Django's Taming Journal

[sootie 0]

Django has been in our small household for about 4 months now, and is progressing slowly but steadily! Yay!

 

Some of you may have read my other thread in Budgie Behaviour about "An Unusually Passive Budgie". He's the quiet sort who doesn't do much in a day, is content to sit around, eat, poop, sleep, and tweet to birds outside. What I found most unusual about him was that he never paid attention to his toys or moved much in his cage. He was also incredibly scared of the BF and I in the first month or so.

 

These are the things he does that he did not even try to do before:

 

- Eating from our hands: the BF or I offer him some seeds in a cupped palm and he attacks it! Or we'd feed him one hulled oat at a time on a finger. I love the little tickling feeling when his beak touches my palm gently. :rofl: He's learnt to anticipate any hands offering him food and will try something new at least once before making up his mind about whether he likes it or not. Though I tried to feed him a small bit of banana this morning and he refused to look at it.

 

We bring him bits of bottle brush from the tree outside. He loves it!

 

- Hopping on and staying on the finger: This is strange, but he only responds to "Up!" outside the cage? Inside his cage he will NOT budge unless we push his lower chest slightly with a stretched finger. He is so content to stay inside his cage.

 

- Playing, slightly: Or maybe chewing. Last night he finally caught on to the chew-toy that's been sitting in the cage for aaaages. He's been pecking at the bark of the wood bits quite avidly. Though I may have to review that toy now because it has bits of rope fringe, and I definitely do not want him to accidently get trapped or hang himself -- he's not interested in any preening toys though.

 

- Chattering: Running tap, running shower, electric toothbrush whirring, spoons and forks going "ting ting" against bowls, loud voices, computer games, tango music Everytime he chirps and chatters my heart goes gooey. Awwww...

 

- He also lets us gently scratch his chest, and sometimes I slyly move my finger slowly up to the side of his neck. It depends on his mood but he lets me scratch the side, and only the side! of his head by tilting his head and fluffing head feathers to allow more access.

 

So.... I know this may seem like expected behaviour for any other given budgie, but it's huge progress. I think he wants to be friends, we'll just have to wear his resistance down some more!

 

Here's a cute photo of the sleepy duck:

 

And how small he is:

[birdluv 0]

He is progressing nicely :question:

[Elly 0]

He is a doll, and that is how Pretty progressed, his breaking point was around the 7-8 month mark for us :rofl:.

[sootie 0]

Thanks, bird_luv! Sometimes the progress is miniscule but when we look back at how he was in the beginning he has certainly changed quite a bit.

 

He is a doll, and that is how Pretty progressed, his breaking point was around the 7-8 month mark for us .

 

Every time Matthew gets impatient and starts his "My other budgies weren't like this at all!" spew, I tell him to persevere, persevere, persevere. The reward will be sweet. :rofl:

[sootie 0]

Training has regressed a lot this week. While trying to prevent Django from landing on the edge of an open lunchbox, he accidentally got hit by the hand that was too slow to cover the box. By "hit" I don't mean a smack, but imagine a budgie and hand traffic accident, nonetheless. I wasn't home at the time it happened, but the BF said that Django let out a shocked squeak.

 

He's been ignoring us, chattering and chirping much less than he used to. He stares at my hand for a long while before eating the offered food. In a nutshell, he's back to the spooked budgie in the initial stages of taming. He's running away from hands again.

 

On the other hand, he feels greatly encouraged to do certain activities when prompted. "Yum yum" means food, and "go on" reassures him to carry on without fear of being harmed.

 

We're leaving him alone for a while now, no hands, only gentle talking, the occasional pampering with millet. Sigh, he'd been doing so well lately!

[birdluv 0]

I know what it is like for them to go back like that, I'm sure in no time he will be himself again.

[mysixbabies 0]

sweet creatures!

[naomi 0]

That's a shame... but you're doing such a great job, so i'm sure with a bit of patience he'll trust you again soon! And by the way, he's totally gorgeous!!

[sootie 0]

The little cherub chirped like his usual self this morning, but no hands! NO HANDS please, humans, I'm a sensitive bird.

 

Naomi, sometimes I wish he could be as sweet as your little Peanut.

 

Aww, thanks, mysixbabies!

 

That helps, birdluv, to understand that I'm not the only one with a stubborn bird. When this happens it causes quite a bit of disappointment. Oh well, onwards with training!

 

---

 

So I'm thinking of buying a clicker from eBay next week. good idea, guys?

[Carmen 0]

I'm going to get a clicker from myparrotshop.com(.au?), I have 1 extremely stubborn rascal I hope to train with it... He makes your little man look like an angel!

[sootie 0]

Week 1 of clicker training and it's going quite well... Django gets impatient with me after about 10 minutes and tries to go back to his cage.

 

He also really likes it when we speak really loudly in the room (not necessary to him though)

Edited July 7, 2009 by sootie

[birdluv 0]

That's great

[maesie 0]

Week 1 of clicker training and it's going quite well... Django gets impatient with me after about 10 minutes and tries to go back to his cage.

 

He also really likes it when we speak really loudly in the room (not necessary to him though)

 

 

The key with any kind of training, is to keep the sessions short and end them before they get impatient/bored. Over time, you increase the length of time. If they don't go for long and your budgie (or what ever animal you are training) gets to go back to their 'home' or gets free time... all positive, you'll get better results in the long run.

[sootie 0]

The key with any kind of training, is to keep the sessions short and end them before they get impatient/bored. Over time, you increase the length of time. If they don't go for long and your budgie (or what ever animal you are training) gets to go back to their 'home' or gets free time... all positive, you'll get better results in the long run.

Thanks maesie, the sessions are much shorter now (about 1min), and I wait about an hour or so before another training session, or whenever he looks to be getting a little hungry. Training sessions closer to his bedtime (8.30pm) aren't very productive, he never wants to come out so I practise targeting with him inside the cage and that's it.

 

Just checked my Google calendar... Django is a little over 8 months old this past week :sadsorry:. He's still *quite* cage bound, I'm getting a nice perch off eBay so he can call it home outside the bars.

 

Depending on his mood, he either really enjoys cheek rubs (like Chryso's Squee!) or gives us a warning nip when he's cranky. Naughty little cherub!

 

By the way, maesie, love your siggy photo!

Edited July 21, 2009 by sootie

[sootie 0]

Just a quick update:

 

Django is moulting, with pin feathers and all. It's cute to watch his little feathers fall, and he is less cranky this week than last week, when he would peck the BF and I fiercely. I've put Vetafarm Moulting Aid in his water, hope he drinks it!

 

On bonding and taming, he's doing well. We've progressed with clicker training, he loves to tap his beak against anything I ask him to "touch", and we're currently working on "hold", I've bought a solid perch with soft plastic chain links and am getting him to hold a link with his beak.

 

He's also not so nervous around the BF and I, and will happily step up. We've also heard him making CH-CH-CH (like in David Bowie's song!) noises like the static of a walkie-talkie. Not making human sounds yet but he's been very talkative lately.

[maesie 0]

Great progress!!! He's going to be a little star!

[featherybird 0]

This post has been such a relief for me! My only budgie, Schnitzel, is still terrified of us and we have had him for about 2 months. He has only in the past week really started to look totally comfortable and active in his cage (including discovering the joy of shredding the newspaper at the bottom of his cage!) but as soon as we come near the cage he either freezes up or drops to the bottom corner of the cage. I know I have to be patient and persistent but I was really starting to think there would be no hope of bonding with him. It's so nice to know that there are others in the same situation with great success stories! Thank you!

[sootie 0]

Great progress!!! He's going to be a little star!

 

Thanks, maesie. We'd never have gotten this far without your advice about keeping training sessions short!

 

 

This post has been such a relief for me! My only budgie, Schnitzel, is still terrified of us and we have had him for about 2 months. He has only in the past week really started to look totally comfortable and active in his cage (including discovering the joy of shredding the newspaper at the bottom of his cage!) but as soon as we come near the cage he either freezes up or drops to the bottom corner of the cage. I know I have to be patient and persistent but I was really starting to think there would be no hope of bonding with him. It's so nice to know that there are others in the same situation with great success stories! Thank you!

 

That's great to hear, featherybird I'm a first time budgie owner, and when the BF first got Django I was equally confused about his unusual behaviour. Would never have learnt as much as I know now without the BBC forums and help from other members!

[Finnie 0]

That's great to hear, featherybird I'm a first time budgie owner, and when the BF first got Django I was equally confused about his unusual behaviour. Would never have learnt as much as I know now without the BBC forums and help from other members!

 

 

Amen to that!

[sootie 0]

The other day, I was on the computer when Django hopped to his water dish and took a few sips, less than a metre away! It was like being given a nonverbal thumbs up from him that said, "You're okay, human!"

 

He now says "cutiepie" and "baby bird" in that funny budgie voice. It is so adorable!

 

He's also become quite fond of coming out of the cage on his own... a thick natural branch extends all the way from the back of the cage to outside the main door. When the door's open he waddles out cautiously and flies laps around the living room, landing on his perching stand next to the window where he chirps and chirps to the rainbow loris outside. In the morning when the BF uncovers the cloth cover, he is right next to the main door in anticipation of being let out.

 

I don't think he'll ever be a very affectionate bird, we give him cheek and neck rubs every day which he enjoys, but he's not for close contact, which I guess is okay with us, as he's progressed so much!

[birdluv 0]

That is awesome!!! Thanks for the update