Training my budgie
 

I am really confused :shrug: I have been working with my budgie for five months trying to get her finger trained. I am always calm around her, I do not make any sudden movements and lately I have been using millet to entice her. She is a year old and does not like to be touched or petted. She also does not have her wings clipped and loves to be in her cage :( Could you give me some training advise because I think that I have tried everything...

Also she does not like to eat anything but seeds. I have been trying to get her to eat fruit, but she just won't :(

Please help!!!!

What if you rubbed some of your bird favorite food on your finger ?

That is a good idea! Could you suggest some foods as treats that my budgie may
like?

Is she calm if you put your hand near her? If not, that's a great place to start. If she doesn't seem interested in treats you give her, just spending time near her will help desensitize her. I had a budgie long ago and he started quite shy. I'd stand near the cage as often as I could and talk softly. Once they're calm while you're a few feet away, move closer. Might take you a few days or weeks to get to the point where you can move your hand near her without her taking alarm.

Once you can get your hand in the cage near her, get her used to your index finger being held horizontally in front of her--again, just by presenting your hand to her that way, but without touching her. After a few days of that, she should be relaxed enough near your hand for you to touch your index finger (held horizontally) to her chest area. To get her to step up to your finger, slide your finger down her chest to her belly where it meets her legs and gently and slowly press back. She should step up.

If at any time she gets skittish again, go back a step and slow down.

Once she figures out you're not going to hurt her, she should be willing to step up and even ride around on your hand for a while.

Am I correct in thinking from your comment about her wings that she's able to fly but isn't fond of being out of her cage? If that's true, once you get her on your finger and she's willing to take a little ride out of her cage, you'll have to teach her about how to fly back to her cage (their normal instinct is to fly up and it may be difficult for her to find her cage door). So take her out of the cage just a few inches and allow her to fly back in. It'll help if you can find a cage with a door that opens out and down, so you can secure it as a 'landing platform'.

You'll also need to teach her about the dangers of windows. We did that with Ami by carrying him over to the window and allowing him to sit on the sill. We did that before he was comfortable flying wildly around the room--you want your bird to figure out that windows are hard [I]before [/I]they're flying fast enough to hurt themselves if they hit one. (Also, make sure they're closed or there are screens on them in summer so she doesn't get out.)

Sorry this is such a novel and probably has info in it that you already know--I'm just not sure how much you've tried with her yet. :D

Oh, and Ami loved minced carrots and broccoli 'buds' shaved off a floret. :thumbs up Also, believe it or not, cooked chicken!! White meat, not dark, and finely diced or shredded.

[QUOTE=Jesterben;1064355]That is a good idea! Could you suggest some foods as treats that my budgie may
like?[/QUOTE]

I am not sure what foods your bird like but my niece's bird was crazy about cantaloupe. I have a friend that has a parrot that kept biting her finger so my friend put some red cayenne pepper powder on her finger to teach her bird a lesson. What my friend did not know was that some birds love red cayenne pepper powder and her bird is one of them. You could see if your bird like it too.

Thanks so much for both of your advise. I will try those foods with her hopefully she will try them out. :) Thanks hazelrunpack all that advise is very helpful :)

I should have mentioned that when she knows that I have the millet she will easily get onto my finger. However without the millet she will shy away and go up the bars.... How can I get her used to my hand even when the millet is not there?

When I do manage to get her out of her cage she always wants to fly back to it. (I have read that this is unusual, that it is hard for most owners to get there bird in the cage). I feel that she feels safety there so when ever slightly unsure of a new situation she will fly back. :wall: I have realized that if I place a towel over the cage she will not land on the towel. Is this wrong because I am taking away her safe place?

Thanks for the great advise about the windows. Every time I get her out I have to cover all the windows. That will help a lot thank you :)

So she'll stand on your finger if you have millet? If you put some millet on your palm and hold your hand out a few inches from the open door of the cage, will she fly over to you to get the seed? I think that's what I'd try next--get her to step to your hand for the seed, and try to increase the distance so that she takes a short hop or flight. That way [I]she[/I] chooses when to come out and [I]that[/I] might make her feel a little more confident.

The other thing we used to do was set up a play area on the top of a bookcase not too far from Ami's cage. It had a mirror, some dangly stuff to pull on, and a few rolling cat toys...yes, cat toys! :D He loved the ones that had bells in them, and if I'd get down on my knees next to the bookcase, his favorite game was dropping the cat toys over the edge of the shelf onto my head! :laughing: He soon learned where his toys were and would fly down from his cage to the bookcase every time we opened the door. Eventually, he learned how much fun taking a few laps around the room was, so then he'd fly around the room 3 or 4 times before landing on the bookcase. Great exercise!

That is a great idea!! Thanks for all your advice I will try that out :)