Well I had my Sammy since last friday which is 4 days at the moment. He seems to be getting more and more comfortable with his surroundings even though I moved him twice, he seems to be getting along just fine. Just today when I came home from school I went to look at him and he moved to the other side of the cage but once I started talking to him he was coming closer and closer to the side where I was sitting. Then he decided to check out the mirror which he started to hit a little with his head and then decided to play with some of the toys he has there.

 

When should I let him out of the cage? when and how should I teach him to sit on my finger and stuff?

 

I thought I would let him out of his cage on friday. I figured I would put my hand in the cage and see if hes going to sit on my finger. He should be comfortable with me putting my hand in the cage by than since I have to put my hand there everyday to change his water.

Start training him now, put her hand in and hold it there until he settles down then slowly move it closer and closer. once you can get him to step up onto it with ease he would be ready to be let out of the cage.

 

The site Budietalk has a page on training.

I tryed that today but he moved away and he was just sitting there watching me. But I'll try tomorrow again.

Yes it take time, you can do it a few times a day. And if you know a treat he just love already have that in your hand as a bribe :hap:

By no means am i an expert but it took the use of millet to get my male to step up and within 3 days hes now stepping up without food but his girlfriend is another matter, i just hope she gets a little jealous and trys to copy him, ive now started to let them out and he steps up and i move him back to the cage and she just follows. i guess i just got lucky or have a food loving bird

 

jason

be consistent don't give up, alot of times it can take a week or more depending on how timid they are.

 

When you have 2 birds together 1 will use another as a crutch so you could try and work them separately.

I only have one bird and today I will try again. I don't know what his favorite food is besides eating eveything he has in there well he doesnt like the fruit all that much yet but I still give him little pieces of apples and carrots. Once he sits on my finger than I will take pictures.

Millet is usually an all favorite

I know for Pretty it is, and most budgies but there are few that do turn up a beak.

(Laughing out loud) my bird wouldn't eat millet even if he was starving to death.

there are some out there, now mine would stuff himself until he would explode :

if i stick a millet in their cage its like a feeding frenzy between them and its a competition to see who eats the most usually freddy wins

okay, I been trying to get him sit on my finger for the past 20 mins and every time I try to put my hand in the cage he jumps on the ground.. About 5 min ago I didn't fully close the cage so he started to make those birdie noises (I forgot what they called) So I recorded them on my Pc and played it to him and when he hears them he goes totally nuts. Is it alright if I let him listen to his own sounds or not. I'm gonna post the sounds here in few. Getting frustrated with him not wanting to sit on my finger though.

 

Sound: http://media.putfile.com/bird2179

Video needs to be edited.

Here is the video I cut out some parts where nothing has happened.

http://media.putfile.com/samys-own-video

 

Thats not where the cage is, I just moved it so I could sit while having my finger in the cage and weating for him to sit on it.

Edited March 14, 200619 yr by Fisher

The monotonous chirp. - This is a bit different and it does get old after a few minutes. Budgies (especially females) often repeat this sound over and over or, as you can hear in this file, chirp back and forth to each other. This is Pixel and Phizzy pretty much saying "Where are you?" "Over here!" over and over and over. If you have more than one budgie, you'll hear this quite often. If they don't get an answer they tend to stop after several chirps. Otherwise, it can go on for quite a while.

 

you can go to www.budgietalk.com and click on sounds you will hear the different ones they make

 

He is calling for another budgie, so playing it back will drive him nuts because he is looking for another budgie, he doesn't recognize it is his chirp. So I would not play it to him.

 

I don't play sounds for Pretty, I want him to bond to my whistles and talking

 

Don't get frustrated, we as humans are impatient and except now results but we must be patient and realize that each bird is individual. Just like children, some of them know their ABC by the time they are 2 and other 5, so be patient continue to take the taming advice. Don't push sessions, and don't do anything that could stress the little guy out more. .

Edited March 14, 200619 yr by lovey

Well I think we are making progress. So far he wont sit on my finger but he will let me touch his stomach. I think thats a progress. Should I let him fly around the room and let him sit on me instead of me trying to get him to get use to me? Reverse to psychology . Please let me know what you think.

In my experience they probably won't sit on you if they are not already comforable at least perching on your finger.

I would have to agree with Lovey in the fact that he is not likely to land and sit on you if he wont already get on your finger.. Keep putting your hand in his cage, dont give up.. it may take a while and ALOT of patience on your side :fear Goodluck

Cheers :beer:

Una

okay, well I was practicing with sammy today and he sat on my finger for the first time. I had to put my finger under his butt for him to do that but he did thats a start. But when I decided to clean the cage he got scared and jumped out of it and now he's flying around the room. Now I got to figure out how to catch him with out scaring him.

 

oh no, bird on the loose! (Laughing out loud)

 

Thats more progress than I've had with my 2 newbies. I was hoping to tame them up a bit before quarantine was over and they moved to the aviary. But it's not looking like thats going to happen!

Keep talking to him as you move your hand closer, I found that when Bobby was moving away from me I would keep talking and talking about anything and everything, and he would cock his little head to the side and then move closer. He started to really respond better to training now, and when he sits on my finger, if he jumps off I start talking (we've had great conversations about the weather ) and he tends to stay on my finger.

you may also just want to use a perch at first to get him today, I know with Pretty I had to when he was out of the cage and then I would encourage on my finger with millet.

Wow...that was a day. I had to chase him all over my room and he decided not to sit on my finger so I had to wait for him to sit somewhere just so I could put a towel over him and place him in the cage.

 

Well I was thinking of a wing clip. What do you guys think? I could catch him like that much faster and also somewhere I read that when a budgie has its wings clipped it is much easier to train at first. I would clip them once so he could get use to me holding him etc but would the wings grow back? Is it dangerous? I don't want to do anything that would harm him or anything like that and I do want him to fly but its much easier to train a bird with its wings clipped. Also does it hurt the bird because I cant stand the thought of hurting animals. Also how much does a vet charge for wing clips these days?

 

Thanks for any help.

Chase the budgie - that's a fun game for them I know it well :(Laughing out loud):

 

I was contemplating getting Bobby's wings clipped to help me with training, as it was suggested to me when I first joined the forum, and I asked exactly the same questions as you. :ausb:

They only cut a few of their flight feathers when their wings are clipped, so they are not completetly flightless, but they can flutter to the ground and keep themselves safe from falling etc... Their new flight feathers come back when they moult, so you could have them clipped just so he will get used to you, and then decide later if you would prefer to let them grow back or keep them clipped.

 

I was sort of lucky in the end that Bobby started to tame, he must have read my thoughts! :dbb1:

Well tomorrow I'm going to visit the vet. I called about 14 vets that are in my area and only 2 vets treat birds. 1 charges $60 for wing trim and the other one charges only $17. I decided to go with the cheaper guys since hes closer and the laddie who I spoke to sounded more educated than the other person I spoke to on the phone and also the price difference is really big. I'll post up some nice pictures on saturday, I would do it tomorrow but I figured that sammy will be nervous before and after the vet so I'm just gonna wait till the next day to take pictures.

Hope everything goes well tomorrow not that many vets treat birds.

60 bucks for a wing clip, that's robbery!!! Go for the cheaper guy and make sure he has done it a lot of times, observe him and then you can do a modest clip again if needed and if you decide that is what you want to do down the road or keep him free flight. I am still in awe that somebody would charge that much!

I agree, that is high way robbery for a wing clip, keep us updated.