new budgie does not play, is he OK?

From the Petco bin o' budgies, clipped.
Tentatively a "he" but still hard to tell by cere.
He's very young (guessing no more than 3 months, tops)
and I've had him for about 3 weeks. It's just the two
of us living here. My first ever birdie.

I'm very near his cage most of the time on most days, and he doesn't
seem to be afraid of me or anything. I talk to him very often.
We blink at each other, and this is especially cute if he's tired;
some slow blinking like this will actually put him to sleep.
Inside the cage, will now step up if I even just put my finger near him.
Will always depart if I get within one inch of the door, though!
Won't come outside if the door is open (in a safe room, of course).
Will eat food offered by hand or from my palm.

Sometimes when I eat, he comes to the front to have his dinner, too!
So cute! Shows no interest in fresh greens or strawberries.
Likes millet! High quality seed + pellet parakeet mix;
maybe doesn't actually eat the pellets. (Would you?)

Evidence of cuttlebone usage, though I only saw him on it once.
But then, I've only ever seen him take a drink about twice,
and I observe him most hours of the day. Not worried: he does
know where the water is and how to drink it. It's the same
filtered water that I drink, fresh once or twice daily.

I've picked him up in order to clean the cage, and worked with
him in the bathroom a little. That's where we learned step up.
He's content on my finger for quite a long time, but can't
yet handle my standing up. Perhaps because he can't fly.
He knows he isn't going to die if I pick him up, but of course that
is certainly not his favorite thing. When put down he looks indignant
and makes a single cluck that I am pretty sure is birdie talk for "BASTARD!".

Makes a particular chirp whenever loud water (or also the hair dryer)
is run in the house; probably sounds like an approaching thunderstorm.
And we've been in the sink and even in the mist of the shower.
Not sure how much he likes the water. Hard to tell, since he will
accept, but doesn't really approve of, the transportation there.
Very cute preening afterwards. What a pretty bird!

No longer spends the day calling for his lost birdie friends.
Has also figured out that my keyboard tapping noises are not
birdies and has given up trying to contact them. (Has also
given up on the unresponsive birds that he can hear outside.)

Calls to me sometimes, I believe.
Has sung the "happy budgie" song spontaneously to me a few times.

Sits either perky-up or snoozy-fluffed depending on activity level.
Poops. No signs of anything wrong, to the best of my understanding.
Looks contented. Stretches. Preens. Grinds.
New thing is: Vehemently practices flapping!
Wow, it's like a 747 spooling up in there!

Occasionally gets excited and goes inspecting every inch of the cage
if he hears wild birds outside. Has also yelled at me about HEY DON'T YOU
SEE THAT HAWK-LIKE SHADOW SWOOPING NEAR THE BALCONEY!!!! (I showed him I
was vigilent in that direction and he calmed down. I also learned that
covering that side of his cage would calm him down, if that direction
seems scary.) And I was totally shocked when it happened the first time,
but I swear he is trying to imitate (at least the melody) of some
phrases I say to him all the time, and kissy noises.

I peeked in at night, and am satisfied that when covered he now sleeps
through my activities outside the cage, and all the various scary evening
noises in this rather noisy, creaky apartment. I have a set of bath towels
that I use for covers, sometimes also using them to adjust the exposure of
his cage during the daytime. I think they make it safe and cozy at nite,
with just a little peekaboo out.

But he doesn't seem to play! There's a toy hanging from the side in there,
and there used to be a much larger one from the roof. He just ignores it.
He doesn't climb or otherwise clown around generally. He every so often
comes down from the covered, high, rear perch and sits on the low,
front perch where the food is. Sometimes sits in the food dish.
He'll change position like that occasionally, but mostly just wants
to hang out up in the back of the cage the vast majority of the time.
Like I said, he looks like he's doing OK back there, but overall
he's just not doing a lot of moving around or flitting about.
I realize he's young and these are all huge changes that he's
still getting accomodated to, but:

Is he OK?

I'm not sure how active budgies are, normally, especially when they
have a human friend instead of birdies. As I write this, I now recall
that when I picked him out at the store, I noticed that he was maybe a
loner -- perched alone on top of a branch and kinda just hanging out,
away from all the chirpy action. I guess that's similar to his behaviour now,
so maybe that's just his personality. But I have no experience to go by.

What do you think?


PS. Of course you will ask, how could I forget!
"Fluffernutter". But he probably thinks
his name is "I Love You".


PPS. Sometimes newbies in this newsgroup ask, "What's millet?"
A friend of mine was over the other day and asked.
I explained that it was a yummy treat, and gave him
(the bird, that is) a piece.
"Ohh! It's birdie corn-on-the-cob!"

My current kept doesn't play with a house full of toys. Otherwise he's perfectly fine. I've had him for about four months; would
guess his age to be maybe 6-9 months. He sings, cheeps, calls to the outside birds, eats and does all the normal kept things. But
all his toys just hang there. I think it takes a while for them to figure out what the toys are for. Occasionally I can "borrow"
my Mom's parakeet so he can visit. It's surprising what mine has learned from the more savvy elder!

"Christopher C. Stacy" <cstacy.DeleteThis@news.dtpq.com> wrote in message news:yzlwt1d8u68.fsf@news.dtpq.com...
: From the Petco bin o' budgies, clipped.
: Tentatively a "he" but still hard to tell by cere.
: He's very young (guessing no more than 3 months, tops)
: and I've had him for about 3 weeks. It's just the two
: of us living here. My first ever birdie.
:
: I'm very near his cage most of the time on most days, and he doesn't
: seem to be afraid of me or anything. I talk to him very often.
: We blink at each other, and this is especially cute if he's tired;
: some slow blinking like this will actually put him to sleep.
: Inside the cage, will now step up if I even just put my finger near him.
: Will always depart if I get within one inch of the door, though!
: Won't come outside if the door is open (in a safe room, of course).
: Will eat food offered by hand or from my palm.
:
: Sometimes when I eat, he comes to the front to have his dinner, too!
: So cute! Shows no interest in fresh greens or strawberries.
: Likes millet! High quality seed + pellet parakeet mix;
: maybe doesn't actually eat the pellets. (Would you?)
:
: Evidence of cuttlebone usage, though I only saw him on it once.
: But then, I've only ever seen him take a drink about twice,
: and I observe him most hours of the day. Not worried: he does
: know where the water is and how to drink it. It's the same
: filtered water that I drink, fresh once or twice daily.
:
: I've picked him up in order to clean the cage, and worked with
: him in the bathroom a little. That's where we learned step up.
: He's content on my finger for quite a long time, but can't
: yet handle my standing up. Perhaps because he can't fly.
: He knows he isn't going to die if I pick him up, but of course that
: is certainly not his favorite thing. When put down he looks indignant
: and makes a single cluck that I am pretty sure is birdie talk for "BASTARD!".
:
: Makes a particular chirp whenever loud water (or also the hair dryer)
: is run in the house; probably sounds like an approaching thunderstorm.
: And we've been in the sink and even in the mist of the shower.
: Not sure how much he likes the water. Hard to tell, since he will
: accept, but doesn't really approve of, the transportation there.
: Very cute preening afterwards. What a pretty bird!
:
: No longer spends the day calling for his lost birdie friends.
: Has also figured out that my keyboard tapping noises are not
: birdies and has given up trying to contact them. (Has also
: given up on the unresponsive birds that he can hear outside.)
:
: Calls to me sometimes, I believe.
: Has sung the "happy budgie" song spontaneously to me a few times.
:
: Sits either perky-up or snoozy-fluffed depending on activity level.
: Poops. No signs of anything wrong, to the best of my understanding.
: Looks contented. Stretches. Preens. Grinds.
: New thing is: Vehemently practices flapping!
: Wow, it's like a 747 spooling up in there!
:
: Occasionally gets excited and goes inspecting every inch of the cage
: if he hears wild birds outside. Has also yelled at me about HEY DON'T YOU
: SEE THAT HAWK-LIKE SHADOW SWOOPING NEAR THE BALCONEY!!!! (I showed him I
: was vigilent in that direction and he calmed down. I also learned that
: covering that side of his cage would calm him down, if that direction
: seems scary.) And I was totally shocked when it happened the first time,
: but I swear he is trying to imitate (at least the melody) of some
: phrases I say to him all the time, and kissy noises.
:
: I peeked in at night, and am satisfied that when covered he now sleeps
: through my activities outside the cage, and all the various scary evening
: noises in this rather noisy, creaky apartment. I have a set of bath towels
: that I use for covers, sometimes also using them to adjust the exposure of
: his cage during the daytime. I think they make it safe and cozy at nite,
: with just a little peekaboo out.
:
: But he doesn't seem to play! There's a toy hanging from the side in there,
: and there used to be a much larger one from the roof. He just ignores it.
: He doesn't climb or otherwise clown around generally. He every so often
: comes down from the covered, high, rear perch and sits on the low,
: front perch where the food is. Sometimes sits in the food dish.
: He'll change position like that occasionally, but mostly just wants
: to hang out up in the back of the cage the vast majority of the time.
: Like I said, he looks like he's doing OK back there, but overall
: he's just not doing a lot of moving around or flitting about.
: I realize he's young and these are all huge changes that he's
: still getting accomodated to, but:
:
: Is he OK?
:
: I'm not sure how active budgies are, normally, especially when they
: have a human friend instead of birdies. As I write this, I now recall
: that when I picked him out at the store, I noticed that he was maybe a
: loner -- perched alone on top of a branch and kinda just hanging out,
: away from all the chirpy action. I guess that's similar to his behaviour now,
: so maybe that's just his personality. But I have no experience to go by.
:
: What do you think?
:
:
: PS. Of course you will ask, how could I forget!
: "Fluffernutter". But he probably thinks
: his name is "I Love You".
:
:
: PPS. Sometimes newbies in this newsgroup ask, "What's millet?"
: A friend of mine was over the other day and asked.
: I explained that it was a yummy treat, and gave him
: (the bird, that is) a piece.
: "Ohh! It's birdie corn-on-the-cob!"