LoriBeth
04-02-2007, 08:52 AM
Hi, I'm new here and already posted this in the introduction section but thought I'd put it here also.
About a year ago I got this handfed budgie for my 6 year old son. We named him Nicholas. Can anyone tell me waht kind of budgie he is?
Obviously, my since my son was so young I really was getting the bird for myself and he was supervised with the bird. He perched on our fingers, shoulders head etc. We played with him for a while and then as time went by my son lost interest and I got very busy with work and Nicholas sadly stayed alone in my son's room with very little contact. I would frequently go in and talk to him through the bars and he was always very responsive and followed me around the cage. As time progressed I felt more and more guilty that this poor bird was all alone day after day so I bought him a mirror to have a "friend". He never had much to do with the mirror but each time I would enter my son's room he jumped to the side of the cage. Again I would talk to him but this wasn't every day. Hate to admit that some times 4-5 days would go by where all I would do is give fresh water and fresh seed mix.
After a few more months I heard him talking up a storm, actually repeating everything I have ever said to him. "Hi Nicholas" "Kiss kiss kiss" "Who's a pretty boy" etc.
Fast forward to last week (about a year after we got him) I decided that this is no way for a bird to live so I bought him a friend, a beautiful all yellow budgie. She still has no name. They live in the same cage and get along fine.
So all this time I'm figuring that Nicholas is no longer hand tame since I haven't touched for almost a 9-10 months and every time I take him out to clip his wings I had to towel him. But I decided to try and see what he would do if I just opened the cage door. I sat on the floor and opened the cage door. At first they both just stayed in but then Nicholas came fluttering out, I let him walk on the floor a while, while I just talked to him. Then I got a dowel and asked him to step up and guess what...he did. Then I asked him to step on my finger and he did. No biting, a few warning/pretend biting but nothing that felt like anything. Within 5 minutes he was giving me kisses and doing step ups. I only did this with him for about 10 min and then put him back. Today I did the same thing.
Now I feel terribly guilty that I let all this time go by without paying any attention to him so I'm hoping that you won't make me feel worse. I'm here for support and help in taming these 2 birds and learning all I can about these wonderful little birds. Part of the problem is that I in particular don't find them to be everything I've heard they could be. Probably most my fault since I suppose they are only what you put into them. I want to read all your stories and find out why you all love these budgies so much. What kind of affection are they capable of and how much personality do they really have? Thanks for listening.
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a319/jetanlori/100_0882.jpg
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a319/jetanlori/100_0874.jpg
About a year ago I got this handfed budgie for my 6 year old son. We named him Nicholas. Can anyone tell me waht kind of budgie he is?
Obviously, my since my son was so young I really was getting the bird for myself and he was supervised with the bird. He perched on our fingers, shoulders head etc. We played with him for a while and then as time went by my son lost interest and I got very busy with work and Nicholas sadly stayed alone in my son's room with very little contact. I would frequently go in and talk to him through the bars and he was always very responsive and followed me around the cage. As time progressed I felt more and more guilty that this poor bird was all alone day after day so I bought him a mirror to have a "friend". He never had much to do with the mirror but each time I would enter my son's room he jumped to the side of the cage. Again I would talk to him but this wasn't every day. Hate to admit that some times 4-5 days would go by where all I would do is give fresh water and fresh seed mix.
After a few more months I heard him talking up a storm, actually repeating everything I have ever said to him. "Hi Nicholas" "Kiss kiss kiss" "Who's a pretty boy" etc.
Fast forward to last week (about a year after we got him) I decided that this is no way for a bird to live so I bought him a friend, a beautiful all yellow budgie. She still has no name. They live in the same cage and get along fine.
So all this time I'm figuring that Nicholas is no longer hand tame since I haven't touched for almost a 9-10 months and every time I take him out to clip his wings I had to towel him. But I decided to try and see what he would do if I just opened the cage door. I sat on the floor and opened the cage door. At first they both just stayed in but then Nicholas came fluttering out, I let him walk on the floor a while, while I just talked to him. Then I got a dowel and asked him to step up and guess what...he did. Then I asked him to step on my finger and he did. No biting, a few warning/pretend biting but nothing that felt like anything. Within 5 minutes he was giving me kisses and doing step ups. I only did this with him for about 10 min and then put him back. Today I did the same thing.
Now I feel terribly guilty that I let all this time go by without paying any attention to him so I'm hoping that you won't make me feel worse. I'm here for support and help in taming these 2 birds and learning all I can about these wonderful little birds. Part of the problem is that I in particular don't find them to be everything I've heard they could be. Probably most my fault since I suppose they are only what you put into them. I want to read all your stories and find out why you all love these budgies so much. What kind of affection are they capable of and how much personality do they really have? Thanks for listening.
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a319/jetanlori/100_0882.jpg
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a319/jetanlori/100_0874.jpg