russelljohn1

Thanks very much to everyone who has responded to my post, those tips have been very helpful. I did end up getting Ernie and Elmo's wings clipped just over a week ago. Although initially it didn't seem to make them less scared of me, it has now proved to be very beneficial. I spend a lot of time on my computer, so I had the idea of whenever I'm doing this, to bring their cage over to my left and open all the cage doors, so that hopefully they'll get used to my presence. Obviously I wouldn't have been able to do this if their wings weren't clipped. This morning, for the first time, some time after I had opened the cage doors, they both flew out of the cage together, to the carpet. I was over at another desk when this occurred. I just left them alone, but kept an eye on them, and they just stayed in the same area, looking quite comfortable and cleaning each other etc. I later went over and fed them some millet spray from my hand, which they both started eating (after a short hesitance). They are certainly not scared of eating millet spray from my hand, which I gather from reading other posts, is good progress. Anyway, the best of all is that I thought I would have trouble getting them back into the cage, but it didn't turn out this way. I put out a short perch in front of them. After some initial reluctance, Elmo hopped up onto the perch, and a little later, also after some initial reluctance, Ernie hopped onto the perch also. I then slowly moved the perch back into their cage, thinking they would fly off, but they didn't, and I got them back into the cage without any problems, so that was very successful! I'm certainly glad I found this forum. I did buy a book on budgies before I acquired Ernie and Elmo, but it only had a very short section on taming. I'm finding a great deal of useful information on this site that isn't in my book. So thanks again, and I'm sure I will have some more questions later PS. I have included a photo of Ernie and Elmo as the personal photo on my profile. It was taken a few weeks ago, so they are behind the cage bars, but hopefully I'll get some more photos without the bars soon. Ernie is the blue and white one, and Elmo is the pale green and yellow one.

Approximately 2 weeks ago, I acquired 2 male baby budgies. I have been having some problems taming them. One of them (Ernie) is proving easier to tame than the other, and I have managed to get him to sit on my finger a few times. The other one (Elmo) seems more flighty/nervous at this stage, and I haven’t managed to get him to sit on my finger yet. What also happens sometimes is that I will have my finger in front of one of them, and then the other one (usually Elmo) gets spooked, which of course ends up in both of them becoming nervous and scuttling away. I have a number of queries, as follows: When I first got the budgies home from the bird shop, unfortunately, as I went to transfer them from the box to the cage, they both flew out. It took me some time to catch them, and they both appeared very stressed and were panting (it was also stressful for me). I’m a bit worried that this early experience with me might have traumatised them to some degree in respect of me taming them. From my enquiries before I purchased the budgies, I understand that they don’t bond as much to the owner when there is a pair. I would like to find out though what I could reasonably expect of a pair of budgies in this situation in respect of tameness. I would mainly like them to sit on my finger sometimes, and not be as scared when I put my hand in the cage, and also for me to be able to let them out of the cage sometimes when I come home from work in the evening. I’m not too worried about teaching them to talk. Would these be realistic goals for a pair of budgies? Also, am I being impatient? Is it possible that if I persist they might become tamer? If so, in general, how long might it take? Do they tend to become tamer or less tame as they become adult budgies? I’ll add that I did have some success earlier this week by putting my hand inside the cage and holding out some millet spray in front of them on the perch they were sitting on, and they did enthusiastically eat this, especially Ernie. Earlier this week, I opened the door to the cage and Elmo flew out. When this occurred, he appeared very nervous, flying wildly from one side of the room to the other, and I had some trouble catching him and putting him back in the cage (he was biting me with his beak as I took him back to the cage). There was also nowhere for him to perch outside the cage except for the curtain rod. Yesterday, I bought an external natural wooden perch to attach to the side of the cage if I try to let them out in the future, which I’m hoping might help them to come back to the cage by themselves. Should I perhaps wait until they are tamer before I try letting them out of the cage again? If so, approximately how long should I wait? Is it better to move my hand towards them very slowly and gently, or should I approach them in a more confident, faster manner? I’m thinking that the slower movements seem to work better, but just thought I’d see what other people have found. I went into the bird shop yesterday and spoke with one of the staff there re the above problems. He said that it is most likely because there is a pair rather than just one budgie. He suggested that I could bring them back and they could clip their wings, which he said might help me to tame them. Another suggestion he made was that I could perhaps separate them for a while (e.g. by getting a friend to look after one of them for a while), and then bring them together again once they are tamer. I was wondering if anyone has some thoughts on these suggestions. It has occurred to me to maybe take the flightier one (Elmo) back, tame Ernie properly, then get another bird, tame this separately, and then put them both together. I imagine that with budgies, like many other animals, that individual budgies have different temperaments, and that some are easier to tame than others? I would of course feel somewhat reluctant to take Elmo back, additionally as Ernie and he do seem to have bonded with each other, and preen and clean each other. The reason I originally decided to get two birds is that I live by myself in a studio apartment and work full-time 5 days a week, so I thought two birds would be company for each other, even though I knew they wouldn't bond with me to the same degree as what one bird would. If anyone could offer some tips/thoughts re the above, that would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.