# Taming and Bonding with Niko



## Hunterkat

I figured I should start one of these journals- I'm a new budgie owner and would love to get advice just in case anything goes wrong.
Right now, I am incredibly proud of my little budgie. After only 2 days in his new place, he's started chirping, preening, and sometimes eating when I read to him and is comfortable with me being outside of his cage (not too close though- he gets nervous if I put hands in at all or act as though I'm going to). Currently, I'm not sure if he's even been to the bottom of his cage- he's been spending a lot of time on (or in!) his food bowl, goofy bird. Right now I'm just feeding him Volkman's seed- I've offered veggies and a bit of egg but as I have nowhere to put them except for the bottom I'm not sure if he's touched them. I might try putting some in an extra bowl tomorrow and hanging them near his food bowl. Will work on converting him to pellets once he's a little more comfortable in his new space.

Here's a picture of the little goofball in his food dish :lol:


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## VampiricConure

Hey there! Welcome to the Forum! I've noticed my little boogers like to sit near the top of their cage, too. I think it's because they're not ground foragers, so they prefer to stay up high. A second bowl by their main bowl should help them out  Sooner or later they'll figure out what to do.


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## FaeryBee

*Niko looks very comfy sitting in his food dish!

As time goes by, you can begin moving the food dishes lower in the cage.

Another thing I do is put the budgies' ration of seeds on top of the clean newspaper on the bottom grate of the cage.

This encourages the budgies' instinctive foraging behavior and gets them accustomed to using the entire cage instead of just the top portion.

All treats are given at the cage bottom level as well. *


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## Hunterkat

Thank you both for the advice! I'll definitely try shifting the bowls down gradually. He certainly does like staying up really high in his cage!


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## Hunterkat

Two quick questions:
Is the fact that he's chirping when I read to him a good thing? He hardly ever seems to make noise otherwise, though I have been leaving the room because whenever I'm just hanging out he doesn't seem to want to move- he will move when I read though, and I'm a lot closer to him then. It's a little confusing.

Is this beak grinding? (He makes a small noise when he does it, a little hard to hear over the radio in the background)


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## FaeryBee

*Katherine,

Chirping when you are reading to him is a very good thing. He's trying to interact with you.
Also, the fact he's moving around when you are reading means he feels comfortable.
When you are in the room, start talking out-loud either to yourself or to Niko when you aren't reading. 
The more you talk to him the more comfortable he will be.

Budgies like noise and sound. 
When you aren't around it's best to play music or the TV for him.

Unfortunately, I can't hear the sound Niko is making because of the radio. 
However, beak grinding sounds rather like someone grinding their teeth so that should give you enough information to figure out the noise for yourself. *


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## Hunterkat

Thank you for your reply! I was making sure he wasn't trying to tell me to go away or something haha. I have a radio playing for him all day and I'll try to talk a little more when I'm in here with him- I tend to be quiet.
Good to see what he was doing was beak grinding! I hadn't seen him do that before, but it makes sense, it was getting near his bedtime and he was probably getting sleepy.


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## Hunterkat

Is it okay to leave a budgie's cage uncovered at night? It's not a very active room (my bedroom) and Niko starts getting nervous (looking for a place to fly to, pacing back and forth) when I start to move the cover.


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## FaeryBee

*You can leave the cage uncovered if you wish but keep in mind that a bedtime routine is good for Niko.

My budgies have learned that when the cage covers come out it is time for them to get on their sleeping perches.

Using a cover on the top, three sides and 1/3 of the way down the front of the cage can help eliminate drafts as well as block light.*


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## Hunterkat

Okay, thanks for your reply. Is there anything I can do to make sure he isn't so nervous when I cover him up for the night?


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## FaeryBee

*When you get the cover out, start talking to him calmly and reassuringly.

Tell him it's time to go to bed and we're going to cover up the cage now.

Move slowly and gently as you put the cover on the cage talking to him the entire time.

Remember that if you are stressed and nervous he is going to pick up on your feelings. 
Be calm and assured yourself and project that to Niko.

Dealing with a budgie is like dealing with a two year old toddler. 
If you allow the budgie to dictate how you behave, it will be the one in charge rather than you. *


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## Hunterkat

Update:
Took Niko to the vet today. Good news: he's perfectly healthy. Bad news: he is extremely upset with me. I'll have to take a few steps back in our progress. We were to the point where I could put a hand inside of his cage and he would still be perfectly happy (seems too fast I know but he didn't care at all about the hand on the outside of his cage part). Hopefully after today he'll be less upset with me and we can continue working on our bond.


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## FaeryBee

*I'm very glad to hear Nikko is a healthy little fellow!! :thumbsup:

Nikko will forgive you pretty quickly for the vet visit.
Just take things at his pace and everything will soon be back on track with your your progress.*


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## Hunterkat

Update: Niko is still very wary of hands, but honestly he's a very chill bird. He doesn't get freaked out by new people unless they get too close to him. Currently I'm sitting in my bed and he's trying to get me to come over to him by chirping incessantly while clinging to the bars nearest to the bed.


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## FaeryBee

*Sometimes letting your budgie(s) come to you is the best option.

Also, I've found that offering my hand flat (palm down) for my birds usually works much better than expecting them to "step up" onto a finger. *


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## Hunterkat

I am offering a closed hand to him, no fingers for him yet, that's too scary. He has been on a perch close to my hand on the bottom of the cage as of this afternoon, which is wonderful progress! He was clearly interested in the millet in my hand but wasn't quite ready to step onto it to get to it yet. I'm proud of him


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## FaeryBee

*Katherine,
You and Niko are doing GREAT! :thumbup:*


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## Hunterkat

GREAT NEWS!!! :jumping:
I went up to Niko tonight to have our last session of me reading to him for today. He was sitting in the bottom of the cage near the door, so I didn't want to put my hand in and scare him. Instead, I offered a small spray of millet through the bars. He ate ALL of it, all the way up to my fingers!!! He's making so much progress!!


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## FaeryBee

*Well done, Niko! :urock:*


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## Hunterkat

Niko is still doing great! He will come across the cage for millet- he goes NUTS for it. He's still a little spooked if I accidentally move my hand while holding the millet, and won't eat from my hand inside the cage, but he's getting more and more comfortable with eating millet through the bars. Also I have to ask, what should I do if he eats through his normal portion of seed by the middle of the day? Should I offer more or give him something else? He's come close a few times to doing that. He's not currently eating pellets (I'm trying but he's stubborn) and he will eat broccoli sometimes.


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## FaeryBee

*Katherine,

It's best to ration his seed into two portions.
Give him 1/2 of his daily ration in the morning and the other 1/2 in the afternoon.

Have pellets available for him 24/7.

Try the Canary Sized Zupreem Fruity Pellets.
They are about the same size as seed and most budgies like them so they are an easy way to get budgies to try pellets.

You can try various types of vegetables.
Look at the stickies in the Diet and Nutrition section of the forum for different ways to present them to pique Nikko's interest.

Chop the top of broccoli into fine pieces - often budgies like that as they also resemble seeds. *


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## Hunterkat

Thanks! I'll definitely be better about portioning his seed. I'll have to get another bowl for him for pellets, which is fine. While I'm trying to get him to eat them, I should mix the seeds and pellets though, right? He does like eating just the little florets off of the broccoli, that's usually what I give him in the morning


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## FaeryBee

*When I introduced pellets to my budgie, my Avian Vet recommended using Harrison's High Potency Mash and sprinkling it on the budgie's seed mix every day. This way, when the budgie hulls the seed it tastes the pellet mash and ingests bits of it as well. This helps the budgie identify the taste as a food source.

Many members seem to find the easiest pellets to use for introducing pellets to their budgies to be the CANARY sized Zupreem fruity pellets. Most budgies like the taste and the "Canary" sized pellets are tiny enough for them to easily eat them. Once they've become accustomed to the Fruity Pellets, introducing the smallest "natural" pellets is then an easy step.

Other than when I was using the Harrison's mash, I've never mixed my birds' pellets and seed together.

My birds have three separate dishes each with a different brand/flavor of pellets available to them 24/7. 
Their seed is rationed to approximately 2 teaspoons of seed per budgie each day.

I divide their daily seed ration and they get 1/2 of it in the morning and 1/2 in the evening.

All of my birds have the option to eat the available pellets whenever they like throughout the day and they all enjoy them!

Using Apple Cider Vinegar (with the mother)
as a natural pro-biotic is very beneficial to your budgies:

http://talkbudgies.com/articles-holistic-natural-remedies/103936-apple-cider-vinegar.html*


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## Hunterkat

Thanks! I'll be sure to try that- currently trying to get him to eat the Harrison's mash


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## Birdmanca

I see the place he has found in the cage is a comfy one. For only 2 days with the bird, it is going quite well, as the bird appears like he will be getting more comfortable with you, and it will only get better.


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## Hunterkat

Niko ate millet from my hand inside the cage twice today!!! He's such a good baby bird, I'm so proud of him!


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## ColdWinterDream

Wooh! Go Niko!


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## FaeryBee

*:jumping: Niko :urock:

:smiley-talk017:*


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## ReneBC

Way to go Niko!
Well done


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## Hunterkat

Niko is still doing great with eating millet out of my hand in the cage. This morning he starting chatting with me and I thought it was too cute not to share. (Also if he ever starts talking he's definitely going to say baby bird first- I call him that way too much :001_tongue: )


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## ColdWinterDream

Too fun! I talk to mine a lot and say "Pretty birdies" or whistle "Hedwig's Theme." They don't talk back, but really enjoy it.


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## Hunterkat

Well I didn't expect this at all! Niko is still doing fine, is willing to eat out of but not quite step onto hands. Tonight though, my boyfriend was over and Niko ate from his hand too! (Under close supervision)
I was absolutely dumbfounded. I knew Niko didn't really mind other people being around too much but usually if they get too close he gets a little wary. Apparently he likes my boyfriend?


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## ColdWinterDream

My birds do this too. I'm sure other people may have a better opinion, but here's mine. I think that you are showing Niko that you are safe. He's trusting you so he feels anyone you let near him must be ok too. 

I may be completely off base with this so my opinion may change lol


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## Hunterkat

ColdWinterDream said:


> My birds do this too. I'm sure other people may have a better opinion, but here's mine. I think that you are showing Niko that you are safe. He's trusting you so he feels anyone you let near him must be ok too.
> 
> I may be completely off base with this so my opinion may change lol


That's an interesting theory! May very well be correct 

No real progress to speak of. Niko is still doing well with eating out of my hand. However, I'm wondering if maybe he'd be happier in a room with more activity. Currently, he's in my bedroom. He absolutely loves it when I read to him, starts chirping like crazy. I do play a radio for him all day. I'd love to move him down to the living room where there's more activity, but we have two dogs, and while they don't seem interested in him at all, I still don't want to risk leaving him unattended with them.

*sigh* I'm not really sure what to do. I want him to be happy and it seems that he really likes it when there's more going on in this room.


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## ColdWinterDream

Other pets can be an issue. I knew my dog would never consider touching them. My cat I had to watch carefully as I was unsure. I made sure the cage was very secure. All worked out for me and they are happily in the living room.


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## Hunterkat

This morning I got a bad scare. Niko was preening and I was sitting next to him. All of the sudden I look over and his wing is covered in blood. Turns out he was chewing on the clipped part of his wing and it broke one of his feathers on each side. I grabbed him with a cloth and applied styptic powder to the broken quills. Thank goodness I already had a first aid kit prepared for him. He's currently sitting on the bottom of his cage and is obviously freaked out. I know I scared him half to death. I'm watching him to make sure his wing doesn't start bleeding again. He also lost his two longest tail feathers during all of this somehow.


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## FaeryBee

*I'm glad you had the first aid kit prepared and knew how to handle the situation. :thumbsup:

Niko probably lost the two tail feathers due to the stress of the situation. They will be replaced as he molts. :hug:

I hope Niko is doing well now.*


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## Hunterkat

FaeryBee said:


> *I'm glad you had the first aid kit prepared and knew how to handle the situation. :thumbsup:
> 
> Niko probably lost the two tail feathers due to the stress of the situation. They will be replaced as he molts. :hug:
> 
> I hope Niko is doing well now.*


He's doing much better- he decided to go back up to his swing and is more relaxed now. I didn't know budgies could lose feathers from stress! Poor guy. :upset:

Small update- I ended up having to pull the feather- Niko wouldn't stop picking at it and made it bleed again. Poor guy.


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## Hunterkat

HUGE NEWS!!!! Niko has now stood on my hand twice!! I just put some millet a little out of reach across my palm and he stepped on my palm after thinking about it for a while! 
Here's a picture from earlier today, poor guy looks a little rough from his blood feather fiasco but he's still the cutest budgie in this house!


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## Hunterkat

Haven't updated this in way too long, but Niko has been making fantastic progress! 

He's completely willing to step on my finger, but the way he does it cracks me up. He refuses to step up unless I bribe him, but once I just hold up a nub of millet in his line of sight he starts waving his foot in the air, then runs over and hops right on. So clearly he knows the concept, but he won't do it unless he knows there's something in it for him. Smart bird 
In the meantime, he's still wary of my hands unless I have millet or he knows I'm going to offer it to him. Is this something that's going to decrease over time as he gets more and more used to hands being around him?

He also won't come out of his cage but that doesn't bother me. It is funny to see all of the doors open and him completely ignoring it. 
He's getting a lot more vocal, too. He's started making all sorts of trilling and chattering noises a lot more often than he used to. 

I'm still worried he might be bored, he sits around a lot. I've been trying to introduce him to the idea of playing with toys but he's shown no interest in anything except for the vine ball I stuffed with millet. Hopefully, over time he'll start showing more interest in them.

Anyway, that's all I wanted to give an update on, he's really doing great! He's such a sweet little bird.


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