I have had Harry for a week as a gift and he's probably about 8 weeks old. He's supposed to be tame but I have decided he's not! He normally freaks out when I get near him, or put my hand in the cage. I have been trying all the tips i can get from this forum ... putting my hand in the cage and placing a finger under his chest. He only gets on my finger in the evenings when he's not distracted by the other birds outside and when he's tired/ sleepy?

 

I read a part in here where it said "handle" the budgie. ..

 

Do I have to catch him and hold him? I acually tried that with gloves and he was very distressed and started biting. Then he flew off and it was a real task to get him back cos he wont get on my finger. Should I "hold" him/let him out or wait till he's good at getting onto my finger?

 

I have never had a pet bird and would appreciate any advice.

 

Thanks heaps

Hello and welcome! I love your screen name.

 

If you've only had Harry a week, he hasn't had much time to get used to you or his new surroundings. He is probably frightened. But if he freaks out when you get near him I would hazzard a guess that he has not been handled much. At that age curiosity usually outweighs fear and they are pretty easy to tame. I'm guessing he still has all his flights, which is very good! 8 weeks is much too young to trim. When he is out, how is his navigation? Does he crash much, or is he able to hover, do insame acrobatics, and turn on a dime in the air? You want him to be able to do the latter before you think about trimming his wings, if that becomes an option for you to keep him safe.

 

I would back off just a little for the next few days. Using gloves around a bird is usually pretty traumatic for them, and since you can't feel as well how tightly you are holding them, you run the risk of suffocating them (budgies breathe differently than we do) if you compress the chest. I don't know what kind of schedule you have, but if you are able to just be in and out of the room he is in several times, and just talk to him, whistle, and eat in front of him. Maybe a time or two get close to the cage and talk to him with your hands behind your back. Right now he is scared of your hands, so if he doesn't see them all the time at this stage that would be good. When you change his food, water, and cage paper, do so in slow motion, and explain to him what you are doing while you are doing it. It won't matter exactly what you say, the idea is to get him used to your voice, and you being near him with absolutely nothing scary happening. Since he is so young, he should soon start to pay much attention to the cadence of your voice instead of what your hands are doing, although he will keep an eye on them. This is when you can introduce him to millet spray, if you haven't already. Cut a short piece, maybe 2" long, and hold it near him. If you can do it in the cage, great, if he is still flighty, poke it through the cage bars next to him. Hold your fingers between the bars so that he has to be near your fingers to eat the millet. Pretend to eat it yourself, and tell him how yummy it is and how much he wants it. When he looks forward to the millet, give it to him with your hand inside the cage. This may take several days, or several weeks. It all depends upon his personality. In the beginning he will be the one calling the shots, but your goal is to create a trust bond between you. The finger taming and handling of him will come later. You will know when you both are ready for that.

 

At first when you hold him, let him 'tunnel' through your hands. I don't know if you've ever had a hamster or not, but you will know what I mean if you have. As long as you don't squeeze or hurt him, he won't get that stressed out about tunnelling, as he can still move. It's when they can't that real panic sets in, unless they are used to being held. It's something you will do gradually. I wouldn't worry too much about holding him right now, as probably most budgies do not like to be held. He may eventually like it, but more likely he will just tolerate it. Head scritches will likely be a different matter though, and if you are holding him for short periods a few scritchies to get him used to the idea would be good. You'll know if he likes it soon enough.

 

I'd work on getting to the point where you can feed him from your hand and put your hands inside his cage without him getting spastic. Then you can start having him learn to step on your finger. You will probably find that he likes the millet so much that he will jump on your hand without thinking about it to get at it.

 

Just find a pace that works for both of you. It may seem like it takes a long time in the beginning, but if you have him for the next 10 years or so, the time spent building a good foundation between you really isn't much time at all. I'm sure others will be on to give some more and different tips. Keep us posted!

Rainbow has given you some most excellent tips, and please don't use gloves, my rescue lady says that makes things worse. (And she should know having had hundreds of birds through her care). You will want to check out our other topics of "Bringing Home a New Budgie" and "You and Your Budgie Bonding" which have several important items pinned for all to see plus you can see other members questions that are similar to yours. Also, don't forget to check on the food/nutrition sections, in fact, check all of the sections out and you will learn a lot, I know I have! Oh and Hello by the way!

Edited February 27, 200718 yr by Phoebe

Welcome to our site and as said Rainbow has given excellent advice. Continue to update us on his progress. Progress can be slow so I encourage you not to give up. Yes it can take several months to tame or it can take a week it depends on the bird and your consistency .

Thanks for the advice and for making me feel so welcomed!

 

From what you said it sounded like i was going a bit too fast. i have been reading the other topics and i think I was trying to do all of them at once. I will try just putting my hand in the cage and wait till he's used to that.

 

He didnt like/ notice the millet sprays for a whole week but he's discovered them yesterday and has devoured the whole thing! So im glad. At least he's had something more than seed and I can use it to bait him!

 

Will keep you guys up to date and Thanks again!

good news , yes things can progress slowly and if you find the bird is timid of that step then just take a step back . Great things come from slow progress.

Hi everyone,

 

I have an update on Harry, in the past 2 weeks he's noticed the toys we placed in his cage. Since then he became quite fond of one, and plays with it often. He has also started chewing/attacking another toy.

 

At the same time, he now has started biting my hand when I get near him. I dont think he's frightened, as its more of a lunge at me, and he sometimes makes this noise like a dolphin.

 

Ive read some threads on biting, and I think it may be terrertorial. So Ive removed one of the toys, and repositioned some items in his cage. Its now been 2 days since then and he's still biting quite a bit. He is also alot louder than ever, perhaps he is becoming more and more confident with his surroundings.

 

Im in a bit of a tight squeeze, and was wondering if anyone can give me some advice on this biting thing, we've only had Harry for 4 weeks now, and I think that makes him about 3 months old now. Is this just a phase all budgies go through??? Will he grow out of it??? Or do I need to take drastic steps to fix this?

 

 

Thanks for listening...

 

Jo-an

Do you have a mirror in the cage? This may cause biting issues?

You are coming upon the hormonal stage and 1st molt so yes it can be a stage. But lunging and the dolphin noise does sound more scared.

 

Does he step up on your hand yet? Does he like millett? When you put your hand in the cage bring a little bit of millett with you if he likes it. It will do wonders but ONLY give it to him if he doesn't bite. But if he likes it that should help with him not doing this.

Do you have a mirror in the cage? This may cause biting issues?

You are coming upon the hormonal stage and 1st molt so yes it can be a stage. But lunging and the dolphin noise does sound more scared.

 

Does he step up on your hand yet? Does he like millett? When you put your hand in the cage bring a little bit of millett with you if he likes it. It will do wonders but ONLY give it to him if he doesn't bite. But if he likes it that should help with him not doing this.

 

 

Thank you so much for replying

 

No he doesnt have a mirror. Thank goodness because he goes into such a frenzy with the other toys already! We have followed the instructions in www.birdtalk to remove the toys if rearranging the "furniture" doesnt help. He has since been without toys for a day and still biting. Lunging and attacking kind of bite - he doenst look scared at all!! ive named him terror-dactyl instead these past few days. I can distract him with a toy while i put my hand in there to change things but he only gets onto my hand if I have a piece of millet on it. And when he has finished the millet he bites me or if the millet is placed too far for his liking he bites me too. :ausb:

 

Over the past week, I have noticed that he is a lot more curious and of course, confident. He's started to play with the toys which he's ignored for the past 3 weeks, the cuttlefish bone and today, lettuce. He does chew on everything else too eg. the cage, ladder, food container.

 

So should i keep feeding him millet and just practise getting him to stand on my hand, let him bite occasionally? If this is a phase, will he stop biting eventually? Plus, will he get bored or go crazy without toys while I'm not here to accompany him as I do work long hours.

 

Thanks for your help. I really appreciate it :fear

your poor fingers sound like you have a female vs a male

Terri on her site has some great taming tips it is at www.budgietalk.com (I see you have it already) follow the taming tips she does have for teaching step-up first. Yes continue to give rewards and let him know your hand is not bad. Did you get him as a baby or from a pet store?

I have wondered if he's female - eventhough the breeder told us it was a "he" but on the other hand they also told us he was "tame". I'll just have to wait and see if his nose turns blue or not!

 

I just got Harry from a breeder when he was about 8 weeks... does that make a difference? He's about 12 weeks now. He didnt have a tail then cos the other birds have been attacking it. And he is definitely not tame!

 

Will follow your good advise and keep you updated. Thanks!

Welcome. It sounds like you are doing your best with your little one. Kinda sounds female. Can you post a picture for us. There are lots on here who can sex even the youngest of budgies.

Hi everyone,

 

Heres a few pics of Harry.... Maybe not a Harry afterall? Im hoping you can help determine the sex..

 

Might explain the biting..

 

Isnt he/she cute!!!

 

Jo-an

Edited March 11, 200718 yr by justplainnuts

I just love Harry, I am sure he will be tame in no time as he looks so inquisitive! Had to change your first picture to a link as it was larger than our forum's size requirement. Can't help you with the sexing but the others will as they are such great pictures!

 

Thank you for resizing your first picture Jo-ann, everything looks great, Harry is such a sweetie!

Edited March 11, 200718 yr by Phoebe

definately young/immature The cere has some blue in it it's a he i think when he's older we'll know for sure.

I would say you have a male. In my experience, the males bite harder, LOL. Females seem to bite once and be done with it, males seem to hang on and continue to grind into your flesh. Ouch. He is very, very cute.

 

I have found that budgies don't normally bite unless they don't see any other option out of a situation they are afraid of. I'm not saying you are intentionally scaring your budgie or not treating him right, but think it would be a good idea to really look at everything that happened in the previous minutes before a bite. At his age, he may be getting a little irritable because he is nearing his first molt. Some birds go through a molt without much change in personality, others find it very bothersome. The clue to keep it from becoming a habit is to avoid as much as possible situations where he has the opportunity to bite. Is it possible you are moving too quickly with your taming? He may be uncomfortable with the pace. Maybe slow things down for a week and see if the biting slows or stops. Are you putting your hands in the cage or asking him for interaction while he is beating up his toys? If so, wait until he stops playing with them before you request hands-on interaction. If he is releasing tension you can always expect a bite if you interrupt! In the beginning it is definitely a learning curve for you while you learn to read his body language and he learns to read yours. It sounds like you are doing fine, and this is probably part of the learning curve. Keep us posted.

Hi All,

 

Just to update you on Harry. It's been 3 weeks since my last post and Harry has since learnt to step up onto our fingers and he's flying around the house but coming back to us to touch base. He loves landing on our heads!! and even lands on our hands if we place them real high.

 

He's still biting and has a fetish for ears at the moment. (ouch!) and you were right, he's having his first molt. The quills are showing and he seems to be more psycho and high in the mornings. Can't seem to stop the biting yet.

 

He's only eating brocolli and goes nuts for seeds and I have not seen him eating his poo since my last post. (what a relief!)

 

He was so cute yesterday when he decided to sit and bath in his bowl of water. He's never done that before and was definitely the highlight of our day!

 

Thank you all for all your help and advice. I will keep you posted. I look forward to coming home to see Harry everyday now

 

Jo-an

Edited March 31, 200718 yr by justplainnuts