# Where to next?



## PinkTardis (Jan 3, 2015)

I have a little boy, his Name is Oliver. Long story short, I caught him at work! I work in a Kindergarten. I searched very hard for his owner/s, put ads up, rang local vets and so forth (no pictures were supplied, I wanted someone to describe the breed and colour of their missing bird). Someone came forward and described him very well. I believe that this was most likely his owner and no one else came forward. She said he was an aviary bird and our Kindy could keep him.

Expecting him to be untrained, I started out like this forum has taught me, and to my surprise after he got comfortable with me he got friendly! Much more friendly than an aviary bird I believe. So I started to think the lady that identified him so well could possibly not be his true owner. Any how I could not find his owner, no one else came forward. So I am trying to train him to be our class bird.

I named him Oliver, but he started telling me his name is Tweet! He asks me questions and it was ridiculously easy to get him to step up (I believe he already knew this). He started to talk more and more. And now he copies phrases I say! I am blown away. My other budgies do not like my company and prefer their own, but Oliver Tweet loves being around me. He chats and steps up and has fun.

I have a few problems though


He does not always want to hop inside his carry cage to go to Kindy, he knows the carry cage goes there and will fly away from me. I feel I lose a bit of his trust when I take him there. He gets so nervous. He is treated so wonderfully at Kindy though. A buffet of food, lots of kind words, no cage shaking, just pure love and gentle caring people surround him.
When he is training with me at home, at times he will get funny and refuse to sit on my finger and prefers only my shoulder. He will fly away just to come back and sit on my shoulder. 
 I have cats and can not allow him to freely move between rooms. He needs to be in his carry cage when transporting to other rooms, which he can then freely fly in. I am noticing a big trend with his hatred of a transport cage. This is really hard for me because I want to take him to new rooms to explore but he refuses the cage and flys to my shoulder when he sees me leaving the room  He just wants to come with me but I can't take him. I will find him a fun place to play and try to leave but he will see this and fly to my shoulder excited to leave the room  
 He isn't overly fond of millet so I dont have a bribing treat!
He wont eat any food unless its out of my hand, or I lead him to the food and it is placed right next to a toy he likes and I have fed him a bit from my hand and lured him to it.
He flock calls a lot, as I have other budgies. The other budgies enjoy their own company and are not my biggest fans, so I am worried he wants to play with them and will lose his connection with me and his talking. However I can not be with him all the time, so his flock call breaks my heart. At times I will leave him at home because he refuses to get in his cage and come to Kindy. So he fly's around in my spare bathroom (its set up for him).

So that is it, does anyone have and specific advice? I love how Oliver copies me, he copy's a lot of new phrases and it literally takes saying it less than 10 times and he begins copying. He has a few favourites (_hello, whats your name? What you doing? Hello! Tweet Tweet, My names Tweet _and the new phrase I taught him_ kiss kiss _*then he makes a kiss sound*). I don't want to lose his trust, so I haven't clipped his wings as he loves flying, but things are tricky for me now as I am no expert!


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## aluz (Jul 24, 2011)

Hi there,

From your description it's clear that Tweet was a very much loved budgie in his previous home, since he is a talker and is so well socialized with people.
These trips to the Kindergarten and the change of scenery is likely adding stress on your budgie and it would be best to keep him at home and in the familiar room Oliver Tweet is used to. You can also use this very room to spend quality time with him. Since you have cats in your household, this would be the best way to proceed in order to avoid an accident.
While it's great that your Oliver is already so closely bonded to you, it's important for him to be able to entertain himself while on the cage and to eat when you're not around. You can work with Oliver in terms of helping him to be more independent. Clipping wings will not solve any issues, it will only render Oliver unable to fly and be even more vulnerable.

When a budgie is so human oriented and closely bonded to us, the chances of this bond to suffer a drastic change is slim when introducing other budgies. 
The budgie's overall happiness and well being should always come first even if changes in dynamics are bound to happen.
Later on when you find most suitable, you can slowly introduce Oliver to your budgies by placing the cages close by in the same room and see how they will react. Oliver may even be able to help your budgies to be more trusting of you and as a result the bond with them will also improve. 
Many times I have used the special bond I had/have with a budgie to help tame other budgies.

Good luck!


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## PinkTardis (Jan 3, 2015)

Thanks for your reply  

I am agreeing with you that I should allow him to play with the other budgies while I am away. It is something I will work towards.

I am still clueless as how to get Tweet to eat without me. Or how to get him feeling safe with his carry cage. He wants to leave the room with me.. which I want to! So he sits on my shoulder as I am about to leave. All I need is for him to see the carry cage as a safe place that takes him to another room.

He is such a beautiful boy, and the more I read on this forum about bugie bonding tells me he is even more charming then I thought! For ages he would nibble on my nose or where ever he fancied, it never hurt but I was worried he was angry. I learned here that he is being affectionate. I just want to keep his wonderful nature and do the best I can for him.


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## shanebudgie (Feb 5, 2016)

good luck pink tardis.by the way cool name tardis.blessings and keep us posted.wish you and your budgie many happy years together.:albino:


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