Jaywire

Wow. thanks ALOT DrNat. I'm saving your post. I'll definatley keep notes and let you know. If only I can get them to breed Her cere was crusty brown for awhile but the male never really tried anything. She did show nesting activity in the box but only for a couple days. Think it's because I have all 4 of them together? THANKS AGAIN!

Hello there, sorry about the enormous delay! I got some better pics. http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q114/Ja...es/P4010040.jpg This is Sky and Sublime, my Breeders. Unsure on genetics. http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q114/Ja...es/P4010039.jpg Another picture of them http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q114/Ja...es/P4010037.jpg A picture of Sky; the female. http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q114/Ja...es/P4010036.jpg Decent picture of the 2 http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q114/Ja...es/P4010035.jpg This is bill; a mis-named female. Unsure as well. http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q114/Ja...es/P4010033.jpg Another picture of Bill. http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q114/Ja...es/P4010041.jpg Tweety, unsure of as well. Not a very good picture. Any more pics needed please feel free to ask; still unsure! thanks alot everyone

http://img85.imageshack.us/img85/4294/p1010174xo9.th.jpg http://img412.imageshack.us/img412/5079/p1010178pl6.th.jpg Had these 2 about a year, plus they were about 6 months when I bought them. I have no clue about genetics! I try to read about them and get mega confused! Any help would be appreciate, thanks!

Well, I've had the one with the white cere a few weeks, and the one with the blue about 4 months.

Yes, just have them together to become bonded. Thanks, my initial prediction was correct!

I've had these guys a few weeks, recently got an interest in breeding after having Budgies for years. I'm almost positive I have a male and female, but I thought I'd ask you guys second opinion. They are both from completely different breeders, of course. I've done months of research before starting into this. Thank you! http://img293.imageshack.us/my.php?image=p1000941bn5.jpg

Yes, I forgot to mention, a warm environment is key. And if they get cold, hold them in your hands, perhaps against your chest.

I know this isn't a very accepted method, but one thing I did with mine was to mist them down real good. Not like, dripping wet but enough to calm them down and slow them down. Then, I'd towel them very gently and get them out without letting them see me or my hands. Then, let them out of the towel into my hand. They are wet and really don't care whats going on. I then just let them perch on my hand/finger and practice the step up method. Again, they are wet, don't really know whats going on, so they'll step up most of the time. Eventually they'll start to dry off and preen once they get back into the swing of things around them. Keep doing the step up method. Every time I've done it, they preen and dry off, then they'll happily sit there. I immediately start feeding them millet and practice the step up with millet, and they start to realize they are on your hand and nothing wrong, and they are getting treats too! If they still start to freak out, then start the tunneling method until they calm down and feed them millet. Remember, it only works if you use millet as a treat and not give it to them all the time! It took me about 3 days to get the budgies at the store i help out at tamed with this method! To re-enforce this method, whenever you mist them to preen, give them millet. Sadly, my 2 budgies died in freak accidents :-( And if you think the water method will make them afraid of water, it doesn't! Even after the water training, my 2 loved being misted! No fear at all! But just always remember, theres a fine line between a heavy misting and soaking the poor little thing! Rule of thumb, it shouldnt be dripping off them! If you soak it, then yes it will still work but it will make it scared of water. Hope this helps!

Well, Sammy went back and Sprite died... so after a sanitization and wait, i got a new bird after my fruitless attempt to get Sammy back. Chirpy is my newest, got him last Sunday. The lady at the pet store said he came from a home breeder, so he shouldnt be too scared of humans. I got him home and put him in his cage. No freaking out, nothing. He hopped from the box, onto the entrance, then up to a perch. Within 5 minutes he was warbling and chirping and singing. He then started exploring the cage, playing with toys, and checking me out. He then got up on his favorite perch (a natural branch) where he stretched, perched up on one foot and sat and chattered to himself. He as been a very good bird since. He never really freaked out when I put my hand in the cage to change food and water, just got his distance. Every day, all day, he sits and sings and chirps and just has a great time. About Wednesday, he hops around the cage bobbing his head and moving side to side very quickly all over the cage, looking around, like hes trying to find a way out. This lasts rouyghly 15 minutes a day, usually in the evening. He then figures out he cant get out and goes back to his perch where he sits kinda sad looking for the rest of the evening, maybe letting out a soft warble here and there. He talks to me alot, sitting on the branch closest to me and chattering at me. If I talk back he gets really excited, warbling and chirping etc. I started feeding him millet from behind the bars and slowly moved to inside the cage, but still doing it from the outside. He's still kinda skittish to my hand, but will come right up to it when he sees food. Sometimes not even food he'll come up and taste my finger. I've kinda tried getting him on my finger, he runs when i get near him with my finger out. I've noticed every once in awhile, he'll sit on his perch and flap his wings really fast and lean down like hes flying, but never jumps or anything, just sits on his perch. He does this a few times then sits and cleans himself. He's clipped for the record... is this normal behavior? Am I doing everything right? Heres a picture, can anyone gimme an idea on age?: Seems all good, right? Well, heres the bad part... No matter what I say, my parents ruin any progress. They walk up fast, yank the cage open and start pushing at it and touching it, trying to hold it and get it on there finger. No matter what I say they wont stop. I said "Don't touch it, they don't like being touched" and they just get mad and tell me to shut up, there older, they know more about it then I do and continue chasing it around the cage grabbing at it. Finally they get fed up, slam the cage shut and walk out. They feed it millet from behind the bars but leave it there. I try explaining to take it out when they leave but all I get is a "Shut up, I can do what I want, its my house" I'm 16. I bought the bird, I bought the cage, I bought everything. I pay for its food, everything. I think I should be able to say dont mess with it, its my bird, your screwing it up. Every attempt to explain hand training is brushed off with a "shut up" or "whatever dr. dolittle" or them hitting the cage or slamming it shut etc... How can i explain not to touch it and leave it alone or make them just stop messing with it completely?

I am getting rid of him lovey, sadly enough. But not until Friday. As much as I don't want to (Laughing out loud)... still trying to talk them into it... poor guy, comes to a good home just to get rejected... Thanks guys, I was hoping I did things right when I started over with Sammy!!!

Some of you have read my older topics. Since then I've gotten really far with sammy. He'll step up willingly, come out of the cage, eat from my hand. If I put my nose up to his beek he'll nibble on it. He sits on my shoulder sometimes. When he does he plays with my hair, goes shoulder to shoulder playing. He's pretty tame so far. He's clipped of course. He kinda anticipates me coming home. He hangs on the bars of his door looking out my bedroom door until I come in, then he hops onto his perch and patiently waits for me to tell him "Up" Hes pretty much hand tame, but I dont feel a 'bond'. I have 2 birds, but they are clearly out of site of each oyher. They tend to call to each other. I've had him about 2 weeks now, and at first i lost alot of progress and got realkly frustrated, so i started over and went slow. How do I get a loving bond like I've read off? I know it won't happen overnight, but I'd like to start like getting it started. His highest perch is at eye level, he's in my room by my PC where I sit 3/4 the time i'm around him. He's a really neat bird though! He sometimes doesnt want anything to do with me though, which is now :-p I think its because hes preening though. So am I on the right track to a good relationship with Sammy? Also, if its worth anything, earlier he was on my finger and hopped down my arm, on my stomach, climbed down my leg, and walked around on the floor inspecting things :-p His toe got stuck in the carpet, and he kinda feel, looked around, and started jerking his leg about and immediatley turned to me and looked like he was trying to run, jerking about etc. I free'd him and he jumped on my hand for a few minutes and caught his breath. He wanted down again, he got stuck again, free'd himself and ran to me chirping and climbed up my leg and into my lap, up my torso and onto my shoulder where he snuggled up onto my neck and sat there, catching his little breath. I guess he see's me as safety? Is this a sign of major trust? Thanks again!

Wow - major update. I seperated Sammy and Sprite, completely. Sammy became REALLY affectionate! He sat on my finger by my cage and warbled, ate millet, and just sat there. Kissed my nose etc, preened my finger a bit. He sat on my finger for half an hour! It's strange. Sprite goes back tomorrow, I hate to get rid of him because he's a sweetheart too. Oh well.. thanks for the advice everyone!

It is quote hard to decide, because I'm not sure how Sprite would adjust to the bigger cage. If he would get less reluctant to step up, etc. I'm taking one back after work tomorrow, probably gonna keep Sprite. Sammy is impossible anymore, but Sprite is pretty friendly. I think he might be a tad traumatized because I toweled him to attempt clipping his wings, but when I opened them up I was like :ausb: Hope that doesnt break any trust we had, I did it a few times. He seems still friendly though. I'm probably gonna keep him. Will clipping his wings make him any friendlier and easier to tame etc? Still a tough thing to decide...

Well, my parents were okay with one budgie, but when I came home with Sprite, they drew the line. Today they told me to choose between Sammy or Sprite because 2 is just too many right now. I plead and talked and plead more, they are set on no. So, I need to decide on one and i'm not sure how... so I'm looking for help on how. Sammy - Sammy was my first, got him a week ago. He's extremely skittish. Whenever I get progress, I lose it to something very small. He's partially tame. He still moves away from my hand unless I have food. He will eat from my hand, no problem. he'd actually rather eat from it then his feeder. He'll step up sometimes but only for a few seconds. But on rare occasions he'll let me take him out of the cage. I keep him at eye level all the time, talk smooth, etc. but he'll either flap off and freak, or get on top of his cage and throw a big fuss. He's never bitten me. He's constantly freaking out, randomly, to get out of his cage. Not sure what else to describe. Sprite - Sprite has been wonderful since day one, I got him a couple days ago. He wasnt very skittish at first, he's actually a bit of a sweetheart. Snuggling my nose from behind the bars, letting me pet and scratch his head lightly, warbling, etc. He even hopped on my finger once and sat there a bit. He has no fear of my hand. He can be skittish if I move a bit fast. He isnt clipped though... which is giving me trouble because i dont know how to clip. So, I'm at a loss. I'm thinking of getting rid of Sammy but i don't know... the pet store said theyd take him back, but i dont know whether to take it there or give it to someone. Any help?

Wow thanks Rainbow! One question, the newest one is for sure a male, and he's alot more affectonate it seems. If I stick my finger up in the bars, he'll kinda 'kiss' them. He's absolutely not scared of my hand or me in any way. He does move when I stick my hand in there, but not like Sammy was at first. He alreadys eats straight from my hand/fingers from the bar AND in the cage. I'm gonna keep talking to him and feeding him, then start finger training. Hopefully he'll tame easier then sammy! Sammy is turning into a rebel child! I think he's getting adjusted though, he's perching with one foot. I also saw Sprite perching with one foot in the store, another reason I picked him. I'm gonna keep working with Sammy but Sprite is my main interest FTB. By the way, I read/heard that males are more affectionate and alot easier to tame then females. Is this true? I also think Sammy is a female :-X

Exactly what I did. No reaction :-) Sprite seems to look his corner, guess it makes him feel safe? Sammy was out earlier on my hand. First he was being stubborn, jumping off onto the top of his cage. Then he saw my Bearded Dragons and decided to investigate. Top was off the tank. He flew right in. I ran over and pulled my beardies out and put them on my bed, and man Sammy was freaked. Ark'ing and flapping, wouldnt let me catch him. Eventually I had to just grab him and kinda cup him and put him in his cage. He's not acting too traumatized, but that was a couple hours ago. But still, even after he wasnt bad. kinda skittish around my hand though now. He doesnt freak but he does scoot away from my hand when I put it in the cage. He'll still eat from my hand though, I guess thats good. Sprite is sticking to his corners, but he likes watching me. Can't find a suitable place far from Sammy and at eye level, so its gonna be a long one. Every once in awhile, Sammy will chirp, Sprite will respond and Sammy goes insane, climbing all over trying to get out. Man I hope it doesnt stunt things too long

Heh, she called the 'bird expert' at the store and he told her everything opposite of what I've read and tried to apply. I tried sending her to Budgietalk.com but she doesnt believe anything on the internet... ah well. Im not putting them together for awhile. Update on Sprite, the new one. He isnt shy or skittish at all, which surprises me. He was eating from my hand earlier. Still doesnt really like my hand yet, but will eat from it. I'll take it slow with him. Him and Sammy chirp back and forth here and there, there cages are blocked by a sheet. Sammy goes nuts climbing around the cage. He flew out on my hand once, I took him up to Sprites cage for a look and sprite freaked hehe. Guess he dont like him! Sammy is getting better, I thought I lost progress but didnt. He climbed up on my finger and let me take him out of his cage. He sat on my finger and climbed up my hand while I fed him millet. You could tell he was nervous because he shook and kept moving down my hand and any move I made he stopped eating and looked. He actually didnt want back in his cage! He still doesnt step up willingly, I guess I should work on that before out-of-cage training. He also kinda... bit my finger, but not a bite. kinda just "tasted" my finger a few times before he got off. It was like a bite but not hard.

Lovely. My mom doesnt understand that they cant be together and cant see each other, so she uncovered the side of sammys tank. Now, they saw each other and its a mess... lost all the progress with Sammy and the little bit with the new one. She then tried catching the new one while I wasnt here and putting it in with Sammy and that just scared it to DEATH, again. She doesnt understand and refuses to understand the whole quarentine thing, claiming "They only have the brain of a pea, I doubt being together will 'bond' them and not make them not become tamed" etc. Whats a good way to explain it or a site that can explain it?

Alright, thanks!! :-D I'll do that. Also, thanks for the advice :-)

I bought the big new cage and put Sammy in it, put the new one in Sammy's old cage. I'm not quite sure on Dimensions, but its a big one. The new one doesnt have a name yet, I just call him pretty birdy for the time being. I have a full shot, right here: http://img102.imageshack.us/img102/526/dsc00376xc7.jpg Because the new ones older, will he be harder to tame? He isn't deathly afraid of me but he sure don't like my hand. I went to fix a toy and he went to the farthest corner hehe. I'll let them both get a good niht of sleep and see how they are adjusting tomorrow. The thing about seperate rooms. They are'nt in seperate rooms, because my parents have no intention of letting a bird in any other room of the house hehe. I have Sammy at eye level with me, but the new ones above me o my desk. Yeah, inadequate spot. I'm working on it though! :-) What exactly will it hurt if hes not at eye level with me, also what will it hurt if they are in the same room? Should i block there views of each other?

I just have to update :-D I was at the pet store and I saw some budgies, so I looked, and my eyes INSTANTLY went to this one. He was extremely active, interested in what I was doing, etc. I ended up buying him and a huge cage, hes in quarentine while I train them etc. Hes beautiful :-D http://img214.imageshack.us/img214/6296/dsc00373jn1.jpg He was scared out of his mind at first, but he finally got some guts and climbed up on a perch. He's doing fine now, he's making these neat sounding... gerbil noises, like.. hard to describe. Maybe a warble? http://img137.imageshack.us/img137/7578/dsc00368bw9.jpg Heres Sammy, thanks to lovey hes really improving, fast actually. This morning he was skittish and ran from my hand, so I left him alone for a bit but stayed in the room, looked over and talked to him etc. About 30 minutes later I got eye level and talked to him about 20 minutes. Stopped, repeated about an hour later. Now, he's eating millet from my hand and doesnt even flinch or move when I put my hand by him, just kinda checks it out. I tried to get him on my finger but he moved down the perch so i left him alone, stopped, continued talking to him. The other one I'm letting settle. I talked to him some, but overall I'm just letting him watch me etc.

He'll eat millet from my hand, but then he'll freak out randomly and go into his corner and wont do anything... so I guess I'll start over which really kills me after a week of progress. Thanks!

Alright ty! I'm just kinda wondering how he was getting really good the first couple days, and out of nowhere that training went out the window. Oh well, I guess thats how it'll go. I'll talk to him etc :-) Should I just stand by his cage and talk to him or put my hand in the cage and talk, maybe feed some millet?

Ah, I see. Also, I havent had him ack ack or anything. He chirps and sings time to time to the radio, but no loudness at all. I better knock on wood though, I know he'll be quite vocal soon enough! Edit1: I'm kinda aggrivated, i lost a week of progress in 5 minutes. He was eating some millet from my hand on his swing, and he stepped one foot on my hand, one on the swing. He finished it, then kinda freaked, started flapping and jumped back on his swing all the way. He turned around and jumped to his farthest back perch and refuses to move, sitting in the corner very withdrawn. Wants nothing to do with me at all, he freaks when I get near and climbs around the cage. I removed my hand, he immediatley gets back on his perch and sits there. I'm being as patient as I can. I stopped the finger training like I was. I try once a day, say "good sammy bird! good!" in a soft happy voice. He'll then get off, and I leave him alone. I still hand feed him as much as I can. He doesnt even want on his swing or even want to eat, NOTHING. Just sits in his corner :-S Sorry if I'm getting annoying. I just have no clue what to do. Everything is getting really confusing... One minute hes happy and sociable, wants to eat from my hand, sing, chirp, swing etc and the next hes unsociable and grumpy, just wants in the corner or on his middle perch. Edit2: Well, the above edits are prolly just me in a bad mood, today wasnt a good day and I have a short fuse right now heh. But the whole mood changes are true. Should I leave him completely alone for like 2 or 3 days or what? The first few days were awesome, but the past few days have been like... completely crazy. Mood swings, craziness, loss of progress from first few days etc... Any help? Can someone give me a straight answer on what to do? All your advice has been wondeful but I'm having trouble placing it in this situation. Thanks!

I never hit the cage or yelled at him, I just covered it up and said "Bad bird, bad sam" in a firm voice and covered up his cage for a few minutes. It calmed him down and he hasnt gone crazy trying to get out since. After I uncovered it and he was calm, he even got on my finger when I was fixing his toy out of nowhere. I reversed the blinds completely so only light gets through, no veiw of the outside. He seems to have calmed down quite a bit. Only reason I covered the cage is I read somewhere that when budgies or any birds get way too loud or misbehave, to put them back in the cage is they are out, then cover it for 10 minutes. It'll calm them down, and it seems to have worked. Also, I understand it can take weeks, I was only trying to figure out how long it might take to go away, and if there were ways to curb the behavior.