First time bird owner needs help building trust with disabled budgies.
Hello everyone, this is my first ever post. These are my beautiful budgies, the green one is Finny, the blue one is Nephy(siblings around two years old).
I rescued them from my Aunt that had 12 birds (two cockatiels and 10 budgies) in a small cage. She somehow did not figure out that if you give birds a nesting box that they will breed and thus these two were born. They have severely splayed legs, to the point Finny cannot fly as the left one catches on his wing(Nephy can fly okay). We took them to the vet and thankfully he said that with accomodations they can live comfortable lives.
Now here comes my problem. I have no idea how to gain the trust of these two. They are my first birds ever. They have been under my care for 4 months and in my house for less than a year. They are terrified of me and I want them to feel safe in my room. I had been doing a horrible mistake of picking them up and putting them on top of the cage to force them to go out of their shell and get exercise(I had watched a video that said that the longer they stay in the cage the harder it will be to get them to open up). I don't do that anymore, but the damage had been done and they avoid me like the plague. Even if I want to not pick them up, they sometimes struggle to preen each other(which I do myself in that case) and if Finny glides too far from the cage I have to carry him back(if he falls close enough he has a ladder that he climbs to get to/on top of the cage himself).
I have been doing a ton of mistakes and I really want to become a good bird owner but because of their disabilities some things just don't seem as obvious to do. Please help me. : (