Hi, so I have two birds together. They get along great. The first bird I tried to tame for about 10 weeks. She wasn't having it although she would step up and come out sometimes.

 

The second bird I've had for a month. He's very young and very sweet. The two get along great. Shelfie, my first bird has gotten more wild, I know not surprising. She enjoys playing on the top of the cage but won't come out herself. I can get her to step-up and super-super-fast move her out and she'll jump on the top and have a blast playing. She goes back in when she's done.

 

Dave is much tamer than her. If I had him by himself he'd have tamed out no problem.

 

So I'm afraid he's going to get wild like Shelfie. Should I separate them for a while? He gets on my finger no problem but wants to get on the cage right away. If I take him in another room he and Shelfie call to each other.

 

The most success I have in taming them is just putting my hand in their cage with millet. Then they will both come down and eat it. Shelfie is so nervous. As soon as she's done she jumps off. Dave's starting to do that now too.

 

They are very happy together and playful. Dave hangs upside down from the cage and gives himself bird baths. She does the wing flapping exercise. Shelfie has just started to do this too. She did nothing but sit in her cage until Dave joined us. She's a new bird now.

 

Any advice?

 

Edited to add some pictures...

Edited September 16, 200816 yr by summer

Taming is always harder with more than one budgie.

My three inside birds are not as tame as they could be, but when they have each other as company, they loose interest in us humans.

Many members have two birds in separate cages in separate rooms to maintain the tameness of their birds.

Yep agree with Liv,

 

I had 2 hand tamed birds in separate cages and put them in together and they have loss most of their tameness ..

 

Maesie is doing her 2 little ones read her taming journal or PM her with dome adivce

First I wanted to note that you said you had your new one for a month, from reading that I assume you put them in together the first day? If so please do know there are quarentine procedures that bird owners must follow so you don't introduce any illness into your existing flock. Also during quarentine is an excellent time to tame and bond with your bird.

 

I always suggest to people if you want to 2 bird to wait till the first one has bonded with you. It took Pretty a good 6 months and even up to 9 months to really bond with me, start talking, following me around and more. When I introduced Merlin around the 10 month mark Pretty bonded with Merlin and Merlin bonded with Pretty. I kept most of the bond I had with Pretty but even with taming I never really had Merlin bond to me until after Pretty died.

 

The best thing you can do is work with them together I believe because when you separate them it puts them into an anxiety state looking for their "friend" and you don't get anywhere. Work with the one that responds to you the most, use a lot of food rewards, have them clipped if they are not already, if they are not tamed in the cage first then work on that and then outside of the cage.

 

I wrote up an FAQ about my experience on how I tamed Pretty and worked with Merlin too, you may want to read it.

 

The KEY is don't give up - they will come around but if you do give up they will get wilder and more afraid of you. Your birds are very young so you have a lot to work with.

First I wanted to note that you said you had your new one for a month, from reading that I assume you put them in together the first day? If so please do know there are quarentine procedures that bird owners must follow so you don't introduce any illness into your existing flock. Also during quarentine is an excellent time to tame and bond with your bird.

 

I always suggest to people if you want to 2 bird to wait till the first one has bonded with you. It took Pretty a good 6 months and even up to 9 months to really bond with me, start talking, following me around and more. When I introduced Merlin around the 10 month mark Pretty bonded with Merlin and Merlin bonded with Pretty. I kept most of the bond I had with Pretty but even with taming I never really had Merlin bond to me until after Pretty died.

 

The best thing you can do is work with them together I believe because when you separate them it puts them into an anxiety state looking for their "friend" and you don't get anywhere. Work with the one that responds to you the most, use a lot of food rewards, have them clipped if they are not already, if they are not tamed in the cage first then work on that and then outside of the cage.

 

I wrote up an FAQ about my experience on how I tamed Pretty and worked with Merlin too, you may want to read it.

 

The KEY is don't give up - they will come around but if you do give up they will get wilder and more afraid of you. Your birds are very young so you have a lot to work with.

 

l agree with Elly. Patience is very important in gaining their trust.

you can check out my Journal thread on how l tamed my 2 older budgies together, over here Hobbes& Claire's Taming Journal. it was a lot of work but so worth it at the end. please keep us updated on your progress.