Post by nikkesen on Jan 16, 2014 14:02:50 GMT
I've got four budgies, one male (Diego), and three females (Miles, Phoenix, Apollo). The male is the youngest of the four. I got him last March. The girls are between 1-2 years old.
When I obtained Diego, Apollo and Miles were tame and not afraid of hands, though they don't like fingers near the head, and Phoenix was semi-tame. Phoenix would get on a hand if she wanted but is stubborn and refused to co-operate, preferring to be independent. At this point, none of my girls had ever been aggressive toward me, and only nipped if my hand came too close at bed time if I was changing the water.
I got Phoenix when I got Miles. She was always a gentle budgie then, Even when Apollo was introduced, Phoenix was still gentle.
Initially Diego wasn't embraced by the three and was the subject of their collective bullying. Diego didn't like hands, so taming him was difficult. No one had taken to biting me. Yet.
He wasn't bonding any anyone until the summer of 2013 when Apollo played nice with him. After she did that, he began to ignore her and seek out Phoenix. In this time, I still hadn't been bitten by any of the girls. For several months up to December Phoenix would run from him or otherwise scorn his advances. Then almost overnight she went from ice queen to willing partner-in-crime. It was around this time the arguing and bullying escalated. Instead of being what it was -- the girls just making rapid trilling noise to indicate displeasure with encroachment of another on their preferred spot -- I noticed two budgies ganging up on another.
Diego and Phoenix had become a bonded pair, and little terrors towards Apollo and Miles. It's now the second month and it appears to be getting worse. Miles and Phoenix used to be bonded. They would preen and care for each other. But no more. Diego and Phoenix don't preen the others and are being bullies towards them worse yet, I find Phoenix is very aggressive toward me. I take them out every day because I need to ensure they aren't afraid of my hands so if there's a fire alarm in the apartment building, it's not a struggle to get them in the travel cage. And now it's a real problem with Phoenix. Twice she's bitten me and broken skin.
What do I do about Diego and Phoenix?
When I obtained Diego, Apollo and Miles were tame and not afraid of hands, though they don't like fingers near the head, and Phoenix was semi-tame. Phoenix would get on a hand if she wanted but is stubborn and refused to co-operate, preferring to be independent. At this point, none of my girls had ever been aggressive toward me, and only nipped if my hand came too close at bed time if I was changing the water.
I got Phoenix when I got Miles. She was always a gentle budgie then, Even when Apollo was introduced, Phoenix was still gentle.
Initially Diego wasn't embraced by the three and was the subject of their collective bullying. Diego didn't like hands, so taming him was difficult. No one had taken to biting me. Yet.
He wasn't bonding any anyone until the summer of 2013 when Apollo played nice with him. After she did that, he began to ignore her and seek out Phoenix. In this time, I still hadn't been bitten by any of the girls. For several months up to December Phoenix would run from him or otherwise scorn his advances. Then almost overnight she went from ice queen to willing partner-in-crime. It was around this time the arguing and bullying escalated. Instead of being what it was -- the girls just making rapid trilling noise to indicate displeasure with encroachment of another on their preferred spot -- I noticed two budgies ganging up on another.
Diego and Phoenix had become a bonded pair, and little terrors towards Apollo and Miles. It's now the second month and it appears to be getting worse. Miles and Phoenix used to be bonded. They would preen and care for each other. But no more. Diego and Phoenix don't preen the others and are being bullies towards them worse yet, I find Phoenix is very aggressive toward me. I take them out every day because I need to ensure they aren't afraid of my hands so if there's a fire alarm in the apartment building, it's not a struggle to get them in the travel cage. And now it's a real problem with Phoenix. Twice she's bitten me and broken skin.
What do I do about Diego and Phoenix?
Your other option is to get two more boy birds and hope to achieve a harmonious flock of six. Of course if you go this option, you would need to be pretty doggone sure you are buying boys (research, research!) so you don't just make the problem worse, and you would want a good sized cage to house six birds. 
