Cassius Training

[apolline]

Edit: It appears Cassius is actually a female. I changed its name to Cryso. That is why all posts before 07/02 say 'he' and such.

I thought this was a cute idea for keeping progress!

Bought my little bird 3 days ago. She'd been vicious to the pet store owner (biting) and so I got her for free, as it seems the owner has given up on her. I was told she's about 3 months old, though I'm not sure.

The first day she did not move.

The second day, in the morning, I found her at her food dish. However, my daughter said good morning to her and she went back to the top perch (on my list of things to get - better perch!). Later that day she was eating and even gave a few chirps.

The third day, today, I fear I made a mistake. I took the cover off her cage in the morning and she freaked out and then sat there, like she did on the first day. She's eaten today, though, and has tested one of her toys a little.

I have a very busy house (kids) so I think she's made more progress than I thought she would in the situation (I heard they could just sit there for weeks!).

Won't be starting any training yet, though I have put my hand in the cage. She doesn't freak out but watches. She also doesn't freak when I change her food, water, and snack dishes.

My goal is to tame her completely, and I will not be getting her a companion (I hear that makes it so she will care less about us). There are plenty of people here to play with her daily. :budge:


http://i53.tinypic.com/huizac.jpg

http://i53.tinypic.com/2lxflzt.jpg

[Tapa & Tio]

What a cute little guy!!! He's very handsome! :)

From what I can see a nice cage set up too!

[jane1888]

he is beautiful :)

[johnford18]

I think you are making wonderful progress!

Quinn didn't chirp until two weeks later, and didn't move for almost two weeks. It is only recently that he has been more brave to explore his cage and make noise :) So I think you are doing wonderfully. Very beautiful bird and cage layout! :D

[apolline]

Thanks everyone!

[FaeryBee]

He is so adorable and it sounds like you are off to a great start!:)

[apolline]

Day four: Last night I was able to touch him. I even got one of his feet on my finger, and he didn't fly away or panic. I did this a few times last night, though I bet he's cursing at me in his little birdie head. He's very watchful. I just let his foot rest on me a few minutes then slowly remove my hand and he'll settle back onto his perch. I think the third time I did this he tried to nip me because I twitched :( But it didn't happen again.

He still hasn't touched any of the treats I've given him, but I don't have any millet so I should be picking some up today to see how that is. I've given him some various fruits and veggies, though. He does eat this supplement, though, which is in the treat dish so I assume he purposely ignores them.

So list for today: Branch perch, perch for his nails, millet, and carrots!

Day four mid-day: Went to pet store to purchase millet - they don't have any. Looked at bird toys so I can get some more for swapping, and of course they only have large parrot toys. Blah. Off to Wal-Mart! Better prices anyway. Scared bird with one treat I did buy from the pet store.. he's not scared of my hand so much anymore but my hand plus a long bird seed treat? He freaked and flew around. Hope it doesn't ruin anything, I got both is feet on my finger today! Sat like that till my arm couldn't take digging into the cage anymore and let him back to his perch. He seemed unsure, and as if he was pondering biting me half the time, hehe.

Also: He's been a lot more talkative and was screeching a few times.

[apolline]

Day five: Not much progress. He's very talkative, I can tell you that. Tweeting and screeching up storms. I don't know if it's just me, but it seems his face feathers are getting a little thinner. Could he be ready to molt? I will go find out what the signs are.

New pic!

http://i54.tinypic.com/154bkf4.png

[apolline]

Day six (yesterday): He escaped! So his wings are clipped and he could still fly a little, obviously. He kept flying/gliding around the house chirpping as I tried to get him. I think he was proud of himself. Got him on my hand (which he was biting, of course), but when I was almost to the cage he flew off. Tried to crawl in the couch at one point. Also he almost flew into my face as well. Finally, I used his ladder and he got on it and let me put him back in his cage. He was fine afterwards so I'm not sure if this set us back. I moved slowly and didn't chase him.

He's a lot more comfortable, playing with his toys (it appears he tries to rearrange them, for example he pushes his ladder across the perch it's on). Finally is eating his millet, so eventually I'll use it for training now that he's had it (it seemed he'd never had it before, he didn't care that it was in his cage).

Today is cage cleaning day after work, eee.

[apolline]

Day seven: Well, clearly he loves millet now! He will eat it out of my hand, but he's cautious. I tried to pull my hand away to see if he'd step on it, but oh no. Then I had a fun time watching him try everything he could to get the millet but NOT touch my hand. It was pretty funny. My son even fed him some and he ate it from him too. He will make this sound at me when I pull the millet away, sounds like "Fft!". I don't know what that means.

Later in the day: Cleaned his cage, but not as well as I wanted to. I decided against it, as I've only had him for a week. He'd probably hate me if I tried to put him in this carrier so early. I may try in a few days. It's looking pretty good either way, got all perches, trays, and toys cleaned, and there's nothing on the grate or wires. Did as thoroughly as I could with a bird in there.

Been giving him small amounts of millet out of my hand throughout the day. He still makes that noise when I take it away. He also yells at me if I try to touch him, haha. He lets me know it's not OK yet :)

I still think this is better progress in a week then I had thought I'd get, considering how frantic and mean he was to the pet store owner. Then again, that guy man-handled him, grabbed him, yanked his wings open so I could see them, clipped his wings the rest of the way right there, then shoved him in the smallest box ever. Don't blame the bird! He also had no toys or anything in his lonely cage at the pet store, so I bet he's happy.

[apolline]

Day eight:

So solved it's sex mystery. Cassius is now Cryso, because it's a girl :)

Not much noticeable progress today. She still will eat the millet from my hand, and still does not want me to touch her. Got her foot on my hand a few times, but she will not put the second foot on there. She will do everything in her power not to. She is not desperate enough for the millet to land on me. She does watch it intently though, and will make that 'Pft' noise at me. I'm 95% sure this noise means she's disappointed and (in this case), wants her millet back. Also, when I take the millet away she ruffles her feathers.

She's funny to watch; she likes to try and shove herself through the ladder rings. It's cute.

[apolline]

Day nine:

Today I decided to take Cryso into the bathroom to let her out. I also put some water in the sink. Ever since I got her from the pet store a few of her tail feathers looked weird, so I wanted to see if perhaps she was just dirty.

Anywho. So I took her out (on her ladder) and put her near the water. Then I slowly lowered the ladder to the water. She let her tail feathers get wet then decided this was no fun and flew out (she always seems to go for my face!).

I got her onto my finger with a little coaxing and she didn't even want to go back in the cage. It was probably too strange for her and she was probably scared. So, I sat on the floor and let her sit on my hand till I couldn't take it anymore then I put her on the step stool we have. I gave her some millet for being so good (I mean, she didn't even bite).

So then after a bit I decided that was long enough for the day and used her ladder to get her off the stool and back into her cage.

Earlier in the day I was trying to train her with millet and every time I pulled it away to see if she'd go onto my hand her 'Pft' turned into shrieks. It was amusing, really. I have kids, tantrums don't phase me!

So, all in all, more progress and it was a fine day. I also got her some of those branch perches. Still need a pedi perch, her nails are so long. Probably never been dealt with at the pet store.

Might have them clipped when I take her in to the vet for a check-up.

[apolline]

Day eleven:

Today I had to go to the office for work (I usually work from home), so Cryso didn't get any training sessions (or more importantly, millet) until I got home. She went absolutely nuts for the millet when I got home and gave her some. So nuts, I decided to see if she'd go on my hand.

So I placed my hand in a spot she couldn't reach via perch and as before she tried her best to do all these crazy moves to get the millet without touching me. She also screamed and chirped at me, and fluffed herself up many times. I wasn't giving in. She didn't go on my hand, but did put one foot on it a few times but then decided to go back to trying other ways to get to the millet. After about 10 minutes of this I decided that was enough and I will try again in a while. I think she might go on there, she sure was thinking about it and upset that I wouldn't give in. When I took the millet and my hand out she was doing all sorts of things and screeching at me, all crazy around her cage. It was cute, really.

[FaeryBee]

Cryso is such a cutie-pie! I'm glad you are making such good progress with her. :)

[apolline]

Cryso is such a cutie-pie! I'm glad you are making such good progress with her. :)

Thanks ^^ I think it's really going well.

[apolline]

Nearing week two!:

Cryso is doing well. She has an attitude for sure (:

We've had a few out of cage times each day the past few days (in the bathroom). They go OK. She doesn't want to go on my hand. I can get her on my hand during out of cage time but she doesn't like it.

Today went better for this - she was eating millet and on my finger. She was glad to go back home, though, afterwards.

I also got her on my finger in her cage, using my other hand to coax her with millet.

It's slow going, of course.

She's used to the family and the busy-ness. She likes to yell a lot.

She likes to try and shove herself through her ladder. Technically you'd think she can't fit but sometimes she gets through there. Not so interested in her bell toy, but she'll give it a nibble sometimes.

This weekend I plan on buying the following:

Rope perch

Mineral block

Different stick-type perch (I have two, however I feel like a different shape would make a better fit, and make more room in her cage).

A few other toys.

Possibly a larger cage.

Let's hope I don't give in and buy that gorgeous cockatiel that is there!

[apolline]

Hmm hmm.

Experienced her first night fright the other night. It was no fun. She was slamming and rolling around and making a mess of her cage.

Today the window was open and man was she chirping a storm at the birds outside!

Had her second cage cleaning yesterday and she was allowed to be out in the bathroom. Had to pick her up a few times, and at one point landed on my shoulder. She was like that for about 2 minutes then decided that was enough and went off.
She does NOT go on my finger or hand willingly, just FYI. If she's out of the cage I can persuade her onto it, but she still doesn't like it. So there's not much progress here as she's done this before.

Not sure there's anything else I can do now except keep up the same things every day. She's fun to watch, but I can't wait for the day she'll come onto my hand - if she does.

A weird thing she did the other day is when I held the millet out of her reach she started just laying her head on my hand. It was almost like she was nuzzling me, but I wouldn't expect her to be so kind or affectionate so I'm not sure what that was.

That's about it for now.

[apolline]

Some step-up success!

So I got Cryso on my finger AND took her out of the cage while she was on my finger twice today. She also would go on my finger while out of the cage a few times, and she seemed to be OK with that.

This is good :)

Not gonna rush this new progress, so I think we're doing with the training for today. Playing her some budgie sounds right now, listenin' to her chirp back.

[apolline]

Hmm update. It's almost been three weeks.

Also, thinking about changing her name to Zydrate. I don't even call her by her name so it shouldn't matter that I change it.

Cleaned her cage today (3rd time), and my daughter joined me in the bathroom and got the bird on her finger for about 2 minutes. She keeps talking about it.

Have had lots of out-of-cage time. Bird still isn't comfortable with it, or ready to play out of the cage, but we're working on it.

She will go on my finger now 95% of the time and will let me take her out of the cage on my finger 90% of the time (sometimes she flaps back to her perch or goes onto the cage bars). I think this is great. Doesn't know the command 'up' yet I don't think, but at least she gets on my finger!

So, basically we spend time out of the cage while I do whatever and she will sometimes explore, or just stare at me.

Needing a bigger cage still - I just can't decide on which one.

Gave her a sliced up tp roll in her cage and she tore that right up!

Still also working on getting her to eat her veggies/fruits.

[summoora]

Getting them to eat fruits is a nightmare, from what i can tell. Stretcher will only eat them if he's really hungry, and when I got fresh blackberries, he got super sticky and didn't try to wash himself up. He got a lot of purple juice on his perch, though. As far as the nipping goes, they like to "taste" you and get a feel for your finger. I don't think that was a punishment, unless it really hurt.
Some younger birds like to scratch themselves when molting. she might have been itching her head on your finger. I wish I could get stretcher to let me scratch him.

[apolline]

Getting them to eat fruits is a nightmare, from what i can tell. Stretcher will only eat them if he's really hungry, and when I got fresh blackberries, he got super sticky and didn't try to wash himself up. He got a lot of purple juice on his perch, though. As far as the nipping goes, they like to "taste" you and get a feel for your finger. I don't think that was a punishment, unless it really hurt.
Some younger birds like to scratch themselves when molting. she might have been itching her head on your finger. I wish I could get stretcher to let me scratch him.

I heard that it's difficult, but I'm sure trying. Thanks for the information, I think I'll avoid berries she can get all over everything now!

She doesn't nip anymore (except to, as you described, test, at times). She's very good, calm, and playful now (in her cage).

Hmm, she hasn't had her first molt yet (I don't think) so perhaps it's coming up!

[FaeryBee]

So cute that she sat on your daughter's finger! That must have a been the highlight of your daughter's day! :)

[mrs.robison]

I think you're doing a great job with Cryso! I really enjoy reading your journal.

I've only had Scout for about 3 months and your experience sounds very similar to ours. lol

[apolline]

So cute that she sat on your daughter's finger! That must have a been the highlight of your daughter's day! :)

I think it might have been (:

I think you're doing a great job with Cryso! I really enjoy reading your journal.

I've only had Scout for about 3 months and your experience sounds very similar to ours. lol

Thanks a lot! Do you perhaps have a training journal for Scout? I'm going to check.

[mrs.robison]

No, I don't.... I really should start one though. lol
We've had some adventures, to say the least! :D

[summoora]

...I know it hasn't even been a week quite yet, but I'm missing hearing about cryso! Your journal has inspired me to bump up my game in bonding with my cuties. I need my fix!

[apolline]

It's almost 2AM for me but I promise I will update tomorrow! I actually have some exciting things to say :)

[apolline]

Alrighty. It's been about 4 weeks since I bought my bird.

A few days ago I had her out in my room and she went up to my shoulder and was nibbling my face and hair. I was excited, because that means progress! She did that a long while then made her way back to her cage.

She gets daily out-of-cage time, though she still is not 100% OK with it. She will sometimes jump back to her cage ASAP, or not let me take her out. She still rather be home. She does play a little when she's out, and she lovesssssss my laptop. I'm not sure why.

She does always get on my finger now, though.

I let my neighbor hold her and he decided he's the bird whisperer and was trying to pet her head. She did not like this, and she bit him and screeched at him. She hasn't bit me for weeks, however. I took the bird away from him :P He says he's had these birds most his life and he 'knows'. However, he was young and didn't know anything when he had them. He bought a budgie from the same pet store as I except his was tame. So, I had to explain that it's different.

So, basically, progress is good. She was nibbling me which I think is big progress. Most out-of-cage time is me just leaving her alone. I wait for when she's ready to be with me.

Today I'm going grocery shopping, and also getting her a few things I still haven't gotten. I'm still deciding on what bigger cage to get her, but perhaps I'll swing by the pet store and see if they have any new cages.

[Ann]

I've been following your journal and find it very interesting and an inspiration to keep working with my new little stray budgie. She's so frightened of hands and so I have my doubts that she will ever make the kind of progress that yours has done, but she may surprise me yet.

Good luck with the cage shopping, it's really hard to find suitable cages for budgies, I may have to resort to ordering online.

[apolline]

First, thanks to everyone who reads this. I didn't know anyone did.

I have actually been looking for my cage online, but even with so many options I can't decide. I just know Cryso should have a bigger cage, as hers said it's for parakeets and the pet store owner said it'd be fine (I realize now he doesn't know much about birds), but after joining this forum I realized it's not being enough.

Anyway, bought her a braided rope perch finally. She isn't sure what to think of it. Alls I know is there's no more dowels in her cage, which is good :)!

Also, a progress back-track! Friday - Sunday I was not spending much time with her due to work on Friday and Saturday (overtime yay!), and being sick on Sunday. It seems this lack of attention (I did give her some, just not as much as usual) affected her more than I thought it would. I can already tell she's less friendly and is a little cautious about my hand now, when before it was OK. It's unfortunate, but I let her out today while cleaning her cage and she kept coming over to me and chirping at me so perhaps she's over it. We'll see when I have some one-on-one out of cage time with her after dinner.

I'm not discouraged, as I know that she was probably wondering what's up when I'd spend a good amount of time with her every day and then it changed suddenly. My husband could have taken her out to make up for it but he's not been doing that until I get her more tame. She doesn't really like him yet anyway, hehe. He did talk to her a lot, though. And, of course, so did my kids. They will talk to her forever.

Alright, back to cage hunting!

[apolline]

Some out of cage time.

http://i55.tinypic.com/n4v7s9.jpg

http://i51.tinypic.com/kasl4z.jpg

And you can't tell, but she's molting :o!

[summoora]

hahaa, you'll have some flights soon then! it's so exciting when the flight feathers start coming one by one. I would say her biting your friend, in a way, was a good sign. she likes what you're doing, and if she didn't, you'd know!

I hope i can get my birds to preen me and pay attention to me, even with there already being two. (three's a crowd, you know. Even if the third person carries millet :p )
I was stubborn with the millet training, and even the flighty one has really started responding (even more than the tame one). I wouldnt be so consistent without your reassuring updates!

[apolline]

We've been taking it slow since the apparent back-tracking. I've been giving her millet in the cage, kinda like when I started, without bothering her.

Except, I do still let her have some out of cage time every day. But I don't bug her. She climbs on me and everything, but since she seems a little weirded out by my hand in the cage since the last weekend I'm just going slow again.

Wish she'd forgive me already, hehe. Nah, it's fine really. We'll get back to the awesomeness that once was starting. .. I think!

[summoora]

my new bird did the same thing. She got to where she would hop onto my hand to get to the millet, then spent a whole day refusing to leave the cage. She's coming back around. Sounds like you're doing REALLY well if she's climbing on you! She sounds like she's really comfortable with you.

[apolline]

Alrighty.

Not too much of an update.

Bath today for her. Found some seeds stuck to the side and top of the upper part of her cage, which got me worried. I made a different post about it, and apparently it is fine. I'll be keeping an eye on her though.

Basically we're back to where we were. She'll let me take her out, etc, and step on my finger. I don't think she knows what 'up' means still, but I'm going to work on it.

Hopefully we can start learning some tricks one day, but it seems like we're stuck in a never-ending battle of just learning 'Up' and trying to be comfortable.

I let, with supervision obviously, my youngest daughter (almost 2 years old) feed the bird millet today through the cage bars. It was pretty cute. She kept saying "Food? Nummy?" While the bird was eating. Shoulda recorded it!

So, I guess.. we'll just keep going at this pace until she learns "Up", however long that takes.. if she ever does :eek:

[apolline]

Quick update, I have work in 15 minutes.

Got Cryso a new cage. It's nice and big! Going to have to get some new toys, as it's looking rather empty. So far she's adjusted fine and plays with her toys and such.

I can't wait for her wings to grow out so she can navigate better.

I won't be having them re-clipped if we can get progress down good enough before they grow out.

Speaking of progress, since her new cage she seems a little more iffy on getting on my hand. It's turned into only half the time I can get her on it. The other half she just hops onto the cage bars or away from me. I do leave the doors open for a while each day and she'll come out sometimes, just for a few minutes.

We do still have time where I take her out of the cage each day, depending on when I can get her on my hand. I think she's more comfortable with everyone, but like I said, doesn't come on my hand as willingly. We're back to a form of millet training, and I'm OK with that.

I'm probably going to "get" my daughter a bird for her birthday, as she asks for it. I will eventually house it with Cryso when quarantine is up. This will give me more time with Cryso taming and then give us some good time with the new bird.

We'll see, though. My daughter has finally asked for some things other than a bird, so we'll see how it goes. It'd be exciting to have another, though!

[apolline]

Got some news, she learned the "Up" command! I'm pretty excited about it. I was getting discouraged, and it seemed that we'd just be stuck in this spot forever. I know it takes a while, and for some it takes even longer, but it does get old sometimes.

Anyway, I kept up with our daily training even if I started to not have any hope and it has paid off, so I'm glad I did. She's consistent with getting on my finger when I say "Up". It had started a few days ago but I didn't want to jump the gun and get my hopes up.

So, what is the next step? I guess I'm not positive on that. She still could use some taming, so I think we'll just work on that. I mean, sometimes it seems like she actually wants to come out of the cage, which is excellent. I can tell, though, that she's still not at the comfortable level I'd like her to be. I know you can try and teach them tricks but I was never much into that. Maybe some day.

I am telling her "Kisses" a lot to see if she will learn to kiss OR say the word. I know females don't learn to talk as much as males, but since I say "Kisses" to my almost-2-year-old all day it's not gonna hurt for me to say it to her and see if she may learn to speak something.

That's all for now I suppose.

[Biggles]

Edit: It appears Cassius is actually a female. I changed its name to Cryso. That is why all posts before 07/02 say 'he' and such.

I thought this was a cute idea for keeping progress!

Bought my little bird 3 days ago. She'd been vicious to the pet store owner (biting) and so I got her for free, as it seems the owner has given up on her. I was told she's about 3 months old, though I'm not sure.

The first day she did not move.

The second day, in the morning, I found her at her food dish. However, my daughter said good morning to her and she went back to the top perch (on my list of things to get - better perch!). Later that day she was eating and even gave a few chirps.

The third day, today, I fear I made a mistake. I took the cover off her cage in the morning and she freaked out and then sat there, like she did on the first day. She's eaten today, though, and has tested one of her toys a little.

I have a very busy house (kids) so I think she's made more progress than I thought she would in the situation (I heard they could just sit there for weeks!).

Won't be starting any training yet, though I have put my hand in the cage. She doesn't freak out but watches. She also doesn't freak when I change her food, water, and snack dishes.

My goal is to tame her completely, and I will not be getting her a companion (I hear that makes it so she will care less about us). There are plenty of people here to play with her daily. :budge:


http://i53.tinypic.com/huizac.jpg

http://i53.tinypic.com/2lxflzt.jpg

She's lovely and will soon settle in I'm sure.

I've always had solo budgies I like the one-to-one inter-action. I feel it works well as long as our little darlings get lots and lots of attention. :hug:

Just a little tip, apparently it is best to have one person responsible for taming/talking to start with but otherwise, as a solo she will see you as her flock and, if like our Digby, be the boss!:giggle:

We are happily retired so gets oodles of attention and loves it. She is very friendly with visitors too - a great character and very loving:D

[Biggles]

Got some news, she learned the "Up" command! I'm pretty excited about it. I was getting discouraged, and it seemed that we'd just be stuck in this spot forever. I know it takes a while, and for some it takes even longer, but it does get old sometimes.

Anyway, I kept up with our daily training even if I started to not have any hope and it has paid off, so I'm glad I did. She's consistent with getting on my finger when I say "Up". It had started a few days ago but I didn't want to jump the gun and get my hopes up.

So, what is the next step? I guess I'm not positive on that. She still could use some taming, so I think we'll just work on that. I mean, sometimes it seems like she actually wants to come out of the cage, which is excellent. I can tell, though, that she's still not at the comfortable level I'd like her to be. I know you can try and teach them tricks but I was never much into that. Maybe some day.

I am telling her "Kisses" a lot to see if she will learn to kiss OR say the word. I know females don't learn to talk as much as males, but since I say "Kisses" to my almost-2-year-old all day it's not gonna hurt for me to say it to her and see if she may learn to speak something.

That's all for now I suppose.

Brilliant,:) it is just a matter of patience and persistence. Budgies are naturally friendly birds and like to inter-act.

Don't believe the stuff about males talk better , I've had two females who talked, Digby I am particularly excited about because she sits and chats to herself on an evening just like Biggles my very good male talker did. All this means she is practising her talking and at 11 months I think that is pretty amazing:)

[apolline]

Hello,

Time for an update and unfortunate news. Cryso is starting to get nippy suddenly. Yeah, we had learned up and were still taking it slow. But her molting is getting worse and she has a lot more pin feathers, so perhaps it is making her more cranky? I really am not sure. She makes this adorable noise at me that I think means go away when I try to get her out now. If I have millet she doesn't mind, though :P. When she's out of the cage she's perfectly calm and will play a little (not like other people's birds, but hey, I haven't had her all that long..). Anyway, I don't know what her deal is right now and I've read a few things that said they can get that way when the molt so I'm going to stick with that until it's done. If she's still like that afterwards then I just don't know! Also, she's almost used up here entire cuttlebone! She's torn it to pieces. Anyway, that's about it. No progress on veggies. I did make her the budgie treats that someone posted the recipe for the other day and she LOVED them :D

[apolline]

Brilliant,:) it is just a matter of patience and persistence. Budgies are naturally friendly birds and like to inter-act.

Don't believe the stuff about males talk better , I've had two females who talked, Digby I am particularly excited about because she sits and chats to herself on an evening just like Biggles my very good male talker did. All this means she is practising her talking and at 11 months I think that is pretty amazing:)

Thank you! That's encouraging after what I've read. We're working on it (: