May 5, 2024 2:00:32 GMT
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Post by Deleted on May 27, 2013 11:07:52 GMT
I just wondered if anyone had any tips on this? One sign of a cloth and Munchy's flying for his life, so if you miss chucking a larger piece of fabric, like a blanket, over him the first time he knows what you're trying to do and catching him becomes impossible. The other day I must have spent about 20 minutes trying to catch him to trim his claws, stressing both of us out, and when I did get hold of him it was from the front and he escaped as I tried to change my hand position, giving me a nasty bite on the thumb because I still had hold of one foot in the cloth. So at that point I gave up.
Munchy hasn't changed in his attitude towards me and my hands, but I was wondering if anyone had any advice on how to teach him to accept being picked up, particularly because I don't know if I'll ever have to take him to the vets and him being difficult is going to make the process much harder than it needs to be. I was thinking of placing him on a perch and holding one hand behind his back and then rewarding him with some millet and gradually getting closer to him over the course of the days until I can touch him. Does this seem like a good idea? My last exam is tomorrow and then I'm away for the rest of the week, which should give him time to get over the traumatising experience of me chasing him around.
Also, the last week or so, Munchy has taken more of an interest in chewing things. I bought a couple of fresh willow perches back along and took some of the bark off the end to encourage him to chew that, but he has no interest in them. He chews the wood of the base of his tree, but other than that seems determined to chew anything fibrous, which means I've had to take his boing away from him, although he doesn't do this with the other rope perches as he only ever goes on those to move in and out of his cage. So basically, how do I encourage him to chew things that are okay to chew instead of bits of stringy things? I'm thinking I might have to buy more leather cord to replace the string of the climbing net as he wants to chew the ends of those. And what other stuff can I give him to chew?
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Post by stace on May 27, 2013 11:42:07 GMT
If they start eating their rope, it can be a problem. I have the same issue here, so no more ropes or strings on anything. However, untreated sisal seems okay for me. He hasn't ever eaten that. It's what his boing is made from.
Can you get any bark? I use eucalyptus bark, but maybe some type of UK bark? Once it has dried out, it becomes nice and crunchy to gnaw on.
Another thing to try is Yucca. It's really soft and easy to shred up. Carrot and apple are also good as a shredding things. They get to eat a bit in the process which is a plus.
As for catching him up. I wish I knew. I've trained Boo up to do a lot of things - come on command, go in his cage, drink his medicine, step up and down, even to stay. But I have never managed to get him to be okay about being caught. He just fights it with such determination. I can't even try to catch him in his cage, as he's very likely to hurt himself bouncing up and down banging against everything trying to get away.
I have to catch him outside the cage, distract him with something while I'm very close in, and swiftly grab him from behind so fasts he doesn't know what's happened. I have to get him good that first time though, because if I fail, he's on to me and won't be fooled twice.
By comparison, my neighbour's bird is not tame at all, and yet I can catch him up no problem. Boo is just problematic in this one thing.
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May 5, 2024 2:00:32 GMT
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Post by Deleted on May 27, 2013 14:35:55 GMT
Yeah :/ I've taken all the string off of his net and changed it for the leather cord stuff I bought back along, as I had just enough left to do it I'm much happier letting him near it now. I don't think he's chewed through any string on his boing but it gets fluffy, like when a fleece pils, and he might end up swallowing some of that :/ Might need to invest in some of those 'Happy perch - flexiperches' that you can stick to windows and mirrors instead, I believe there's a type that attached to the cage too, and replace the rope perches with those. Trouble is that he'll do it do anything, including the doily thing that's on one of the tables he likes to frequent (and sadly it's not my house so I can't just go moving all these things... :/ ) but luckily we're changing the curtains soon, and I'm making sure we don't get any with sequins! He likes carrot but will only touch it when it's in rounds unless I offer a grated bit to him directly. And if it's in rounds I have to cut it really thin to go on the skewer so it ends up breaking But he happily digs into it when it's slightly softened by a light boiling. He loves biting into peas and grass too. Used to like broccoli but we hardly ever get any fresh :/ He's not keen on previously frozen stuff except for peas. And he can't stand fruit unless he's hungry and we're eating some I used to be able to fool Munchy when we had Kevin, but right now he's not attached enough to anything to go on the floor after it whenever I need :/ It's funny how some birds can be fine with nearly anything else but not that ^^ Munchy's a fraidy bird most of the time, but hopefully, with a lot of millet which he won't be getting any other time, he'll learn that he gets something nice when he gets picked up and will eventually let me
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Post by Hezz on May 28, 2013 0:49:59 GMT
If Sparky can learn to tolerate being caught, I think any bird can. It is something that will take a fair amount of time and patience, though, Ira. It isn't going to work outside the cage - he will need to be in the confined space of his cage, and if he is anything like Sparky, he will escape out the door while you are still fluffing about getting your hand in the cage!
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May 5, 2024 2:00:32 GMT
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Post by Deleted on May 28, 2013 7:03:20 GMT
Thanks Hezz! I'll get his cage set up so it's easier to follow him around. Training will have to be a morning thing, in that case I'll have to take him out to reward him because it's hard to fit both hands in
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Post by samwiseg on May 28, 2013 7:43:22 GMT
Oh, was going to suggest both hands in the cage! I had to get hold of Murph last week to do the same as his claws are really quite long and I had to bite the bullet. And he bit me. I swear he has female tendancies as his bite was just like a hen! Even screamed like a banshee (not that I was hurting him in any way) but he has only just forgiven me. I think it is a case of budgies HATE being handled full stop, but the quicker and more effecient you can be the less of a pain it can be...for both parties!
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May 5, 2024 2:00:32 GMT
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Post by Deleted on May 28, 2013 8:33:23 GMT
Munchy bites hard enough to make a bump! It doesn't bother me once I'm holding him because I know I'm not hurting him and being bitten doesn't surprise me. I can get both hands in the cage, it turns out, but I can only really use one whilst the other holds the millet, because it's a squeeze when you get both forearms in. The side door is too out of the way to use. But anyway, I don't expect him to enjoy being handled, because they don't, as long as he's used to it and maybe he'll realise he gets tasty things whilst it's happening. Any advice on how to hold him? I've been using the bird ringer's grip like I've been shown for wild birds.
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Post by stace on May 28, 2013 8:42:02 GMT
the hold: palm at the bird's back, thumb and forefinger firmly holding the head/skull at the sides, the rest of the fingers just gently hold the body and wings in place cradled in the palm.
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Post by samwiseg on May 28, 2013 9:08:31 GMT
the hold: palm at the bird's back, thumb and forefinger firmly holding the head/skull at the sides, the rest of the fingers just gently hold the body and wings in place cradled in the palm. He still managed to bite me the little s*d
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Post by mizloco on May 28, 2013 10:01:12 GMT
I need budgie handling lessons...my two are wild not hand trained at all. I must try harder
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Post by Hezz on May 29, 2013 1:06:17 GMT
For holding him, Ira, it depends on what you want to do. At this stage all you are doing is getting him used to being contained, rather than held tight! There are two ways that work for me you can try. One is coming in over the top of him, with your palm coming down onto his back; the other is palm upwards from underneath, allowing him to step onto your little finger, and wrap your hand around his body, fingers over the top. I find with both ways if you give them somewhere to put their feet, ie a finger, they are more settled, and feel more in control. Once you are able to hold him slightly, gently, give him a kiss, a piece of millet, good boy etc and release. This way he gets to learn a couple of things - one, that nothing bad has actually happened, and two, he got rewarded.
If/when it comes time to be giving him meds or whatever, then you will need to restrain him much more, but work on one thing at a time. He will learn that it doesn't have to be a terrible experience, and the easier he makes it, the quicker it is all over.
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Post by nat on May 29, 2013 14:53:35 GMT
If I have them in a cage and need to catch them for meds or claw trim I just switch off the light for 10 minutes or more before going anywhere near the budgie and open the cage door. It won't come out because its dark. You won't wake him by opening the door either because its already open ;-) When hes settled and roosting then quickly take him off the perch. The room needs to be really quite dark. I have a cheap argos blackout blind to make it easier. Then rather than turn the full light on to trim claws or do meds I just use a small table lamp or the light off my mobile phone. They tend to stay calmer because they haven't had the horrible chase to be caught and the dull light helps too.
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Post by Hezz on May 30, 2013 2:06:07 GMT
I should have added to my above post, by giving them somewhere to perch/put their feet, you also give them somewhere to push off from, and they will use this to try to wriggle out between thumb and index finger. Once you have them contained in one hand enough to bring them out of the cage, use the other hand to help contain them so they can perch on your finger but not fly off in a huff. This is the time for rewards.
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Post by stace on May 30, 2013 6:42:18 GMT
If I have them in a cage and need to catch them for meds or claw trim I just switch off the light for 10 minutes or more before going anywhere near the budgie and open the cage door. It won't come out because its dark. You won't wake him by opening the door either because its already open ;-) When hes settled and roosting then quickly take him off the perch. The room needs to be really quite dark. I have a cheap argos blackout blind to make it easier. Then rather than turn the full light on to trim claws or do meds I just use a small table lamp or the light off my mobile phone. They tend to stay calmer because they haven't had the horrible chase to be caught and the dull light helps too. This is a really good tip. I've got too many huge windows for this to work for me, but it might work for a lot of others.
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May 5, 2024 2:00:32 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Jun 2, 2013 9:24:50 GMT
Thank you, everyone! I'm home now so tomorrow I'm going to start work with Munchy. To make sure my presence at his cage doesn't scare him once I start trying to catch him, I'm going to make sure to make far more visits where I just give him a beak bop or sit there and talk to him, or something And give him lots of positive attention outside of the cage. I've been away 4 days and my grandparents said I can't go away again because the first 2 days I was away Munchy went mute and at one point just sat behind the telly for ages. Then because he couldn't find any other picture, he sat on the low bookcase in the living room next to a photo of me and nan and kept pecking at me. I think he missed me...
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