# new owner looking for tips for training



## CelinaBatton

hi I'm new to having a budgie n I was wondering how do I tame my sky she sat in my hand for like 10-15 mins and slept on my hand but I don't know what else I gotta do any advise is helpful  thank u


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## shanebudgie

Greetings Celina.you've come to the right place for helpful advice and tips on training.you're doing good so far having your budgie to sit on your hand. You can try millet sprays to bond with it.try the step up routine with your finger gently as you talk with her.also a piece of lettuce with just a gentle wetting on it,be sure it's rinsed good before you try it. If the budgie is sitting on your hand pretty good at this stage.you can have a small play area or perch stand when it's out.a game you can try after its more tame.is called Chase the ball.you use a small rubber ball or string ball.make sure it's not to big or to small for it to swallow.you just gently roll the ball on the floor ,sometimes they like to move things around lol.but I'm sure 1 or more of our wonderful folks will have some greT ideas for you. They also like music and tv to help relax them.spend about 10 or 15m each time your with it ad you talk to to him or her.blessings and we're here for you.:green pied:


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## Cheeno

Welcome to the forum. Your Sky is gorgeous. You've definitely come to the right place to learn about budgie welfare. You'll have a wealth of help in short time, directing you to read thread stickies to inform yourself on all the pertinent points. Good luck with your new adventure. :cobalt linnie:


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## LynandIndigo

Your Budgie Sky is really beautiful. What you have to do is have a lot of time and patance to get your budgie to bond with you. You can't do this in a half of a second it takes a lot of time hours and hours... There is a lot of information on the form for you to read up on. You can't train a budgie in one day... Make sure you have fresh budgie seed in a container in his cage plus fresh water in another container. You can offer her corn, apple, silver beat, snow peas,carrot, but do not give your budgie onion, Avacardo, chocolate or dairy products they are toxic to your bird and they can get very sick. Your budgie is new and has to get use to you and her new home as well sky will settle down...

Maybe this will help you.......1. You can get your budgie used to your hand being in the cage. Put your hand in slowly.

2. You train your budgie to step up onto a perch on command or your finger.

3.You show your budgie that it's OK to step on a perch that also has a finger attached to it.

4.While still staying just in the cage, your budgie will learn that your finger is a safe perch to sit on.

5. Your budgie will learn that her trusted finger is safe to sit on, even when she is outside the cage.

This is what I was told from a breeder this is the basics on teaching your budgie to trust your finger. And the key word is PATIENCE... Good luck.... Do this every day...


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## lindav

Patience is the key for any bird that is finger/hand-phobic. Periwinkle is 2 1/2 yr. old and still fears my fingers. He will eat a Nutriberry from my fingers, but often does not step up. I praise him when he does. He will quickly go back into his cage after that. 
I had one good "breakthrough" with him last week, but can't seem to do it again. Better time of day, in the later afternoon is for training. They are more relaxed. Best to you.


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## Pegg

Sky is beautiful!!! I agree patience is the key to a good relationship with Sky.
Good Luck!!!


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## FaeryBee

*Hi, again Celine

Taming and Bonding with a budgie is all about helping the budgie learn to trust you. This takes time and patience.

Take a look through the stickies in the Training and Bonding Section of the Forum. I'd suggest you start with these two:

http://talkbudgies.com/taming-bonding/268281-suggestions-help-you-bond-new-budgie.html

http://talkbudgies.com/taming-bonding/237105-using-positive-reinforcement-training.html*


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## Island

You can talk to your girl softly and calmly and can try to feed her from your hand in the cage. Eating from hand builds trust between you and your budgie. Then you can slowly teach her to step up on your finger in the cage. Once she is used to your hand, you can ask her to step up on your finger outside the cage as well. Also I have experienced music has a positive effect on budgies. You can turn on soft music (not very loud) for her and may be even sing to her if you like (budgies like singing people lol). they typically start chirping/singing with the music, it makes them happy and builds a positive relationship between you and your budgie baby. Because Sky is a baby, it will be easier to get her hand tamed and even learn couple words from you if you spend time with her and have the patience  Good luck, she is a cutie!


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## CelinaBatton

I have been putting mellets on my hand but she wont eat them in my hand but she will sit in my hand for a while lol. she loves playing peek a boo from her box lol


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## Island

u mean spray millets? may be she has never seen it before, so she cannot associate it with food. I suggest you try offering her veggies (carrots, leafy greens, broccoli. I steam cook the carrots and broccoli), fruits and hard boiled eggs. (There is a link on this forum, what you can feed to your budgie besides seed). Some budgies are more eager to try new things, some could take couple weeks to take a bite. You just need to offer it and be patient until she is willing to try, it is also good for her to eat veggies besides her seed diet for her health and to live longer


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## CelinaBatton

Island said:


> u mean spray millets? may be she has never seen it before, so she cannot associate it with food. I suggest you try offering her veggies (carrots, leafy greens, broccoli. I steam cook the carrots and broccoli), fruits and hard boiled eggs. (There is a link on this forum, what you can feed to your budgie besides seed). Some budgies are more eager to try new things, some could take couple weeks to take a bite. You just need to offer it and be patient until she is willing to try, it is also good for her to eat veggies besides her seed diet for her health and to live longer


yes that's what I ment to say lol shes had them before she just wont eat them from my hand lol :laughing:


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## FaeryBee

*


CelinaBatton said:



I have been putting mellets on my hand but she wont eat them in my hand but she will sit in my hand for a while lol. she loves playing peek a boo from her box lol

Click to expand...

Celina,
You mentioned a "box". 
Are you talking about a nest-box in Sky's cage?
If so, you need to remove it. Budgies do not need a house or anything to sleep in. They sleep on perches. Having a nestbox in a cage is never recommended unless an individual has a conditioned pair set up for breeding purposes.

With a female, you need to ensure you discourage egg laying:

When We Don't Want Eggs
*


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## LynandIndigo

Hey deb. I was thinking of the same thing. Is your budgie in a box or a cage. You need to get her a cage as they think that is there safe place to sleep...If it is a nesting box you have to take it out... You also need to offer your bird a good veggie diet to we have told you what to give Sky..


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## CelinaBatton

Sky will sit in my hand and almost fall asleep but if I get her close to the cage door she will try n fly out she got out once and it took me forever to get her n put her back in her cage. Any suggestions is helpful


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## Island

When Cloud does not wanna get in to his cage, I sometimes trick him with his favorite snack spray millets. (Sky does not eat them you said tho...?) I put the spray millet inside the cage while he is perching on my finger and put my finger closer to the cage door and he hops right back in on the perch in his cage. I let him take couple bites from the spray millet, then I remove it. He gets a lil grumpy because I tricked him, but settles down lil after, b/c this typically happens right before his bed time. EVen though he almost falls asleep in my hand, he tries to fly away when I try to put him back in cage. Oh lil brats, they all do that


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## odannysgirl

Welcome, Sky is a beauty! It sounds like you are on the right track with her already. Congratulations. You will find a wealth of information here to help you along your way with Sky.


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## CelinaBatton

Island said:


> When Cloud does not wanna get in to his cage, I sometimes trick him with his favorite snack spray millets. (Sky does not eat them you said tho...?) I put the spray millet inside the cage while he is perching on my finger and put my finger closer to the cage door and he hops right back in on the perch in his cage. I let him take couple bites from the spray millet, then I remove it. He gets a lil grumpy because I tricked him, but settles down lil after, b/c this typically happens right before his bed time. EVen though he almost falls asleep in my hand, he tries to fly away when I try to put him back in cage. Oh lil brats, they all do that


she eats them but she just wont eat then in my hand lol.


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## StarlingWings

Budgies need time to adjust to being outside of their cage, and it's best to let them venture out on their own if they seem to get scared and fly off in a panic. 

I think for now you should focus on getting her super comfortable with your hand and feeding her inside the cage, and then you can put a perch outside her door and even clip some millet onto it to entice her to come out 

When she is offered a choice to come out, be sure that any and all other pets are safely out of the room and all dangerous items are removed 

Soon I'm sure she'll get more comfortable :thumbsup:

Also, you never clarified if Sky had a box in her cage or not. Does she? Sometimes information previously known can be misleading, so it's not your fault if you believed budgies needed a box for sleeping in. 

Either way, you should remove any spots that could be used for a nest, like a box, hut, or hollow toy large enough for a budgie to fit in to discourage unwanted egg laying :2thumbs:


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## CelinaBatton

sorry about that n yes she had a box but I took that out like a week ago.


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## StarlingWings

CelinaBatton said:


> sorry about that n yes she had a box but I took that out like a week ago.


That's good  Little Sky looks like she's doing very well so far. Keep up the good work! :clearwing 2:


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## CelinaBatton

is there any thing else I need to train her on?


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## FaeryBee

*Sky is such a pretty little girl. 

Star has given you good advice with regard to helping Sky get used to your hand. 
Using the thread on positive reinforcement as a guide, you can help her learn to step up regularly and then move on to other training once she's mastered that well.

I would also suggest you take the time to look through the information in this link as it will help you ensure you have the best cage set up for your little girl.

http://talkbudgies.com/housing-budgies/31719-essentials-great-cage.html

Best wishes!*


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## CelinaBatton

thank u n I hope sky will be very affectionate and loving once I can actually hold her give her lots of love  she hates it when I put the cover over her cage at night she loves to have it off now haha


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## CelinaBatton

I put a millet in my hand and she finally ate it in my hand while she was on my hand  but for some reason she tries to bite my fingers.... and she wont let me pet her any more.... any reasons why??


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## StarlingWings

Hi Celina, 

It's great that she's eating millet from your hand now! :thumbsup: 

Is she gently nibbling your fingers or biting hard so it hurts? Sometimes budgies "nibble" on fingers when they feed to see if there's any food on them  If she is indeed biting you, then she is indicating to you that she doesn't want to do that right then, and it's best when she does this you back off for the moment. 

Budgies don't really like to be petted after their "baby" stage, so I wouldn't pet her anymore if she doesn't like it. She may be approaching her "independent" stage as she reaches puberty and her teen years, and may become a bit more moody. During this time, it's important to respect her space and watch her body language to know if she is in the mood to play or to eat out of your hand


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## Ming

Sky is super cute! Can't offer help yet as I'm in same boat lol. I'm working on shoulder training now but patience seems to be key, and persistence lots of it :'D


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## EEWinters

We almost named our budgie sky but went with cloud. He looks a lot like your little sky. 

Good luck in training! 


Animal enthusiast, miniaturist, artisan specializing in animal figures.


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## CelinaBatton

StarlingWings said:


> Hi Celina,
> 
> It's great that she's eating millet from your hand now! :thumbsup:
> 
> Is she gently nibbling your fingers or biting hard so it hurts? Sometimes budgies "nibble" on fingers when they feed to see if there's any food on them  If she is indeed biting you, then she is indicating to you that she doesn't want to do that right then, and it's best when she does this you back off for the moment.
> 
> Budgies don't really like to be petted after their "baby" stage, so I wouldn't pet her anymore if she doesn't like it. She may be approaching her "independent" stage as she reaches puberty and her teen years, and may become a bit more moody. During this time, it's important to respect her space and watch her body language to know if she is in the mood to play or to eat out of your hand


hi starlingwing sorry I haven't been on for a while n she nibbles on my hand she even gets on my hand without any millets she even lets me pet her belly every once in a while when she flies to the bars on the inside of her cage. she is such a talker lol and she loves to go up n under her perch she does that for hours lol.


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## StarlingWings

She sounds like a sweetheart and I can tell she's settled in just fine with you 

Great job and keep up the good work! :clap:


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## shanebudgie

you're doing great ,keep up the good work.won't be to long soon your sweet Skye will be flying to you to greet you each day.and yes sometimes they get alittle mody lol.1 day they're happy and the next look out.ouchy time.but it will grow out of that stage hopefully soon.blessings and keep us updated.:green pied:


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## CelinaBatton

shanebudgie said:


> you're doing great ,keep up the good work.won't be to long soon your sweet Skye will be flying to you to greet you each day.and yes sometimes they get alittle mody lol.1 day they're happy and the next look out.ouchy time.but it will grow out of that stage hopefully soon.blessings and keep us updated.:green pied:


hi shanebudgie :wave1: sky actually flies up to the cage all the time to say hi lol she flies back and forth in her cage a lot lol


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