Hi there everyone,

 

What an amazing site - we only wish we'd searched it out earlier but are glad we found it now.

 

We need help, please! We have a budgie called Billy, who we bought nearly 4 weeks ago aged about 11 weeks. He is actually going to be living with our mum, but we are here looking after her as she broke her arm quite badly - so our number one priority is trying to get Billy happy and used to his new home, and hopefully interacting with people happily.

 

We opened the cage quite early as he seemed to be a really calm, relaxed budgie. Before we did so, though, we did what we were told to do by the lady at the pet shop where we bought him - feeding him through our hands and holding him gently to our chest... in a single day he was sitting on our shoulders (but NOT hands). But we haven't really gotten any further... if anything we've gone backwards. Whenever we approach him he tries his hardest to run away from us, and flies off us at first opportunity. (One of his wings was clipped by the seller when we bought him but he's totally compensated for it and is very agile.) He doesn't seem to want to be with us at all, but seems content with playing in his cage. He's got a large cage with lots of interesting perches and fun things, and also another 'tree' in the sitting room. We've been really gentle and calm and spent lots of time with him, talking quietly and talking an interacting with each other and him a LOT.

 

We're worried that his life will become lonely if it stays like this. Also, he's constantly calling to the birds outside which he can hear, and we don't know if that's a stressful situation for him which he won't get used to.

 

We want to get to the stage where Billy is flying to us to interact, or at the very least isn't rushing away in desperation to get away from us. Should we close his cage? Is it possible to go back a few steps and try again? Or is it still early days, and we just need to be patient? For instance, right now he happens to be quite relaxed, sitting on my partner's finger and shoulder and preening and occasionally nibbling at some keys...

 

Please PLEASE can anyone help us? We'd be so grateful. We have about another 2 weeks until we have to leave mum to it with Billy, and would love any advice possible.

 

Thanks so much everyone,

A&P, keen budgie-owners-in-training!

 

Hi Billy and welcome to the forums.

 

A really good site for taming budgies is eterri's site www.budgietalk.com.

It is best to get them handtamed before letting them out of the cage, this prevents them from becoming scared from being chased outside the cage.

 

It would be a good idea to even up your budgie's clip. Having them uneven makes it very awkward for the budgie to fly and can cause them to land badly.

More people will come on with more tips.

Hi A & P, I have just popped in to welcome you, this is a great site. Lots of very experienced people can give you a lot more advice than I can I hope your Mum, and you, get a lot of years of love and fun with Billy.

 

Feathers

Welcome A, P and Billy It's great that you are putting in the work to tame this little one to humans, and from the sounds of it it seems you have started a good job.

 

The one wing clip is an old style clip. Many believe now that it is safer and better for both wings to be clipped. They still can not get the lift to fly high or gain the speed but they are not unbalanced and working one wing more than the other to compensate.

 

Do you have any millet sprays? This is a great treat that most (there are a few rare ones) budgie LOVE. This can be used as a training treat for when the budgie does as wanted, such as standing on hands. A small piece held in the hand can tempt them to come to you rather than you chasing them.

 

If you are happy for him to be out of the cage at this stage continue doing so. But I would do a short (10 mins or so) training in the cage before you let him out. Either holding the millet or slowly moving her hand closer to his belly to get him to 'step up'. What you think he is ready for. Try and end it on a good note. If you give up when he flys away from you and then open the door he will start to think this is the way to get what he wants.

 

Talking all the time while doing this training help to calm him (silence to a bird means danger) and get him use to voices. If you pick one or two work he may even start talking later.

 

Also make sure your mother is part of this, so Billy and her know each other or there could be trouble after you leave.

What i've found is that people forget to say that budgie taming takes not weeks, a lot longer. Six months on average i'll spend with a new young one. I'm on month two with my newest and she'll still run given the oppotunity. Lots of progress though too.

this is a good point Vippin.

 

Pretty took a while at least 3 months to establish a decent relationship especially when they are allowed to run free. Without consistant interaction my boys become untamed slowly.

11 weeks is pretty young though, it's possible for this to take a short time but it really depends on the bird and the method you're using.

 

You've got tons of great advice here, evening up the clip and using millet.

 

You just have to get into the right mentality now. Does your budgie seem to enjoy his time out of the cage? Does he come out willingly? If so, try this:

 

From now on, when he comes out of the cage, he MUST step up onto your hand first. No flying out the open door on his own. He has to learn that your hand is the precursor to a fun time flying out and about. If he needs some reassurance and will eat from your hands, try millet as Nerwen suggested. However, some budgies just aren't very food motivated so the motivation may have to simply be the fact that he can fly about freely and explore if he steps up to your hand first. Don't worry if he doesn't stay there for long. One step up should be rewarded with out of cage time.

 

If he doesn't seem all that thrilled about coming out, you'll want to work on making it fun for him. In this case, I would get him a good playgym, bring him out of the cage (making sure the room is safe of course) and put his favorite treats on the gym. Cover the cage so that it is out of his sight, otherwise he may spend all his time trying to make his way back to it. Stay near him to supervise, but never force yourself on him. Interact with him passively. If he is afraid of you, then being too forward (like staring him in the eyes, watching him too closely, going after him too often) can only make things harder.

 

There are three things you have to remember that he needs to learn *from you*.

 

1) Coming out is fun and rewarding.

 

2) Humans provide the out time and the rewards.

 

3) Humans aren't budgie predators.

 

If you want to start all over with him, I would start with using the first method in the taming section of budgietalk.com to get him trained to step up. This is invaluable during those moments when he finds himself in a place he can't get out of. It's amazing how fast they learn that hands = height.

 

I could go on forever about the mentality we have to posess when taming budgies, but hopefully this gives you a general idea of what needs to be done. Do ask more questions if you don't understand something, you need more help, or you just don't think these methods will work with your particular budgie. There's always a way, it just isn't always the most obvious one.

Thank you so much, everyone. We are overwhelmed by your warm welcome and abundant advice! What an amazing forum. Honestly, being old hands you probably don't realise how wonderful and encouraging such a response is!

 

We will set about evening his wings up this morning, and will use all this great advice to build up a really happy, trusting and fun relationship with Billy. We'll definitely get mum involved too. Luckily, Billy has shown a definite keenness for millet sprays so we will stock up and start afresh.

 

Thank you again everyone! We will try to get a photo up, and will definitely be in touch!

hi and welcome

can hardly wait to see pics .

Hi all,

 

A small Billy update...

 

After reading up on your website, Terri, we decided to take Billy to an Avian Vet for a general check-up so that he could become familiarised with him and also so that we could even up Billy's wing-clip. He's a really good vet, and did a good job on the clip I think! He said he was looking in great health and seemed quite tame for his age and seemed to have a very good disposition. Good-o!

 

There was one question we had that we forgot to ask the vet. Billy's cage is in my mum's (large) room. He's on the side of the room that has three large glass fronted doors, made semi-opaque by bamboo blinds. The middle door slides open and closed and is protected by a mosquito/flyscreen netting. The thing is that in that position Billy can hear lots of birdcall outside (we are in Canberra - lots of native birds, parrots etc flying overhead), and is constantly calling out to them in an almost desperate tone. It's as if he is straining to hear them even when they're not calling out. Also, there are some pesky indian mynah birds which keep hanging around because we have a plum tree quite close to that door.

 

Is it upsetting to Billy to be hearing all that other birdcall? I thought if I moved him into the middle of the house - in the sitting room - he might hear less but he'll also see less action... I have been trying to encourage mum to chat to him a lot, keep her radio on (she's a radio fanatic!), and do activities near his cage.

 

Any advice gratefully received as always!

 

Thanks!