Posted August 16, 200520 yr My two budgies Sky and Storm are only half tame... I've had them about 10 months is it too late? If my hand goes in the cage, they tend to watch it or drop down onto the floor of the cage and ignore it... if my finger goes into the cage, they know its flying time... so they'll immediate hop on and hop out of the cage... and then they're off! Most of the time they put themselves back in the cage but occasionally they're not ready to go in and will just fly between their various perches in my room... Please help!
August 16, 200520 yr Hi Allycat, I don't think its ever too late to train a budgie. All you need is loads of patience and I mean loads of patience. I have heard of few year old budgies being successfully trained. The least your budgies are tamed to the point that when you put your hand in the cage, they do not bang around the cage like ping pong balls which is a good start.
August 16, 200520 yr If my hand goes in the cage, they tend to watch it or drop down onto the floor of the cage and ignore it... if my finger goes into the cage, they know its flying time... so they'll immediate hop on and hop out of the cage... and then they're off! Use this to your advantage! If they're calm enough to use your finger on the way out of the cage, they're calm enough to use it for a bit longer (even if they don't like it at first). What type of door is on the front of the cage? Is there some way you can keep it mostly closed while your finger is in so they'll have to sit on it longer before coming out? That would be a good start. By allowing them to go straight from the finger to the outside of the cage you've inadvertantly taught them that this is your finger's purpose! Thankfully, you've also taught them that your finger is a safe "perch." This is something you can build on to get them a little tamer. Also, spend a lot of time with your hand in the cage doing nothing and try to get them to step up inside the cage. Don't allow them to fly out during these sessions. After they've stepped up a few times and seem more calm sitting on your hand or finger, reward them by letting them out. See how this works for you. There are lots of ways to get your birds tamer but no matter what it's just going to take a lot of time and patience. Let us know how it goes and maybe we can offer more suggestions.
August 18, 200520 yr Well, I tried it last night... but the door is a 'draw-bridge type' and so its hard to have it closed while my hand is in there... Storm, the braver one and keener flier, jumped on-off several times before noticing I'd left a gap between my hand and the cage and squeezed out to fly off! So Sky did the same, but he was a bit more frantic - cos he knew Storm was sitting on top of the cage calling to him, and cos he couldn't see the gap to squeeze out (though he is a bit fatter, so probably wouldn't have fitted anyway!). So in the end I relented and let him out too... I'll try again tonight, making sure there aren't any gaps... but it's harder doing it with the two of them... because the one left in the cage won't pay much attention while his pal is flying around calling to him!
August 23, 200519 yr okay... well... the hand thing was going okay... they seemed to just be a bit more "I'm not going to sit on your hand, but I'll try it out in case you let me out to fly." Which was okay, and after 3-4 times each day I would actually let them out.... So I tried to do the Bathroom thing... not easy... it was horrible to see Storm panicking flying round cos he couldn't land... and he has now found that he can temporarily land on the Bathroom blinds, the shower head and the shower rail... he doesn't like any of them much but they're better than me... Sky on the other hand couldn't usually make it to land on anything other than in the (empty) sink. From which he was quite happy to be rescued by me... he (never pays attention to me in the room) seemed much happier to land on me, and was relatively easy to persuade to go back into the cage after half an hour... And there lies the problem, Storm did not want to go into the cage after half an hour, he'd much rather sit on it, climb round it etc. it took about half an hour of stressfulness for me to catch him, and we were both stressed out by it... was really horrible to see him scared of my hand, but have no other choice but to get him... I was going to try to use a towel, but he didn't like the 'sound' of it let alone anything else... I did catch him in the end, but I don't think he will be any better off for the 'training session'. How can I get him to go in the cage, when I need him to... he's obviously not going to get any friendlier with me, while I still have my hands attached... and I don't really blame him for not sitting on my hand much in the cage now too... he had Sky in the cage and his favourite food - Millet... Please help, (recovering after bad training session).
August 23, 200519 yr It can be hard to get even the tamest budgie to go back into the cage if he's flighted and decides he doesn't want to. Mine are finally learning that "go home" means to get into the cage. I spent a good deal of time following them around, trying to catch them and now that they've figured out I leave them alone once they're in the cage, they know exactly what to do. I can understand your frustrations though. Having to chase an untame budgie around to get it to go back into the cage only makes him more scared of you. Have you considered giving them a wing clip? It's much easier to tame them this way and when they're flighted again you might have more control over them when it comes time to get them into the cage. Once they learn that you're not trying to eat them, things go a lot more smoothly.
August 23, 200519 yr Whilst your training, take the millet out. Try offering millet with your hand, and that is the only time and place they will get it. That should make your hands a bit more attractive!
February 19, 200619 yr Hi I have 6 budgies 4 a year + old and 2 are just 7 weeks, i'm trying to get 5 of them used to me. One of my budgies called Baby is approx 1 year old and when i first got him, he kept biting me and i spent alot of time with him taming him. Now the rest are scared of me. When i put my hand in the cage they see where i'm going first and if they see that i'm approaching them, they just fly madly about the cage i desperately need help! Regards Jen
February 19, 200619 yr Maybe you should try clipping them. Whenever my budgie got a bit cocky I would clip his wings and retame him. By doing this it teaches them to rely on you to get around a bit more and will stop them flying mentally around the cage when you put your hand in. If you don't want to clip them, you could instead feed them once a day and when you feed them, you could hold the bowl so that if they want food, they have to come near you and sit on your fingers to eat. That is what I do when I want to train Arkady. You could also try giving them millet as well and holding it in your hand. You said that you had one bird that was tame, well you could try and hold her and that would encourage the others to come sit on your hand. You should have a look at eTerri's site (unfortunately I don't know the address) but you could wait for her to come on and help you as she is very good with birds.
February 20, 200619 yr cool. Ill try that. How long do you think it will take until they are used to me if i do that every day. See i live myself so they see me all the time and tv is rubbish so i pay them alot of attention. in terms of clipping their wings, is that a job for the vet or something i could do ?
March 6, 200619 yr I am sad you are having these problems but it makes me feel a bit better I am not on my own with this..Linda
March 6, 200619 yr cool. Ill try that. How long do you think it will take until they are used to me if i do that every day. See i live myself so they see me all the time and tv is rubbish so i pay them alot of attention. in terms of clipping their wings, is that a job for the vet or something i could do ? Sorry this was totally overlooked. The vet should clip their wings, have you done it yet? How as the taming been going?
March 9, 200619 yr For their first clip, have the vet do it, they will show you what to do. For me, its a 2 person job! (coco my conure bites HARD)
March 15, 200619 yr Hi sorry ive been offline for abit (net problems) i aint took them to the vet yet. They are warming up to me more. I recently moved back to my parents and now have one room rather than a whole flat, so when they fly i can always reach them. its getting there hows all your wonderful budgies? regards jennifer
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