# Slow Progress But Positive I Think...



## rhopkins (Jul 15, 2017)

Have had this bird for 3 weeks and it will eat food from my hand. But if I stick my hand in the rather large cage he backs off. I spend at least a hour or more a day working with him. It is funny but he seems to associate me with filling eating! Should I remove the millet from the stems when I feed it to him to make him have to step up into my palm? He will stick his head between my fingers to get to the food. Where would you suggest I go from here? Sure enjoy reading the post. By the way, he is in a 36x52x24 inch cage so he is not crowded by any means. Should I get a smaller cage for training so he will be more confined to a given area? Thanks for the input in advance. Richard


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## FaeryBee (May 9, 2011)

*Hi! :welcome: to Talk Budgies

It sounds as though you are off to a good start.
Remember the cage is your budgie's safe place.
Put your hand in the cage and hold it completely still. You can place a few seeds in your palm.
Let the budgie come to you. Do not move your hand toward the bird. This may take a few days before he's brave enough to venture over to you.

There is no need to move him into a smaller cage as you work on Taming and Bonding.

What diet are you feeding your budgie?
What is his name?

Taming and Bonding is all about helping your budgie learn to trust you and it takes a great deal of time and patience on your part. 
You should never grab your budgie or force him to be touched. 
To bond with your budgie, you need to build his trust in you.
He will have to learn over time that you will not hurt him, grab him and try to force him to allow you to hold him.

He should only be getting millet from you as a treat/training reward and then only a couple of bites from one of the small millet balls as positive reinforcement.

Bonding means allowing them to choose to be with you.

http://talkbudgies.com/articles-budgie-training-bonding/315073-positive-reinforcement-training.html

http://talkbudgies.com/articles-budgie-training-bonding/315065-basics-clicker-training.html

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## StarlingWings (Mar 15, 2013)

Hi there and :welcome: to the forums!

You're off to a good start  The best things to remember are to have patience and always go at his pace, as this will help him trust you more deeply in the long run. 

You've been given great advice on how to proceed from here! 

It is really great to have you here and you couldn't have come to a better place to learn even more about budgies!

Be sure to read through the forum's many Budgie Articles and "stickies" (threads "stuck" to the top of each subform for easy reference) to ensure you're up to date on all the best practices for budgie care! 

If you have any questions after reading through everything, be sure to ask as we'd love to help 

We look forward to seeing you and meeting your little budgie, too! hoto:

Cheers! :wave:


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## rhopkins (Jul 15, 2017)

After typing my first thread, Amos surprised me. I crumbled the millet in my hand and he immediately flew into my hand for the treat. Sat there for 5 or 6 minutes and when the treat was gone he walked away happy. I have converted him off of bird seed to pellets. That went real smooth. He loves Watermelon, grapes and carrots and we are starting to work on veggies. Will try to post a picture in the near future. Richard

Here is a picture of Amos.









Will try one more time to post a picture of Amos.Imgur: The most awesome images on the Internet


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## StarlingWings (Mar 15, 2013)

What a beautiful little guy Amos is!  

He's a gorgeous shade of blue  :sky blue:


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## rhopkins (Jul 15, 2017)

*Thank You*

Yes, he is a really bright blue. The picture does not do him justice. He was back-lighted at the time and that does not do much for color rendition. I have learned over the past several weeks that these birds are really smart. They catch on quick to who they can trust. I thank you for commenting on the picture I was not sure that the link worked. Time to devote a hour to Mr. Amos...


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## Lalabaka (Oct 24, 2016)

Hi Rhopkins! Welcome to TalkBudgies! Your little Amos looks just like my new budgie, Toby! I think Toby is just a tad bit lighter though. Your budgie is so cute and his colors are so gorgeous! I hope to see more of you on the forums!


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## rhopkins (Jul 15, 2017)

*Cute Names*

So you just got Toby. How are you progressing with taming the new bird? I assume your other bird is already adapted to your home. I started to get two birds, but read that it is much more difficult to get one to bond if it has another bird around. I saw the picture you have and he looks fantastic. Retired here and look forward to working with he bird everyday. Amos is one chatterbox and he lets you know he wants the company whenever he gets the opportunity. Hope to hear more from you about Toby's progress...


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## FaeryBee (May 9, 2011)

*Amos is a stunningly beautiful boy!
I love his coloring. You might want to start an on-going thread in the Budgie Pictures section of the forum so you can share lots of pictures of Amos in the future.

Copy and paste the code that reads: "Linked BBCode (message boards)" into your posts so the pictures themselves will show up rather than just the link. *


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