# Rescued budgie - very terrified - any tips??



## andrejremec (Sep 1, 2017)

Dears,

first of all hi! I am a new member to the forum, joined just recently. I am 23 yo from Slovenia, EU. I had a budgie a couple of years ago (for almost 9 years) who passed away because of an illness. I got him as a baby from a certified breeder in Slovenia.

A couple of days ago I was on the beach when a couple of meters away a little budgie fell from the sky into the sea and started struggling to swin - it started to drown. I quickly jumped in the water to save him. As I had previous experience I knew how to grab him. He was obviously very agressive towards my hand. We (me and my gf) took him home and started to search for his owner, but nobody responded so we decieded to keep him. 

To describe him first: male, judging by the tag on his leg he is 1 year old and imported from Czech Republic (CZ 2016). The lady at the pet store told us that budgies from CZ aren't kept in good conditions also the transport is terrible and it is likley he is traumatised from that experience also. His nails were very long and it seems that his previous owner never clipped them. 

As we got home I have washed him because of the sea salt (itch) and put him in my cleaned old cage. He was ofcourse very frightened but in the next two days he started to chip and sing a bit. We also noticed that he started to listen to our convos. However, he is still very frightened of our close presence and our hands.
We try to talk to him alot - we also named him Rio. We also try to put our hands close to the cage so he would stop seeing us as a treath but he is very terrified by hands. We also got him a bigger rectangular cage instead of my old round one. We put a mirror and a swing inside but it seems he does not like them. We try to put him outside on the balcony because he seems happy outside. We keep him in our busiest room. Otherwise he seems normal - eating, drinking and sleeping normaly.

First of all we are wondering if we should take out the mirror as it can harm him psychologically, second we are hoping to get some tips on how to get him comfortable with our presence, because we'd like to let him out of the cage and move freely in the living room. 

As I lack experience for older budgies - as mentioned above I had one when since he was a baby as he was quickly domesticated and was never frightened and was very sociable from the beggining - seeing me as a parent.
So now I am struggling how to deal with a very frightened bird. 

I thank you in advance for all the tips and advices.

Best regards,

Andrej


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## StarlingWings (Mar 15, 2013)

Hi Andrej and :welcome: to the forums!

I'm so glad you were able to rescue this sweet little budgie. :hug:

First, I'm sure he's very grateful that you rescued him! However, it's true that he's probably terrified. You should give him two weeks to settle into his new cage and home, since it stresses him to have your hands near him, then just spend time talking to him while you're in the same room as him to make him feel more comfortable. After the two weeks, putting your hand on the outside of his cage to begin to get him acclimated to it is the right step, and then proceeding very slowly from there. It's most likely going to be very slow progress but I'm confident that with time, he'll start to warm up to you! 

I would definitely take out the mirror, it's not recommended for the reasons you already said, it can cause him to become obsessed with his reflection and consequently stressed and frustrated that his "friend" isn't there. 

You shouldn't let him out for a few weeks, especially not before he's at least comfortable with you standing near his cage. As long as his cage is the minimum size recommended for one budgie (45cm x 45cm x 45cm) then he'll be just fine! :thumbsup:

Be sure to read through the forum's many Budgie Articles and "stickies" (threads "stuck" to the top of each subform for easy reference) to ensure you're up to date on all the best practices for budgie care. You'll find information on all your questions (including some you don't know you have yet ) on the forums. 

If you have any questions after reading through everything, be sure to ask!

Best wishes! :wave:


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## FaeryBee (May 9, 2011)

*Hi Andrej and :welcome: to Talk Budgies

A big thank you and karma for being a hero and rescuing the little budgie! :hug:
What have you named him?
It's great that you've bought him a rectangular cage and want to ensure you give him the best care possible for his optimal health and well being.

Star has given you excellent advice.
Because of the traumatic experience the little budgie has been through, it may take him longer to acclimate to his new home and become used to your presence. Simply sitting next to his cage and talking, reading or singing to him several times a day will go a long way to help build his trust in you.

Please take the time to read through the Site Guidelines, all of the How To Guides, the FAQs, the Budgie Articles and the stickies located at the top of each section of the forum.

Truly, the very BEST advice anyone can offer you is to take the time to read ALL of the stickies throughout the various Talk Budgie forums as well as the Budgie Articles we have posted.

These are great resources for Talk Budgie members and have a wealth of reliable information which will assist you to learn the best practices in caring for your budgies for their optimal health and well-being.

Site Guidelines
http://talkbudgies.com/general-budgie-talk/333106-posting-forums.html
http://talkbudgies.com/general-budgie-talk/388145-lets-talk-budgies.html
How-To Guides
FAQs Frequently Asked Questions
Budgie Articles
http://talkbudgies.com/general-budgie-talk/295001-list-stickies.html
http://talkbudgies.com/general-budgie-talk/295033-prepared-veterinary-care-expense.html
Avian First Aid
Why Quarantine?

http://talkbudgies.com/articles-general-budgie-info/227841-50-common-budgie-dangers-watch-out.html

http://talkbudgies.com/budgie-breeding/327881-heartfelt-plea-forum-members-new-old.html
When We Don't Want Eggs

http://talkbudgies.com/housing-budgies/24411-cage-sizes.html
http://talkbudgies.com/housing-budgies/31719-essentials-great-cage.html
http://talkbudgies.com/general-budgie-talk/339826-resource-directory.html

When you upload pictures as thumbnail attachments directly from your computer, tablet or phone, the forum automatically defaults to landscape.

To upload full-sized pictures with the proper orientation, please use a photo-sharing service such as Imgur and follow the steps in these instructions:
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If you have any questions after reading through everything, please be sure to ask!

Glad you decided to join us and looking forward to seeing you around the forums.

:wave:*


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## andrejremec (Sep 1, 2017)

Dears,

I would like to post an update on my budgie. We named him Rio and he is a very charming fellow. Well in the morning he can get quite noisy . He talks with us all the time. Chrips most of the time but also screeches sometimes with some very odd high pitch "calls".

He is still a bit afraid of our presence - if we are too close to the cage. Especially of " the hand ".

However, we did make some nice progress in the past few days. I have removed his seed box and tried to feed him seeds myself. I put my hand in the cage every 30minutes to see if he will start to eat. After a few hours of stuborness, he started to trust a bit "the hand". But I still see he doesnt fully trust me - he reaches very slowly for the seeds in a mechanical kind of way but when he starts to eat, oh boy, he doesnt stop. I feed him like that 4 times a day. Whenever I am not at home I still give him his seed box. 

I have to mention his behaviour has changed a bit since he started to hand feed. He is not that annoyingly noisy anymore.

Hopefully I will be able to teach him to hop on the finger in the near future.

He still was not let out of the cage. Should we let him out a bit?

Andrej


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## iHeartPieds (Jan 9, 2017)

I wouldn't recommend you remove his food source. You are essentially forcing him to eat from your hand, and his only alternative is to starve. You can try hand feeding him, but don't take away his seed bowl. Let him choose to come to you. You can offer him millet to encourage him further.


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## NormH (Oct 22, 2015)

A gift from Heaven? I've been feeling very spiritual of late...  How fortunate that the bird found you. Anyone else may not have known what to do.


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