Post by GoldieNYC on Sept 15, 2013 17:55:46 GMT
Goldie - a nice yellow budgerigar (age about 5 months, I think) came to my NYC apartment window around dinnertime at the end of July of this year. I'd never owned a bird, and I wasn't looking for one. I owned no cage, and I had nothing in the house to feed a tropical bird but a water. All the people food seemed a bit abstruse to the purpose.
Through some miracle, a neighbor got in touch and offered a new parakeet cage (minimal in size, but comfortable). I soon had all the food and accessories one should have.
The problem is that another neighbor basically wrestled the bird into a trash receptacle (metal mesh office type) during that first crucial hour when she snaked her way under the window sill and became a part of my home (thanks in part to the fact that I was obviously saving her). So, Goldie spent her first night in an emptied trash basked with shredded newsprint and cracked corn. I'd provided a chopstick for a perch. She was not glad to get the accommodation, as she fired out of it like a shot, when the cover was removed the next morning. She'd been grabbed and tossed. It was not a good way to start a bonding of trust.
Since then, Goldie has blossomed into a playful companion of shrewd intelligence and passion. The problem is, no matter what reward position I take, I cannot get her to perch on my finger. Some things she's learned to trust (like my retrieving her from various parts of the apartment, on a perch or piece of the cage flooring). She's not clipped and has hit at least one mirror with a pretty good whack.
So - my need is for an experienced approach to the final chapter of hand-taming. She flatly refuses to get on the hand/finger, even though I now have her eating from the same hand (through various stretches and acrobatics). She doesn't even mind the sensation of my finger grazing her neck while she eats the coveted millet. Otherwise, eating from a receptacle and drinking water are not a problem. She's in great shape.
I'd like to let her out of the cage more frequently. She'll shout at me if I wait for too many days.
Through some miracle, a neighbor got in touch and offered a new parakeet cage (minimal in size, but comfortable). I soon had all the food and accessories one should have.
The problem is that another neighbor basically wrestled the bird into a trash receptacle (metal mesh office type) during that first crucial hour when she snaked her way under the window sill and became a part of my home (thanks in part to the fact that I was obviously saving her). So, Goldie spent her first night in an emptied trash basked with shredded newsprint and cracked corn. I'd provided a chopstick for a perch. She was not glad to get the accommodation, as she fired out of it like a shot, when the cover was removed the next morning. She'd been grabbed and tossed. It was not a good way to start a bonding of trust.
Since then, Goldie has blossomed into a playful companion of shrewd intelligence and passion. The problem is, no matter what reward position I take, I cannot get her to perch on my finger. Some things she's learned to trust (like my retrieving her from various parts of the apartment, on a perch or piece of the cage flooring). She's not clipped and has hit at least one mirror with a pretty good whack.
So - my need is for an experienced approach to the final chapter of hand-taming. She flatly refuses to get on the hand/finger, even though I now have her eating from the same hand (through various stretches and acrobatics). She doesn't even mind the sensation of my finger grazing her neck while she eats the coveted millet. Otherwise, eating from a receptacle and drinking water are not a problem. She's in great shape.
I'd like to let her out of the cage more frequently. She'll shout at me if I wait for too many days.
but I got a great tip off 
