Is your budgie ready to enjoy a life with you in your home? How fearful or hesitant is a budgie going to be at first? In this article, we’ll look into how long it takes for a budgie to settle into a new home.
How Long Does It Take For New Budgie To Settle In? The first 24-72 hours is a crucial time to leave your budgie alone in a nice cage setup where they can slowly adjust. The full adjustment could take about 2 weeks for this new environment to feel perfectly safe. 
How Long Should You Leave A Budgie To Settle In?
The change of location, transportation and settling in process is a harrowing and anxiety ridden task for a budgie. Have empathy and allow your budgie 2-3 days before trying to come too close. Your budgie may not trust your hands or finger and may bite out of defense.
Overall, we’ve seen that many members of the budgie community agree that 2 weeks is an acceptable rough estimate of how long it takes for a budgie to adjust in a new home. The speed and comfort of this process depends on your ability to train, trust and provide a comfortable home.
What Should I Do When I First Get My Budgie Home?
We may feel joy or excitement when we bring a new member of the family in our homes. Children may feel the most energy and wish to hold or touch the budgie right away. Your budgie is feeling the opposite of these feelings. He or she is nervous, tense and fearful. Follow these steps to help your budgie settle in:
- Leave it be for 2-3 days
- No finger or hand perching
- Gently talk to him/her in a soothing voice
- Make eye contact
- Place a cage liner
- Refill food and water
- Move slowly
- Place the budgie is a busy room
- Place the cage against a wall
No Physical Contact
Your budgie doesn’t need physical contact right now. Just let the space feel like their own without your hands and fingers getting too close. Your voice means a lot. Read to your budgie or give gentle compliments with plenty of eye contact.
Slow and Steady
Make sure there is a cage liner, perches, food and water. Refilling, cleaning and any other actions should be done soft and slowly.
Busy Room
A budgie in a busy room in the house will get used to the sounds and people flowing in and out of this space that is now the new home. Your budgie needs to get used to these activities and noises. Keep the volume lower than usual and move a little slower.
Against the Wall
A cage against the wall gives your budgie less stimuli to look at. You don’t want your budgie constantly shifting 360 degrees to notice everything all at once. A 180 degree view is more comfortable and focused on the room in front.
What Should I Avoid Doing For My New Budgie?
The following tips are meant to assist budgies settling in during their first 2 weeks. They serve as reminders for us to take things slowly:
- No flying around yet
- No touching or holding
- No loud noises
- No fast movements
If you see your budgie getting more comfortable, singing, chirping and clicking within the first week, then you are doing a great job. The adjustment period doesn’t have to last 2 weeks. You may have allowed your budgie to settle in sooner by doing all right things.
How Can I Tell That My Budgie Has Settled In?
There are many signs that indicate how our new budgies have become comfortable with us and their new surroundings. Look for the following:
Your budgie is:
- Eating and drinking around you
- Falling asleep with you nearby
- Preening in your company
- Singing, chirping or clicking
- Playing with toys
- Not noticing your every action
It takes trust for any animal to eat, drink or sleep near larger neighbours. This is a vulnerable time in the wild. Daily routines like preening or enjoying life in the cage without caring about all the movements and sounds outside of it means your budgie is enjoying life.
How Do I Make A Budgie Feel Comfortable?
Your budgie will need to trust you and the environment to be free of predators and threats. There should be no worries about obtaining the necessary amounts of food and water. The temperature should be comfortable. Try the following tips to help relax your budgie;
- Move slow
- Speak softly
- Offer toys
- Interact together
- Make eye contact
- Offer a variety of snacks
- Be patient
This is a great time for us to monitor our own movements as well. Do we dart around the house too much? Are we raising our voices for no reason? Let’s check ourselves and thank our budgies for allowing us this time to calm down and enjoy the present moment.
Playing together with toys, interacting, communicating, making eye contact and doing all of this slowly will help build that bond you both crave. Speaking of cravings, the food you offer will entice your budgie to try new tastes and feel some excitement from it.
Pellets should be 80% of their diet, but there’s plenty of room to try some new fruits or vegetables.
How Long Does It Take For A Bird To Trust You?
Please do not feel stressed if 2 weeks have passed and your budgie is still fearful of you. Try 5 minutes of daily interaction and stop if your budgie seems stressed. Remember that this relationship can flourish over years and possibly longer than a decade.
Work on making the cage and surrounding spaces “budgie-friendly” and safe. During their adjustment period, we can continue to make our own adjustments as well.
How Do I Set Up A Budgie Cage?
The cage is the castle. It’s a fortress. It’s the safest space for a budgie to call home. The location should be near you or the family. We shouldn’t isolate our budgie in a place far away from us. This is a social bird that wants to feel included. In time, the cage door could be opened and your budgie will enter it out of comfort.
- Place the cage against a wall
- Don’t block the view
- Offer partially sunny and shady spots
- Fresh air or clean ventilated spots are best
- Not too many toys
- Try different perches
- Line the cage
The View
If you don’t want to place the cage against the wall, you can cover one side with a towel. You don’t want your new budgie thinking that anyone can sneak up behind it. The view shouldn’t be blocked in front so they can watch who and what is moving around in front.
Light and Air
Direct sunlight or bright lights shouldn’t cover the entire cage. There should be some shady areas to retreat to. An open window for fresh air or a spot away from fumes coming from the kitchen is best.
Toys, Perches and Liner
Don’t overwhelm your budgie with too many toys at first. 2-3 toys is enough to spark curiosity and playful behaviour. Perches come in a variety of sizes and materials. Try not to place them above the dishes to prevent droppings from falling into them. The cage liner or newspapers will helps keep things clean.
Conclusion
Your budgie will adjust to your home and its new cage in a matter of 2-3 days to 2 weeks. Be patient with the process and allow your budgie the space and distance initially.
Move slowly and begin soothing and gentle interaction without making contact just yet. Finger or hand training comes after they settle in. Take it one step at a time.
We hope you enjoy your friendship with your budgie for years to come. Thanks for stopping by at BudgieRealm.com and see you again soon!
