Taming of Max

[ShawnG]

Well I got Max yesterday and he's still settling in. I think he should be happy and settled by tomorrow.
And it took me until today and the name Max just seemed to fit. No idea why. But I think it's a good one.

I started the process of taming at http://talkbudgies.com/showthread.php?t=80232. I like this process because every time you're changing food and water you're doing step 1.

So I changed the water and food slowly and as I expected there was some fluttering but he settled pretty quickly and even though I could tell he was nervous, he was more or less quietly watching my hand.

Tomorrow I will see how calm he really is by pausing my hand for a while after feeding and see how he reacts. If he's calm then I could move onto step 2 by the following day.

[NikkiLeanne]

I read your post on taming and thought it was very good! I like the name max, whenever i hear it i think of someone tough and brave!
good luck with the training, cant wait to hear about him reaching his milestones :)

[ShawnG]

Thank you. I'm hoping it'll simplify taming a bit for people.
I think Max has the right sounds for budgies.

[FaeryBee]

Glad to see you've started your training journal for Max.

Your journal will be very helpful for a lot of new budgie owners. :thumbsup:

[ShawnG]

I hope it will. I'm pretty detail oriented so I'm sure someone will get some benefits. I'm sure I'll also make mistakes along the way so that's also good learning.

As a quick update. Max was pretty quiet, understandably, from the new stresses. Today he's much more "budgie-esque". We have preening and cleaning. More chirps and chatter and more movement. It looks like he's more or less settled.

[BudgieKiss]

I'm looking forward to following your journal, Shawn. Good luck with Max.

[ShawnG]

You guys are going to think I'm really ADD :D but I was just watching him and another name seemed appropriate.

From henceforth he shall be known as Gizmo (formerly known as Max). I think Gizmo nicely fits the wackiness of budgies. That and I loved Gremlins.
I must just remember not to feed him after midnight.

But this is definitely the final name, I promise.

[ShawnG]

Well I just had an excellent little development. This looks like it's going to be an easy taming. Though it's only day one so too early to say.
I have a suspicion Gizmo is more used to human contact than I thought.
Just as a background though. I used to work in explosives disposal so I'm able to move very slowly and deliberately, keep very still and don't jump easily. So it's probably easier for me to do this than most people.
And I really wouldn't recommend this generally. There are great guides on here that are the right way to do it. And as I said, I think he's closer to tame than I expected.

I was just taking some fruit and veggies out of Gizmo's cage and he flew up onto the bars near my hand, not away. When he flew back he landed on my hand quickly then flew to a perch.
I changed the fruit and then I did the hand pause. He just sat there.

As a test I thought I'd try a perch. So I slowly got a perch and he never moved. I rubbed the perch up his lower chest with a little nudge and one foot on then off. I tried a little more and he hopped on and sat happily for a full minute. I moved him to a perch on the other side of the cage he was calm and I had to urge him onto a perch in the cage. Good sign.

Since he was so calm I wanted to take a risk and see what happened. I had a feeling he'd be fine. It paid off.
I slowly moved a finger to his chest and did the same. Ok, he did look at it a bit suspiciously but he was generally calm.
At first he only put on one foot. But soon he had 2 feet on and again just sat there. I didn't want to push it so I only kept him on for a minute before moving him to a perch. No flapping or fluttering.

This might have just been a lucky day but I don't think so. We'll see how he responds tomorrow.

[ShawnG]

Well Gizmo has settled very well. And wouldn't you know it. Of all the toys he has the cardboard tube is what he's playing with most. Throwing it around and using it as a tunnel.

And the taming is still going strong. He's pretty happy climbing on my finger with some coaxing. But he lets me know when he's had enough and just flies away. But he's pretty happy on a finger, even if I move a little.
He's even letting me scratch his chest a little.

[ShawnG]

I did another session now and he's totally calm when my hand is in the cage. He's happy with my hand moving and I can scratch his chest and he won't move away.

When I nudge him he'll still sometimes sit and be stubborn about hopping on but if I say 'up' a few times and keep trying he gets on. He looks pretty happy sitting there.
But there's no fluttering and trying to fly away at all.

For Gizmo, the afternoon seems his best time for training.

[eduardo]

You guys are going to think I'm really ADD :D but I was just watching him and another name seemed appropriate.

From henceforth he shall be known as Gizmo (formerly known as Max). I think Gizmo nicely fits the wackiness of budgies. That and I loved Gremlins.
I must just remember not to feed him after midnight.

But this is definitely the final name, I promise.

No, Shawn, you are just OCD perfectionism type :laughing:
Seriously though, Gizmo is a very cute name.:)

[ShawnG]

Haha, I really can't argue there.

[FaeryBee]

Whew! So glad I went back in and looked at this thread.

I was really confused when I was looking at your thread with pictures of Gizmo and wondering what had happened to Max. :laughing:

[ShawnG]

Whew! So glad I went back in and looked at this thread.

I was really confused when I was looking at your thread with pictures of Gizmo and wondering what had happened to Max. :laughing:

I like to keep you all on your toes. Who knows what will change next week :D

[ShawnG]

Well the taming is still going well. I'm spending plenty of time getting Gizmo to perch on my finger. I want to make very sure she's happy with that before moving on.

I actually took her with her cage outside and let her sit in the fresh air and see the world for about half an hour this morning. It gets shade for that time and is right across from the door so I can keep an eye on her.

I think I'll give her some outside time every morning as long as the weather is good.
She loved it and went straight to chirping and jumping around. Definitely a happy bird. I think she also enjoyed hearing the wild birds better.