Why don’t my budgies come out of the cage?

Are you one of the people who can call the beautiful budgies their own, but are currently facing a big problem (for you)?

Does this problem look perhaps in such a way that you would like to give your Wellis more free space, by offering them free flight in the dwelling, but they do not use this?

In this article, you’ll learn why your Wellis don’t want to leave their cage and how to deal with it.

Let’s do it!

The core problem of budgies in a cage

To make you understand where exactly the core problem of the whole story lies, it is necessary that you deal with the basic needs and genetic traits of the colorful feather friends. Even though budgies have been kept as pets for many years, they are still one thing: birds.

By nature, birds possess a certain shyness towards humans.

On the other hand, budgies are extremely social animals that live in large associations in nature and greatly appreciate the company of their conspecifics. For this reason, you should never keep budgies alone, as this can lead to behavioral problems – if your budgie lives alone, this can also be the reason why he simply does not enjoy flying and therefore stays in the cage.

These two basic traits should always be remembered if you want to coax some behavior out of your feathery friends.

First and foremost, always make sure your birds’ basic needs are met and engage in animal communication to better empathize with them and their current moods.
First steps out of the cage

As you now know, budgies are very shy animals by nature.

If budgies don’t come out of their cage, it could be because your budgies don’t feel safe outside the cage. The reason for this could be that they are simply not used to free flight and need a little time to venture outside, or it could be that your birds are afraid of you – as they are meant to be in nature.

Of course, there are a few exceptions here and there, birds that will seek out contact with humans on their own – after all, animals are individuals too, so there is no concrete step-by-step guide on how to coax your budgies out of their cage.

The good news, however, is that there are proven approaches you can try to coax the birds out!
Get your budgies out of their cage with these 3 tips

1. tame by hand feeding

Hand-feeding is a great way to get your Wellis to stop being afraid of you.

With this method, make sure that you proceed in a very small step so as not to stress your animals unnecessarily. According to the motto: “Good things take time”.

If you move too quickly to the next step, you will not achieve a learning effect with your Wellis.

Start by talking to your birds for a few minutes several times a day. Be sure to do this in a calm voice and avoid frantic movements so as not to startle the birds. At first, your Wellis may well become restless and flutter back and forth excitedly.

Repeat the first step until your budgies sit quietly and may even show interest in you when you talk to them.

Now, in the second step, start getting a little more hands-on with your housemates. Pick up a few particularly good treats, continue to talk kindly to them, and offer the food through the bars of the cage. Since you certainly know your animals best, you will also be the most likely to know which treats are preferred by your Wellis.

One thing is important here: patience!

Especially the first times it can take a few minutes until your Welli dares to accept the offered food.

If this step doesn’t work, you can also build in an intermediate step by letting the food piece fall through the bars onto the floor of the cage after a while and pulling back until your Welli dares to eat the food. After a few repetitions, he will know that you just want to give him food and will thaw out bit by bit.

If the second step works without problems and your budgies have no more inhibitions to take the food from your hand through the bars, it goes now to the third step: Open the cage door and offer the food directly in the cage on your hand.

However, make sure that you don’t push your Wellis too much and place your hand calmly in the cage on the floor.

Under no circumstances should you chase your animals with your hand!

If this is no longer a challenge, it is almost done!

If your budgies are already sitting on your hand, you can carefully lift the hand out of the cage with the budgie while eating. For this step, it is best to choose the bravest of your budgies. If it feels comfortable outside, chances are good that other budgies will imitate this behavior and follow their friend outside – after all, budgies are very social animals!

You can also try opening the cage door and moving a little away with the food in your hand, so that the budgies have to come out of the cage and towards you to eat the food.

Just try around a bit to see which approaches are accepted by your pets and which still need a little tweaking on your part.
2 Patience is (sometimes) everything

Hand on heart: Is it possible that you are just a little too impatient?

Sometimes it can be helpful to take a little pressure off the situation and trust the animals more.

How do you act when you want to let your birds outside?

Just pay attention to your body language: do you perhaps open the cage and then stand in front of the open door and wonder why your birds don’t want to come out?

Here it can already make a lot of difference if you open the cage door in a calm and relaxed manner, address your animals in a friendly manner and then move away from the cage and devote yourself to other things.

Of course, you should always keep an eye on your animals, but many Wellis will feel more confident if they do not feel watched and monitored. After some time, it may well be that your Wellis explore the room or the apartment by themselves.

3. accept your animal as it is

Just as there are exceptions in one direction, there are always exceptions in the other.

Some budgies are so shy by their basic character that they will never completely abandon this behavior. No matter how hard you try. This has nothing to do with you, but is simply in the genes of these animals. Observe your Wellis therefore once completely exactly: Are some animals perhaps also happy without free flight?

You will find out that there are animals that voluntarily do without free flight and still feel comfortable. Of course, you want to give your animals a life that is as species-appropriate as possible, and the heart of every bird owner jumps for joy when their own little bird flutters happily through the area and wants to explore everything. But if you own a specimen that really only feels comfortable in its cage, then you should accept this.

Of course there is nothing against offering the animal the possibility of free flight again and again, but under no circumstances should you grab the bird and force it to fly free by taking it out and closing the door of the cage! This will only lead to stress and will not add value to you or your Welli.

If you still want to give your couch potato more freedom, maybe a larger aviary could be an option to satisfy both sides.
Conclusion: You can positively influence the behavior of your Wellis

Now that you know the reasons behind the behavior of your budgies and how you can make the free flight literally palatable to your feathered friends.

It only remains to wish you a lot of fun with the implementation of these tips!