# Wing muscles too weak?



## Gideonp (Apr 8, 2018)

So I got my budgie named Ginkgo 3 months ago, and today I finally was able to take him out of his cage. It took 3 months to (almost) hand tame him because I got him from a pet store and he’s a little skittish. When I got him out today, he didn’t fly around at all. He never moved from where I set him down, on top of his cage, although he did walk around a little bit. I read somewhere that you shouldn’t let an untame budgie out of his cage, so I only let him out today. I’m really worried that I made a mistake and his wings are too weak for him to fly now, although he does have some short flights in his cage. Is it possible that my budgie is too weak to fly now, and could he learn to fly again?? I’m a first time budgie owner, so i’m scared I made a big mistake. Thanks guys


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## Blingy (Feb 26, 2018)

Hi again, it's great to hear that Ginkgo is doing so well. He likely didn't fly around or move from his cage top because he was scared. His cage is his safe place and you removed him from there and put him somewhere new and unfamiliar. It's not recommended to force your budgie to come out of his cage but instead open the door (in a bird safe room and supervise him the whole time) and let him come out if and when he chooses to. You can encourage him by placing perches on the outside of the cage and maybe a playgym and some toys (& leave them there so he gets used to them). You can also sit by the cage and see if he'll come out for a treat. He may come out straight away, or it may take weeks. Each bird is different. 


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## StarlingWings (Mar 15, 2013)

Kellie has given great advice. Ginko is going to take a bit to be comfortable out of his cage for sure. Now that he knows he's able to come out, just leaving the door of the cage open in a budgie safe room while you're there to supervise will let him know it's okay if he wants to explore. As mentioned above, you can encourage him to take the plunge with some perches outside the cage or toys, etc. but don't force him. Eventually he'll decide the outdoor world is interesting. 

His wing muscles won't be too weak, although he may need to build his flight stamina. He should be just fine


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## Gideonp (Apr 8, 2018)

Blingy said:


> Hi again, it's great to hear that Ginkgo is doing so well. He likely didn't fly around or move from his cage top because he was scared. His cage is his safe place and you removed him from there and put him somewhere new and unfamiliar. It's not recommended to force your budgie to come out of his cage but instead open the door (in a bird safe room and supervise him the whole time) and let him come out if and when he chooses to. You can encourage him by placing perches on the outside of the cage and maybe a playgym and some toys (& leave them there so he gets used to them). You can also sit by the cage and see if he'll come out for a treat. He may come out straight away, or it may take weeks. Each bird is different.
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk





StarlingWings said:


> Kellie has given great advice. Ginko is going to take a bit to be comfortable out of his cage for sure. Now that he knows he's able to come out, just leaving the door of the cage open in a budgie safe room while you're there to supervise will let him know it's okay if he wants to explore. As mentioned above, you can encourage him to take the plunge with some perches outside the cage or toys, etc. but don't force him. Eventually he'll decide the outdoor world is interesting.
> 
> His wing muscles won't be too weak, although he may need to build his flight stamina. He should be just fine


That's great to hear! Thank you both very much for the advice. I'll try hanging some treats and toys outside of his cage today.


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## RavensGryf (May 8, 2015)

Great job with earning your budgie’s trust! :thumbsup: As you’ve found, it takes more time and patience than many new owners think. Then every budgie is different in how they respond and how long it takes. You’re past the hardest part .

Great advice given above. Just give Ginkgo some time to adjust to being “out”, and you’ll probably see him flying around soon, when he becomes confident out of his cage. As StarlingWings mentioned, he needs to build up stamina and get conditioned to flying, but for a bird that won’t take long . 

After a while, when he’s used to flying around out of his cage while supervised, you can teach him to go back in his cage by getting him used to voice commands. I’ve trained a budgie and a parrot that way. They learned to associate a sweeping motion with my arm pointing to the cage with my cue word “In”.


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## Hunterkat (Mar 29, 2017)

Is Ginkgo clipped? That can also affect how far they can or are willing to fly.


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