is it a good idea on finger training or not

[barryhillier1]

Hi all. Advice is appreciated is it a good idea on finger training or not?
1. I have had my new pet for about a month she is about a year old, but within that month I gradually managed to get her out the cage by leaving the cage door open and attaching a plastic toy on to a plastic clip outside the cage what she hops on and she really loves so she comes and goes in and out the cage when pleases. Lately I have noticed some mimicking and trying to talk so this was a big wow factor to me but after joining this grate sight I red threw many posts and decided to go to the next step on finger training so I been sitting by the cage every other hour slowly offing my 3 fingers in the cage and following the bird around slowly not apposing as a threat but the birds reaction she don’t like me present around the cage and she gets very distressed ( by panting hard ) but as I sit some distance away from the cage she is on her perch outside the cage happy as Larry and full of chirps. After trying to project to say I am no threat I followed all the advice but I know this will take a long time on following the advice “ two ways to complete the next section of this, which is entirely up to you. I personally get it over & done with the same day the chick arrives. Some leave this until the bird has settled over a few days. If you feel confident and patient, do it within the first day. Come to the cage, wink & squint as mentioned, place your hand in the cage, and leave it there. Your bird WILL flap about & dart about the cage, this is normal. Hold your hand flat, and still, in the middle of the cage. You can, if you wish, fold three fingers into your palm and only offer forefinger to the bird, it's up to you. This is an important stage and it's vital in my opinion it's done correctly. Follow your chick SLOWLY and calmly around the cage “ but I also noticed the poor things behaviour when I am present and have my hand in the cage hence the above poste. I can really understand the poor thing is like a small baby and don’t understand but I think it would be wrong by keep on introducing something he/she is terrified of, it the same as me (embarrassing I know coming from someone who is 29 years old but I have Astraphobia and I would be petrofide if some one chucked me outside everytime the wether was bad.

[Deleted]

i think its more to do with its age ..rather than you doing ...normaly they get training when there not long from the nest box... so more trusting .....but there are some great posts on here about training ...and im sure some one will post on this tread ...... how you should go on ....to finger tame your budgie...
regards mick....

[Bird Junky]

Hello Barrie. Personally I too can't agree with the system you've

been following. If you should choose to try my post & it's up to

you if you do or not. It must be followed exactly as written,

with no half measures or short cuts at all. Yours B.J.

[barryhillier1]

Apr 16, 2012 9:06:09 GMT Bird Junky said:

Hello Barrie. Personally I too can't agree with the system you've

been following. If you should choose to try my post & it's up to

you if you do or not. It must be followed exactly as written,

with no half measures or short cuts at all. Yours B.J.

what is the link for your advice

[Bird Junky]

Hi Just look for Taming/training on this site

Yours B.J

Click on. budgerigarsforum.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=budgietaming&action=display&thread=2867

[Hezz]

Barry, I feel you are exactly right, not trying to force her into anything she isn't happy with. Since she is an adult bird things are going to need to go a little slower than with a young bird, but if you work on getting her used to your presence first, so she doesn't see you as a big scary predator, this is the first hurdle to overcome.

Do you know her previous history, before she came to you? If you know there is something there that has freaked her out, obviously this is something to avoid. The best thing I see for you is sitting as close to her cage as she is happy with and talking to her softly, no loud noises, no sudden movements at this stage. Oh, and don't stare at her! Predators stare at their prey when they are getting ready to pounce, so as a prey animal, she will feel uncomfortable with being stared at - instead winking and blinking, keeping your head turned away slightly are all ways to reassure your budgie that you are not there to eat her! With time you should be able to move a little closer and a little closer until you are right by her cage. If she has a thing for millet, this can often be used to your advantage, as often a budgie's wish for millet will over-come it's fear of the hand. You could try putting millet between you and the cage and see if she will venture towards you even a small amount to get to the millet, if you wish to work outside the cage, or if in the cage, firstly try offering her millet through the bars of the cage, and see if she will take it. If you have success there, keep that up until she is happy to come to the side of the cage for millet and then proceed to trying her with millet with your hand in the cage. See how you go with that, and let us know how you are getting on.

Budgie taming, especially a budgie who is nervous, can take a lot of time to make progress, and you will require a great deal of patience and persistance. Plus it can be a bit "two steps forward and one back" at times. There is no quick fix way to do this.

[Bird Junky]

Hello After re reading your post. I cant believe any one

is still falling for that Winking & Blinking gag. I think now

that all the original participants are long passed away.

I can let you into a secret that has amused & been

passed on as true by trainers for years. It all started

when a reporter/writer interviewed a famous big cat

trainer. Known as Blinky Edwards. In those days it

was considered normal to name folks after their disability.

Yours B.J. PS Bet that puts the cat among the pigeons.

[Marianne Marlow]

I disagree BJ. The winking really works and always calms my birds after a night fright too.

[Hezz]

I am not surprised with your comments BJ. You have your method, aimed at making the bird perfom for an audience, which I think is quite barbaric - leaving an animal hungry so it does what you want, and I have mine, which you feel is a joke. Rather a joker be, than a dictator.

If a bird is nervous, staring at it is only going to make matters worse. Any person with experience with budgies should know that!

[Moogie]

I TOTALLY AGREE with Marianne and Hezz.....Even though i am not an experienced Budgie owner (Elfie being my first one) I find that winking/blinking with Elf relaxes him and helps him fall asleep...I have read BJ methods for taming a budgie and to be quite honest it turns my stomach and i worry for new comers who might take on his training methods,i would never had left elf with out food and i took things slowly and in the end built up the trust we have today,to me bjs ways seem to be a quick fix approach for people who do not want to be patient and take there time getting to know and understand there budgie friend(s)

[grimcoll]

Mar 31, 2012 13:19:45 GMT Bird Junky said:

B.J's EASY TAMING


First fill the cage food pots with a plain budgie seed mix. All the other feeds, fruit/veg, hard boiled egg, millet spray etc. will be fed as treats. No loose seed unless you have a mustard spoon. If your taming more than one bird per cage, move a perch close too & parallel with the bars so that all the birds can be fed treats at the same time. The birds do not leave the cage during this taming period.

In BJ's defence if you read properly in no way is he saying to leave the birds to go hungry , he says to with hold their treats leaving only plain budgie seed for them to eat and leave the treats for training them .

[Moogie]

I'm afraid to say but earlier posts did say remove food and feed through bars every 15Min's and that i did not like..
As for the blinking i do not even have to talk to my budgie,the blinking alone "DOES" make him calm and sleepy regardless of old Blinky and what any one else trys to tell me....
I got my budgies trust by a "whole lot" of time and patience,i sat for a few weeks just next to his cage before even attempting to put my hand on the cage let alone inside,i waited every step of the way until i could see he was 100% comfortable before considering the next step..
I am not arguing with you Bj but some times i am unhappy with the way you post things on here and i feel some of the advice you give is a little careless as a lot of people are first time budgie owners with little or no experience.
Any way -no more said as i do not want to take over this thread....

[Deleted]

I don't understand what old blinky has to do with any of that. And feeding my budgie doesn't make him like my hand any more than before. He only comes to my hand when he can see that it has food in it and the only time he get onto it is first thing in the morning if he hasn't eaten before I get chance to feed him, and even then he doesn't like it. The most I get is a foot for a few moments, but we're working on it. Sadly I'm away for the next two days and after Sunday I'm back at uni so I guess taming Munchy will go down the drain again. I know for sure that blinking alone works, because I can't just chitter away because I can never think of much to say, but if I don't blink he starts looking nervous. I think I might have messed up everything because he didn't move away at first when I went to remove a toy and my hand might have scared him. He tried biting me when I kept trying to put it back onto the cage but I'm not sure if he was over excited (because he was copying the way I'd been playing with the toy) or if he was angry at me. Back to the drawing board.

If she likes millet then offering a little bud through the bars is a good way to start, though. After a while of you being there she might start to take an interest in it and you can work on it from there.

[Rachael Kellett]

I feel that this thread has gone off topic and several members have gotten agitated. Can I please remind members that if they are not happy with something that has been said, or feel that someone is giving the wrong advice, that they should message either myself, Marianne Marlow, Barrie Shutt, Hezz, or BB and we will help to resolve this.

[Hezz]

If Barry gets back to his thread, I want it noted for the record that I have never advocated for freaking a bird out by keeping a hand in the cage when the bird is obviously distressed. Counterproductive for all concerned - budgie and owner.