One day you are playing with your budgie, who is jumping around the cage, chirping happily, and everything seems great. The next morning, when you attempt to interact with them, they start to squawk and just seem upset at your presence.
Somehow, you’ve lost the budgie’s trust. You obviously want to know how to gain that trust back but have no idea where to start.
Normally, you can regain a budgie’s trust by first figuring out what you did and then keeping them comfortable.
However, sometimes you may need to start the bonding process over again with methods like playing music or giving treats to rebuild trust. Read on and you’ll learn exactly what to do.
How to lose a budgie’s trust?
You never meant to lose your budgie’s trust. Sometimes, it just happens despite our best efforts. You must understand that it is extremely easy to lose your budgie’s trust.
As previously stated, parakeets are prey animals, and while we mean them no harm, we might as well be considered predators from their point of view.
All the trust you had previously gained could be wiped out because of a simple action.
You could’ve lost it by simply pushing their fear threshold too far or doing such things as yelling, not keeping their cage at eye level, attempting to catch a bird that has escaped from its cage or even not spending time with them.
Not spending time with your budgie.
Unlike animals such as cats, who value their independence and solitude, budgies do not like to be alone.
Even if they don’t have another budgie to keep them company, they will seek it out in humans (whether they are skittish around them or not).
If you fail to spend time with them or leave the budgie alone in a quiet room for long periods of time, this could greatly stress them out and lead to a breach of trust.
These birds are just not meant to sit in silence and be alone.
Screaming
Budgies are fragile animals because of their prey status. They are easily spooked by loud noises and/or harsh environments.
Screaming at or around the budgie is one good way to lose their trust.
Your budgie will interpret the yelling as a threat to their safety, and the last place they’ll want to be is anywhere near you.
A noisy environment can also rattle their nerves, so quiet is a must.
Not keeping the cage at eye level.
Budgies are tiny little creatures. Imagine what they must see when they look at us!
It must be terrifying, and a surefire way to stoke this fear is by not having the cage above or at eye level.
It’s necessary for the cage to, at the very least, be at eye level so they won’t continue to be nervous when you are around their cage.
This way, the budgie feels a sense of security.
Catching a bird that flies out
Despite our best efforts to keep our budgie in the cage, sometimes they are going to get free.
If they get out, the last thing you want to do is grab them or attempt to after they’ve landed. This will only scare them.
The best thing you can do is just wait, leaving the cage door open. They’ll come back eventually.
How can you regain your budgie’s trust?
Once you have lost the trust of your budgie, you are going to be sent into panic mode.
No one wants to lose their animal’s trust in any capacity. However, sometimes despite our best efforts, it happens.
The next thing to do is to regain that trust and start building a bond with your budgie again.
Before you jump into the bonding process, you need to make them as comfortable as possible, which you can do by being in their presence and keeping a calm environment.
Keep them company
Budgies are not solitary animals. They are very social and live in groups, so even if you did cause them to lose their trust in you, continue to be around them.
Parakeets like company, and simply having another presence in the room can do wonders for their happiness.
Alternatively, you can also get another parakeet to keep your budgie company or add a mirror into its cage! Budgies love mirrors.
Keeping a calm environment
The best way to start to regain your budgies’ trust is by creating a stress-free environment.
Keep their cage in an area that doesn’t have a lot of foot traffic and is on the quiet side. This will ensure that they will become comfortable again in their surroundings.
What can you do to bond with a budgie?
Worry not! There are things you can do that will help you rebuild that bond with your budgie.
Sure, once trust is lost, it is not easily regained, but this doesn’t mean it’s impossible.
You could talk or listen to music and give them treats to help the process along. However, keep in mind that it’s a slow process.
Make noise!
Budgies are some of the biggest noisemakers on the planet.
They love stimulation like talking or singing, and while they may not understand what you are saying, they will enjoy it.
If you cannot be around all the time, you could leave on the radio or television. This way, when they are alone, they won’t get lonely, and it’ll be like someone is in the room with them.
Remember, yelling doesn’t count. This is stress-inducing.
Food
The way through almost any person or pet’s heart is through their stomach. For your budgie, it’s a good way to get them to trust you.
Food gives the budgie an incentive to approach you and/or your hand.
They may quickly grab at the food with their beak and then scurry away, but the fact that the budgie approached you is a good sign!
There are a lot of different treats you could try. You could go with the usual millet treat they make for birds or a small piece of veggie or fruit.
Make sure you research what fruits parakeets can and cannot eat. There are some that are not good for them.
A slow process
One thing that I have always tried to make clear is that the bonding and trust-building process is never an easy thing. It takes time and is a slow process.
This is especially true if you are working on rebuilding the bond. If your bird is new, the same thing still applies to you. Just don’t expect a miracle.
Sometimes, a budgie just won’t bond with you
If you’ve repeatedly tried to bond with your budgie and have made no progress, then chances are you may not bond with them.
I know the idea of never being able to properly bond with your pet is a devastating piece of information.
However, because of the potential cause of past trauma in their life or because they have no interest in humans, the bond may never form.
Previous trauma
We’ve all experienced some amount of trauma in our lives. Unfortunately, it happens despite our best attempts to prevent it.
For animals, such as budgies, this is no different. They could have been abused by a past owner or someone in their lives at one point.
If this is the case, then the trauma could keep them from being able to bond properly with you.
No interest
Most people have certain preferences for pets or just don’t like a certain type, say, preferring cats over dogs. Animals can be the same.
They can prefer their species over humans. They may just have no interest in them. Whatever the reason, they don’t want to bond, and your budgie can fall into this category.
You can try as hard as you want with a bird like this, but it’s going to do nothing. All it will do is upset them and make them avoid you even more.
It’s still completely possible to enjoy owning a budgie despite them not wanting to interact with you.
Just keep loving and spending time with them. Having a bird is always a joy because their chirping will put a smile on your face like my budgies always did for me.
Final thoughts
And there we have it, my dear readers. Losing a budgie’s trust can be as easy as yelling at /around them or pushing their fear threshold too far.
This can be remedied by starting the bonding process with your budgie over again.
You may have to use music, treats, and a variety of tips and tricks to get them to where they can trust you again.
It can be done, provided you don’t have a bird that refuses to bond with you under any circumstances.
If you end up in that situation, just be there for your bird. They will appreciate it.