Budgie Training Question

**cartermomma** · 02-27-2005, 11:14 AM

Alright, I'm trying to train my budgie to be able to sit on your hand and all of that good stuff. The problem is, she bites really hard. I have no idea on how to train her that biting is bad. As it is, whenever we take her out we have to wear gloves. Thanks in advance!

**Squishi** · 10-31-2005, 04:03 AM

I had Bob at the perching on my finger stage, now suddenly overnight he regressed to running away from me or the perch by climbing up the cage wall when i get near him.

I'm quite sad about this and wonder why he suddenly hates me :< I'd so love to let him out of the cage to fly around my room, but if he doesn't trust me... what do i do? I don't like clipping birds wings, cos they're meant to fly and i find it cruel (that's a personal opinion okay?) I think it would increase the "i don't like you" factor if I got it done now too.

I've tried bribery with nice treats, but that didn't work either.

Should I just keep trying?

**Lovebirdfan** · 11-05-2005, 11:05 PM

Should I just keep trying?

YES!!!

It takes a while to gain their trust, and setbacks are not uncommon.
Just TAKE IT SLOW, keep encouraging interaction, reward when they do even the littlest positive thing, keep a soft, happy voice... and you will be pleased with the results.

**eterri** · 11-25-2005, 07:52 AM

Also, be very mindful of the things you're communicating (even inadvertantly) to your budgies. This is why it is advised to ignore biting. If they get any sort of reaction by biting you, you'll be reinforcing their behavior. For instance, if you get bitten and jerk your finger away your bird will know that biting makes your hand go away. If you yelp or scream it's the same thing (some budgies even enjoy the noise and drama of it all).

So keep persisting and try to think like a bird.

**Cambria** · 12-16-2005, 07:52 AM

ALso, when you're working with them, try to be calm and don't get nervous because their senses pick up on it and they may become nervous, too.

Clipping wings isn't permanent, but as samantha said, it just prevents them from flying higher. They won't be mad at you if you clip their wings. When I got my first keet, Fredrick, he was SUCH a biter. I let him bite me a couple of times when i changed the food/water dishes and he figured out that biting wouldn't make me go away. I followed a few steps and he trusted me to bring him out, but then as he came out, he'd fly to some unreachable shelf. I did clip his wings, and in the time before the flight feathers grew back in, I trained him to stay on my finger (because I could catch him easier at that point when he flew away) so that when his feathers grew back, he wasn't scared of me. And that's how I trained my keet. <3<3<3<3<3

**ichbcam** · 03-14-2006, 09:01 PM

My only suggestion would be to not react by jerking your hand away (as hard as it is). When I first got Murphy she'd go to nip at me and I'd instinctly jerk my hand away. It taught her that nipping equaled getting the scary hand to retreat. When I stopped jerking my hand away she also stopped nipping. I also used to put my hand, full of seed, into the cage and just leave it there lying on a perch for a long time. Eventually she got used to it. Now if I put my hand in to take out a toy, or move something around in the cage she jumps up and sits on my hand. My only warning is that your hand can get VERY tired... so get as comfy as you can!

**wetheril** · 04-22-2006, 01:34 AM

I agree with everybody else about not reacting. Even if it hurts, try to be impassive about it. If you show them that biting is useless, they will stop doing it. If biting is going to teach them that the hand will go away, or give them amusement, they will keep at it.

The first bird I ever tried taming was Snowdrop, and she was the one I had the hardest time with, but she tamed very well in 2 weeks. (All other birds after Snowdrop tamed in less than a week--with Jasmine and Joe, I was scritching them in 3 days.) Be patient--every bird is different.

Does your bird run away from your hand? If your bird starts to back away everytime your hand comes near, you should probably get your bird comfortable with the hand first. I second the suggestion about having some treats in your hand and keeping it very still for about 15 minutes at a time. Your bird should eventually be brave enough to come eat out of your hand. Don't make any sudden moves around your bird; always make nice slow moves, speak in a quiet, soothing voice. This tends to calm them down. When your bird comes to associate your hands with goodies, you can then try to get them to step up.

Another way of training your bird to step up is to use a stick in place of your hand. If you get her comfortable with stepping up on a stick, then you can progress to getting her to step up onto your hand.

**sweetytweety** · 08-25-2006, 07:23 PM

i dont like clipping wings..its makes them look either untidy or just out of proportion
but this is my thinking:
we take away the freedom of birds by taking them into our homes...gonearethe sky and all the trees and territories
so that makes us totally responsible and not to clip is endangering them

so i clip and keep at it ..trimming all the time so they dont suddenly gain height and speed
they are so unpredictable
and i always keep the blinds down and havent got any mirrors that they can bash into..i do have a jewellery box with a large ish mirror attached that they play round as i type here but all they can do is flutter to the ground...

i keep them amused and take them with me whenever possible as long as the temperatures arent extreme and the surroundings are safe

i find they get tamer by just hanging out with u ...i let them get used to my hands as i type here and the tiels are super tame now just with them playing round the pc ( keep an eye on wires off course)
they play with my cinnamon budgie and they all groom each other
keep ur budgie close to u as much as possible ...i hope u have some luck and end up with a good companion
wild budgies are beautiful but a tame one is an honour and privilege