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Post by nettles on Sept 9, 2013 0:55:16 GMT
Oh believe me Hezz, it was a funny sight! I also had my 17yr old nephew and 21yr old niece lying on the floor beside me while we all tried to get our heads under one small tea towel! We all tried so hard not to scream in case we frightened her but I'm pretty sure I let out a few terrified squeaks!
I think I know the answer but is it a bit too soon to "launch" Marge? I really don't want to put her off coming out of the cage..
I'd love to get Marge to fly.. but just not as professionally as Sparky! That's a bit too close for comfort lol.
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Post by Hezz on Sept 9, 2013 1:11:44 GMT
If you are going to try out Marge's flying ability, I would keep her low to the ground so she doesn't have far to fall if she doesn't do so well. Some people start this over a bed, which provides them with a soft landing. It may be a little early to start (at least she doesn't fly away from you!!! ) as it is probably better to have her at least stick trained before you start to give her something to aim for. I just tip Smudge off my finger well I don't need to now as she knows that "off you go" means go for a fly, but I would tip my finger so she sort of lost her balance. Do you have a birdie gym for them? Or something she might see as a safe place to land? You could put this on the bed at one end and try getting her to fly to it from the other.
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Post by OP on Sept 9, 2013 6:11:14 GMT
Ha Ha Ha! My grandson used to keep a budgie in his bedroom, always free flying only going into the cage at night and for feed. My daughter would tell me that this budgie would dive bomb here when she went in the room. I only half believed her until I saw the budgie do it. The budgie would also dive bomb their pet dog a staff cross. Yet it didn't dive bomb any male that went in the bedroom. What wonderful characters.
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Post by starrymist on Sept 9, 2013 18:51:38 GMT
Ah yes, the parting of the hair trick, that's a whole other experience isn't it?! nettles that image is hilarious. budgies can be a bit unpredictable so i understand why some people are scared of them! I guess it's similar to spiders. I wouldn't worry too much about the dive bombing just yet, I *think*they only do that when they're very tame & confident. As for making him fly, I'd do as Hezz mentioned & sort of tipped him off my finger. Maybe you could launch Marge just a step or 2 away from her cage top from a bit above the cage, that way she could land on top & if she were to plummet at least the cage would be below her, not sure if that makes sense.
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Post by nettles on Sept 10, 2013 0:25:05 GMT
Hezz When she's more comfortable with being out if her cage, I'll attempt tipping her off the stick. At the minute she won't venture anywhere else but the edge of the bath. She just sits on the stick looking at me and refuses to get off anywhere else. I don't want to force her too much either. I'm probably worrying over nothing (as usual) with the flying thing. Maybe Marge is trying to get me over my phobia slowly She probably remembers my squeaks from the last time she flew about and wants to break me in gently lol. OP Oh your poor daughter! A friend of ours adopted a rescue parrot that attacks everyone apart from him or one of his daughters. Thankfully we don't visit them very often lol! starrymist Yup it makes perfect sense I hope it never comes to it, but if she doesn't even attempt to fly soon, I'll give it a try. At least if I launch her towards the cage it'll be something she recognises! And I'll do as Hezz suggested and maybe put the cage on the bed. Oh and spiders are a million times worse than birds!! Forget lying on the floor, if a spider escaped in my kitchen there'd be an Annette shaped whole in the wall
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Post by Hezz on Sept 10, 2013 0:45:08 GMT
I have found it a lot easier to tip Smudge off my finger than a stick ...... not really sure why that is. But even having Marge on your finger and tipping it so she loses balance a little, she may put her wings out to flutter without actually taking off - this would be a good place for her to start, especially if she has lost confidence, and she is sure to have lost muscle strength. Will she step onto your finger from the bath? Will she sit on your shoulder? Or is that a bit too close?
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Post by nettles on Sept 10, 2013 5:33:22 GMT
They both do that fluttering thing while holding on to their perches in the cage. I read up on it and it said that's them exercising their wings.. Would that be a good indication that she won't have lost ALL of her muscle strength? When she's out of the cage, she only willingly puts one claw on my finger.. when I put the stick in front of her, she steps straight onto it. I try holding the stick slightly further away and she just sits there and looks at me I've never tried to put her on my shoulder.. she doesn't mind when I put my face up close to her and wink and say "kiss kiss Marge" so she might go onto my shoulder! I might also have a heart attack.. but I'll wait til she's safely back in the cage first lol
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Post by OP on Sept 10, 2013 6:17:11 GMT
Is it possible that both Marge and Melman are sensing your phobia somewhat. Even if you will be controlling it it will still be there. Melman is safe in his cage so won't be bothered, but marge is the one you are trying to train. I have a feeling that Joey does not like getting on my finger because it shakes. It is a natural thing not nerves. Could it be that you are transferring your fear to Marge perhaps? You need to put all this biting and dive bombing out of your mind. It could play on your mind making you more wary than normal. Maybe a quick sip of your favourite tipple before a session might help.
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Post by ffiscool on Sept 10, 2013 10:26:51 GMT
or give marge the tipple! - only joking
Bailey is fine with the perch and looks for it,w hen out of his cage.. still get the 'never' look, re my finger
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May 4, 2024 16:26:10 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Sept 10, 2013 15:22:21 GMT
My first budgie never came out to fly much because I didn't know enough about budgies and my grandparents last had budgies back in the days when people didn't let them out much. I'd take him out (more like force him, from his perspective, I think, but I was too young to know better *goes off on a tangent to apologise to the world for how she treated that poor creature*) and swiftly move my arm up and drop it down as he was sat on it to encourage him to fly. When we were away on holiday he was at my mum's and she never let him out and when we got him out he could just about flutter to the floor... His very underused wing muscles had wasted from lack of use, although I didn't understand that at the time either. It wasn't even in our list of suggestions over what might be wrong... I remember Munchy's first ever glorious flight, though It was the second day I'd taken him out of the cage. The first attempt I took him out of the entrance on my finger so he was just outside, spoke to him for a few moments, and returned him to the cage. The next day I tried again. He clambered up the side of the cage from my finger, sat on the top of the cage for a few moments, and then launched himself off towards the wall... only to clear the end of the cage and plummet into the box that contained his stuff. He dropped like a stone and it wasn't at all graceful. Sadly, unthinkingly, I just scooped him out in both hands when I should have offered a finger instead, but he did look rather cute sprawled on top of the slope of newspaper, and so bewildered that my first thought was just to pick him up... Mind you, he was just a baby and for some reason didn't have any flight feathers though he should have done. Also, he never flies in his cage. If his perches are more than a long hop away from each other, only requiring a slight opening of the wings, he'll just climb across the bars. And once he's on the floor he'll do a lot of walking. He'll walk from one room to the entrance of another, before flying to his preferred landing spot. Other times he just goes mental and does a lap of the room, then lands, then does another lap, and so on until he's panting... This thread, and the lovebird I saw on the holiday I've just come back from, have really made me want to try hard to make Munchy a little more handtame, although our big problem is his biting and my nervousness of getting bitten... Thank you for inspiring me
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Post by ffiscool on Sept 10, 2013 15:36:17 GMT
Bailey is exactlly the same re the flying round the room, lands, flies again and pants back in his cage, wings open... although he does attempt to get to me on occasion at the other end, when i am working but cant manage the aim still...
he does make it nearby now to his gym, lol
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Post by nettles on Sept 11, 2013 0:19:37 GMT
Is it possible that both Marge and Melman are sensing your phobia somewhat. Even if you will be controlling it it will still be there. Melman is safe in his cage so won't be bothered, but marge is the one you are trying to train. I have a feeling that Joey does not like getting on my finger because it shakes. It is a natural thing not nerves. Could it be that you are transferring your fear to Marge perhaps? You need to put all this biting and dive bombing out of your mind. It could play on your mind making you more wary than normal. Maybe a quick sip of your favourite tipple before a session might help. I really do try hard not to show any fear and to be honest, in the process of "pretending" I think I actually forgot I was afraid.. To begin with, I was really wary about even putting my hand in the cage, but now I don't even think twice about it! After reading the other thread about biting, I noticed I was starting to get wary again but I forced myself to forget about it and I really have! I'd never really considered being bitten before as my fear was more about them flying about while my hand was in the cage. Melman flies about almost every time I have my hand in the cage so that really doesn't bother me at all anymore.. I know I'm still quite nervous when I have the front of the cage off though I try so hard not to show it but I'm sure Marge still picks up on it! If she'd just hurry up and fly so it was over and done with then I'd be ok lol. I guess it's more the fear of the unknown..
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Post by nettles on Sept 11, 2013 0:46:10 GMT
Ira Awww please don't feel bad! I think that's just the way things were done "back in the day" People didn't know any better! My childhood friends had "a" budgie called Joey.. When one died, their mum simply replaced it with another one while they were at school. We only found this out years later and from what we were told, they actually had about 4 Joeys in the space of a few years! They had a round cage that hung in the corner of the room. Giving fresh food was never even heard, they got seed and water and that was it and they never once got out to fly around Looking back now, it was so cruel and I could actually cry thinking about how miserable those poor wee birdies must have been but nobody knew any better! Anyway.. now we have the chance to give our birdies a happy life Reading other people's stories really has inspired me too From what I've learned, persistence and a whole heap of patience works wonders so Im sure if you keep trying with Munchy, you'll have success! Munchy is such a great name btw
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Post by nettles on Sept 11, 2013 0:49:20 GMT
Bailey is exactlly the same re the flying round the room, lands, flies again and pants back in his cage, wings open... although he does attempt to get to me on occasion at the other end, when i am working but cant manage the aim still... he does make it nearby now to his gym, lol Awww poor B still hasn't managed to get the hang of this aiming business! At least he's getting in the vicinity of his gym now so that's an improvement
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Post by Hezz on Sept 11, 2013 0:49:47 GMT
Rome wasn't built in a day, Annette, so don't stress it. Marge is coming along nicely, and so are you As she will sit on a stick willingly, this may be the time to start doing as I encouraged fisscool to do and that is to make the length of the stick shorter, just by moving your hand up the length of it bit by bit as she gets used to your hand getting closer and closer until the only part of the perch there for her to sit on is the bit where your finger is lying along it. Then one day she will wonder what all the fuss was about.
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