Barbarossa & Gypsy

1370 Views 8 Replies 6 Participants Last post by StarlingWings, Sep 21, 2016

SarLy

Discussion Starter · May 5, 2016

Barbarossa, better known as Bar-Bar was added to our family on February 9th. He was fully mature.

Gypsy joined us last month on April 1st. Going by suggestions from others he was about a month old when we got him. (Also: until this morning we thought "he" was a "she.")

Bar-Bar was very quiet for his first month and never played with any toys, nor flew often. We had him sitting on our finger within a few days, though he was very skittish. He now gives us kisses when we put our fingers inside and say, "Kiss, kiss, kiss!" He is very gentle and sweet, even when he was caught in the pet shop he didn't bite. Bar-Bar is still very skittish, but very sweet tempered.

Gypsy is mistrusting of us and generally doesn't care for our presence inside the cage. Gypsy is very laid-back and brave. He never does anything other than move over a bit when I clean the cage. (Bar-Bar still has moments of spastic outbreaks when I clean). Gypsy bites. When we first introduced them Gypsy got lose and we had to pick him up. He bit both my husband and I pretty hard. I have also picked him up once since then after we let him fly and he bit me again.

We just started leaving the door open for them to explore the living and kitchen areas a few days ago. Gypsy went out very quickly the first time, though landed hard. Bar-Bar went out the second time, and flew around as he is fully flighted. Gypsy crawled around outside the cage but would not 'fly' away.

Currently Gypsy will not let Bar-Bar outside of the cage. We've spent the last three days trying to let them have some freedom and they don't seem interested. I even removed their feeder for a few hours to entice them to come out for treats. No luck and not sure why. My only guess is that Gypsy is either jealous or worried about Bar-Bar. I think Gypsy may have gotten "bruised" when he came out the first time and maybe he is worried about Bar-Bar?

Often I remove their feeder for a few hours in the evening until they start chirping at me and running in front of the cage. It started out as an accident when I washed their feeder and left it to dry while running errands one night. When I came home they were "talking" to me and running back and forth. Now I will start sweet talking them about their "num-nums" and make it a big deal to let them watch my 5yo and I get their food ready. They BOTH love this and get so excited!

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SarLy

Discussion Starter · #2 · May 6, 2016

Last night was a wonderful night for our babies! We bird-proofed the house as usual and added a cover over the fish tank per recommendations and opened the cage for them. We actually hadn't expected them to come out since they've been avoiding it the past few days so my husband and I walked into the kitchen to make our salads! Our daughter was in the living area with the birds watching some island show. All of a sudden I hear a THUMP and and Alara goes, "mom the birds!" Those silly things came out of the cage together...and Bar-Bar apparently wanted to go to the island retreat because he flew into our T.V. Poor guy. He wasn't hurt, just a bit stunned to see he couldn't land where he was expecting. LOL.

They explored the carpet area and Bar-Bar I swear was trying to show Gypsy how to fly. He kept flying down to the carpet next to Gypsy and back into the cage, he repeated this several times and would also do his hide and seek chirp when he got back into the cage. Poor Gypsy. I hope he molds soon so he can grown out his wings and fly.

Good news also, Gypsy has been biting much less hard when we pick him up to put him back in the cage.

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shanebudgie

· #3 · May 6, 2016

Greetings sounds like they're getting along with one another.poor budgie bumping its head,glad he's ok.and barbarossa teaching gypsy how to fly down is so funny.eventually they'll get used to there surroundings.lol my budgie from long ago used to bump into the wall and couch.he never got hurt,but sure made me worry lol.thanks so much for the beautiful photos.Blessings and keep us posted.:albino::green pied:

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StarlingWings

· #4 · May 7, 2016

I'm glad they've started to explore outside their cage! :thumbsup:

Keep in mind that budgies do not like being picked up and you shouldn't pick them up if at all possible, even with tame budgies. This scares them and breaks any trust they have in you as they are being forced to do something.

The best way to get them in their cage when they are not tame is to either have them "step up" on a dowel to ferry them back into their cage, or let them out before a meal (i.e in the morning before you feed them) so they are more eager to go back into their cage to get food.

To tame your budgies, you should work with them slowly and at their pace to first get them used to your hands, then you, and then the idea of stepping up.

Your boys are very sweet, though, and I'm glad they're doing well! :wave:

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SarLy

Discussion Starter · #5 · Sep 20, 2016

Update & Question

So I went to update my other thread so I didn't have to start a new one, but apparently things close after like three days here...hahaha, so, our babies...!

Bar-Bar and Gypsy are doing very well. Gypsy got his feathers in finally and is flying - but he flys like a drunken newborn antelope! The guy flys into the ceiling, into walls, into the window blinds, he FELL IN MY LAP the other day...I'm not sure if this is normal since I don't believe he ever had a chance to fly (he had his wings cut very early)...he's doing "better" than before, but still is all over the place!

He actually prefers me to come pick him up versus him flying back to the cage. He sits on my hand of his own accord and flys when he nears the cage.

Is this sort of flight normal?

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aluz

· #6 · Sep 20, 2016 (Edited)

Welcome back to the forums!

It takes way longer than 3 days to close a training journal thread and yours had no activity since the beginning of May (over 4 months).
I have combined your new thread to your original training journal which is now open to post.
When a training journal thread or an ongoing thread is closed, you can contact a moderator who is online or use the Contact the Staff forum to ask for the thread to be re-opened.

Now onto your question, some budgies can be better fliers than others. If your Gypsy has never had the proper chance to fly before he got his wings clipped, then the awkwardness in flying is understandable and with time his flight skills will improve.
For his safety, you can place a few nets on strategic places in order to prevent Gypsy from crash landing into a wall or piece of furniture.
Limiting his flight range can also be useful until his navigation skills improve while flying as this will keep him from getting too much speed and to crash hard into something.

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Cody

· #7 · Sep 20, 2016

I think that sort of flight is normal for a bird that has not had a chance to develop the flight muscles and maneuvering skills as a young bird. I would not be concerned unless it continues, it should improve with practice. One of my birds that I got from a shelter had the same problems at first, he was probably someone's bird that was never let out because when I got him he was a mature adult and had quite a rough time trying to fly, almost as if he was not quite sure what to do and how to do it. He has improved with practice.

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FaeryBee

· #8 · Sep 21, 2016

aluz has given you excellent advice with regard to your threads as well as Gypsy's flight problems.

Many budgies will run into things initially until they get a perception of the actual space they have to fly in.

Cody is correct that many budgies need time to develop strength in their wing muscles to be able to fly well --
especially if they were never given the opportunity to do so in the past.