# taming 3 budgies at the same time



## marija

Hello everybody, I am new to this forum and I read a lot of useful advices of how to tame your budgie but I think I am being a bit stuck. Let me explain the situation, I got 2 young budgies from the pet shop, after a while they would step up on a branch so I could get them in and out of the cage, and were fine with perching on a finger too. I didnt know their gender but turned out they were both females and start fighting a lot. One was kind of relaxed with me and would try to lend on my hands mostly cause she just adores the milled seeds so would do anything in hope to get them while the other was just grumpy and avoiding me completely. At the tame only one of them was in the breeding condition, while I still didnt know the gender of the other one. I got a flight cage and a new male to hang out with the grumpy one and after some time I put them all in the big cage. However, the male at the end bonded with the other female and the grumpy one is still just being a bit mean to both of them. So the situation now is that the male is avoiding me totally (even though in the quarantine time he would eat from my hand and set up on a perch), the grumpy female will only eat millet from my hand and the other female is way less interested in me now that she has a boyfriend and would come to me only if i offer her millet. What is the best way to proceed? I understand I made mistake by getting a male before taming two other birds but I hoped it will calm things down. I also understand I should get one more mail to have stable situation but would like to be able to take in and out all the birds before I add a new one... Any advice on how to do it? Tried separating them but they are just calling each other and probably hating me even more...

P.S sorry for the long post


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## aluz

Welcome to the forums! 

In order to gain the trust of a pet bird and to truly solidify the bond during the taming process, it's important to be consistent when it comes to the quality time spend with the pet birds and the daily interactions we have with them, and it takes time to strengthen the bond and reach a good level of tameness.
By having multiple budgies sharing a cage together, it's only natural for them to bond more closely to their same species friends and this will directly affect some of the work previously done, especially when a given pet bird was only at the very early stages of taming.

Another important aspect worthy of note is the fact that early on, you have started to have problems with your females fighting. 
When there is real fighting, chasing and consistent bullying, it's recommended to separate the aggressive budgie and house him/her on a separate cage. 
This is done in order to avoid an escalation of the fighting that can have a tragic ending.
By getting a male budgie and housing him with the two females, the problem is exacerbated because once all birds reach maturity, the chances for the fights between your budgies to intensify are much higher.
http://talkbudgies.com/articles-gen...ship-differences-dynamics-between-flocks.html
For your current situation and since you seem to be fairly new to budgies, it's best to hold off on adding a 4th budgie to the mix.
For your budgies' overall safety and welfare, it's best that you house your aggressive female in a separate cage and keep this arrangement.
There are ways to help decrease anxiety and stress levels while adjusting to the change, by covering the cage on 3 sides and having some music on.
During this time, you can also give the lone budgie some extra TLC and even start working one-on-one with her in terms of improving the bond.
You can start by the very basics at first, by making a connection simply by standing close to the cage and getting your budgie used to your voice.
By watching your budgie's behaviour and body language you will know when to proceed. If the budgie is showing curiosity towards you and is moves closer to you while in the cage, then you can re-introduce your hand and offer a little treat through the cages' bars. 
Once your budgie is more confident, then you can slowly place your hand inside the cage offer the little treat while encouraging your budgie to step up onto your hand/finger.
You can do the same with your other two budgies and use the one who shows more signs of being receptive to you in order to gain confidence in the other who is less interested. 
By keeping up a good atmosphere, using some treats and verbal rewards through praise words, with time you will see progress in their taming.
Be sure to check the detailed information on the sticky threads at the top of the Taming and Bonding section's main page.

Good luck!


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## StarlingWings

Hi there and :welcome: to Talk Budgies! 

I'm sorry to hear of the problems you've been having amongst your flock, but Aluz has given the best possible advice to help everybudgie stay happy and stress free :thumbsup: 

Be sure to read through the links provided as well as the rest of the forum's articles and "stickies" (threads "stuck" to the top of each subforum for easy reference) to ensure you're up to date on the very best of budgie care. If you have any questions afterwards, be sure to ask as we'd love to help! 

We would love to meet your budgies when you get a chance hoto:

Hope to see you around the forums :wave:


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## marija

Hi, thank you for the replies. I did try to separate them but they all start screaming once they are separated. If I keep them in the same room they are just trying to get into the other cage and nobody seem happy and I just feel like a really bad person... I also noticed that the aggressive female is mostly upset when the couple is flirting, and also that the male does flirt sometimes with both females, can she be just jealous? So my question is if I should just wait till the separated bird stops hating me and trying to go to the the others, or that will never happen? The most I waited were 3 days but I noticed she didnt eat much and got worried so I put her back with the others...
Thanks again! Next post will have the photo, I promise


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## StarlingWings

You should separate them again; it takes time for them to adjust to the new situation. You should put their cages in different rooms so that the female can't here the other two budgies, and close each door and play music in each room as well to muffle the chirps. In time, they will settle into their new routine. You will be able to work with the single female and hopefully the other male and female will get on just fine :thumbsup: Best of luck!


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## marija

Hi guys, thanks, so they were separate these days but my flat is not big enough for them not to hear each other so its hard to focus them on me.. Today they had a out-of-the-cage time together and it went quite well, so maybe at the end they become friends! The avatar photo is from the today, the aggressive female is the green one on the right (permanently in the breeding condition -.-), and i am very happy that they all managed to eat milled without too much fighting


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## StarlingWings

I'm glad that their out of cage time is going well.  

Housing them separately permanently is still the best option, this way they will each have their own space but can interact during out of cage time :thumbsup:


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