Outside cage birds

748 Views 21 Replies 6 Participants Last post by Cody, 2 mo ago

vrabec

Discussion Starter · 2 mo ago

I mustache you all some questions about uncaged budgies so we get off on the right track.

Bird Eye Beak Feather Wing

1. How do you manage droppings?
2. What do you do about food and water?
3. What about the mineral block/cuttlebone?
4. House prep never done?

Svrčko/Cricket seems to have most certainly come from a house where he was not caged. I brought him to my home yesterday afternoon, and though today marks 30 days quarantine, I'm keeping him in a separate room from Chiribiri until the psittacosis tests come back later this week.

1. Cricket absolutely hates the small cage, so.. I let him out. He had no issues coming out, and has been completely fearless. He explored the entire room, some minimal bonking, and perched himself right on the grapevine perch, and ultimately broke into song. Poops are going everywhere, and I can't really keep up... . I suspect my lifestyle with Chiribiri's confined area of cleanliness will develop into an unpleasant OCD until we figure this out

My goal is to hopefully get them "stationed" and on play areas, but until then... help?!

2. I thought he'd go back into the cage when he was hungry, but he did not. Ended up flying to the floor and pecking like a chicken for any kind of food. Ultimately, I had to lure him with millet onto my hand and back to the cage. He ate. But this morning.. he refused to eat until I let him out, and he was begging for food. He took food from my hand without a second thought. Will he learn to go back into the cage for food once he's in a large cage permanently, or will I need to keep food and water outside for him? UPDATE: As I wrote this, he went into his cage for water! But he's begging for food again and refuses to go in and eat.. 🤦‍♂️

3. I guess same like #2.. once he's in the big cage with or without Chiribiri, will he know to go into the cage for scrubbing the mineral block, beak sharpening, etc?

4. The reality of something dangerous in the house never hits.. I forgot to get rid of one toxic plant, and he landed on the plant as part of his exploration and began to try to take a bite of it.. I shooed him away and removed the plant. Then he flew to a shelf and started chewing on a remote, then he landed on my spider plant and started playing/chewing the leaves, and now he's chewing on a lamp. And I'm wondering what else I forgot to budgie proof and it's become abundantly clear I cannot leave them outside, unattended! oi.

Trying not to panic. 😬

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Sweety's mom

· #2 · 2 mo ago

You’ve given me some things to think about as my guy gets more bold and brave!

Can you for now set up a food station for him outside the cage somewhere that you are prepared for clean up of most of the poops? Then put only one kind of food he likes on it, but whatever he likes better inside the cage.

Cody

· #3 · 2 mo ago

It might be that he was behaving as he did because he was excited in a new space. It sounds like he may dominate Chiribiri being so fearless. Whatever the case, I think there will be a time of some craziness as he gets used to his new home and company. My birds are out all day and the cages are left open, the 2 females that had to be separated from the rest of the flock for hormonal reasons, spend most of the time outside the cages but they do go in to eat and I usually put some chop in a small dish on top of one of the cages. The rest of the birds are in a different part of the house, there are 6 flight cages that are open all day, when I first open the cages in the morning they all come out and fly around for a few minutes, the rest of the day they spend hopping in and out of the various cages and do not fly around much, they do have favorite spots outside of the cages where they sit off and on, some of the spots are on things above the cages so the poop falls into the cage and I have a few makeshift trees also, I use plain newsprint on the floor under them to catch the poop. I have been lucky that they do not chew on things that they shouldn't except for the 2 girls, I caught one of them chomping on the wood trim around the window.

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vrabec

Discussion Starter · #4 · 2 mo ago

@Sweety's mom yes, I have put food for him at the current station. He was actually ignoring it until I brought it to him. What is it with these birds wanting me to feed them?!

Spending more time with this guy I'm having some concerns about his behavior and health (e.g. his beak looks like it needs a trim (but the vet didn't say anything about it), and he's moving his head like an animatronic muppet when he naps). I'll monitor and talk to the vet about these.

Meantime, I have another issue. He discovered the ~10ft high curtains and is trying to roost there for the night with spider bro. Those are linen and now covered in poop at the back, I've been wanting to get rid of these anyway and at least he's not hitting the floors. He hasn't come down for a few hours now. Where's my ladder 🤦‍♂️

Window Plant Building Fixture Wood

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Cody

· #5 · 2 mo ago

At least he won't lay eggs, I had to remove some curtains because one of my females wanted to nest in the folds of them 😬

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Sweety's mom

· #6 · 2 mo ago

Ok maybe I’m wrong in this but - if I needed him back to his cage I would eventually get a duster or broom, something he isn’t familiar with and just slowly come towards him with it, I know mine would head for the cage if I do this the right way. I have not had to do this before but I know it would work. And that I could do it in a way that didn’t touch him or traumatize him. Just scooted him off a high perch and encouraged him to go to his safe spot.

Mine is so young and so safe in his cage tho, yours sounds fearless! So this method maybe wouldn’t work anyway.

JillBee

· #7 · 2 mo ago

Oh man. No good deed goes unpunished, does it? He sounds like quite the adventurer! Fearless lil guy. I, too, have a free range parakeet- but he isn’t quite as adventurous…
He has about 6-8 different things he will land on, most of them being his own spots I’ve put up for him. Next month I’ll have had him two years. I know most budgies like to fly to the highest spot, maybe try blocking off the space he is currently residing in? Although I will say he does look quite comfy chilling up there lol. The napping twitch does sound odd and concerning…so great that you kept Chiribiri away from any possible health danger ♥

Sweety's mom said:
Ok maybe I’m wrong in this but - if I needed him back to his cage I would eventually get a duster or broom, something he isn’t familiar with and just slowly come towards him with it, I know mine would head for the cage if I do this the right way. I have not had to do this before but I know it would work. And that I could do it in a way that didn’t touch him or traumatize him. Just scooted him off a high perch and encouraged him to go to his safe spot.

Mine is so young and so safe in his cage tho, yours sounds fearless! So this method maybe wouldn’t work anyway.

Awwww, I remember when mine was young, I could take him out and put him back in his cage as I needed. Then , one day, the cheeky little beast realized he had a CHOICE!!! and his been exercising his right ever since!!!!

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Sweety's mom

· #8 · 2 mo ago

JillBee said:
Awwww, I remember when mine was young, I could take him out and put him back in his cage as I needed. Then , one day, the cheeky little beast realized he had a CHOICE!!! and his been exercising his right ever since!!!!

I welcome but also dread that day

I cannot get him back to his cage with my hands by holding or carrying him back usually. But he scurries himself back in there at the slightest weird thing. So I know anytime I need him to get back inside the cage I could create the circumstances for it.

What I usually do tho is just put seed on some veggies in the cage and he will hussle back to get them. If there are no seeds outside the cage he will go back inside for them over anything else. Millet too of course but I’m working mostly with seeds to where he sees them as a superior treat to millet.

FaeryBee

· #9 · 2 mo ago

When I had 9 budgies that I allowed out of the cage I used to plan on vacuuming twice a day.
Droppings were where droppings landed. LOL
In the dedicated bird rooms I have now, I keep old sheets on the floor covering the carpet. (Much easier to clean up and I don't have to vacuum all of the time!)

Initially, when I was ready for the budgies to go back in their cages, I would first dim the lights and pull down the shades in the room. If the radio or TV was on, I turned it off.
Then I would stand by their cage and ringing the bell on one of their toys while telling them, "It's time to go in your cage now!"
Once they went back into the cage, they were given a small bit of millet.
This method worked well and soon they would go in the cage when asked to do so without the lights being dimmed or the blinds lowered and leaving the TV or radio on.
Getting the millet reward is the best part of "going back home"

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vrabec

Discussion Starter · #10 · 2 mo ago

I'm suddenly have second thoughts about that ~10ft tree I put into my living room. The ladder may need to become a required furniture piece in my house 🤦‍♂️

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vrabec

Discussion Starter · #11 · 2 mo ago

Target training might be the best answer, but this guy does not seem to be food motivated like Chiribiri. That said, we're only on day 4 at my house and cage-free, I just need to be patient. Funny, he's terrified of the chopstick, which is odd considering he has no issues if I nudge him with my finger while he's grooming himself 😬

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vrabec

Discussion Starter · #12 · 2 mo ago

He went into the small cage on his own tonight. 🤯

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karenblodgett3261

· #13 · 2 mo ago

I found with poop clean up, it's easier to deal with if you let it sit for about fifteen minutes. It dries and can be brushed of easily. If you wipe it up immediately, it smears.

Since laughter is the best medicine, I have a funny story to give you a giggle as you sift through this quandary:
I was brushing my hair away from my face when I felt this pretty good sized bug in my hair. Oh horror! I grabbed the bug and quickly threw it to the floor ready to stomp on it. It turned out I had nothing to fear. I looked down to see the bug who's life I was about to end, and it was a poop 🤣!

Part of owning a budgie means you find random poop, feathers, food, and with LoVey, bits of chewed up stuff and dropped crinkle paper. But with all that, I couldn't ask for more happiness than she gives me every day!

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JillBee

· #14 · 2 mo ago

karenblodgett3261 said:
I found with poop clean up, it's easier to deal with if you let it sit for about fifteen minutes. It dries and can be brushed of easily. If you wipe it up immediately, it smears.

Since laughter is the best medicine, I have a funny story to give you a giggle as you sift through this quandary:
I was brushing my hair away from my face when I felt this pretty good sized bug in my hair. Oh horror! I grabbed the bug and quickly threw it to the floor ready to stomp on it. It turned out I had nothing to fear. I looked down to see the bug who's life I was about to end, and it was a poop 🤣!

Part of owning a budgie means you find random poop, feathers, food, and with LoVey, bits of chewed up stuff and dropped crinkle paper. But with all that, I couldn't ask for more happiness than she gives me every day!

It is too funny when we find those “little presents” from our budgies! Your story reminded me of my wedding day last year. We went to the courthouse to tie the knot and on the drive back home I noticed Woody had left me a little wedding present on my shoulder! Poop is good luck right???

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karenblodgett3261

· #15 · 2 mo ago

JillBee said:
It is too funny when we find those “little presents” from our budgies! Your story reminded me of my wedding day last year. We went to the courthouse to tie the knot and on the drive back home I noticed Woody had left me a little wedding present on my shoulder! Poop is good luck right???

Yes! Budgie poop is very good luck! I feel that with our free flying babies, you're always going to find random "presents" here and there, no matter how scrupulous you try to be. I've found that being a creature of habit, LoVey tends to go to certain areas most of the time so those are the spots I look for poops. Not only do I monitor the appearance of the droppings in her cage, I also monitor those outside the cage as well... aka "poopology." Since when she's out she likes to sit perched on my finger next to my face (all the better to chomp your nose mama) I'd be concerned if she didn't poop on me at least three times. I'd much rather clean up after her, knowing her digestive system is working at peak efficiency!

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Sweety's mom

· #16 · 2 mo ago

karenblodgett3261 said:
Yes! Budgie poop is very good luck! I feel that with our free flying babies, you're always going to find random "presents" here and there, no matter how scrupulous you try to be. I've found that being a creature of habit, LoVey tends to go to certain areas most of the time so those are the spots I look for poops. Not only do I monitor the appearance of the droppings in her cage, I also monitor those outside the cage as well... aka "poopology." Since when she's out she likes to sit perched on my finger next to my face (all the better to chomp your nose mama) I'd be concerned if she didn't poop on me at least three times. I'd much rather clean up after her, knowing her digestive system is working at peak efficiency!

I follow a lot of bird owners on social media, and OMG I feel so blessed that I only have parakeet poop to deal with! Some of the bigger birds poop SOOOO much!

Even love birds, tiels, ones that aren't huge like the big parrots but they still seem to have so much bigger and more poops than these sweet little keets. I'm so glad I did not choose any other type of bird. The tiny little poops he has are not a big deal at all. With any pet you have the poops to deal with, but this is literally the sweetest, cutest poops possible.

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Cody

· #17 · 2 mo ago

I have a couple of Linnes as well as budgies and their poop is big and sloppy even though they are not large birds, I have been slammed in the face more than once by flying poop bombs😬and when the poops hit the wall they drip

I don't know why they can't wait until they land to let it go

Bird Vertebrate Green Beak Parrot

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karenblodgett3261

· #18 · 2 mo ago

Cody said:
I have a couple of Linnes as well as budgies and their poop is big and sloppy even though they are not large birds, I have been slammed in the face more than once by flying poop bombs😬and when the poops hit the wall they drip I don't know why they can't wait until they land to let it go
View attachment 266793

Gives a whole to meaning to getting 💩 faced lol. Because I'm paranoid about egg laying, I take the opportunity to check her vent for anything suspicious when she's on her arial playground. I can't count how many times I've had to remind myself that standing directly beneath her hiney, with my mouth agape is not a smart idea. I'll probably continue this practice until the day the inevitable happens. Proof positive that some days I'm not the sharpest crayon in the box 🤪. In an instance like that, I will not give it 15 minutes to dry lol!

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Sweety's mom

· #19 · 2 mo ago

Cody said:
I have a couple of Linnes as well as budgies and their poop is big and sloppy even though they are not large birds, I have been slammed in the face more than once by flying poop bombs😬and when the poops hit the wall they drip I don't know why they can't wait until they land to let it go
View attachment 266793

They are so beautiful!

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vrabec

Discussion Starter · #20 · 2 mo ago

He did it again last night! It took longer this time, he made multiple flights around the room for 30 minutes. Then it was a bit darker and he couldn't quite find his way in so I had to use some millet spray to help him find the doorway.

He's done some pretty funny things in this room, very much a parrot I'm happy to say

Destruction, mischief, throwing stuff off my nightstand, this is going to be fun. 😬 😁

Having many second thoughts at this point as to why I haven't served myself a chicken nugget a la salsa rubra for lunch yet.

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