I have tamed budgies before, but it was so long ago that I think I've kind of forgotten how I did it! Between the ages of 11 and 13 I tamed quite a few, but I don't have any memory of it being difficult. After that we only had ones that were babies of ours so obviously they were no trouble to tame. Maybe animals and kids have some kind of special bond, I know dogs and cats seem to be a lot more tolerant of kids!

 

Anyway.... I guess what I'm thinking is that I expect it to be a really slow process of gradual little steps, and I'm fine with that. But I am thinking that once I've got him comfortable to step up on my finger, the rest should be a lot easier after that. But the very initial step of getting him to trust my hand near him seems impossible. How did you all get past that hurdle? If I put my hand near him now he runs away from it. I don't want to chase him around and make the hand an enemy, so I haven't really pursued it or anything, but I just notice it when I put my hand in to move things in the cage etc that he runs away. He does seem to like it when I talk to him though.

 

I just can't really see how I can train him to step up if he won't let my hand go near him, and I don't want to cause him any stress. I have read the article on taming and it's really good advice on there so that will help... just wondering if anyone has any other tips for the very start of the taming process?

I trained my Casper when he was about 12 months old and just began by several times a day putting my hand in his cage and doing "stuff" - under the guise of changing water, seeds, rearranging toys etc. Obviously there wasn't enough that needed to be done three times a day, but he learnt that my hand is helpful adn does nice htings for him, so he became less distrustful of it. I gradually began doing stuff closer to him in his cage, and eventually would rest my finger in front of him while he was onhis perch. I'd just raise it gently to touch his tummy and he'd step up. At that stage I just let him sit there, not moving him around or anything. Then gradually as he got more confident, I'd move my hand around the cage while he was on my finger. Eventually he was happy enough to sit on my finger and let me bring him out just past the door of his cage. It took a while before he'd come out further than that, but I built a little playgym on top of his cage and would just leave the door open so he could come out of his own accord. Once he was coming out on his own, i continued our stepping-up "training" on his outdoor perch. Eventually he was quite tame and let me get him on his finger wheneve I needed him to. He never got to letting me get a hold of him though... fingers only!... snow pea sprouts always worked well as a bribe/reward too!

Thanks, that's great advice. I guess I'm off to the right start then.. I have just been putting my hand in to "rearrange" the millet haha.

 

I have noticed that other people on here have used millet as a reward and training tool. I never used food the last times I tamed my budgies, but maybe I will after he gets a bit more used to my hand in the cage. I put the millet in now though because he's so new to his cage and I wanted him to have food in a few places to access while he settles in. He's still not really settled- keeps trying to escape, and keeps burrowing all the grit out.

There is some good info in the FAQ's about hand taming - It is a slow process but the reward is priceless -

Maesie is doing a journal on her 2 little ones which is a good read too

 

Good luck mate

Check this out: Taming your Budgie. I do have a taming journal for my two bubs, but havn't done much yet...

Thanks maisie - I've read that and found it really helpful. I'm going to bookmark it so I keep referring to it along the way

 

I'm also reading birdluv's taming journal. I think my little guy needs a bit more time to settle in before I start trying to tame him. He's currently in the phase of trying to escape from every little corner of his cage. Guess the cage doesn't feel like home yet.

Thanks maisie - I've read that and found it really helpful. I'm going to bookmark it so I keep referring to it along the way

 

I'm also reading birdluv's taming journal. I think my little guy needs a bit more time to settle in before I start trying to tame him. He's currently in the phase of trying to escape from every little corner of his cage. Guess the cage doesn't feel like home yet.

 

Birdluv's journal is great... Start by just having his cage near you as much as possible... when you're on the computer, doing chores etc... and talk to him all the time... the more he is around you, the calmer he'll become. Then you can up the anti with taming. Good luck and keep us updated. I've found that my girls prefer my hand (palm down). I always repeat 'step up' and say good bird when they step up. They do step up on my finger, but prefer the back of my hand.

You have received good advice, it is always best to let your bird settle for a week before you even try with the hand, now that you have you may have a little extra work to do. The best thing you can do is take your time and be patience all birds are different. If they come from a pet shop or breeder that doesn't handle their birds you may find it tougher but it happens. As suggested the FAQ article Taming Your Budgie is excellent, I wrote it up and it goes over how I tamed Pretty who was a pet shop budgie and introduced Merlin.

He's been going really well today. He seems to really like it when we come to the side of the cage and talk to him. We were out this morning, and when we got back, he had emptied his entire seed tray onto the floor underneath him because he was so desperate to burrow his way out of the cage. (Luckily we had covered the floor with a clear plastic tablecover thing haha). Our cage has this whole front section that can be opened, so we decided to let him out if he wanted to. He went down to the floor and started eating all the seed that he'd tossed there beneath his cage. He seemed happy for us to be around him and talk gently to him, and when we got down to his level on the floor and talked to him he didn't run away from our face, but sort of fluffed up and seemed to be listening - we just had to be careful not to get our hands too close still. He did peck at a string of paperclips that I was holding in my hand, after he got the courage to approach me and play with it a little. Curiosity got the better of him haha...

 

A friend of mine told me that they tamed their budgie by teaching him to step up onto his ladder that they were holding first of all, before introducing their finger. So I decided to try that today but the only thing I had was the long piece of wire thing which closes the front section of his cage. He was a bit wobbly on it because it was so narrow, but he actually stepped onto it surprisingly easily, and let me move him around on it. That was how I eventually got him back into his cage. I was really happy about that because I was expecting to have to grab him with a piece of cloth or something to get him back in and I didn't want to frighten him. But if I can use a ladder or stick thing to get him up on then it will be a lot easier to get him back into the cage, and we might try this little bit of supervised play time again.

 

I guess this next step might have been a bit too fast, but he seemed to be handling it well. The first thing he did when he was back in the cage was tuck his head between his wings and have a sleep. I think he's getting more comfortable with us around.

Try a small clean twig of grevillea or bottlebrush preferably with flowers as a training aid

sounds like he is coming around, yes you have to take it slow with some birds, a small dowel perch can be used first and then your finger, you can teach him step up on the perch and then once he has that you can slow put your finger next to the perch and encourage him to step on it with millet.

It sounds like you are bonding nicely to your budgie.

Continue taking it slowly, it took me a couple of months to tame mine.

It sounds like you are bonding nicely to your budgie.

Continue taking it slowly, it took me a couple of months to tame mine.

 

 

Thanks.... it is going well. Today and yesterday he happily let me carry him around the house on a chopstick... and also let me touch him with my face! When he was on the chopstick and also when I was giving him kisses and gently stroking him with my cheek he didn't look like he was even considering flying away (actually he put his beak up at one point when my husband was giving him a little kiss)... BUT... he still hates hands of course. I haven't tried anything with hands yet, but I just notice than whenever I put my hands near the cage to change his food etc he moves away from it, but with faces or inanimate objects he doesn't flinch. I always thought I'd start with step-up and getting used to the finger first, as I did with all my others, but this guy might be the opposite! Maybe he'll be better off with going from face, to shoulder, to finger. Who knows... will take it slowly and play by ear a bit.

It could be because he remembers being grabbed. I know a bird who you can do anything with as long as you don't touch him with your hand as it freaks him out.

 

Sounds like you are doing all the right things. Keep at it.

I like reading this post

 

Keep up with the slow taming - the others have given you great advice

Slow and steady wins the race... keep it up. If he has a fear of hands... remember NEVER to grab him. (I'm not saying you would) If you do all his trust will be lost. Maybe try a fist as opposed to a 'hand'. They will look different and may not be 'as' scary. Keep us updated... maesie

okay all's good now! He's not so afraid of my hand anymore. He seems to be a really fast learner. He learned to step up on the chopstick really quickly and now it's automatic, if it's in front of him (and he wants to) he'll bounce up onto it easily.

 

Today, he was just walking up the chopstick (it gets thicker as it gets closer to my hand) and he suddenly found himself on my hand! I slowly got rid of the chopstick and he awkwardly realised he was sitting on my hand. I left him there for a while and he stayed. Now, he already lets me put my hand up next to him. He steps up with one foot but not the other :laughter: But this is huge progress, so with the aide of my trusty chopstick I think I can see how he will learn to step up on our fingers too.

 

Seems like that initial barrier is slowly crumbling

okay all's good now! He's not so afraid of my hand anymore. He seems to be a really fast learner. He learned to step up on the chopstick really quickly and now it's automatic, if it's in front of him (and he wants to) he'll bounce up onto it easily.

 

Today, he was just walking up the chopstick (it gets thicker as it gets closer to my hand) and he suddenly found himself on my hand! I slowly got rid of the chopstick and he awkwardly realised he was sitting on my hand. I left him there for a while and he stayed. Now, he already lets me put my hand up next to him. He steps up with one foot but not the other :bliss: But this is huge progress, so with the aide of my trusty chopstick I think I can see how he will learn to step up on our fingers too.

 

Seems like that initial barrier is slowly crumbling :laughter:

 

:happy-dancing::laughter:

That is awesome news, I bet you feel proud

Yeah, and we're very lucky we got such a good natured and fairly calm little guy... so far it's been a lot easier than I expected it would be. Or maybe he's younger than we're guessing he is. Either way we're on a bit of a roll now so it's going well

Excellent news! Well done thus far... it sounds like he is a quick learner which should make your job a whole lot easier!!!

Good to hear!

that's great to hear

Have fun!