Just today, in about a 10 or 15 minute session, I got Cupid to step up repeatedly and sit on my finger in his cage!!! Probably not more than 5 minutes after I started, he tasted my finger - not chomping, but gently touching it with his beak and tongue. And it was just a few minutes after that that I got him to put one and then both feet on my finger! He let me rub his tummy and he would sit on my finger long enough where I'd have to make him get off so I could reposition myself! I ignored Psyche, lavishing praise on Cupid, talking to him nonstop, cooing and clucking and kissing at him. A couple of times she had to come over and investigate and I continued to ignore her for the most part, other than saying hello. She would get too nervous and have to move away. But when I finally got Cupid to sit on my finger, it was right next to her and she didn't seem too nervous.

 

I kept the session short, ending on a good note and came back to them a few minutes later and repeated the whole thing. I think I did 4 or maybe more different little sessions with them, each time with great success. I'd move Cupid close to Psyche and she would tolerate a TON more - she let me touch her without freaking out or trying to move away at all! By the time I was done tonight, she let me touch her without Cupid nearby.

 

I can't' believe we made so much progress in such a few short little sessions! I'm wondering if where we're keeping their cage has something to do with this because it all happened in a different room in a completely different way than I usually interact with them.

 

I went on at length describing their normal setting and where i worked with them, but for some reason I'm not able to post it. I'll see if it will work now and add the details later.

You did come along way pretty fast!! Well done!! Budgie see budgie do!! :hap:

That sound great

 

Sorry to hear you had trouble with the longer post. It could have been a touch of "this is a stange place but I remember you so I'm safe with you" thought with them. (gee hope that makes sense to you)

 

But it sounds you are doing great. Did you have any millet as a treat?

I would saying moving the cage in the beginning made the difference because it is a new location and birds don't like change and it quiets them down until they are used to where they are. So what you will find is once he settles he may start to be his old self.

 

So knowing this, you can use this spot for 1 on 1 time and training because you know you have his attention more diverted to you.

 

But this is why I feel the behavioral change

 

Keep on with the good work.

Remembering something familiar makes a lot of sense.

 

I actually didn't have any millet for them, just a slow moving, persistent finger. I had thought that treating them would be a good thing, but couldn't quite figure out the gymnastics of getting both hands in there, one to sit on and one to hold the millet. I suppose in the future I can use it to get him used to me moving him - move him towards the millet (which I'm holding on the outside of the cage). Moving him to Psyche seemed to work, so the treat should too.

 

I'll see if I can post where their cage is now.

 

They are on top of the fireplace in the corner. The ceiling is really low there, so its less than a foot above their cage. The sides of their cage are kind of sheltered too because the fireplace is set at an angle. They're at eye level for me.

 

I was wondering if having such a sheltered, high place where they live has made them kind of resistant to taming. That if they were a little lower and their cage wasn't as protected if they'd be easier to work with. In the room I was working with them, they were on the bed, all sides open and I was sitting next to them (instead of having to kind of reach up to them).

 

Would keeping the cage in a lower place make us seem more dominant and them more friendly?

1. You should keep birds at eye level when they are higher they feel like they have the control, so I would move the cage down.

 

2. The fireplace if you burn is not a good place to have them because of fumes and if you don't burn can be drafty.

 

You don't need to be dominant over a budgie like a dog you are asking to be invited into their flock and for that you want to have a co-existing relationship (not a dominant one).

 

Hope that helps

I am so jealous. I'm not getting much of anywhere with my bugdies. I will stay patient. Your story is an inspiration. There is hope for me yet.

Shell

Yup... there's still hope. I can't remember who it was that said so, but it took months for their birds to even acknowledge them! Patience is key. I was so surprised when this happened. Heh, try moving them into a different room, like what happened with us! *L* Shock them into being friendly. *L*

 

And no, they don't continue to seem afraid or nervous, they're their regular little old selves. When i move the cage, Psyche looks at me with the funniest expression on her face, almost like she likes it. Cupid reaches for my finger now when I bring it to him!

 

I moved stuff around so they're about 2 feet lower than they were. I noticed that when i'd do something in the cage, they'd hop up to their highest perch, which was above my head. Hopefully this will help a little. It will be good to get them to a point where I can let them out a little bit now and then for extra exercise.

Wow... yeah. Their cage should be lower.

 

It occured to me this evening as I was looking across the room at the birds that we spend almost all of our time in the living room *sitting down*. So the birds would always be higher than us on the fireplace, with the exception of when we stand directly at their cage. Where they're at now, they're at eye level to us when we're sitting.

makes a huge difference , keep us updated.