hey all.

 

just a quickey.

 

the budgie i have seems to be tame-ish and is deffinatly becoming accustomed to me, now my guide book says i should hand tame it before i let it out of the cage, but i dont think this is fair as its only a really small cage until i can get a new cage on friday and get the aviry built/made. now should i let it out for a fly every day or not until its hand tamed?

 

problem is when i let it out it just sits on the shelfs looking at me and rarely flys around, also the only way to get i back into its cage is to catch it and put it back.

 

it deffinatly seems more lively now and it looks a million times healther, also it knows when its out time because i will carry its cage into the room and it will grab hold of its perch and flap its wings like it wants to fly of :(Laughing out loud):

 

any tips to try to hand tame it so it will fly back into its cage or hop onto my finger?? also my book says by catching it that destroys all trust between me and the budgie?

 

i want to have this sort of tamed before i get a male freind for it then work on the other one.

 

cheers

 

aaran

I strongly believe that a budgie will fly back to its cage whether hand tamed or not, thats where is food and water are, where it sleeps, where it feels safe and secure. My totally unhand tame budgie Snowy always returns to her cage.

On to taming, does she like millet, the sort that comes on a spray? You can always start hand taming her by holding a piece in yur hand, and putting hand in cage fairly near to her. The temptation of the millet often proves stronger than the wariness of the hand If you can get her to hop on to your hand in the cage, you are halfway there. Im not a big believer in 'catching' a bird, BUT, sometimes it may need to be done, say in an emergency. However, I would never try and catch a bird with one hand, its much harder, and the bird has far more time for its panic or distress to grow. I prefer the two handed method (but, again, only when neccessary). Make a large 'cup' with both your hands, with the heel of your hands together. This gives you a much larger area in which to 'catch' her, and once cornered, or against the side of the cage, slowly and gently close your hands around her. Again, I must stress that this is a technique I have practiced on a few occasions, simply for practice in preperation for an emergency. I much prefer the patient, hand in cage and wait for the bird to come to you' method. If you let her out of her cage, try it first in one of your smallest rooms, a box-bedroom or even the bathroom (dont forget to close the toilet lid!) Quite often, in these reasonably enclosed surroundings, if you sit very still, the bird will view you as a convenient perch! (and in the meantime learns that you are quite safe to fly to and land on)

It can happen very quickly with some birds, it can take ages with others, and sometimes the bird will always view you as the monster from the deep. If you do release her from her cage before she is totally hand tame, you may even have to leave the room for a while before she will return to her cage. Just be sure the area is as safe as can be whilst she is free. Unfortunately, there are no hard and fast answers because our birds are all so very different!

Good luck, and let us know how she progresses!

Anne

yeah and it can be hours before they decide to pop back into their cage! (Laughing out loud), but good luck!