OW OW OW OW!!!! is the first word i say when i go to talk to my yellow male budgie named Sunny. Whenever i try to pick him up on my finger he bites savagly hard. He doesnt appear scared or angry but ever since i got him he's bitten not only me but everyone else like that. What's wrong with him? Im starting to get tired of the pain and am thinking of separating him from my other budgie. Could someone tell me what's wrong with him and how i can fix it?

does it only happen when he is in his cage? or is it all the time?

All the time

i think the trick is not to react to the bite - eventually he should give up. i know its hard when they are clinging on for dear life!! ouch! Good luck!!! Somebody with more experience will probably come up with some more tips for you!

Oh, okay, ah, if it helps in some way, i forgot to mention how very HARD it is to get him onto your finger in the first place. He'll run away, fly off. jump somewhere high or land on your back where you cant reach him. He's about one and a half years old or two, i cant remember exactly, so i thought he would have grown out of the habbit.

did you start training him when he was a baby? I think its a lot more difficult to do when they are older. Have you tried bribing him with millet to get him onto your finger?

No, i was still a noob at budgies so i didnt train him, i figured that the first budgie would help him.

I have absolutely no luck with training budgies - they just don't seem to like me But, I am very experienced at trying to tame the little sods. Firstly, instead of trying to get him to step up on your finger, try using a piece of dowel. When he is comfortable doing that, you can move your hand further down the dowel, until you are touching him. Using millet, or his fave food as a bribe is also good.

 

When he is biting you, DON'T REACT! I know, I have larger parrots, and when they are ripping your finger off, blood is flying, and all you want to do is scream, it is very hard By reacting, you are teaching him that biting gets him what he wants - your finger out of his way! Also, by instinctively pulling your hand away from the bird, you will cause yourself more pain. Start blowing gently into his face when he bites you. They hate that, and it should stop him biting. If that doesn't work, and please try it for several weeks first, then you can use the other method. But, unless you are very careful, you can make matters worse. As he bites, gently push your finger towards his beak. This puts him offbalance, and also is the opposite of what he wants - your finger out of the way!

 

I'm sure more people will have more ideas for you

I have the same problem with my budgie at the moment, but he is only a baby and I have been hand rearing him since he was 3 weeks old. The reason he bites me is because he thinks my finger is the spoon with his feed on it. I had no idea such a little beak could inflict so much pain!!! It's extremely hard not to swear, I have to bite my tongue with 2 kids around. But, my God it hurts!!! ( as you know). Good luck with him!!

Cloud would bite me if I was trying to disrupt his comfort level. He doesn't bite me anymore, even when I have said, "OW!" in the past. If he's comfortable where he is...then I wouldn't try to move him. It could be another way of him saying, "Leave me alone! I'm fine here!"

Just a thought.

I advise you to go to www.budgietalk.com and read about finger taming and ways to build your birds trust and bond with you. That is the first step .