# My budgie is mean...



## TeddyDoughnut (Oct 10, 2015)

I bought my budgie Piña about three weeks ago and since then she has not stopped biting, pacing or looking for ways to escape. The only time I have had to grab her was when she was let out accidentally a few times.

I have tried millet sprays and fruit mixes as well as fresh grass seeds which my other budgie piglet loves. But no matter what I do she still bites me and screeches angrily all the time. 

Her and piglet became good friends but then piglet started trying to mate with her but she is too young so i opted to put him outside in my parents aviary (he gets along with them just fine) and she has gotten much more agitated since then...

I am beginning to wonder whether I can train her... I really want to persist but she has left a lot of marks on my hand from the biting and I am starting wonder whether I will get anywhere with her.. she hasn't responded to anything I have seen on budgie training tutorials.


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## Budget baby (Jan 1, 2013)

Hello and welcome, firstly I have moved your thread to Training and Bonding as this is more appropriate for your question. I also took out the word Help from your title. I will PM you in regards this.
As far as your little hen goes she has had a lot of stress in her short time with you by the sounds of things. Three weeks is still a relatively short amount of time to settle in, plus she had a friend who she became bonded to by the sounds. How old is Pina is she going through a moult, is she in condition as her friend was trying to mate with her? The stress of her friend going will make her become agitated and pace, worrying where he is. Did she come from a large aviary where she was with other budgies, can she hear the budgies in your father's aviary?
You also mentioned she escaped several times and had to be caught by yourself. All of these actions will definitely cause her to be wary and not relaxed.
Can you place Piglet in another cage so she can and does still have a friend to relate to? They could be supervised for free flight time and play.
I will attach some links for you to read through.
I feel you need to simply let her become happy in her environment , and learn her cage is her safe place. Cover her cage on three sides and sit near the cage and simply talk to her. Then when she is coming to the bars and listening to you move on .

All budgies are different in personality and the way they will interact especially hens, they have hormonal issues to contend with as well as being the new bird.

http://talkbudgies.com/budgie-behavior/297369-frustrated-budgie-behavior-please-read-thread.html

http://talkbudgies.com/training-bon...05-using-positive-reinforcement-training.html


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## FaeryBee (May 9, 2011)

*Budgies generally bite because they are scared, they are trying to show dominance and/or they are protecting their territory.

When you have a bird, you have to work within the constraints of the bird's preferences rather than your own. 

If your budgie is scared and biting, you should give it some space.
Spending a lot of time with your budgie, without touching her, can help her learn to trust you.

Some birds do not like to be held or touched -- however they may still be willing to interact with you on their terms (e.g. nibbling a bit of millet from your hand but remaining safely on their perch.)

Time and patience are key with taming a budgie. You must go slow and you must respect the budgie's boundaries. 3 or 4 short sessions of 10 minutes a day will work better than one long intense session.

Please look through the stickies in the Training and Bonding section of the forum for some very good tips.

Do you know Pina's age? She may be at the "teenage" state where the hormones kick-in and budgies tend to become more aggressive.

http://talkbudgies.com/training-bonding/225961-biting-learned-often-avoidable-behavior.html

I'd try some positive reinforcement training and consider starting clicker training with her. 

http://talkbudgies.com/training-bonding/237105-using-positive-reinforcement-training.html

http://talkbudgies.com/training-bonding/265337-basics-clicker-training.html*


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## Jonah (Feb 3, 2013)

Cathy, and Deborah have both given you great info, and advice. Don't get discouraged, your identification of the issues, and patience with your bird will pay off....


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## Figtoria (Apr 27, 2015)

3 weeks isn't very long at all.

I don't think Miss Marple relaxed properly until she'd been home about a month. And THEN we started to make some progress (slowly) on her training.

Don't give up! As all the experienced people here have said - it's all about patience... (something I need to remind myself frequently!)


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