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Post by skysmum on Nov 28, 2013 23:50:56 GMT
Just a question, or two . When you round them up after out time can you use the same technique, will they come into you hand willingly when free range. Also when you start to hand tame do you offer a single finger or use your half cupped hand for them to step up onto your little finger. Mine are all stick trained and a couple will come onto my index finger but Freddy prefers an open hand palm up.
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Post by Hezz on Nov 29, 2013 7:48:54 GMT
skysmum, Misty will from outside the cage; the other two won't. Actually with Misty, if she is sitting on my finger she will (mostly) allow me to put my other hand over her head/body and not move ..... Smudge and Sparky are gone! When I am shepherding them home, I can put them onto my finger but mostly they fly home before I get there. I have no doubt that a budgie started with this training as a youngster would allow this outside the cage. And no, for finger taming I use my index finger, same as the rest of us. I do also cup my hand over them and they will hunker down on the perch knowing what is going to happen, often holding on with one foot like crazy , but I found offering them my little finger to step onto made them more accepting ...... lifting them up from over the top, they didn't have anywhere for their feet to go and would often scrabble for a foot hold. If Sparky will learn, and tolerate, this, I am convinced any young and settled bird will. It is a matter of doing it often and repeatedly, just like the rest of training. Sparky would go from side to side, up, down all over, until I cornered him .... but he gradually came to realise that firstly I wasn't going to stop, and secondly it didn't hurt and was only for a very short time. Initially all I would do was catch him up, give him a kiss and let him go. marleen4, I think if you started with the young and handle them from nest to nappy cage and beyond, they would do well. Older birds, with on-one to guide them, I am not so sure. I started when Smudge was about 12 months old, maybe a bit older, and Sparky was about 4-6 months when I got him, Misty probably a bit older still, but she has the example of Sparky and Smudge to follow, that made her very easy to teach. @corie .... I wish!!!!
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Post by birdguhl on Nov 29, 2013 16:29:00 GMT
Oh how calm and beautiful this looks! (nice to see and hear you too, Hezz!)
And how utterly different from the traumatic chasing downs I have had x 100 or more! I suppose it goes hand-in-hand (sorry) with taming practice generally. Between the physical challenge posed by the size and position of B & L's cage and B's general nervousness, I have given up on getting them more comfortable with my hand. C & W come onto my hand easily to eat but I haven't got them further than this and I haven't had to catch them for a good while and have just felt mightily relieved considering how horrible this was before.
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Post by milliej on Nov 29, 2013 16:56:34 GMT
I never handled mine when they were young and when I do put my hand in the cage they both fly to the farthest corner still, although I've been telling them for years that it's only me coming to clean or change something! I don't think I've been 'gentle' enough! They do 'talk' to me through the bars though (in budgie talk not English) unless it's their accent I'm not understanding
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Post by starrymist on Nov 29, 2013 17:36:34 GMT
Hezz, can you explain how you got to this stage with your birds step by step to a bird (& owner!) who has had no experience of being caught/ catching? How did you introduce the idea to them? I thought I might try with Brodie. When he's been out today I've had him on the flat of my hand & lifted my thumb up or held the other hand nearby not above him but to 1 side. He wasn't overly happy with that but not unhappy, more wary & just keeping an eye on it. Is the the 1st step? I thought I'd spend some time doing that with him before trying anything else but wasn't sure if this is the right approach. He's very tame with me & confident around me so obviously I don't want to jeopardise that & lose his trust or stress him out.
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Oct 6, 2011 7:41:27 GMT
Marianne Marlow
Administrator
George, Daisy, Iris, Billy, Peter, Chipper, Dinku, Barney, Ayla and Rocky
Posts: 28,751
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Post by Marianne Marlow on Nov 29, 2013 18:19:59 GMT
They are so well behaved My bird Sky sees the whole thing as a play fight, my husband is able to catch him cos he locks his beak onto husbands finger!
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Post by skysmum on Nov 29, 2013 19:16:55 GMT
skysmum, Misty will from outside the cage; the other two won't. Actually with Misty, if she is sitting on my finger she will (mostly) allow me to put my other hand over her head/body and not move ..... Smudge and Sparky are gone! When I am shepherding them home, I can put them onto my finger but mostly they fly home before I get there. I have no doubt that a budgie started with this training as a youngster would allow this outside the cage. And no, for finger taming I use my index finger, same as the rest of us. I do also cup my hand over them and they will hunker down on the perch knowing what is going to happen, often holding on with one foot like crazy , but I found offering them my little finger to step onto made them more accepting ...... lifting them up from over the top, they didn't have anywhere for their feet to go and would often scrabble for a foot hold. If Sparky will learn, and tolerate, this, I am convinced any young and settled bird will. It is a matter of doing it often and repeatedly, just like the rest of training. Sparky would go from side to side, up, down all over, until I cornered him .... but he gradually came to realise that firstly I wasn't going to stop, and secondly it didn't hurt and was only for a very short time. Initially all I would do was catch him up, give him a kiss and let him go. marleen4, I think if you started with the young and handle them from nest to nappy cage and beyond, they would do well. Older birds, with on-one to guide them, I am not so sure. I started when Smudge was about 12 months old, maybe a bit older, and Sparky was about 4-6 months when I got him, Misty probably a bit older still, but she has the example of Sparky and Smudge to follow, that made her very easy to teach. @corie .... I wish!!!! Thanks Hezz .
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Post by Shirls on Nov 29, 2013 20:43:39 GMT
That is so fantastic Hezz. What brilliant advice too. I must try some training quick smart as I will be transferring my buds into a smaller cage for transporting when I move house. You have done so well with yours and I loved the video and the accent!! You made it look so easy.
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Post by ffiscool on Nov 29, 2013 21:20:33 GMT
It was nice to see you and hear you!
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Post by Hezz on Nov 30, 2013 1:46:06 GMT
Thanks, birdguhl. I can't remember what the occasion was that started me down this track, but I do remember it was while I had Bluey, Smudge and Sparky. Blue, being older, never really took to it as well as the younger birds, but when I got Sparky he really was quite wild. Never been handled or any sort of training, so he was the hardest for me to start with. Smudge was relatively easy as she doesn't back away from anything! I just had to get past the beak. Marianne Marlow, this sounds like Smudgey. She would try the same thing, I didn't have to worry about her flying off, but more getting past her beak as I mentioned above. Even now, you will see that she pays more attention to my thumb - the digit going around her - than she does to standing on my finger! Shirls, accent? What accent?? And ffiscool, you got my pretty apricot singlet .... I didn't consider my wardrobe beforehand.
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Post by Hezz on Nov 30, 2013 2:01:11 GMT
Hezz, can you explain how you got to this stage with your birds step by step to a bird (& owner!) who has had no experience of being caught/ catching? How did you introduce the idea to them? I thought I might try with Brodie. When he's been out today I've had him on the flat of my hand & lifted my thumb up or held the other hand nearby not above him but to 1 side. He wasn't overly happy with that but not unhappy, more wary & just keeping an eye on it. Is the the 1st step? I thought I'd spend some time doing that with him before trying anything else but wasn't sure if this is the right approach. He's very tame with me & confident around me so obviously I don't want to jeopardise that & lose his trust or stress him out. That's a good place to start, Starrymist. I used to approach them in this way, but as I think I replied to Skysmum, they would hang on tightly with one foot when I tried to lift them up off the perch, so I tried the second approach. I must mention that all three birds are excellent at stepping up onto my finger every time. They don't always stay as long as I would like, but they step up no worries. I think the secret to success is to keep the attempts short and sweet. The actual holding I mean. With Sparky, being my most recalcitrant, I would follow him around the cage calmly until I cornered him, catch him up, give him a kiss and let him go. Nothing too horrible happened, the kiss didn't kill him , and it was over and done with. To start with I spent more time following him around the cage than I did actually holding him. I found that with offering them my little finger and saying step up, their natural reaction to step up seemed to come into play, their feet were not dangling and scrabbling for purchase ..... the down-side of this is that they will tend to try to push themselves out through the hole of thumb and fingers with their feet. If you wish more explanation or I haven't covered something, feel free to ask for more.
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Post by nettles on Nov 30, 2013 2:34:40 GMT
Oh what well behaved wee show offs you have there Hezz I think Marge seen me watching your video because when I slowly turned my cupped hand towards her, she took off like she knew my plan. I considered making my own "how not to do it" response video
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Post by Hezz on Nov 30, 2013 3:13:14 GMT
Maybe Marge was watching over your shoulder. Probably thinking something like how silly are those three?
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Post by OP on Nov 30, 2013 17:13:57 GMT
Wel I had a go at your method this afternoon, Hezz. I expected Joey to take flight when I presented my cupped hand, but no he stepped up on to my little finger. My thumb was well away from him but all my fingers were loosely wrapped around him. Only when I brought my thumb into contact with him did he climb up through the hole. Not in a panic, so if I had wanted I could have kept hold of him. I could only do such an action if he was in the right position to begin with. Progress all the same.
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Post by starrymist on Nov 30, 2013 18:30:49 GMT
Thanks Hezz. Today he's been fine with the other hand being very near him, above him & almost touching. He mostly ignored it but did on occasion attack the nearest finger but i did nothing & he stopped. I've just tried the cupped hand approach but he's not daft, he doesn't use my little finger, rather he hops onto the top finger(s). Any ideas on getting round this?! Brodie is way cleverer than Misty (much as I will always love my Misty he was definitely a slow learner!).
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