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Unresponsive Budgie


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I have had Kenny for 3 weeks now. Kept him in his cage for about the first 2 weeks but have been letting him fly free most of the day since then . I have a perch set up in the room but when I let him out he sits on the window handle staring out chirping occasionaly at the world until it gets dark when he goes to his perch . He seems happy enough at the window but he doesn't go near his food, even on his perch I rarely see him eat & he is in my eye line.He's not interested in his toys, hardly sings. Half the time he has gone back into his cage when I've held it up to him & half the time I have to net him . Last night I had my hand touching his claws when he was in his cage on the perch & he briefly jumped onto my hand . Since then he won't let me near him . He's silent when I sit beside his cage & chat to him although sometimes I can see him listening . From what I have read I thought he would be hand tamed by now so am wondering if I'm doing anything wrong?

Edited by Barry_O
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Hi Barry, it takes a few months to hand tame a bird. If you go to f.a.q. budgie behaviour, TAMING YOUR BUDGIE. That will give you an idea of how to go about taming him. :rolleyes:

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Hi Barry. Like Robyn says, it can take a little while to tame them, but it is all about persistence and patience. The following is advice I kept from when I was learning how to tame my budgie. People do have different ways of doing it, and you kind of have to "feel" what is the best method for you - and your budgie.

I'd recommend having several training sessions a day - short sessions but regular. Talk to your budgie softly a lot and, as much as you feel you are getting frustrated, don't let that affect the way you interact with your budgie. Budgies don't respond to punishment, but encouragement.

Also, play some music or the radio, or telly. Budgies like to have background noise in the daytime. When the world goes silent, to a budgie's mind that means a predator is around. They even like noise like vacuum cleaners or coffee grinders. It often makes them sing to compete with the noise.

...........

Budgie taming.

A lot of people have recently been asking me how I tamed my budgies so here we go. I'm not saying these methods are necesarily the best way to tame a bird, there are many good methods out there and this is only my way which I find works well.

When you first bring home your lil spudgie, spend some time sitting and winking/closing your eyes at it. It probably sounds a little strange, but this is actually the first sign to them that you are infact not trying to eat them, as a predator would stare unblinkingly at its prey in the wild. Hopefuly after a few minutes your budgie will start blinking back to you, your first little bond - he/she trusts you not to eat him/her while they have their eyes closed! Go and try it.

The hand taming - I find the longer you leave your budgie afraid of you, the more he will set into a routine of ''fear''. It is easier to tame them the day you bring them home than to leave them unsure of you for a long time. Many people are recomended to hand tame their budgies by leaving their hand in the cage near the budgie for a while each day... I don't believe this is the easiest way or even the least stressful way for the bird to becoming used to you. Each time you are taking your hand back out you are training the bird that its okay - the hand always just go's away after a while.

Start each training session with a goal; don't take your hand out of the cage until you have achieved it. Follow your bird slowly around the cage with your hand making no sudden movements until he gives in and stays in one place (don't be scared of hurting or scaring him, it is more scary for them to live in constant fear than to get it over with!). Once he has calmed down take your hand out and let him think about it for a few minutes. Now he has learnt that the hand doesn't go away until he calms down and sit still.

The next time you put your hand in he is going to sit on your finger; don't take your hand out until he has. Gently push your finger under his belly until he has to step on, once he has, put him back on the perch and close the door. Again leave him to think about this - ''hey, the hand doesn't hurt me... I can just sit on it''. If give up you will be teaching him the opposite; if they know you will give up they will wait for you to give up the next time. You may have to repeat this excercise quite a few times before your budgie more willingly steps up.

Budgies are inteligent little birds, once you get past this initial step they will be more ready to take an interest in you; their mind is moving forwards rather than being stuck in the ''omg!'' stage. And the quicker you do this the easier it is for them to adjust, new home - new rules.

Once your bird is fully finger tame, i'd suggest creating a perch or area for him to land on in the room and close the curtains until he knows the area he can land; then take him slowly out of the cage and place him in that area. They do unfortunatley have some accidents the first time they are free of the cage; my Codi ended up behind my bed the first time he flew around my room but this is just how they learn.

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Thanks both. I am going to keep him in his cage for the time being .I have been putting my hand in & he generally settles down after a bit . Guess I'll just have to be patient with him

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