# How long will it take my rescue budgie to fly again?



## Sparkyplus (7 mo ago)

I’ve just rescued Coco from a loving home but they didn’t realise he couldn’t fly. His mum had a new baby and had gone back to work and were not letting Coco out as the baby was chasing him. She said he would run along the back of the sofa and perch in her hands, but she can’t remember the last time she actually saw him fly.
He dropped like a stone the first time I got him out and he didn’t even know how to land and was rolling over. I gave him a perch to jump onto from the floor but he kept falling off and rolling over. The 2nd day he mastered the floor perch and could balance on it and land properly when he jumped off, but on attempting flying he was still just dropping. He could get up the ladder I put for him to climb back to his cage really fast.
Day 3 he felt more solid and could fly about 12” but only downwards. He likes to run along the floor really fast.
Now day 6 he is flying about 24” and still downwards. He likes to get back to his cage and I leave the door open all day so he gets exercise going in and out. He loves my other birds and they love him, sitting with him in his cage or ontop and he has a ladder from his cage to theirs and will go across if they have all gone into their cage to have a snooze.
I’m flying him about 5 times a day, just about 4/5 flights each time onto a soft rug and then I let him run back and climb up to his cage.
He’s about 3 years old, looks like nothing is wrong with him physically. His female partner died not long ago so he could be missing her, but he’s happy and wants to join my gang when they perch in the window at night time. He’s very close to them and sleeps on the top of his cage but can’t fly to join them. He did jump once and made it but hasn’t tried it again.
Am I giving him enough flying practice and how long do you think it will take him to start flying upwards?

Sorry, meant to add photos


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## FaeryBee (May 9, 2011)

*Thank you for rehoming Coco and providing him with a safe and loving forever home. 

Coco really should have been quarantined away from your other budgies initially.

For all members:
Quarantine means housing the new bird in a different cage in a different room than the current bird (as far away from the room the current bird is in as possible) for a period of 35-45 days.

Budgies mask symptoms when they are ill. Symptoms may not show up for over two weeks. 
Often you will not even realize your bird is not well. Many budgie illnesses are airborne which is why you need to quarantine your new bird in a completely different room.

Quarantine - Is it Really that Important?
Quarantine Your Birds
It is also a good idea to always take a new budgie in to see an Avian Vet for a "well-birdie" check-up. This allows you to develop a good relationship with the vet and the vet can establish a baseline for your bird in case of any future illnesses or injuries.

If Coco was never allowed to have out-of-cage flight time in his previous home, he may never have developed his muscles to allow him to fly.
Giving him the exercise of the short flights on a daily basis is the right approach. There is no way for us to determine how long it will take for his muscles to be strong enough for him to fly normally. Just have patience and keep working with him.

Millet should only be used as a treat or training aid and given very sparingly as it is extremely high in fat content.
It is not advisable to allow your birds to have a whole spray of millet in the cage.
Giving him two or three of the little millet balls a day is adequate.
Too much millet and a bird will not eat the nutritious healthy foods it needs.

I recommend you remove the wooden dowel perches in the cage and replace them with natural wooden perches of varying diameters to help prevent pressure sores.
Pressure Sores
Bumblefoot
The information in this link will give examples of better options for perches:
Essentials for a Great Cage

Best wishes in your flight training with Coco!💙💙*


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## StarlingWings (Mar 15, 2013)

Hello and welcome to the forums, 

Coco is adorable and it's great you were able to rehome him! 

You've been given great advice and resources above. Please be sure to read through everything to ensure you're updated on the best of budgie care practices, and if you have any questions afterward, we'd love to help answer your questions  

Hope to see you and Coco around here  

Cheers 👋


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## BudgieBirdie (6 mo ago)

Sparkyplus said:


> I’ve just rescued Coco from a loving home but they didn’t realise he couldn’t fly. His mum had a new baby and had gone back to work and were not letting Coco out as the baby was chasing him. She said he would run along the back of the sofa and perch in her hands, but she can’t remember the last time she actually saw him fly.
> He dropped like a stone the first time I got him out and he didn’t even know how to land and was rolling over. I gave him a perch to jump onto from the floor but he kept falling off and rolling over. The 2nd day he mastered the floor perch and could balance on it and land properly when he jumped off, but on attempting flying he was still just dropping. He could get up the ladder I put for him to climb back to his cage really fast.
> Day 3 he felt more solid and could fly about 12” but only downwards. He likes to run along the floor really fast.
> Now day 6 he is flying about 24” and still downwards. He likes to get back to his cage and I leave the door open all day so he gets exercise going in and out. He loves my other birds and they love him, sitting with him in his cage or ontop and he has a ladder from his cage to theirs and will go across if they have all gone into their cage to have a snooze.
> ...


It's awesome that you accepted him into your home. He is beautiful. I believe his mutation color is cobalt, right?


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## Sparkyplus (7 mo ago)

BudgieBirdie said:


> It's awesome that you accepted him into your home. He is beautiful. I believe his mutation color is cobalt, right?


Thank you, he is beautiful inside and out. No idea about his mutation colour, sorry x


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## annbi (Oct 12, 2021)

He looks just like my Blue who also cannot fly. Blue's brother Louie and his other two roommates fly all around. Blue keeps trying, he is 1 1/2 yrs old. I tie a rope from cage to tree and Blue walks the tightrope to get to the other birds. Also I make ladders so if he lands on the floor he can climb back up. It's not ideal but it is good exercise. I hope our birds will fly someday but meanwhile I think we are doing all we can!


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## Sparkyplus (7 mo ago)

I think Coco has probably progressed all he’s going to. He’s flying further but it’s still down! To be honest, there isn’t a lot of wing flapping going on so he’s just jumping really, he’s very good at jumping and running very fast, which I think he’s been doing all his life. Yes I have ladders too, one off the floor onto my original cage and one onto the window cill so he can get to the food tray and his cage, from which he can jump onto the window perches. I’m persevering with the flying lessons but he doesn’t like them, he just wants to get back with my 4 other budgies. I change things to give him challenges, which, bless him, he copes with very well and soon works out what he’s got to do. The biggest challenge will be removing his cage as he’s spending less time in there as his confidence grows, but I need to replace it with something else he can climb to get to the window perches with the others. It needs to be around 120cm so any suggestions would be welcome


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