New Mama to Beautiful English Budgie Boys!

[Spritedust]

Hello everyone, I'm new to the forum as well as being a new mom for two beautiful English budgie boys!

Skyy and Tanqueray were born within a day of each other (Feb. 2013). They're from different parents but come from the same aviary.

Skyy was adopted a week and a half ago and I really wanted him to bond to me exclusively but, after doing some research, I realized that I would only have, at most, about 5 hours to devote to him on weekdays with lots more love to give on the weekends, so I adopted Tanqueray 2 days ago. Even though they came from the same place, they're not friends yet.

Skyy was finger tame almost from the very beginning and I've been able to take him out of the cage on occasion and have easily been able to put him back in before Tanqueray arrived.

He has quickly taught Tanqueray that I'm not as threatening as I look and Tanq will also step onto my finger when I press gently against his belly and say "step-up". On almost every occasion, I tired out first and put them back on the perch before they stepped off. Exciting!

Last night, Skyy seemed to have regressed a bit. He won't let me take him out of the cage anymore but I can have them stay on my finger in their cage for long periods of time as long as I don't move him around.

I presume that they'll be lifelong friends in a matter of days and my question is if someone out there has been able to bond really well with their 2 boys while working full time and if they've been able to teach them to talk overtime. I'm also very open to questions and suggestions you may have.

Of course, I will love them both unconditionally whether they bond with me or learn to talk.

[samwiseg]

Hi and welcome to the forum! Glad you found us and hope you feel at home

Training budgies can be a strange aas you can take 1 step forward one day and then 2 back the next. Budgies can be fickle little ones but the key is conditioning so that they understand you are no threat. Reason they are not leaving you is because they want to feel safe for the moment.

But whilst all this is happening, just keep reassuring them with lots of blinking and softly talking to them.

It sounds like you are doing GREAT already! But rest assured you are doing the right things

Would love to see pictures when you can

[mizloco]

Welcome spritedust to the forum. Great place to chat and get advice about budgies with some experts as well as budgie addicts. I have two boys but they have bonded very well together but I haven't really done that much training with mine. Lots of people on here get them well trained.

[Spritedust]

Thanks for the warm welcome, samwiseg and Mizloco! I'm trying to read everything and anything I can get my hands on and still have so many questions. I want to be the best, most responsible, budgie mom possible. I can't take all the credit for their approachable nature, I think the breeder did a wonderful job and so far, it seems like he's bred some incredible birds.

I'll try to get some pictures up as soon as I can.

I'm really curious to know about other members' experience with having to work full time and bonding with two males budgies.

[birdguhl]

Hi there - welcome to the forum - you and your buds!

I started off with two males who came from the same place. They were not tame at all and I spent many arm aching hours holding my hand in the cage. One (Woody) seemed more receptive and I got him to the point of tolerating one foot on my finger. The other one (Berry) has always been more nervy and it was difficult to get further than this. If Berry got panicked it would set Woody off and it proved quite difficult. Then I got a bigger cage for them and it was physically too big to get my arm in to the place they tended to sit. So, I didn't get any further.

I now have 4 budgies and my most recent addition, Charlie, is a much more calm and trusting wee fella (he is also a lot older and obviously had a very good relationship with his previous owner). He has been paired up with Woody away from Berry (and his current partner) and happily Woody seems to be learning from Charlie that I am not a monster. He will now eat something I am holding which is a massive step forward.

It sounds like you are off to a much, much better start with yours. Keep us posted and get some pics up when you can!

[toffee]

Hi!

I just got Daley 2 days ago and I'm a first time budgie mum too (well... sort of... it's a long story!).

I work full time too. I don't want to have another bird but I don't want Daley to be lonely either. Luckily I work at home at least one day a week and I'm also on flexi-time so I can do shorter days or take days off if I've made the time up. My OH is a student so is home during the day often so I think between the 2 of us we can provide enough company for Daley. Plus he already seems to like the telly, I just hope he doesn't start learning to talk from the Jeremy Kyle show!

I don't know anything about training 2 birds, but from what I've read you can do it they just have a strong bond with each other so they're not looking to you exclusively for company. I'm sure if they realise you're the food source they'll be pretty keen on you!

From what I've heard, pairs are less likely to talk though because they mimic each other rather than you. You will still have 2 lovely friends though and I bet it'll be great fun to watch them fly around together.