongst the rubbish, or more likely lay in a food pot.

Just found this...

http://uk.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20091214044618AATc2ye


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## Koira (Aug 11, 2010)

Mkay, thanks.


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