Is there any chance to tame an adult budgie?

[xhasanx]

Hi there

I've recently bought 3 budgies, I have no clue about their ages, but one thing that I'm certain of is that they are adults. I would like to tame them, to make them stand on my finger or my shoulder, and take them out of the cage to play with 'em,vbut right this seems impossible, the become very nervous and scared whenever I get closer to them or put my hands into the cage. Yesterday, I caught them one after the other and cut some feathers on their wings to stop them from flying away, and started giving them some time outside the cage, and let them wander Around the house. Now my question is, is there any better way to tame those budgies?

Hasan

[BudgiesBuddy]

Hi Hasan and welcome to forum

You can tame almost all budgies. It is difficult with old budgies and it requires time, effort and patience. It also depends on where the budges have come from and how they were living before.

Wing clipping is not a good idea. For a budgie owner, there is no joy more than seeing a budgie fly to his finger.

Post some pictures of your budgies. Thus you will know everything about them i.e. age, sex, type etc and you will get good advice about taming as well.

[Rachael Kellett]

Hi Hasan,

Welcome to the forum It takes time and patience to tame budgies, or to even get them to trust youat all but it is very rewarding when you do. Firstly can I say please don't clip your budgies wings again, rendering them unable to fly properly isn't the way to tame them, it just means that you are forcing them to stay near you and will make them fearful.

Also while everyone has their own opinions on how to tame budgies I feel that witholding their food is completely the wrong way to go about it. Budgies should always have access to fresh seed, water, and safe vegetables. While not have a good look around the forum for advice on taming your budgies, even though they are older it is still possible to get them used to you Why not try millet training? This means holding a millet spray in the palm of your hand and holding your hand near the budgies in their cage. It may take a while for them to come near your hand but if you continue to put your hand in the cage for 5 to 10 minutes several times a day they will begin to not see your hand as a "big scary thing coming to get them"

I hope to see you around the forum lots and can't wait to see photos of your budgie.

[zo]

Hey, I know from experience that it is possible to tame adult budgies. Mine were 3 when I finally found a method that worked. It takes time, patience, persistence and a huge amount of discipline. If your birds are all adults, and live together, then they're unlikely to become affectionate towards you in the way you'd hope. My Splash will sit on my finger, but will not ask me for affection and doesn't like me being to forward with him. Also, hens are particularly difficult to train, very flighty, so it takes double the effort and masses more patience with them.

Good luck!

[Marianne Marlow]

Bird Junky

It's very important that we be clear to new bird owners that they should not withhold food for any period to their birds.

We cannot advocate this kind of taming. It would be better to give them only favourite foods as an added incentive - such as millet spray. This can be done while the birds still have access to normal seed.

The staff here are not trying to score points. Just protecting our members and their budgies.

Marianne

[Moogie]

Bird junky,please try not to be so abrupt when replying to other peoples suggestions or opinions,we are all here to learn and enjoy it as we go and every body has different views and knowledge and are only trying to help...
To be honest i would never like to with hold food for taming training and if it took longer to do it with food always available then i think this would be a kinder way,that's my opinion anyway!!!

[Rachael Kellett]

I am sorry BJ but I and the other staff members do not believe it to be acceptable to withold food from birds at any point whether the owner is home all day or not. Especially with those who are new to owning budgies and budgies who are not tame at all. I do not believe that an untame bird will eat from a persons hand from day one even if they do remove all food from the cage therefore they will end up going without food for long periods of time. Obviously you are entitled to do as you wish when it comes to your own birds but I am not happy to put other members budgies at risk with advice such as that.

[Hezz]

Hi Hasan and welcome to the world of budgies. As has aready been mentioned, a lot of time, patience and persistance is required to tame an adult budgie, more so to tame three together. If you have noticed a favourite food - millet is a good training tool, as most budgies can't resist it (but not all, so beware that you may be offering the wrong thing if they don't fall all over themselves getting to the millet. As they are nothing like human friendly, I feel you will have to start with getting them used to your hand in the cage. This is where the millet comes into play. Have a piece of millet in your hand - I use the side of my hand as it is a lesser surface area and so looks smaller to a budgie, and hold the millet with my thumb. This way they can perch on my finger if they wish to get that close. But for you, just getting them to the stage where they don't panic when you put your hand in will be a big start. Do this as many times a day as you can, and sometime you will find that there is one more bold than the others who starts being interested in what you have, looking beyond that big scary hand. Hope this helps, and good luck with your birds. Let us know how you get on.

[simon]

I have that experience with one adult, Lucy was 18 months when we got her (from an aviary). She was virtually wild to begin with! We found that that the success only came with patience and routine with hands in the cage - outside the cage was no use at all. We ended up letting her fly and return to the cage completely unmolested. Also I think you need to accept that you will only get so far, and respect the feelings of the bird. We got to the stage where she doesn't panic and will go on the finger for a limited time - I don't think she will ever take food from the hands. She is happy with where we are now and so are we. You can enjoy a budgie and they can enjoy you whatever taming level you get to. It's just as much about enjoying eachother's presence as all the physical stuff!

[simon]

PS - just a bit more about how you can change your expectations and the mutual reward. Lucy will not come running up to the front of the cage when we enter the room, but we are given a special repetoire of greeting sounds and chirping, and often a massive preening display just for our benefit. In the evening when the drawbridge is up she will play a game of gradually sneaking to the front of the cage when we are not looking, finally settling and just watching us very obviously completely relaxed and at peace with the world. She loves eye contact and facial expressions - blinking, winking, yawning and nodding, all mirrored. If we take a snack into the sitting room for us, she will often go down to the seed and tuck in herself, watching us for approval all the time. She will "tell" us if there is a problem with her food, and always let us know if a non resident has been in the room without us there. Of course every bird is different, but I hope this gives some idea of alternative rewarding relationships! Good luck with your budgie!

[simon]

Or budgIES even!

[Bird Junky]

Hello Hasan, Just wondering how your getting on

with your bird training? Yours B.J.

[herbieandsunny1213]

Mar 12, 2012 16:34:31 GMT zo said:

Hey, I know from experience that it is possible to tame adult budgies. Mine were 3 when I finally found a method that worked. It takes time, patience, persistence and a huge amount of discipline. If your birds are all adults, and live together, then they're unlikely to become affectionate towards you in the way you'd hope. My Splash will sit on my finger, but will not ask me for affection and doesn't like me being to forward with him. Also, hens are particularly difficult to train, very flighty, so it takes double the effort and masses more patience with them.

Good luck!


How did u do this, because I have a tamed adult male but I got him a friend to keep him company whilst I was at school, turns out it is a girl! And she is impossible to tame, now my male doesnt want anything to do with me  

[BudgiesBuddy]

Feb 12, 2014 21:24:41 GMT herbieandsunny1213 said:

Mar 12, 2012 16:34:31 GMT zo said:

Hey, I know from experience that it is possible to tame adult budgies. Mine were 3 when I finally found a method that worked. It takes time, patience, persistence and a huge amount of discipline. If your birds are all adults, and live together, then they're unlikely to become affectionate towards you in the way you'd hope. My Splash will sit on my finger, but will not ask me for affection and doesn't like me being to forward with him. Also, hens are particularly difficult to train, very flighty, so it takes double the effort and masses more patience with them.

Good luck!


How did u do this, because I have a tamed adult male but I got him a friend to keep him company whilst I was at school, turns out it is a girl! And she is impossible to tame, now my male doesnt want anything to do with me  

Check out the posts in budgie taming section.

A tame budgie sometimes become untamed when another budgie is introduced.