The New Adventures of Baby Booyah

[guatemama]

Booyah arrived home tonight after a long ride home in a dark car. He's doing just great! He's been lovingly hand-raised by Jencelena, so it's looking like the training and bonding will be easy! :)
I was able to get him on my finger to get him out of his travel cage - then he calmly chowed down on millet spray for about ten minutes. He seemed so calm - not jittery like you'd expect from a baby bird in a totallly new place. Didn't want to overdo, so I put him in his new cage to let him rest. He preened himself a bit, nibbled on his swing, then "settled down for a long winter's nap." :)
Looking forward to getting to know this little guy!

[Corina]

Sounds like a sweet budgie, can't wait to see photos ;)

[guatemama]

He's a beautiful soft sky blue - a greywing. That's his pic in my avatar - lower right corner - will get some better pics once he's adjusted to his new digs. :)

[LiaH]

Yes pictures would be great, I can't wait to see him! He sounds very calm:)

[guatemama]

Wow! Had tried pushing my finger into Boo's chest to get him to step up, then took him out of the cage and let him work on a millet spray in my hand - that went fine both times. Got home from work today and held the spray at the door - he hopped right out of the cage onto my hand and chowed down for 20 minutes! This might turn out to be a pretty short journal! It took Ginkgo (Booyah's half-brother) a week to get to the hop-out-of-cage-onto-hand point. But then, little Boo seems pretty calm. Saw him at the water dish, so I think he's drinking, too - pretty lucky to have such an easy-goin' guy from a great breeder!

[guatemama]

Well, Jennie had said that Boo and his sibs were big on being out of the cage - constantly pacing when she was in the room, wanting OUT. It only took Booyah a couple of days in a new home to get back to that point. Now he usually comes right out of the cage when I open the door, knowing that there's a chow-down-on-millet-spray session coming - he sits on my finger and eats for 15-20 minutes.
I did try letting him explore (well, more like he took off a few times after he was done eating - wings are clipped), but finally decided to try to avoid that, at least for now. That puts me in a position of "pursuing" him to get him back in his cage - he's not big on that, and it seems like that might make me seem like a predator to him. So just trying to be his buddy who always has wonderful millet until he trusts me more and we develop more of a bond. Sound OK to you?

[Robo Hip]

Welcome home little Booyah and I can't wait to see ya :D

[guatemama]

Still taking things slowly with Booyah - spending a lot of time bonding over a millet spray. He's now coming out of the cage and hopping onto my hand from the cage door without always needing coaxing with millet. Getting onto my hand used to be a "no, thanks" or "I'd rather not" kind of thing, but now not so much - if I put my hand near him, he'll usually hop onto my finger. But he's only been home for a little over a week and is still not "himself" yet - very quiet - just an occasional low chirp or several cries of "Help!" (sounds agitated, anyway) when he hears the other budgies down the hall. Just starting to play with his toys :)

Finally, some pics of my cute boy from Jencelena.....

http://i819.photobucket.com/albums/zz117/guatemama_pics/Booyah-feb1.jpg

http://i819.photobucket.com/albums/zz117/guatemama_pics/Booyah-feb2.jpg

[Jencelena]

Aww how cute! It sounds like he is doing great and loves it there :)

[LiaH]

What a cutie! You must be so happy to have him:)

[Lisa2701]

What a gorgeous little guy! Sounds like your doing a great job with him. Keep at it, you've got an amazing bond in the making going on there by the sounds of it!! :D

[guatemama]

Thanks! Looking forward to when he's more settled in and there's less "fear factor" :o
He's pretty used to being on my hands, but if there's a book in my lap, etc., it definitely shakes him up a bit.

[guatemama]

I'm really trying to take my own advice and be reeeally patient - taking things really slowly, and trying to avoid becoming discouraged when there are steps backward instead of forward. Today at lunchtime, could barely get Boo to come out of the cage for some seed - but when I got home this evening, he came out fairly quickly, then ate millet from my hand for 1/2 hour! Later, after a lot of encouragement, he came out and sat on my hand for a minute or two without seed. :)
He's only been home for 17 days. I think he's doing about as well as his half-brother Ginkgo did at this stage, and Gink is now my best bud. Do you think hearing birds in the other room could make his taming/bonding progress take longer? He's getting there - looking forward to when he gets more playful - he's definitely curious!!

[mjmramirez]

He is adorable!

[guatemama]

Booyah has been home for 3-1/2 weeks now. He's 9 weeks old. Seems like he's over the "plateau" phase for now - I've been showing him around the apartment more, and he seems to be taking it pretty well. He's a bit tense, for sure, but also curious, and seems content to hang out on my hand while we're "exploring." Using pellets in his seed dish and luring him out of the cage with millet. Tried putting a new toy in his cage, which didn't freak him out - he started playing around with it almost right away. We're getting there!! :)

[LiaH]

Thats great! I'd love to see a few pictures:)