One of my budgies is pretty tame, and I have held her in my hand and took her out of the cage, but didn't let her fly free yet. Should I clip her wings? What is the next step after that? and how do I make her sit on my head or on my shoulder? Thanks for the future help...

Clipping wings is a hot topic. Some people are for and some people are very against.

 

I was always against until got Blue, it was recommended to me as he has a VERY short attention span and thinks flying away from me is a game!

 

We clipped all but the outside ones on a recommendation that leaving the outside one will protect the insides ones as they grow back (will try and post a picture tonight)

 

Since then I have done alot of what I call Cup Holding, getting the bird to sit on your thumb and cup your hand around his back. If she trys to push through your hand place the other one in the same position and let her tunnel though them. I then settle down for the night and watch TV, I let him fly off my finger a few times, but now he is use to me he is starting to just run up and down my arms, off my shoulder to the back of the couch and onto my sister.

 

Even how almost a month after I got him he still does not get the "step up" command. When I first bring him out of the cage he freaks out a little before settling down. It is a long process and may take some time.

 

Harley when I first trained him it was about a week and he was actively seeking me out, Blue is a very different bird so I am in for the long haul.

 

Take your time, have cuddle time at least twice a day for no less then 20 mins (unless the bird gets stressed out) If she is not going to let you catch her when you let her out for free flight then I would recommend clipping her wings BUT get a breeder or a vet to do it! Also there is a really good post on this forum about different types of wing clipping.

 

Lots of rewards, find something she loves to eat and only give it to her when you are handling her.

 

Also I believe that it is not good practise to let the bird sit on your head, you should try and keep them below eye level at all times.

 

Hope my ramble helped, I am sure someone else will be able to help more!

Thanks. I'll try that. I have been doing that, but only for (up to) a minute. But I'll try to do that longer.

If you would like your budgie to go on your shulder you should just try puting your little fellow on your shulder, Louy went on my shulder by him self, he feels safer there close to me giving me kisses and little chirps and its a lot more stable then a finger. :budgiedance:

Here is an article I wrote up about how I tamed Pretty and Merlin along with the shoulder taming. There are many wonderful ideas and also there is a link about wing clipping. Wing clipping is a personal decision and you should never feel bad if you don't or do clip.

 

Taming your Budgie from BBC FAQ's

I find that although Sherbie, Sparkie and Sunshine aren't at all interested in being tamed, they are happy to go for a ride on my shoulder if I put them there, and will stay there for quite a while.

 

Try coaxing you're budgie onto your finger with millet, they soon forget they are on the scary finger when they are enjoying tasty millet, the take it away, talk to them, then bring it back saying good boy/girl when they stay!

 

Another thing I do is I always say "up" when I present my finger to them, and they step onto it

OOOOOOh. Thanks Elly. That was a very good article. I'm probably going to print that out...

 

And thanks everyone else for the replies, those were really helpful too...

Your welcome keep us updated on your progress :dbb1:

To get them on your shoulder you can just place them on your shoulder or just stretch your arm out so it is straight and they should run up or you can tempt them with a piece of their favorite food. BUT never put a biting bird on your shoulder because it makes them feel dominant and it is going to be time for a bite on your face HARD!

try putting your bird on your shoulder...it worked with neon and her wings arn't clipped.i also sit on the ground and she'll come out and sit on me or play games