Scared Stiff Or Good Candidate For Taming?

[Phylly 0]

Hi,

Have just been wondering lately, are there signs/ behaviours to look out for regarding a young bird/ baby who would be a better candidate for taming? I know all budgies should tame up with time and patience but I was just wondering as I have heard several people say now that like most animals, some budgies just take to taming much more willingly/ quicker. How would you be able to tell the difference between a budgie who was scared stiff being held/ handled and a budgie who has "good character"?

 

Would they be blinking, looking around if they weren't scared? Enjoy being stroked (ie: closing their eyes? etc)?

 

All opinions welcomed Especially those who deal with budgies often or handtame them.

 

Thank you very much in advance.

[Dean_NZ 0]

I can absolutely tell from the nest box who is going to tame 'better' than others. Most budgies will tame that is true, but their are degrees of tameness and i believe this is determined by their personality. Screechy squawky babies in the nest remain quite skittish, nibblers will always nibble, biters will always bite, wrestlers always wrestle and then there are the very small percentage I personally love to tame - the quiet ones that love to be scratched and cuddled. I see maybe one of those in every 20 chicks hatched.

 

I think too many people try to fit their budgie into a specific mold and say 'my budgie wont stop doing this, why?'. Most times its personality! We all have an image of what a tame budgie 'should' do, but lets not forget they are individuals and any level of tameness is a special opportunity to share their world more than we otherwise could.

[**KAZ** 0]

I agree with Dean. You can tell right from the nestbox. There are so9me that screach and burrow desperately trying to get away from you when you nestcheck and there are some that are automatically drawn to people. Two week olds that walk towards you and preen and nibble at your fingertips. They sit and stare at you with no fear and just wait for that special touch.

[Phylly 0]

Thank you Dean and Kaz That is really interesting..

 

Would you say that this is also true for weaned babies as well as young birds (before first moult)? So there would be those that will not immediately fly away when you approach their cage, would be brave enough/ willing to stare at you when you approach or look into their cage etc? What about catching these young babies from the aviary (or would they not be in an aviary at that age?) ? How rare would it be for a non tame baby to be willing to step up on your finger/ let you hold them? I'm just really curious

 

All this info seems to have been gotten from years of careful observation and experience with birds... Something I definitely do not have but would like to learn more about...

 

More opinions welcomed! Thanks again!

[Sunnie 0]

Ive had babies that havent been particularly friendly in the nest box, nor particularly fearful either, but in the baby flight, when one of the friendlier babies wants to nibble on and play with your hand, others sometimes come up out of curiosity and play too. Same in the aviary. Ive had babies in the nursery aviary that have never really been handled, yet when others that have been, land on me, a few more curious and brave babies do the same. Those babies have never really let me pet them and rarely step up on my hand or finger, but they play in my hair on on my arm/shoulder, chew my shoes etc. I think that if they had had more attention when younger, they would have been candidates for good pets too. But I agree with Dean and Kaz also. Sometimes you open a nest box and some babies will be almost falling out, looking for attention and being curious about the new world, while others are rushing to the back of the box and screaming when you pick them up. Might I add, none of my parents are "screamers", so I believe strongly this is a personality thing, not necessarily learned behaviour from parents.

[anne101 0]

Agree with Dean 120%......................From my short experience.....you can tell from very early which chicks will be easy to tame........ depends on each birds own personality.....

[Phylly 0]

Hi Sunnie and Anne,

 

Thank you so much for your input.. It's really nice to hear about other people's experiences. Thanks again!

[SundayGirl 0]

I don't breed budgies but whn I was choosing my boy he was the only bird in the cage to come up and land on the bars and let me stroke him....all the other birds had coniptions when I went near the cage. I was looking at all the other beautiful budgies wondering which I preferred and he just kept coming up to me and trying to get attention...how could I resist? it was obvious he had decided I was the one rather than the other way around! LOL. He is a fantastic little boy who took very little time to tame and talked within 2 months. What a good boy!