Hi, I have had my budgie for 5 weeks now. I bought him from a breeder when he was 6-8 weeks old. We had his wings clipped also. I have read lots of material on how to train/tame a budgie but Pokey just doesn't seem to be bonding with me. Ideally I'd just like to teach him to talk but have read they need to bond first. Because I work all day - time is not something i have that much of. I talk with him in the morning and at night - he is in the main living area of the house. He will eat millet off my hand if he is hungry (ie. if he has had no seed top up for a while) and will even come out of the cage on my finger if he's hungry enough. If he has seed he wants nothing to do with me at all. He moves away or sits frozen. I love him heaps but am getting frustrated at his lack of response. He seems happy enough - chirps and does tricks but is scared of us. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Hello and welcome

 

Please make sure he gets a fresh seed top up everyday as budgies can starve quite quickly and often a seed dish can look full, but actually only contains (useless) husks. Also give fresh vegies and fruit - the way to a budgies heart is though trust and their stomach. :rip:

 

5 weeks is still early days when it comes to bonding with your budgie. Just keep holding him and talking to him - don't give up as budgies (in the early days of tameing) can loose their tameness quite quickly if you leave them for a few days.

 

Dose he have any mirrors in his cage??? Mirrors distract the budgies attention away from you and they fall in love with their reflection instead.

 

Good luck and keep us posted with your progress. Also we love photos if you can upload some

 

Like Liv said 5 weeks is very early days.

Also if you bought the bird from a colony breeder they aren't as tame as some one that breeds in separate cabinets and handles the young more often.

Leave a radio on through the day when your not there, a little back ground noise tends to settle them sooner.

Food treats work for dogs, but budgies are naturally inquisitive so he will eventually come to you without the millet.

Be patient! Even the most flappy things come around eventually.

Starving a budgie is a cruel way to think that it will bond quicker to you ....

 

Great advise already about it being too young to expect it to be tamed.

 

It is a time consuming effort 30 mins everyday and you will get there

Within everything read I feel that 30 minutes a day is not enough and the more time you can spend with your bird the better and that doesn't mean it needs to be sitting on you. The best way to get a bird to bond with you is to NOT touch it or try to make it come by you but to be in the same room with it while he is in his cage and feels safe. When you take your bird out of the "comfort zone" like trying to touch him, taking him out of his cage he is focused on getting away not you, when you keep him in his cage and keep him by you when you are home and he feels safe he will focus on you. I know this from first hand experience as I have tamed a pet store bird & a private owned bird. I have written up an article on how I tamed them and it is located in the FAQ section. One thing about food if they only rely on you for a treat or food they will not bond the way you want them too they will only see you as a source of food so you need to also bond with them in other ways too food is a tool but not the answer.

Heheh Elly - You k now better then me

Heheh Elly - You k now better then me

Well when you think that you have 24 hours in a day and 8 of it is sleeping so that leaves 14 hrs left and then you work and play 11 hours of it you have 3 hours left to play with your budgie right and when you break it up and if you have a smaller cage like I did with Pretty I used to cart him around the house with me in everything I did. Sitting and watching T.V. with the cage right next to you is a perfect way to bond. People forget they don't want to be petted like a dog or cat they just like the close companionship that is what creates the bonding. I have made many mistakes along the way because I was in a dog/cat frame of mind but when I realized that birds are "wild" not domesicated and we expect them to conform to us but in reality we need to become part of them not the other way around like cats and dogs and once your bird accepts you as part of "his" family the bonding really begins.

Hi all,

 

Thank you so much for taking the time to respond. Liv suggested to hold him - but he's not even at that stage yet - unless I grab him??. He is only about a meter away from where I sit to watch tv and from where I am in the kitchen when I cook. The only time I'm not in the same room as him is when I'm sleeping, working, or on the computer (which isn't much). I might however, try moving his cage closer ie. on the table near me in the lounge. As far as fruit and veges go - he won't eat anything other than his seeds! I've tried carrot and banana and strawberry but he won't go near them. I don't have a mirror in his cage as I've read this will stop him bonding.

 

So, do you all think that if I just continue to sit by him and talk to him that he'll come around? How long will it take? I'm getting concerned because I know the older they are the harder they are to train! Also, he seems to be bitting me now whereas he never used to. Elly, what about the whole idea of putting my hand in his cage all the time to get him use me? Also, I haven't been able to even clean his cage (other than the pull out drawer) because he won't come out. I will try the radio thing as well - thanks throwback.

 

I will try to post a picture of him - and maybe find out if he is a "he".

Please NEVER keep your budgie in the kitchen with you when you are cooking you may find him dead one day. The fumes from cooking, along with any tephlon you may have will give off toxic fumes. When you cook keep him in the other room only when you are not cooking it is okay.

 

As for everything else yes....keep him close to you. Have you read my article yet?

Hi, welcome to the Forums :bluebudgie:

 

as others have mentioned, 5 weeks is not that long it could take weeks or months, it depends on the budgie.

yes, you should continue to talk to him daily.

when i got my budgie Bing he was very scared of me... i waited about 5 days then begun to put my hand into his cage and get him used to it, then after about a week of doing that i started offering him millet, then i put my finger out in front of the millet and pushed on his belly and he hopped onto my finger... this all took about 2 weeks, then i started doing that every day for about 20 minutes at a time and now he gets the hang of it. so i wouldnt worry, all budgies are different just keep persisting as i myself havnt finished fully training my budgie yet and its been 5 months! early days, just dont give up

 

PS. as budgies get more confident they start to bite, my budgie bites me if he is not on a perch and i try and get him onto my finger. Try use this to your advantage and ignore the biting, eventually he/she will get the message and stop biting.

 

good luck :bluebudgie:

I have 3 inside pet budgies. They spend all day playing on their play gym right next to me in our main living room. They are not scared of me, but they are not bonded to me either because I don't hold them very much except when i pick them up off the ground to put them back on their play gym etc. personally i would spend as much time holding him as possible - I feel budgies are most comfortable sitting on your shoulder while you are relaxing or doing minor chores (that don't include cooking, toilet cleaning, or the use of chemicals)

 

My inside birds are not crazy about veggies either, but they have suddenly fallen in love with steamed peas!!! Also they have decided to devour a slice of apple that has been sitting there for 24 hours :bluebudgie:

 

Keep up with trying veggies, more so than fruit

So can we see a picture?????

Hi all, thanks for the advice. I can't seem to work out how to post a picture sorry, do I have to have the picture on a website?

Here is a link HOW TO POST A PICTURE

This will tell you how to do it

Edited July 9, 200817 yr by Elly

Awwwww Pokey is a real sweety

What a sweet budgie. It takes time and with that and a lot of patience, you'll get there and it will be soooooooo worth it in the end. Good Luck!

He is very cute I have had bonding problems with my budgie too, but don't give up on him because he will come around in his own time. All you can do is follow members' great advice, and as Elly says, have him with you as much as possible. Good luck

he is a doll, you should submit his picture for Budgie of the Month . Keep on working with him but keep him out of the kitchen.

He is definitely a boy. He is lutino. It is a good idea to do short training sessions but many times a day. So you can do 10 minute sessions 2-5 times a day. That makes it a little easier for him.

When he bites just ignore it, because if you react, he will think it's a game and your reaction is a reward for biting. They may also bite out of fear too which means that if you react a)you are taking your hand away like they want you too or b)you scare them even more.

he is a doll, you should submit his picture for Budgie of the Month . Keep on working with him but keep him out of the kitchen.

Hi Elly,How long until the fumes from the cooking are safe to bring him back into the kitchen? I know friends who have their bird in the same room as the kitchen. Is this really harmful or just a myth?Thanks for all the compliments on Pokey. I do love him! Thanks Sailorwolf - my budgie dealer said he was 90% sure he was a boy. Thanks for the advice.

He is definitely a boy. He is lutino. It is a good idea to do short training sessions but many times a day. So you can do 10 minute sessions 2-5 times a day. That makes it a little easier for him.When he bites just ignore it, because if you react, he will think it's a game and your reaction is a reward for biting. They may also bite out of fear too which means that if you react a)you are taking your hand away like they want you too or b)you scare them even more.

Edited July 10, 200817 yr by birdluv
fixed smiley

Not a myth !

 

Esp when cooking with teflon coated pots and pans