A BUDGIE TEMPER TANTRUM ?

[lovezebs]

Hello all you budgie lovers.

Has anyone ever had a Budgie that has temper tantrums?

Well I have one!

My darling Freebee, loves to roam around the kitchen while I clean bird cages. She runs around on the floor, up and down the dog beds, climbs the sides of the flights , forages for tossed seeds and generally has a wonderful time.
When it's time for her to go back into her cage, I offer her a stick, she climbs aboard and gets a free ride to her cage, goes in and no problems.

Lately however, my little missy has decided that she has a mind of her own, and refuses to climb on the stick and go back home. We play tag around the table, around chairs, under flights.... It would be hilarious, (if it wasn't so frustrating) to watch me chasing after this tiny little bird all around the kitchen. She runs to beat hell this way and that way, with me giving chase.

The last couple of times, I've had to grab her, and then the poop hits the fan. My pretty little girl literally throws a temper tantrum. She struggles, she screeches, she screams and has a fit. I don't quite know what to make of it, but I don't like it.

Has anybody run into this behavior before? I'd be curious to know how to deal with this (?) If I put her down, she hops away, as happy as can be. If I hang on to her, she keeps screaming, and I mean screaming. I know I'm not hurting her in any way whatsover, but don't want to scare her to a point where she has a heart attack. Problem is, I'm not sure if she's scared, seems more angry than frightened.

Any ideas, or advice as to how to deal with this?

~Elana~

[cindy]

Up until recently I was raising English budgies, had over 31 at one time. Every time I had to catch or band or hold a hen the hens through fits, tried to bite. Males tend not to scream at you.

She apparently enjoys herself out of the cage as do most hookbills. My conure knows the routine when out and can tell when I am about to put her back into the cage. Some days it is rather easy to get her back in and others she runs, flies and is sending the clear message that she is happier out and is avoiding going back in.

If you are holding her and she screams and you know you are not hurting her and you let her have her freedom again because she is screaming they are smart enough to know to act and you get a reaction. The screaming is just protest/bluff. Do not give in.

Not sure how you are holding her but most hens tend to bite when held....a safe way to hold your bird if it is a biter is with the head between the pointer finger and middle finger (bend your fingers so she can't nail you. In this position the body of the bird is resting in the palm of your hand, her back to you palm. It is better for the bird since if held firmly around the body it can restrict breathing and is uncomfortable.

To make going back in the cage a bit more enjoyable offer her a treat or refill a favorite cup with her favorite food.

[lovezebs]

cindy
Thanks for response.
Freebee doesn't bite me (thank goodness) just this incessant screeching, that makes everyone think I'm skinning her alive. The way I'm holding her definitely does not restrict breathing, or she wouldn't be able to scream like that.

I am assuming Freebee, is a girl. She is one of those Budgies that's hard to sex because of her colour. She's young, and when I first got her, I finger trained her and she was quite open to having her neck and head rubbed etc. Then I had a crisis with a bunch if Society hatchings that were tossed. I was handfeeding almost around the clock, and didn't have any one on one time with little Freebles. My poor Socie babies didn't make it, and Freebee hasn't forgiven my lack of cuddle time with her. Geesh!

She now refuses to come up on my finger, and throws these fits. She really is not food motivated. I only offer spray millet for good behaviour, yet she turns her beak up at it now when in one of her moods. Doesn't care for things like honey sticks etc.

Other people have these sweet little budgies, that can't wait to spend time with their humans, and lucky me to end up with my little shrew, who will not be tamed .

~Elana~

[vinay]

I tempt my ringneck in with treats . I usually don't offer any food to him outside. Hes learnt over time that he has to go in if he wants to eat.
Every time he goes in , I give him a cashew(which he loves) while saying 'in' . I don't need to use the treats any more.

Try giving Coriander as a treat to train her. All of my birds seem to go crazy over it . My budgies which are extremely reluctant to try new foods are really motivated by it .

I would suggest you refrain from grabbing her with your hands. Her screeching is pure expression of dislike and discomfort .
If you haven't been spending too much time with her off late , theres a high chance she'll begin to associate your hands with 'bad things' and all the time you put into training her would have been wasted.
You might have to start from scratch with the whole taming process.

If you really do have to return her to the cage in a hurry , I highly recommend using a towel or cloth to grab her. That way you'll save yourself from being bitten and she won't associate your hands with bad experiences .

Hope this helped

[MiaCarter]

Oh yes! I've definitely seen my fair share of temper tantrums!
It's relatively uncommon in smaller less intelligent birds like budgies, but quite common in larger, smarter birds.

I had one budgie who actually LEARNED how to have temper tantrums from her friend, an African Grey.

Both hated it when I'd put them in their cages at night. The Af. Grey had been locked up her entire life and had "discovered" freedom and had a VERY hard time going to bed at night.
The Af. Grey would shriek incessantly, biting the bars, plucking feathers, tossing food (almost always while screaming.) This would continue even after lights out for a good 45-60 min, which was shocking to me as usually lights out is like an "off" button for birds.
My mistake was letting her out of the cage on a few occasions in the beginning, because it got so extreme (the plucking in particular) I was frightened for her safety. That made it worse, of course, because now she knew that pitching a fit = a mechanism for getting her way. (They're not kidding when they say that some birds are like a small child!)

The budgie, who also hated going to bed and always made valiant bedtime evasion maneuvers, saw this occur and started doing the same. Shrieking and tossing food at bedtime. It was a more simplistic imitation of Molly's behavior.

The solution, by the way, was moving Molly's cage to a guest bedroom (where she couldn't hear/see me) and ignoring her fits completely.
She'd pitch a fit for about 5-10 min, then simmer down. It became clear that much of the fit was for MY benefit; her way to tell me she was unhappy and an attempt to manipulate me to let her out.

I think Freebee is just expressing her displeasure. She's angry with you for giving her lots of attention and then giving her less attention.
So I would just let her spend time outside the cage, where she can be around you in a passive way. Wait for the fits to subside (and do NOT acknowledge her when she acts like this! The tantrums are largely for your benefit) and then start over with her in terms of relationship building.

Acknowledge and work with her when she's open to it.
A temper tantrum marks the end of the session; trying to work with her when she's tantruming just makes it worse.
Eventually, the anger will subside and her desire for attention will win out.

[lovezebs]

vinay
Thanks fo the info. Coriander? Never heared of it as a treat. Do you just offer it as is?

So far haven't found anything that she really likes. I mean she might graciously accept some spray millet now and again, but it's not working as an incentive to get her back into her cage.

The small towel idea might work. Will have to try that, although with this one it may only work once or twice, she catches on quick .

By the way, Freebee doesn't bite me. She used to do a little affectionate preening nibble, but not any more. Now she just screams at me.

~Elana~

[lovezebs]

MiaCarter
Hi Mia.
Once Freebee is back in her cage, she's fine. No screaming, no plucking, no food tossing.
I really think that the screaming is an attempt to intimidate me. It is ear splitting.

I'm just not sure, if I should keep holding her until she stops screaming, or just put her in her cage when she starts the infernal shrieking.

I mean I can hang on to her, but as mentioned above, I'm scared of giving her a heart attack or something. After these episodes, she sits in her cage breathing hard and giving me dirty looks.

~Elana~

[MiaCarter]

I would try to avoid triggering the tantrums as best you can. Maybe that means not letting her out? Or letting her out for long periods and letting her return home on her own.
When it does happen, just ignore her fit entirely. Tune it out. Don't say a word and just her back in her cage. Pretend it didn't happen. If the fit is to intimidate you or to manipulate you to avoid going home, then it's not going to work.

I wouldn't hold on to her and try to wait it out. It's just going to upset her more and she may come to associate you with negative experiences.

Agreed that the towel is a great idea if you need to put her back in a hurry. I recommend using a different towel each time. Use the same one and she'll anticipate it and take evasive maneuvers.

A couple ideas for getting a bird to go home on their own:
-serve dinner.
-turn the lights out.
-close the playground.

You may just need to start anew. Start by just talking to her and offering millet or anything else she enjoys. Give her attention without direct contact for a while.

I would make a concerted effort to avoid triggering the tantrums for a couple weeks. That may mean staying in her cage or letting her have more freedom so she can come-go as she pleases. Whatever equation makes sense.
Animals get stuck in a habitual rut and it can be difficult to overcome that habit. It can happen with plucking other birds, with dogs chasing cats, with animals getting into fights with a particular individual. So try to avoid the trigger for a while and she'll have a chance to "re-program."
Once she's been tantrum-free for a couple weeks, start direct contact again gradually and start taking her home when it's time. (If the contact triggers her tantrum, give her some more time then try again.)
That should fix it!

It may also help if you can figure out a way to make going home look like the good choice or the lesser of two evils. This is what happens when you serve dinner or turn the lights out.
I also achieve this during free-fly by showing the net to any stragglers who don't want to go home. The finches know that if they don't go home on their own or let me take them home, they're going to get netted - something they do not like. I hold up the net and take a step toward the straggler and they zip past me, flying straight home.

[lovezebs]

MiaCarter
Thanks. I hope it works. She was coming along so nicely.... sigh~
Let's hope she makes a come back to her sweety self.

~Elana~

[MiaCarter]

lovezebs - Indeed, let us know how it goes!
I'm sure she'll be fine. Just a matter of helping her break out of a pattern of behavior and making those tantrums ineffective for achieving whatever goal she's striving to achieve.

Also, check out the last 2 paragraphs in my note above about the lesser of 2 evils. I was adding them when you left your reply.

[Sheather]

My budgie hen will scream up a storm if I ever have to catch her and it's hard to believe such a sound can come from a bird. The one male will bite, but nothing else. The other two won't bite no matter what, they just endure it.

I also recommend the towel, it's how I catch mine. I also use it to restrain Gracie the cockatiel when his claws need clipping - I thought he would hate it, but in fact he seemed to love the attention and was singing and enjoying the whole process... made my job easier lol.

[vinay]

lovezebs

Like you said , none of my smaller birds seem to like any of the conventional treats .
I meant Fresh coriander . They especially seem to like the stalks. If you offer her a large bunch of it just washed , she might even have a bath in the water droplets lol.
Well all of my birds except the ringneck parakeets seem to have a liking for it . I found that parsley works well though not as effectively as coriander. The non-hookbills like it too.

[lovezebs]

Sheather
Isn't it an awful sound that they can make..... it makes you think your killing them, eventhough you know your not hurting them in any way.

I can sense that she's angry with me. This isn't fear, it's pure anger and outrage.

@vinay
I will have to look around for coriander, I'm not sure how readily available it is over here. I have tried different veggies with the Budgies with no success. Where my Finches, eat fruits and vegetables like starving goats, the Budgies show no interest. Will definitely look in the store though. Thanks.

~Elana~

[Atbird]

lovezebs

Coriander is readily available, we call it cilantro and almost all supermarkets have it in the produce aisle.

[lovezebs]

Atbird
Oh, ok!!! Now I know what it is. Cilantro aka Italian parsley. Yes, we have it here. Personally like the other parsley better, but anything for my little Princess.

Thanks so much for clarifying that for me.

~Elana~