May 29, 2012 19:03:40 GMT
David
Brand New Budgie
Proud owner of Pepper
Posts: 34
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Post by David on May 29, 2012 19:29:11 GMT
Hi everyone!
I'm new to this forum site and I really need help from experienced budgie owners like you guys!
I just bought a budgie yesterday. I think it's a male, but I can't tell right away 'cause I was lucky enough to buy him/her at a very young age. I bought from a store, but I can tell it's very young (no white cap yet). It can barely fly, and is still growing its wings. But it can eat seeds already.
Anyway, the bird's already quite tame (due to the age I think). I tried putting my finger near it very slowly while talking to him/her and he/she didn't mind. But whenever I try to nudge it to make it step up, it scurries away. The budgie doesn't fly away though, 'cause it can't. The most he/she could do is back up or crawl up on the cage bars and change perches.
What should I do?
Is taming my budgie too soon?
Am I traumatizing the poor thing?
I just bought him/her literally yesterday. He/she didn't eat or move much not until this morning. I saw that the bowl of seeds already had emptied out husks. I even saw him/her drink water from the bowl. And tonight, I was able to hand feed her only once with seeds on my palm. He/she was very hesitant at first, but maybe he/she was just really hungry and went for it. But, still, I can't manage to make her step up on my finger.
What do you think? Is he/she naturally tame? Or is he/she a bit more tame than other usual pet-store-bought-budgies? This is my very first budgie and I have no idea of how they behave. I've had a lot before when I was a kid, but let's face it, I was a kid. I just liked watching them and talking to them in bird-talk. Now, I'm a serious owner, looking forward to bond and train my new budgie.
He/She's alone in the cage, but I bought him/her lots of toys and perches and stuff and a very big cage (17x18x18) as opposed to what I've read on the internet on what the minimum is (12x18x18). I've also read lots and lots of stuff on how to take care of them BEFORE I even bought the little dude. So don't worry guys, I'm really gonna take serious care with the little fella.
Hope some of you help me! All help and advice would be appreciated.
Thank you!
David Hizon Philippines
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May 29, 2012 19:03:40 GMT
David
Brand New Budgie
Proud owner of Pepper
Posts: 34
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Post by David on May 29, 2012 19:48:46 GMT
Edit: Just right now, I was able to hand feed him/her again from my palm! It's amazing! He/She even lifted one foot and placed it on one of my fingers for leverage while eating the seeds, but that was about it.
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Post by brian1 on May 29, 2012 22:25:01 GMT
Edit: Just right now, I was able to hand feed him/her again from my palm! It's amazing! He/She even lifted one foot and placed it on one of my fingers for leverage while eating the seeds, but that was about it. That's a good start, take it slow..........
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Post by skysmum on May 29, 2012 22:45:04 GMT
Hello David, it sounds as if you are doing just fine, the younger the better, just be calm, patient and gentle with him/her. Don't over do it, just short spells a few times a day, if you blink at them it tell's them that you mean them no harm and he/she will start to blink back . Good luck, pictures would be nice and have you thought of a name, also look on the taming page its full of great idea's.
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May 29, 2012 19:03:40 GMT
David
Brand New Budgie
Proud owner of Pepper
Posts: 34
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Post by David on May 30, 2012 5:39:46 GMT
Hey guys (brian1 and skysmum)! First up, thanks so much for replying to my post. This is one of my first times to actually be on a forum, and I had no idea how active you guys are. Thank you! So anyway, you guys think I'm doing well? That's awesome to hear. But, I have a question though. Isn't it too soon for me to be taming him/her? I mean, I've read a lot on the net about how the best time to start training/taming a budgie is at the youngest age possible, but I'm worried that the little fella has not quite settled in yet. It's just been three days today since I got him/her, so I'm not sure if he/she has settled in already. What are signs of budgies already being settled in their new cage? I can't say he/she is flying around from perch to perch 'cause he/she sure can't fly still. He/she's just always on top of a little round nest I put inside the cage. That's his/her favorite spot. I hand feed him/her there, and she poops there. I'm planning to take the nest out though, to force her to try other perches (PS: she never really entered the nest, just hung out above the nest, dunno why, LOL). Will this be okay? What do you guys think? Should I wait more until he/she's settled in? PS: I'm hoping for a male also, 'cause I've read a lot on the net that males do talk more than females. Is there any way to know at a young age? The cere is still purplish-white, so it's not that early to tell. (By the way, even if my budgie wouldn't learn how to talk, it's no biggie. I won't push him/her. As long as he's/she's finger or hand tame, that's all. I want her out of the cage when I'm in the room, and besides, he/she's alone in the cage. I want him/her to get as much outside time as he/she can possibly have when I'm in the room.) Thanks for welcoming me, guys. Hope to hear from you soon.
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Post by skysmum on May 30, 2012 15:29:22 GMT
As long as you are patient and gentle its never too soon just don't over do it, rush it or frighten her/him, you must gain their trust. If you are thinking of getting another one and want them hand tame i would wait until you have the first one tame as they will bond with each other and prefer each others company to yours ;D. As for talking, the same applies, a single budgie will learn to talk, its harder with two and yes the boys talk better but females will sometimes, i had a female who talked quite well, don't put a mirror in the cage as this will hinder progress because it will be more interested in the other budgie in the mirror . Remove the nest if you get another one because unless you want to breed they will lay eggs wherever they can and the nest you mention will be unsuitable, they have to have a proper nest box, they also have to be old enough. If you can get a picture for us we may be able to help with telling you if its a girl or boy, then you can find a nice name for him/her.
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May 29, 2012 19:03:40 GMT
David
Brand New Budgie
Proud owner of Pepper
Posts: 34
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Post by David on May 30, 2012 16:24:42 GMT
Hi skysmum! So yeah, right before I was posting this, I was attempting Andria's method on my budgie (a friend of mine in the forum), and it worked!!! Her method was to let the baby bird out of the cage and finger tame him/her outside (so she'd feel safe with your hand or finger). At first I tried to kinda chase her with my finger in his/her cage till he/she got tired and just settled on my finger, but it happened that he/she accidentally stepped out of the cage and flew downwards to the ground. I immediately tried to cup Pepper with my hands as to avoid any accidents, and she just grabbed on to my thumb and perched there! I tried talking to her (let's just assume Pepper's a she, it's tiring to keep typing he/she, and I don't want to name call Pepper as 'it' lol ) and just let her calm down. When she was calm (eyes closing every now and then), I did the up with the finger on her belly thing. After a while, she hung on to my finger! It was amazing! I just kept on doing this for like full straight 2 hours, and she finally caught on! Whenever she sees my finger in a perch-like position approaching her while I'm saying up, she seems like she's readying herself to hop on. It's amazing! I've read on the net that giving your budgie millet spray as a reward is helpful, but I can't find any millet spray in our town , so I tried giving her her actual seed mix. And after a 10-minute wait, she went for it. LOL. So I actually had her perch on my finger, while eating from the palm of my hand. I just hope she'd still perch on my finger when it's nearing her now that I put her back in the cage though. I was thinking that maybe she was just perching on my finger 'cause she had nowhere to go except my finger. Having a big cage with lots of other perches to escape to may push her to just go back to scurrying away from my finger. Would this happen? Or would my training stick to her? I wasn't able to give her any rewards except the seed mix and of course compliments in baby talk. Hope that was enough. By the way, yeah, I'm not planning on getting another one, not at least that Pepper's already full tame. But still, I'm not planning on getting another budgie anytime soon. I want Pepper to be my companion, so I'm gonna give him/her my full attention. And yep, I avoided putting mirrors in her cage and stuff, so that I could teach her to talk! By the way, whenever I leave the room, I turn on some music/sounds to soothe her. Is it better to play budgie chirps and noises or just plain music? The budgie chirps and noises make her interact more and excite her, but I'm afraid this may also hinder her from being able to talk.
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May 29, 2012 19:03:40 GMT
David
Brand New Budgie
Proud owner of Pepper
Posts: 34
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Post by David on May 30, 2012 16:26:30 GMT
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Post by skysmum on May 30, 2012 16:35:14 GMT
Your doing a great job, Pepper ( cute name will suit boy or girl ) sounds like she's getting the hang of it just fine. Sorry cant open your facebook link.
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May 29, 2012 19:03:40 GMT
David
Brand New Budgie
Proud owner of Pepper
Posts: 34
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Post by David on May 30, 2012 17:54:43 GMT
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Post by Rachael Kellett on May 30, 2012 18:46:05 GMT
Hi David, I just looked at your photo and Pepper is definitely a male Can I ask where you got him from? You see from the photos I can tell that his wings and what seems to be his tail have been very badly clipped/ cut off. This is why he can't fly, and it will take a long time for them to grow back, if they do grow back properly at all because they have been cut really badly and it may have caused him serious damage.
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May 29, 2012 19:03:40 GMT
David
Brand New Budgie
Proud owner of Pepper
Posts: 34
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Post by David on May 30, 2012 19:32:39 GMT
Hi David, I just looked at your photo and Pepper is definitely a male Can I ask where you got him from? You see from the photos I can tell that his wings and what seems to be his tail have been very badly clipped/ cut off. This is why he can't fly, and it will take a long time for them to grow back, if they do grow back properly at all because they have been cut really badly and it may have caused him serious damage. =========== Hey Rachael! Thanks for taking time in looking at my budgie's pics! Are your sure Pepper's a male? I mean, I'd be happy if Pepper's a male, 'cause that's what I'm hoping for! I heard males can learn to talk easier than females! But, in actuality, Pepper's cere is still purplish-white.. the usual cere color of baby budgies? I dunno. You're the expert. And as for the wings, Are they really cut off? Or are they just still growing? You see Pepper still has his full cap of stripes on, hasn't gone into his first molt yet. So he's still probably less than four months. I've heard that 2 to 3 month old baby budgies are still growing their feathers and all. So I might be considering that they're not actually clipped, rather are still growing.. I think. I haven't thoroughly checked though, 'cause I'm still in the middle of hand taming the little fella, and I don't want to traumatize it by having ten fingers sprawling around its body checking it's feathers. ;D EDIT: Now that you've mentioned it, I rechecked the pics I uploaded, and yes, it does look like they're clipped in the pictures. Now I took note which feathers looked clipped in the photos and took a good look at the actual same feathers on Pepper, and the feathers don't seem to be clipped or cut in any way. The edges seem to be straight like it was clipped or cut, but the the black color of the feather doesn't reach the straight tip, rather, it recedes to a white color. If it was clipped in some way, the edge where the clipping was done should be black (same as the rest of the unclipped feather). But amazingly, the edge was rather white, then the black part starts a few millimeters away from the supposed to be clipped edge. I dunno if I'm making sense here, or if you're getting the picture I'm trying to describe. So I just posted a number of new pictures which are up close and are a lot better than the ones previously uploaded. You may take a look and see. Thanks a bunch, Rachael!
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May 29, 2012 19:03:40 GMT
David
Brand New Budgie
Proud owner of Pepper
Posts: 34
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Post by David on May 30, 2012 19:38:50 GMT
Hi David, I just looked at your photo and Pepper is definitely a male Can I ask where you got him from? You see from the photos I can tell that his wings and what seems to be his tail have been very badly clipped/ cut off. This is why he can't fly, and it will take a long time for them to grow back, if they do grow back properly at all because they have been cut really badly and it may have caused him serious damage. And another question by the way, do budgies need nests to sleep in? I bought Pepper a nest, 'cause I thought it was a necessity. I've read on sites that they need a nest to sleep in, while I've read from others that they do not. They perch when they sleep. So I'm confused. I just bought one any way just in case he needs it. But then, I've read somewhere that having a nest box may trigger nesting behaviors in both males and females, and that males may tend to get aggressive -- now I don't want that! I immediately took out the nest and decided to ask here. Oh, I forgot, I got him from a pet store. They don't handle the birds in the store as far as I know (I haven't asked, but it seems like it 'cause the birds are so scared with their hands), so it may also be an indication that Pepper's feathers are not clipped.
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Post by Rachael Kellett on May 30, 2012 21:33:18 GMT
Hi David, I just looked at your photo and Pepper is definitely a male Can I ask where you got him from? You see from the photos I can tell that his wings and what seems to be his tail have been very badly clipped/ cut off. This is why he can't fly, and it will take a long time for them to grow back, if they do grow back properly at all because they have been cut really badly and it may have caused him serious damage. =========== Hey Rachael! Thanks for taking time in looking at my budgie's pics! Are your sure Pepper's a male? I mean, I'd be happy if Pepper's a male, 'cause that's what I'm hoping for! I heard males can learn to talk easier than females! But, in actuality, Pepper's cere is still purplish-white.. the usual cere color of baby budgies? I dunno. You're the expert. And as for the wings, Are they really cut off? Or are they just still growing? You see Pepper still has his full cap of stripes on, hasn't gone into his first molt yet. So he's still probably less than four months. I've heard that 2 to 3 month old baby budgies are still growing their feathers and all. So I might be considering that they're not actually clipped, rather are still growing.. I think. I haven't thoroughly checked though, 'cause I'm still in the middle of hand taming the little fella, and I don't want to traumatize it by having ten fingers sprawling around its body checking it's feathers. ;D EDIT: Now that you've mentioned it, I rechecked the pics I uploaded, and yes, it does look like they're clipped in the pictures. Now I took note which feathers looked clipped in the photos and took a good look at the actual same feathers on Pepper, and the feathers don't seem to be clipped or cut in any way. The edges seem to be straight like it was clipped or cut, but the the black color of the feather doesn't reach the straight tip, rather, it recedes to a white color. If it was clipped in some way, the edge where the clipping was done should be black (same as the rest of the unclipped feather). But amazingly, the edge was rather white, then the black part starts a few millimeters away from the supposed to be clipped edge. I dunno if I'm making sense here, or if you're getting the picture I'm trying to describe. So I just posted a number of new pictures which are up close and are a lot better than the ones previously uploaded. You may take a look and see. Thanks a bunch, Rachael! Yes Pepper is definitely a male, males have a purple and pale blue cere whereas young females have a very light blue cere with white around the nostrils. Pepper looks to be around 8 weeks old so yes he is very young but even at that age he should have all his wing flight feathers, they wouldn't still be growing in. It looks like they have been clipped or he could have something called french moult, I am sure someone will be along soon and will be able to tell you for sure. Either way his wings should not look like that.
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Post by Rachael Kellett on May 30, 2012 21:42:00 GMT
Hi David, I just looked at your photo and Pepper is definitely a male Can I ask where you got him from? You see from the photos I can tell that his wings and what seems to be his tail have been very badly clipped/ cut off. This is why he can't fly, and it will take a long time for them to grow back, if they do grow back properly at all because they have been cut really badly and it may have caused him serious damage. And another question by the way, do budgies need nests to sleep in? I bought Pepper a nest, 'cause I thought it was a necessity. I've read on sites that they need a nest to sleep in, while I've read from others that they do not. They perch when they sleep. So I'm confused. I just bought one any way just in case he needs it. But then, I've read somewhere that having a nest box may trigger nesting behaviors in both males and females, and that males may tend to get aggressive -- now I don't want that! I immediately took out the nest and decided to ask here. Oh, I forgot, I got him from a pet store. They don't handle the birds in the store as far as I know (I haven't asked, but it seems like it 'cause the birds are so scared with their hands), so it may also be an indication that Pepper's feathers are not clipped. No budgies don't need a nestbox they only need it when they are very very young and with their parents or if you plan to breed, but only when they are over 1 year old. He will sleep quite happily on a perch. You will need nice natural tree branch perches made from non toxic trees, none of those nasty plastic ones.
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