Taming Voltaire !

[camtoniac]

Hello !
Dear Budgie Forum - I need some help please !

Here is the context;
I have two pet budgies (both beautiful of course!). There is an older bird, all white but not albino, who is called Berlin. I have had 'him' for two or three years, so that is roughly 'his' age. I say 'his' because when he was younger I just assumed he was male as it wasn't clear, and his cere remained various shades of blue up until this year when it became very much brown - so I believe Berlin is probably a female, although excuse me for using 'he', it's a habit.
The other bird I obtained in October of last year; his name is Voltaire, and he was very young indeed when I got him, so he must still be under a year now. He's quite an interesting blue-grey colour, with messy black tailfeathers. I work in a pet shop and have to stop myself daily from buying another bird, but when I saw this little one I just had to. I am 17 and was beginning to worry that the demand from school over this year would mean I would spend less time with my Berlin, so I was considering getting another bird to keep him company (although as it turns out, I haven't really been taken away from my birds too much). Voltaire seemed so different from the other birds he was with, with his short spikey tail and wings, I was concerned that he was being picked on, so I took him home..
Exposition over, sorry.

Basically, the two birds fought for a long time, understandably as Berlin felt territorial over everything. It wasn't vicious but I was worried about little Voltaire, as he really was tiny. So within a short while I went out and got another cage for Voltaire, as they probably should have had separate cages in the first place, but I have a complex living arrangement which means I move from house to house during the week, bringing my birdcage with me - which Berlin is comfortable with, given it's all he knows - so two cages wasn't really practical, but I got another one anyway. But between ordering it into the shop on Saturday and it arriving the next Friday, their behaviour had changed significantly. Essentially what I am saying is that they started to get along and now coexist quite well despite the rocky beginnings BUT

I was able to spend a lot of one-on-one time with Berlin when he was a baby and although he was VERY shy and skittish, I managed to handtame him and could call him to sit on my arm etc - however, I simply have made no progress with Voltaire. At all. Even now I have to CATCH him to return him to his cage..
(My cage is permanently open btw, so they can come and go whenever they please, which rarely causes me bother.)

I'm not sure if it is just because I have never kept two budgies together before, and certainly never added a younger one later, but I really don't know how to handtame Voltaire whilst he is in the same cage as Berlin? When I (calmly!) reach it to pick up Linny on my finger to take him out, Tairie STILL goes nuts. He seems relatively docile around me when out of the cage, and neither really bite at all, but he's still terrified of me and I can't seem to change his mind. Should I move him into the other cage until he is hand trained? I don't know what to do, sorry for this ridiculous rambling, and thank you for your help!
I just really don't want to leave this until it's too late, I feel like I don't have a bond with Voltaire like I do with Berlin :(

[Hezz]

Hi camtoniac, and welcome. Firstly your second budgie should have been quarantined away from your existing bird, but it is too late for that, so moving on. The quarantine period not only keeps your birds from spreading diseases from one to the other, but allows time for you and the newbie to get to know each other.

If your two birds are now getting on and forming a bond together, I would suggest you leave them together in the cage and do lots of training/playing with Linny while they are in the cage. You may have to adjust their schedule and keep the door closed for times while you work at training the new one in the cage first. Just so both birds are in the cage while you work with them. If the birds are friends, Tairie will see Linny is comfortable with you and hopefully become comfortable with you too. Keep this going for as long as you can, until Tairie will happily step onto you hand - millet is usually a good method of bribery. Most budgies love it and will do the equivilent of walking over hot coals to get a piece. Rather than re-write a lot of stuff that has been gone through before very recently, read through this thread and start working with Tairie. While your situation is a little different in that you have two birds, the basics are still the same. Linny's tameness should work in your favour for in-cage taming, but when you move Tairie out of the cage, leave Linny behind, preferably out of hearing range and definitely out of sight. It allows you both to concentrate on the work involved, and not be distracted by Linny.


budgerigarsforum.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=budgietaming&action=display&thread=1510

[Bird Junky]

Hi Just wondering how your getting on with your taming.
Yours B.J.