I'm hearing a lot of conflicting information about wether or not most budgies are into cuddling or getting scratches. Of course they all have their own personalities, but do you have a cuddly budgie?
I have had a fair number of cuddly budgies but they were chicks that I have helped raise and most of these chicks outgrew the petting and head scratches after their first moult.
Generally speaking, budgies prefer to be preened by a same species companion and even a very tame, human oriented bonded budgie may not be okay with daily cuddles and petting.
I currently have a few very tame budgies and they would only occasionally accept a short little petting on their own terms.
I notice with mine that they are more receptive to this petting when they are perfectly relaxed and at ease. I have on occasion helped them to preen, by including myself on a preening session. It's always important to read the budgie's body language and to respect their set boundaries when we try to pet them and only do so when they show receptiveness.
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You should never grab your budgie or force him to be touched.
Most budgies once they pass the "baby" stage, do not like to be petted or touched.
If your budgie does like to be petted, you should only ever pet his head, neck or chest area.
Stroking a budgie's back and/or tail stimulates its breeding instinct.
Bonding means allowing them to choose to be with you.
My budgies' prefer to do their preening on their own by rubbing their heads on the knobby grapevine perches to scratch them.
I have had a fair number of cuddly budgies but they were chicks that I have helped raise and most of these chicks outgrew the petting and head scratches after their first moult.
This is what my budgie was like. He was hand fed and very tame when I got him. For a few weeks he liked to have me pet his head occasionally, but now that he is almost finished with his first molt he no longer lets me touch his head. He also is not as into sitting up close to my face as he used to be. However that's not a problem for me because I have a cockatiel who is more than cuddly enough for the both of them .
I think it really depends on the budgie. I can pet Chardonnay on the chest, sometimes he opens his beak occasionally for a second so I stop there, I don't know if that's a sign of affection or a threat. My English Budgie can tolerate being scratched behind the neck.
I don't know if any budgies "like" to be pet, not really like a dog would. Correct me if I'm wrong! I think it's less of "liking" it and more of "tolerating" it. Kinda like a snake can tolerate being held and they don't really have those kinds of liking emotions. Though budgies are social creatures so that's why I'm uncertain if that's the case or not.
My little Comet has days where she will prefer to do her own thing so long as she knows she's not completely alone all day. Other days she loves to be with me what ever I'm doing and will go all around the house with me. I would say shes not a huge fan of petting as such but prefers me to snuggle against her with my face instead of hands. At night times she has found a new cuddle time. When it's time for bed she'll hide under my long dark hair with her beak pressed against my neck staying very still for as long as she can get away with (all night if it was up to her). Times like these I can respect her when she wants to have her days to herself. She still gets loads of attention but not too fussed over when I know she's not in the mood for it. So yeah, I guess I do have a cuddles, pretty epic ones too and worth waiting for sometimes.
Cuddles and snuggles?
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