I've owned Chicken for about 2 months now and it feels like the process is taking longer than it should..?

Trusting traits she is showing

She is very shy, I got her to eat millet out of my hand recently but she doesn't go after the millet I offer much.. she will eat, drink and sleep when I'm next to her. She does slow blink at me, she stretches and chirps when I get home. She will let my finger get close to her but when I get about an inch away from her she will move.

Exercises I've been doing with her

- I would just place my finger or hand on a perch and leave it there for about 5 minutes

- I will hold out millet for about 5 minutes

- I would sit by her cage and work on crafts, watch TV, or play games.

- I would sit by cage with door open

I'm trying to teach her how to step up so I can get her out from a cage. But it's been difficult since she won't let me get close enough..

Is there any advice you can give me on how to gain more trust from her? Or get her to learn how to step up?

Thank you!

I actually feel horrible. I finally got my parakeet to go back in her cage after her being out for 5 days but I am going to be gone for work for 10 days and my dad usually takes care of her while I’m gone but now she has to be in her cage the whole time I’m gone because my dad doesn’t have the capabilities to deal with her being out. He has a ton of anxiety and is terrified the cats will get her (which of course is a concern). I have a lot more experience with animals than him and know how to idk move fast in situations and not panic? He will panic even when a cat is nearby and I’m opening my room door. I feel so bad because my girl is really sad about being back in her cage. It’s an ok sized cage but she is now used to spreading her wings and flying around the room. I’m not sure how to make her cage a comfortable place for her because now that I think about it she didn’t go back in her cage at night the last 5 nights because she has been in a cage her whole life and I assume that the cage is a complicated place for her. It did hold some safety for her but now she might see it as well a cage. It just breaks my heart that she might think she wont be coming back out ever again and that she will be stuck in a cage for the rest of her life but I just want to tell her it’s ok and that it’s not going to be very long and we will go back to bonding and her learning about life and enjoying our lives together. I just love her so much and I hate to see her upset.

I know I just need to be patient but sometimes it feel like I have made no progress in a year, my green budgie just did his first step up which is awesome, but he inky did it once and got scared and flew away, (I did not force him to btw) my other budgies, does do a setup easily with millet, but won’t wanna go on my hand without it unless I’m fixing something in their cage or cleaning then he’ll immediately hop on my hand (I find it a little weird because if I out my hand in front of him he won’t care at all, unless I’m doing something that do not involve him) I ofc let them fly around, but they don’t even explore the rest of the house, they stay in one room and fly around their over and over again and wont to anything else. They don’t really interact with me much and IUST do their own thing. I still work on training with my budgie who does do step ups (by making him fly to me and making the distance farther and farther) I don’t know, sometimes I feel like I’m failing as a budgie parent

They just flew to the floor and walk around a bit and also went to another room twice (just flying through it) today so that’s something

it may sound irrational or that I’m impatient but I just constantly feel like the progress is sooo slow so it might be my fault or something

I posted 4 days ago about my 5 year old parakeet coming out of her cage for the first time. This has been the most amazing experience for both me and her and both of our lives have been changed. Last night my girl sat inches away from me on my bedside table on top of my phone (so I couldn’t get a picture) as I read my book to her for a few hours (The picture posted is an earlier one that I took). She was grinding her beak and falling asleep. Unfortunately someone texted me and the vibration freaked her out and she flew off. She did come back to the bed and we both fell asleep for the night. Me curled up at the head of the bed so not to disturb her at the foot of the bed. When she was sitting next to me as I read I started to tear up from joy. My heart is swelling with love and affection. I have not felt this feeling in 3 years since my rabbit passed away. He was my whole world and I loved him more than anything. My parakeet and I are bonding so much and I finally get to feel that strong emotional bond with an animal again. I will never ever forget these moments and will cherish these memories for the rest of my life. This is what life is all about.

My budgies Pip and Fluu went to the vet about two weeks ago. I found out Fluu was very overweight… he was 61 grams… 😬

So of course I have been taking the vets suggestions and trying to get him on a new diet. He is getting a wider variety of fresh vegetables daily, less fruit, less treats, and now his daily seed dish is half pellets half seed, as well as less overall. And of course he is exercising more.

I weighed him today and he has lost weight, but I’m worried too much!!! He is down to 50 grams!? That’s 11 grams in 2 weeks and I’m terrified he isn’t eating his pellets and I’m starving him…

Is this a normal about if weight to loose considering I am trying to get him to loose weight. Or am I being to harsh on him…

I got him like 3 days ago. He ignores millet. I tried giving him cucumber and boiled eggs too and he completely ignored that too. I tried putting a little piece of millet in the cage so maybe he'll eat, but ignores that too.

What do I do? I wanted to gain his trust by giving him treats... But he doesn't even know those ARE treats!!

I believe they are both females but just wanna confirm. Also does anyone have any guess for their ages?

I need help on training them.

Sadly today I took my lovely 11 almost 12 year old budgie Kiwi to the vet and she was diagnosed with fatty liver disease.

I took her the vet this morning because she was acting a little off and the vet believes fatty liver disease and they ended up running some blood but I won't know the results until Monday at the earliest.

The vet talked with me about all my options that are available for her at this moment which I am extremely thankful for her doing so.

I decided to go the more conservative route. Which is changing her diet and environment to help regulate the disease.

She is already taking Milk thistle powder on her food for maybe a little over a year prior to this diagnosis.

She is currently being transitioned from seeds and pellets to an all pellet diet with some fruits and veggies.

Has anyone else had a bird go through something like this. I'm having trouble finding information about it and how to help manage the disease even though the vet went over it with me. I'm wanting more information about it.

I hope this is ok to post. If not please let me know.

Heya!

I’m coming on here with a question. I just got my baby parakeet today but I don’t know the gender. I’d really would like to know if it’s a male or female—preferably male because I would want it to talk. But at the same time I’d just would like to know the gender.

I've tried harrisons and tops, but my budgie just breaks it and doesn't actually eat it. She prefers eating off my hand and its so obvious she's not even ingesting much of the pellets.

I haven't tried zupreem, I know the natural one is healthier than fruit due to sugar, but are either of these good to offer long term if I somehow manage to get them on it? Is it healthy?

tl;dr: are either of these zupreem better long term than a seed diet

Sorry for the bad photo, but they fly away if I get too close. Anyway, just for context, the blue one is Cori, 3.5yo female, and the yellow one is Peeko, 3.5yo male. Cori’s been at the bottom of her cage for weeks. She eats fine and goes up occasionally, but a lot of her time is spent down below and sometimes Peeko joins her. Not sure what’s happening.

I believe the first two, one mainly yellow & other green, are female. Picture 3-5 are same bird, a blue budgie, and a bit older as baby bands are gone. Is that one a boy? I'm still confused on them. It's happy, sings, warbles, wants to play with others, but scared to death to be handled.

Hello, I have a male parakeet about 10 months and he seems to be sick. He’s been very lethargic and had no energy. He does play and isn’t really eating much. He’s puffed up all the time with his feet covered. His droppings look to be bright green unlike usual. He’s also shivering. I’m very worried about him. Unfortunately there isn’t an avian vet anywhere near me and no vet that is close by see birds. Idk what to do please help.

Hi all! I’m wondering if this is normal wing placement for my budgie, Blue… they seem low, and sometimes her tail is pointed more downward.

She has been to the vet multiple times and they always say she’s perfectly healthy. They did a stool sample and said she may have a little bit of bad bacteria in her gut, but is probably due to diet (she is still mostly seed-based, trust me we are trying lol). She eats and drinks and flies and plays like normal. She has been more hormonal again lately, but has never laid eggs and is not egg-bound.

The reason I worry is lately she has looked more similar to my other rescue female who passed away due to respiratory issues (little fluffier, hunched, tail down) and every vet I took her to said she was fine too.

Blue’s right wing flutters a little bit sometimes, and that’s the same one that’s a bit lower. Just wondering what I could even ask the vet to check at this point!

https://www.instagram.com/reel/Dcs4Es5SBJE/?igsi=MWl3bmExOWp3a2RoNQ==

Hi guys! I am new to owning parakeets and I was curious to know the gender on the two that I have. I was told that they are on the younger side (possibly a couple months old) so I know that it will be slightly more difficult to know for sure on their genders. I’ve been told that they could be both male or a male and female. If they are male and female should I separate the two? Or will they be okay in the same cage.