jayjay
07-25-2006, 12:39 AM
day 1 home, jay jay was left to his own device so as to let him get comfortable and start eating. day 2 required a quick change of water at which jay jay freaked upon seeing my hand in the cage. managed to leave the cage and run about the room till he found a comfortable area under the cover of my bed. that was the first escape.
many people might run after such an escapee, but that generally makes for harder times in the future in terms of taming. i let him go about his business as i changed the water, came back and calmly went towards him with a shirt i had cut up to cover the cage at night. talking calmly and moving in low to the ground, making it quite obvious i was not trying to sneak up on him, i tried first to lure him with some millet. he slowly moved away so i gently tossed the shirt over him. carefully, i picked him up and gently placed him back in the cage. i tell this so as to give people an alternative to the nervous grabbing that generally freaks out a new budgie in the family. be gentle, be calm and things will go fine and your budgie will not lose as much trust in you.
day 3, i decide to try hand feeding. he was still a bit jumpy but a lot more calmer than the first two days and clearly was not too stressed out by the incident of his first escape the day before. he then manages to make a quick flutter and dash to the ground and out the cage.. again.. hahaha. ran towards my bookshelf and a little cube grate things i had. climbed the side of it all the way to the top. talked to him for a while and tried to lure him with millet but failed again so i went to the cage and brought it over to where he was and held it open. he didnt go in on his own so i grabbbed a wooden dowel i had and slowly moved it towards him, pressing lightly on his stomach and having him step up. once up, it was a slow move to the cage and back he went.
so what impression did the two escapes leave on jay jay about me, his caretaker? well, not too long later, i tried hand feeding and he took it readily. even put one foot on my hand to get at it easier. budgies are small creatures, and while we take it for granted, our size to them is enormous in comparison. they are naturally scared for good reason of humans. history has shown many bad things happening to budgies due to human intervention. so if you want to gain his trust, if things happen such as an escape, or if you choose to let him out before hand taming, please excercise a little restraint in how you do get him back in the cage. if my examples dont work, just leave the cage on the floor with the door open and leave the budgie in the room till he goes in on his own accord. hunger will eventually drive him back to his cage. of course, i assume you put him in a BIRD SAFE room when you let him out. else, you will have to watch carefully until he goes in, and be there in case he needs you to get him out of an emergency situation. only in an emergency do i ever advocate grabbing a budgie. believe you me, i've seen trust go to ziltch in seconds when owners grab at their little budgies.
anyway, good luck to all trying to tame their budgies for the first time. and remember, patience is a virtue. hopefully jay jay will be hand tamed come the end of this week.. i know, don't i just sound super patient? hahahah.
many people might run after such an escapee, but that generally makes for harder times in the future in terms of taming. i let him go about his business as i changed the water, came back and calmly went towards him with a shirt i had cut up to cover the cage at night. talking calmly and moving in low to the ground, making it quite obvious i was not trying to sneak up on him, i tried first to lure him with some millet. he slowly moved away so i gently tossed the shirt over him. carefully, i picked him up and gently placed him back in the cage. i tell this so as to give people an alternative to the nervous grabbing that generally freaks out a new budgie in the family. be gentle, be calm and things will go fine and your budgie will not lose as much trust in you.
day 3, i decide to try hand feeding. he was still a bit jumpy but a lot more calmer than the first two days and clearly was not too stressed out by the incident of his first escape the day before. he then manages to make a quick flutter and dash to the ground and out the cage.. again.. hahaha. ran towards my bookshelf and a little cube grate things i had. climbed the side of it all the way to the top. talked to him for a while and tried to lure him with millet but failed again so i went to the cage and brought it over to where he was and held it open. he didnt go in on his own so i grabbbed a wooden dowel i had and slowly moved it towards him, pressing lightly on his stomach and having him step up. once up, it was a slow move to the cage and back he went.
so what impression did the two escapes leave on jay jay about me, his caretaker? well, not too long later, i tried hand feeding and he took it readily. even put one foot on my hand to get at it easier. budgies are small creatures, and while we take it for granted, our size to them is enormous in comparison. they are naturally scared for good reason of humans. history has shown many bad things happening to budgies due to human intervention. so if you want to gain his trust, if things happen such as an escape, or if you choose to let him out before hand taming, please excercise a little restraint in how you do get him back in the cage. if my examples dont work, just leave the cage on the floor with the door open and leave the budgie in the room till he goes in on his own accord. hunger will eventually drive him back to his cage. of course, i assume you put him in a BIRD SAFE room when you let him out. else, you will have to watch carefully until he goes in, and be there in case he needs you to get him out of an emergency situation. only in an emergency do i ever advocate grabbing a budgie. believe you me, i've seen trust go to ziltch in seconds when owners grab at their little budgies.
anyway, good luck to all trying to tame their budgies for the first time. and remember, patience is a virtue. hopefully jay jay will be hand tamed come the end of this week.. i know, don't i just sound super patient? hahahah.