Finally, a real success

[vacanteyes]

Just thought I'd share this on here, as a couple of people asked me to keep them informed about my progress with my little rescued budgie, Thunderwing Doomslayer (or Bluey, for short). Initially he was in a cage that was JUST about the right size to fit through the door so I could take the cage to the bathroom and let him fly around in there, as it was empty and safe. However, I upgraded his cage to a huge one that couldn't be moved around, so no more taming sessions in the bathroom. Sadly, this has meant that the last month or so I haven't been able to let him fly around (I feel awful, and I know it makes me a bad budgie owner! ) My dad said I wasn't allowed to let Bluey out in the room the cage is in, as there's a lot more stuff for him to perch on, and it would obviously be harder to catch him if he didn't want to go back in the cage. 

SO, I came up with an idea. I covered the cage in a king size bed sheet, and sat underneath the sheet with the cage door open. I'm guessing the lower light level helped, but Bluey came over to me a lot quicker. I did this for a few days, practising the stepping up and talking to him. I have a lot of facial piercings, and Bluey then decided he needed to try and remove these for me, so he started climbing out onto me under the sheet. 

After a couple of weeks of this, he started flying over to the door of the cage every time I walked into the room and making a noise, so today I told my dad enough was enough, I was letting him out for a stretch. 

I made sure there was nothing to fall behind first, and put the dog away. Opened the cage door and called him, and he flew straight to my finger, and then proceeded to nibble my piercings. He clambered all over me and under my hair, preening me and chattering to me. He let me scratch his cheeks and stroke his back and nuzzle him with my nose. My dad (now impressed by this) held his finger out and told him to step up, to which Bluey screeched and took off, flying around in a big circle several times before landing on the telly (think he may have known it was my dad keeping him caged?!?) 

Then, I walked over armed with millet and he got straight onto my finger and back into the cage as planned. MY BEAUTIFUL LITTLE BOY! I am so proud

[nettles]

What a fab tip with the duvet cover! I might give that a try in between the bathroom sessions. And it's great you've managed to get him so well tamed!

[Hezz]

Well done, you!!! That is a piece of ingenuity, using a large cover - a bit like playing cubby-house under the table as kids with a blanket over the top and down the sides for "walls". Most budgies love shiny and sparkly things and will often nibble at earrings so I am not surprised he was fascinated by your piercing. If you have earrings, check them afterwards as I have known a bird or two who loved to unclip them and leave them hanging. Again, well done, you and well done, Bluey!

[OP]

A brilliant storey, and a tip well worth knowing. So glad it worked out for you. I don't have any piercings or earrings to worry about.

[ffiscool]

It is a great success.. well done both of you

[samwiseg]

Awww what a wonderful story! My heart melted reading that and you have definitely got a bond there with him preening you! Apart from being hypnotised by shining things, he is probably nibbling at your piercings thinking they are imperfections as my budgie did this often with any moles or marks on the skin as well as my piercings! Its their job to look after you.

Charming isn't it?

[mizloco]

The doomslayer strikes again! How wonderful!

[kikkinu]

wow- now that's taking taming to another level. Genius

[OP]

Well done, you certainly have it covered.

[Moogie]

superduper fantastic-well done

[birdguhl]

This sounds great. I really like the 'tent' idea! Sounds as if you've done brilliantly and you are right to be proud of your affectionate little Bluey.

(I give mine a tent arrangement for about half an hour at night when I cover both cages with a big cloth and leave a light between the cages on - they seem to like their 'secret' time a lot!)

[GoldieNYC]

I'm thoroughly impressed. My rescue is a charming girl but very independent-minded. We went through the same small-cage to start off and then migrated to the comparatively-huge Vision M01 cage. I now use the old cage as a window perch but all of the sustenance is in the new cage.
You're lucky with Bluey's character. Mine's not really hand-trained, and of course I don't know just how she was raised for those first several months. I only wish I'd been there. Congrats to you from New York - from one rescuer to another. You're the ideal owner of this bird. I'm sure your dad, out of sheer jealousy, will climb aboard. Share a video or a still sometime, if you haven't already.

[vacanteyes]

Thanks, everyone. And I like the pun oldpecker, haha.

I'm glad the duvet cover idea is something a few of you can take on yourselves. It only came to me out of desperation really, and I remembered reading that low light levels keeps them calmer so I just thought I'd give it a go, and was really pleased with the result.

Bluey has the odd day where he couldn't want any less to do with me, but 9 times out of 10 he's really happy to interact with me and I'm so pleased. I honestly did not see the attraction with pet birds before I rescued this one, the lovebirds I had as a child despised me and it really did put me off. But budgies have such an amazing amount of character for their tiny bodies! He flies to a finger from the other side of the room now if he's called, he's like a tiny blue owl haha. My dad gets more impressed with him every day (and more jealous because the budgie clearly prefers me to him!)

Everyone on this forum has been great I'm glad I've got you all to chat to.

[birdguhl]

As well as being great with your bird, you write really well! Keep on keeping on!

[Hezz]

Sometimes the best answers come from those who have no expectations, and therefore no limitations. You found a way that worked for you and your situation, and I can see others benefiting from this. It's great, thank you for putting it out there, making your ideas available to others.

I started training my first budgie from instinct rather than conventional learning and found later that I was pretty much doing the same as one of our more respected animal behaviouralists recommended. Funny thing, that. But with each new budgie added to the flock, things have to be tweeked a little to fit the bill. We would really love to see more Bluey photos, that would be great, and any artwork to show off would be fabulous!