The cage is your budgie’s home, these birds eat in their cages, sleep in their cages, and run around in their cages.
But why do budgies do this? This article looks into why your budgie may run around its cage.
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Budgie running around the bottom of the cage:
Anything that seems like odd behavior may worry you as a bird owner, odd behavior may be the bird running around its cage.
Here is why your bird may be doing this:
It misses the flock:
If you’ve just received your budgie, and it is pacing in its cage, then the bird may simply be anxious or stressed because it misses its friends.
These birds are flock birds and if they are moved from a cage with a lot of birds, to a cage with no other birds, then the bird may start walking back and forth in the cage because it is stressed or anxious.
A lonely bird will feel quite insecure and frightened if left alone and this may be what is going on with your bird.
Prey animals usually will behave this way when lonely.
If your bird still does this while you are around then it may not see you as part of the flock yet so your presence doesn’t serve as company for the bird.
What to do:
One way to remedy this situation is to get the bird a friend.
Budgies should ideally always be kept as pairs at the least, they will help keep each other company
Note: You may end up with two birds that despise each other so keep this in mind
You may also be able to keep the bird company by giving it stimulating toys to play with.
You can also leave the TV or radio on when the bird starts pacing.
Playing budgie sounds from YouTube is also said to entertain these birds.
Overbonding:
If your bird has all the entertainment that it needs, but is still walking back and forth in the cage, and only stops when it sees you, then the bird may be anxious because it wants to be with you and is overly bonded to you.
If your bird feels this attached to you then this means that the bird is overly bonded to you.
Overbonding can happen if the breeder raises a bird in an unhealthy way.
Examples of unhealthy raising practices include letting the bird stay on your body all day and not giving the bird the opportunity to be independent.
If you aren’t always around your overbonded budgie then the little budgie may walk back and forth in its cage because of the stress of isolation.
What to do:
This is normal behavior, your bird should get used to not being around you all the time.
The more it is left alone the more it will start to be ok with its own company.
Your bird should be able to be on its own without human company.
You can help the bird get comfortable with being alone by giving it things that it can entertain itself with.
Giving the bird toys, switching the TV/ radio on, or playing budgie sounds on YouTube for the bird, while you are away, should help.
You could also get your bird a friend of the same gender if you don’t want the two birds to breed.
If you don’t mind new chicks in the future then you can give the bird an opposite-gender partner.
If you enjoyed this article then you may also be interested in other bird related articles. Here are some articles that you may be interested in: Why Does My Budgie Fly Into Walls?, Should I Let My Untamed Budgie Out, Letting Budgies Out Of The Cage For The First Time, Budgie Sleeping Outside Cage, Why Is My Budgie Jumping Around The Cage?, Budgie Falling When Flying, Parakeet Stays At Top Of Cage, My Budgie Keeps Flying Back To His Cage, Budgie Flying Around Its Cage At Night