Can a small cage make a bird nervous?

[Birdtraineewhat]

We just got a new budgie the same day as my fiances Mom. However her budgie is playing chirping whereas ours is not. He's been shy and skittish. Our cage is much smaller than her cage, could the cage be a factor?

[Lady]

Sounds logical. If he/she doesn't have enough room to climb around and explore what's left to do?

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[Birdtraineewhat]

Just not sure. Purchased a new cage though. Just waiting for it to arrive. Andy is getting better though. Hopefully the new cage will really help. His old cage will serve as a travel cage.

[Lady]

Is Andy the name of your new budgie? What do you mean he is getting better???? I must of missed something....

[Birdtraineewhat]

Oh. Not sure if you had kept up with the previous posts in the other thread. Dobi passed away from what seemed to be a combination of respiratory infection and an other unknown ailment. He went from being fine to slightly symptomatic and died all within a span of 2 days. We had no real clue he was sick until one day I noticed that the feathers above his nose changed color. I made the vet appointment for the next day as he was still eating and drinking and moving about, but that morning I lifted the cover off the cage and he was dead :( we guess he was sick when we got him and just never knew.

[Birdtraineewhat]

We got Andy after we decided we wanted to try again at budgies and spent more time to make sure we got a healthier bird. Andy is about 3 months old in good health as far as I can tell. He's very shy and not very vocal compared to my fiances mothers bird who she has somehow already tamed within a few days. I guess her bird is really social... Andy chirps and warbles occasionally but very softly. He's very very shy right now though often panting when we get close to his cage (but not from afar). He does enjoy watching TV with us and we're hoping a larger cage will help him be more calm.

[Birdtraineewhat]

I just want to have a happily tamed bird that can be outside the cage with us while we relax and watch TV that does cute funny stuff like other people have lol.

[Mare]

I brought home a cockatiel from our local pet store, one I was feeling sorry for..it was all alone in a smallish cage, no toys, just a seed cup, water cup and one perch. Every time I would visit the shop, I never saw any action from this bird..yeah, call me empathetic. Anyways, he is now in a big cage, still a bit scared and still just perches on a top perch, doesn't move around much, I've never seen him eat but know he does, he leaves evidence everywhere...but WOW..can this bird sing!! The other tiels are in AWE! 😊 What I'm getting at is, not all birds have the personality to be outgoing and trusting enough to be what you want or expect them to be. Maybe given the time and patience, Andy may come out of his shell.

[Birdtraineewhat]

New cage coming today. So hopefully it helps.

[Lady]

Well having more room in the cage is great, it helps with exercising and stretching their wings. If Andy is shy it is more likely it is because he is in a new home. He is also by himself which can be scary if he grew up with a flock of other birds around. If I read correctly you just got him recently. You got to give him a few weeks to develop some comfort in his new surroundings. Remember how big we are compared to them, there is also new sounds and sights that he is not familiar with let alone smells. People can be loud and so can all that goes on around our homes, be patient, he will come around when he's ready.

[Birdtraineewhat]

I don't doubt he will. Just his current cage is smaller than what's recommended and we'll only be using it for travel after his new cage gets here.

[SparklyBirdPoo]

what all is the bird doing? for the longest time i thought my bird crystal was scared and skiddish to. like she had an anxiety thing. she would pant, shake, and put her wings out like she was hot. but after talking to a local bird store. turns out she was acting out mating behavior. shes "horney" you might say. the shaking and hyperventilating. even things like cage aggression all point to the fact that shes getting rdy to try and have babies.

Just saying its a possibility. Depending oh how small the cage is, im sure it could cause some anxiety. I think the rule of thumb is the bird should be able to open their wings in the cage, and double their wingspan. for safety reasons. unfortunately, mostly everyone nvr applies thier bird cage to this rule.
if you have a bird safe home, and your feel confident with ur living spaces, and ur bird. What I do is let them roam free when im home and around to watch them. that way they have all the freedom and exercise they desire. of course due to the possibility of flying out a door or into a glass window, I do trim their wings for safety reasons.
:'( I lost a bird, yrs ago, because his wings got 2 long, and he flew right into a glass window and broke his leg. I had no idea what to do. Damn vet told me to put him in a box and let him die. That just killed me, so we drove out 2 a cliff, where we could let him fly, and he would die peacfully, and happy!
Then like 2yrs later I find out broken legs in birds it treatable. i was so ****ing mad!