New birds cling to bars all day

[mangotiki]

My new additions are, I think, very stressed out. All they do is cling to the bars, chests heaving. They have hardly eaten anything at all. Even the seed is almost completely untouched. Is this normal? I feel like I have traumatized them completely. They are in a quiet room and we try to leave them be with the cage partially covered when we are in there so they can feel safe. Even the "tame" one seems scared to death.
How long will it take before they feel ok? I am not trying to interact with them at all except for speaking calmly when I do food and water. Also, they have not even looked at the fresh food.

Thanks.

[butterfly1061]

Traci,

When I got a couple of rescue birds a few weeks ago, they did the same thing. One thing that seemed to help was they heard my lovies chirpping. Kind of calmed them down a little. Enough to eat anyway. They were in my bedroom and everytime I walked into the room, I spoke softly like to an infant. I also kept a radio on real low. By the time I gave them to my breeder, they were fine. I think I had them in my house about a week. Good Luck. :)

[Paulette]

I agree with Jackie. It takes a few days to settle in. After all they were caught where you got them from and then you probably caught them again to put them in a bigger cage. Also, they may not know what fresh food is. I often have that problem with new birds regardless where they came from and now I know why. We recently had a poll on our local bird club site about what kinds of foods everyone prefers to feed their birds. I was amazed at how many only feed seed, only pellets, or only seeds and pellets, or only what they eat themselves(the people). There were a few that did feed seeds/pellets/and fresh foods. They will settle down. I'm also amazed that a scared bird will eat millet and nothing else that's offered. Somehow they know it is really good.

[Mummieeva]

They will calm down just might take them a bit of time. I got Bandit a month ago and just now does he not freak out when I walk near the cage. They are lucky ones to have found a mom like you.


Steph

[Beemow]

My lovie did the same thing. What i did was got a tiny plate with a mirror

sat it ontop of his cage and let him have fun up there.

And if you cover the cages at night, some birds dont like that.

Like mine once i cover the cage I see him clinged on the bars.

I let him sleep without it now and he likes it more.

[butterfly1061]

My lovie did the same thing. What i did was got a tiny plate with a mirror sat it ontop of his cage and let him have fun up there.
And if you cover the cages at night, some birds dont like that.
Like mine once i cover the cage I see him clinged on the bars.
I let him sleep without it now and he likes it more.

Lovebirds & mirrors don't mix. You'd be better off removing the mirror from your bird's sight. A single lovebird will bond to the "birdie in the mirror" and that put's a a big dent in your relationship with your pet. As far as covering the cage, some lovebirds don't care to be covered, but covering does not scare them into hanging from the side of the cage all night. Covering the cage means "quiet time" or bed time and his sleeping habit will kick in once covered. Hanging is just the way he feels comfortable sleeping. He may change this habit or he may not. It's his preference.

[BarbieH]

My Bosco and Betty still tend to cling to the bars at the back of the cage whenever I open it up. They were both born and raised in an aviary, with little socialization (except feeding) until they got here. They are more wild.

Bosco in fact is a lot more confident now, but Betty is still very nervous, very shy little bird. That's just who she is, and I try not to put her under undue stress. That's why you haven't seen pictures of this pair.

Your new birds will probably settle down and relax in time. You could try positioning their cage so that it's in an upper corner of the room. Having walls on two sides would probably help them feel more secure, and so would the added heighth.

Bosco and Betty, coming from an aviary, felt more comfortable when their cage was placed near the rest of our birds. Did your new ones come from an environment with a lot of birds? They may feel insecure without their flock. I realize they are probably in quarantine, which is great, but it's something else to understand. Even if they could see birds from a window, they might feel a bit better.

Best wishes,

[mangotiki]

I believe these birds were in an aviary. I also was not able to determine if I managed to get an established pair...I think they were bonded and tried to pick pairs but they started flying all over the place. There were quite a few that looked similar and I thought at first that I managed at least one pair but now I am not so sure. So they not really even interacting with each other and don't call back and forth to the other birds. They have been really quiet. Poor things. I think they have no idea what has happened!! They lost their home, then their mate, and now they are in an new place once again. Then when the quarantine is over I will be moving them to a new location so that will probably upset them all over again.

I can't wait until I can bring them downstairs and they can interact with my other birds (and me...maybe! I am not even thinking about it at this point!)