Okays, so now that I have little Levi home, I want to give him the best chance of bonding with me. I need to get this right from day one! So any advice and tips would be great. Im on holidays so i have all day to work with him. He isnt a very flighty bird at all. Is happy to sit on your finger for a while. But seems relieved to get back to his cage.

 

SO advice away PRETTY PLEASE!

 

Cheers in advance

There is an excellent article in the FAQ about Taming your Budgie, that is where I would tell you to go for my advice and tips since I wrote it up. The KEY is the more time spent the tamer he will become and stay tame.

I know how to tame birdos. But its the bonding side of it. McKenzie was totally and utterly in love with us. And I want this bird to be the same too.

Im worried that if I spend to much time with him, he will get annoyed and want to get away from us.

taming = bonding

well i would consider Levi tame now. but not bonded with us.

if you continue to do what you do and time creates bonding too, if she is tamed and you spend time with her she will bond in no time.

Taming + time = bonding :party0011:

Okays. having trouble. Seems like the longer I have him out on my finger the more he wants to get back to his cage and away from me. The same thing happened with rookie. You say time= bonding but I just feel like I am ******* him off.

 

What do I do in these crucial first days. I dont want him getting any worse. What do I do?

By time I meant over the course of weeks, etc not holding him continually until he's annoyed. Take him out frequently for shorter periods rather than having him out for too long at once and pick something he loves such as millet spray which he only gets when he is with you :yes:

Ive been using millet spray. I guess ill just try backing off him for a while.

holding? Most budgies do not like to be held. Think of what you may be doing that is scaring him, it could be something simple. Hands really are scary becaue they are large and they grab and Budgies know that. Backing off on the hand could be the answer but not on talking to him, letting him out etc...

No No, I never hold him! He sits on my finger. MB mentioned holding.

When you say letting him out, how do I do that if his wings are clipped and all he wants to do is go back into his cage?

 

Either way i am going to leave him in his cage for the weekend (if i can resist it!) and just talk to him and let him settle in.

Pretty did this to me too that is why I said read my article :yes:. What I did was I take him out and then I close the cage door and I would cover it up or remove it from the room if I wanted him by me, if it is okay he is on the cage then just shut the door it is okay if he climbs around it, good exercise. They just do your thing, like with Merlin when I was bonding with him, I just closed the door and sat at my computer and talked to him and I would give him millet on top of the cage to eat. He would climb around and hang on to the side but that is okay.

Okay, some bits were a tad confusing. But what you are saying is to get him out and let him do his own thing?

Is this just while bonding?

Everyday yes let him do his thing but keep the cage closed so he can't go in, Merlin's cage is right by my computer so when I work on the computer he is on his cage, I will go up and give him millet and sit back down, they will look for the companionship budgies are too social not too.

And that worked for you? Does merlin now want to come to you?

So once he wants to be with us, then I guess we can start step up training and stuff???

Edited October 31, 200816 yr by jwancia

I do step up training and taming this is what helps form the bond you should be working on it all together.

 

I know you are trying to separate bonding and taming. I am not sure why because it really is all combined process.

 

Yes, Merlin loves to be with me, he will even preen on my finger while I am on the computer.

I agree with Elly, when you are bonding you are also taming.

What l do to my budgies is sit near their cage and read a book aloud to them or l let them out to play on their play gym and just talk to them, l let them come to me when they are out of their cage, when they come to me l play with them while l'm training them so it is fun.

Edited October 31, 200816 yr by birdluv

There is an excellent article in the FAQ about Taming your Budgie, that is where I would tell you to go for my advice and tips since I wrote it up. The KEY is the more time spent the tamer he will become and stay tame.

 

That's a great article Elly, we've printed it out and will work to it from day one. Thanks for putting in the effort for us newbies!!

Just wanted to say that Levi is very much a happy little vegiemite! He is so friendly and funny. He is amazing (quite like mak). did the same things as I did with rookie and Mak. Funny that it didnt work with Rook. I think he might have been too old.

 

ANYWAYS, I am smitten and so happy with my little man. I love him!

That is great to hear

 

I have just started working with one of my babies, that a forum member was interested in. If he doesnt contact me, I have a friend who has been waiting for some time for a new baby. I have spent some time occasionally handling him from the nest, but not a lot of time, but I took him into work today and was amazed at how fast his confidence grew, just on his first day. He is a very cheeky, brave little boy and I know whoever ends up with him will have a great, but probably headstrong, little budgie lol