If you’re keeping a budgie in your house you’d want to let the bird out once in a while, but sometimes the bird can fly away and not want to come back into its cage.
This article looks into how you can catch a budgie in the house
Table of Contents
How to catch a budgie in the house:
Budgies are curious birds, and they like their freedom, so much so that they can explore a bit too much and land anywhere but their cage. Here is what to do to catch a budgie in the house:
Stay calm:
The first thing that you would need to do is to stay calm, these birds will pick up if you are being frantic and anxious and will also start to act anxious themselves.
Find something to hold the bird with:
You need something to hold the bird in when you finally catch it, it isn’t recommended that you hold the bird with your bare hands.
You can use a neutral-colored towel, like a white or a grey towel, to hold the bird. Avoid using gloves to hold the bird as this can be scary to the bird.
Catching the bird:
Once you have your towel ready to go you’d need to get close enough to the bird to hold it and grab it, if the bird is close to ground level you can catch the bird from behind.
If the bird is high up then carefully and gently place a ladder close to the bird and catch the bird while on top of the ladder.
Once caught, avoid putting pressure on the bird, especially avoid putting pressure on the bird’s chest as this can obstruct the birds breathing. Rather keep your fingers and hands at the bird’s abdomen and back.
Talk to the bird softly while you’re holding it, this will keep it calm as you move it to its cage.
Letting the bird go to its cage:
If you have the time, you can allow the bird to go back into it’s cage of its own will. This will require you to wait until the bird gets hungry.
Make sure that the only place where the bird can access its food is in its cage. You can also add more treats into the bird’s cage to persuade it to fly into its cage.
Added tips:
Treats:
You may need to use treats to calm the bird and to help you catch the bird. The treats will entice them to come to you and they will distract the bird when you come around to catch it.
Hold the treats out in your hand as you approach it and then gently hold the bird with your other hand, towel in hand.
Switch the lights off:
If it’s nighttime, you can switch the lights off just before you catch the bird.
A sudden change in the amount of light in the room will temporarily stun the bird and give you the opportunity to catch the bird without it flying away.
Avoid running after the bird:
As much as the bird loves and trusts you, running after the bird is not a good idea.
If you run after the bird this will frighten it and the bird may wind up flying into a window because it is panicked, or, it may fly into your ceiling fan also injuring itself.
Ensure that the house is budgie-proof:
Bird-proofing your house will reduce the chances of the bird becoming injured or getting into some trouble while flying around the house.
Close the windows, doors, skylights, cupboards, and toilet seat lid, then cover your windows with drapes, and blinds or use decals on your windows.
Turn all your fans off and make sure that you turn your stove off too.
Do not scold it for escaping:
Birds don’t understand why they are being scolded, they only see you being frightening and mean to them.
If you scold your bird, it will start to associate your finger, or you, with being stressed and frightened. The bird will be better off if you simply put it back in its cage after you’ve caught it.
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: Budgie Behavior In Pairs, How To Train A Cockatiel To Come To You, Female Budgies Fighting, Bird Tilting Head Back