Skitzoid Parakeet--Why?

[Sonoran Silkies]

Several months ago I added a young male budgie to my older female. She is fairly tame and acts like all other parakeets I have ever had. He will not tame down, and sporadically will fly like a banshee around the cage, literally tossig himself against the walls, top and floor. This can occur at any time of day or night, and does not seem to be caused by any sort of external happening--although changing feed or water, or just looking at them up close can also set him off, as does ANY reaching into the cage. However, most of the time he goes berzerk for no apparent reason, when no one is anywhere near his cage. Last night at about 2 or 3 am he went berzerk. No lights, no noise, no nothing until he started his rampage. Poor girl was sitting motionless on her perch until he bashed into the side of the cage near ber and she flew down to the floor for refuge.

Any idea what is going on? Or how to calm him down?

 

[WoodlandWoman]

Have you tried giving him some cover, so he can feel safer? For new birds that are nervous, I drape something over the back half of the cage. It covers the back and the back half of the top and sides. Then, they can sit back there and only need to worry about what's in front of them. I use something that's not too dark colored or patterned.

When servicing cages, I always move slowly and talk soothingly to birds that are nervous. I don't make direct eye contact. While getting them used to me, I also like to sit near the cage sideways and do some reading, so they can quietly observe me. I try to be sensitive to large new objects near the cage or any new objects inside the cage, including toys or bowls. Letting them watch me hold tame birds or seeing tame birds eating out of my hand later can make me look safer, too.

Is there a lot of activity near the cage during the day? Are there pets or people coming and going near there? Sometimes, if a bird isn't raised in an environment like that, they can be generally anxious about all of that. Even having a cage next to a door that suddenly opens can be unnerving. I always speak quietly at a closed door near a bird cage before I open it. If people or other pets stare at a new bird, that is really frightening to most of them, too.