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Post by donna on Dec 19, 2013 15:18:09 GMT
"Ho-Ho-he-he"! I had trouble logging on for some reason so I had to redo things and just got on here this morning. Pickle is doing good, but still not totally abandoned with bondness and trustness:) He will put his little head down to let me scratch still, and will occasionally get on my finger if I have a piece of millet, but never just to get on my finger. Wondering how everyone else is doing in their journey with the feathered friends? Wondering if he will ever trust me enough to be on my finger cause he likes to be there? I wonder if it is a trust issue, or a feels weird to be on a finger issue, all of the above? Also wondering what to do about food. He has been a budgie-seed budgie from the get go, but I want him to be healthy and not sure how to make the transition into better foods, especially since he is still timid. I have seen cool pics of people hanging sprigs of parsley and stuff for the birds to eat, but I just couldn't do that to him yet. I would like to add the fresh stuff, we eat allot of veggies anyway, so I am wondering how to start to add it. Do you suggest gradually sneaking bits into food (they are smart enough to pick thru:))? Or cold turkey here is a bowl of veggies now eat kinda thing? Also how often for fresh.
Thanks folks, have blessed hollidays!
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Post by dianapalmer on Dec 19, 2013 16:13:02 GMT
Does he get out of the cage?
My birds will only step up if I have millet.
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Post by donna on Dec 19, 2013 16:31:53 GMT
Hi Diana, he does not get out yet, no. Are you supposed to let them out if they are not tame? We have quite a few windows, vaulted ceilings and I have not clipped wings or anything. I think even moving his cage to a smaller room would be traumatizing for him? I am learning as we go here so I hope I am not doing anything wrong. I have nothing against him being out, just his progress or lack and I don't want to go backwards, it has taken since June just to be where we are.
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Post by dianapalmer on Dec 19, 2013 21:48:56 GMT
How big is his cage? Six months seems a bit long for him not to have been out of his cage. But, I guess we all have different comfort levels. If his cage is easy to move, I wouldn't think taking it to another room where you could get him out of the cage would be bad for him. None of my birds, two parakeets and a cockatiel, are fully hand-tame. However, I do let them out. I generally get them back into the cage by offering millet. The budgies generally hang around their cage when they are out--climbing all over the outside of it. My cockatiel flies around the living room a bit, but then generally alights on the cage top. The chair where I usually sit is right next to the cages. However, I am tall and my house is small, so I do not have trouble with not being able to reach them when they are out. It seems to me that your budgie might enjoy you more if he had a chance to interact with you outside of the cage. Then, you could bring him close to your face and talk and/or sing to him. There are many opinions about the best way to tame budgies. Here is a link to one I particularly like: littlebudgiebuddies.blogspot.com/2013/11/taming-budgie-and-maintaining-bond.htmlI have been meaning to try her method of using a small tent to tame in. I have the tent, but have not made time to do it. Some people use a bathroom. In that case, you would need to close the lid on the toilet. You can bring the budgie, with his cage, into the bathroom and then try to lure him out of the cage with millet. The advantage is that there are usually no very high places for the budgie to perch. Kenny, who is on this site, has two budgies who really, really enjoy his company, without the offer of any treats. In his case, it seems it just happened naturally. I so much ish my budgies were more like that. I do keep nutriberries, which they love, right by my chair. And, if they are outside of the cage I show them the nutriberries and they will step up for them. Once they are gone, the birds are gone too. However, I keep hoping that, with time, it will get better. I have had some good success with clicker training, but I have been a bi preoccupied and have not made the daily time for it in a while. There is a little paperback called "Clicker Training for birds" available on Amazon. Here is a video of my budgies stepping up. I originally trained this with a clicker, but then transitioned to "good bird." to mark the behavior. Keep us posted on your little fellow! |
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Post by donna on Dec 20, 2013 0:30:30 GMT
Diana, thank you so much for your thorough response and I love the video, what cuties you have. Pickle at this point is still timid to the point that food won't even prevail. He is a pet store bird, don't know his past history or how he was treated at the store, he just seems so hyper cautious compared to allot of other reports I hear about peoples feathered friends. I have had to go really slow with him, and he is even sensitive to noise. For example if I am sitting with me hand in the cage and one of my kids laughs in the background, if he was considering taking a little bite of millet, he will stop showing interest until he recovers and knows it is safe and the laugh isn't gonna come eat him. Consequently, I have to be very patient with my hand in the cage and when my arm gets tired or I run out of patience:) I take out my hand and tell him we will try again later. It seems to me he has really had a good atmosphere to try to relax into our life, but he is just reluctant or hyper sensitive. Anyway, I love my Pickle, I love the head scratches when I can give them, and will patiently press on in hopes that one day he will gain his confidence in me/us.
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Post by dianapalmer on Dec 20, 2013 1:36:25 GMT
I think it's wonderful that he lets you give him head scratches! None of my birds allow that :-(.
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Post by dianapalmer on Dec 20, 2013 1:39:50 GMT
"Do you suggest gradually sneaking bits into food (they are smart enough to pick thru:))? Or cold turkey here is a bowl of veggies now eat kinda thing?"
EAT those veggies, young man! LOL
You just have to experiment until you find something that works. Some of us use baby veggies with seed mixed in, others use chopped fresh veggies mixed in with seed or in a separate dish, some like hanging veggies. There's no one right answer.
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Post by luvsanimals2 on Dec 20, 2013 1:41:56 GMT
for the veggies, make like a mush and sprinkle seeds and give it a mix. that way they will eat the seeds but taste the veggies. keep doing this and decrease the amount of seeds that are put in
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Post by violetcloud on Dec 23, 2013 23:19:03 GMT
Hi Donna,
My bird zeb loves peppers, I cut off a good slice and hang it on cage next to his perch, and he goes crazy for it !
I would also really recommend the tent too. I have been doing it for a couple of weeks now with fantastic results.Mine is unclipped at the moment, I want to wait till he has finished his molt before clipping him, so using this time to get him 'hand friendly, hopefully then when I need to hold him for clipping he will be familiar with my hands and make clipping easier as he will be on my finger and then I can gently hold him without having to chase him!
It is aslo a good way for him to get exercise in really safe enviroment.
I think he must enjoy it, as he jumps down to his door when I put cage down to tent door, then just hops in with me !
I think the main thing is patience, it has taken me 4 months to get him to be comfortable on finger, but he is happy to play with fingers
now, he preens me and nibbles my knuckles !
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