# Thinking she's not a good fit?



## skyechase (Mar 27, 2016)

We have a male budgie (Skye), who's under a year old, and a female (Rubble), who's closer to about 6 months old. The two birds share a flight cage and get along well, although Skye tends to like to hog the food, especially when I'm hand training them with seeds.

Skye was hand trained before Rubble joined him, but has regressed since, because Rubble is a very nervous bird and tends to try to avoid us. They don't like being apart. Rubble also like to nip my hand/ fingers a bit. It doesn't hurt, and she doesn't draw blood, but it's hard to train her not to because Skye is usually on my hand too, eating. I don't think Rubble is happy here... our home is too chaotic for her. I think she'd be happier in a quieter home, without kids, dogs or cats to scare her.

We tried letting the birds out of their cage a few times, but neither of them listen (Rubble tries to get away from us, and Skye stays with her), so the birds haven't been out of the cage since shortly after we adopted Rubble a few months ago.

Given all this, I was considering getting a young, hand tamed female, and rehoming Rubble. My thought is that a hand tamed bird will be easier to manage in and out of cage, and I'll be able to re-train Skye pretty quickly.

Thoughts?


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## aluz (Jul 24, 2011)

Budgies regardless if they are hand raised or not need to be on a safe and stable environment. Since you have multiple pets and small children, your budgies need to be on a safe room where the dogs/cats aren't allowed in.
When it comes to young children, it's our job to supervise them closely and to educate them on how to communicate and interact with a given pet, in this case a pet bird.
If there is so much chaos that both of your budgies show signs of stress and this is something that you are unable to change, then thinking on the budgies long term happiness and welfare, it would be best for them both to be rehomed.

For your current situation with consistent work (this means daily interactions and training sessions), lots of patience and understanding, it's possible to finger tame the shyest and most nervous of pet birds.
I don't think it would be fair for both of your budgies (since they are bonded and good friends) for you to rehome Rubble and to give Skye a potential new friend which may or may not be a good fit.
Even for hand fed and tamed young budgies, if the proper work is not put into them, the taming achieved can also regress and you will end up with the same problem.

Since your Skye was making good progress with you in the past and he showed more promise, you can start to focus more on him on building the trust he has in you and to have one-on-one training sessions with him (on a safe room where no dogs or cats are allowed in).
Later on, you can use the bond you have with Skye to make Rubble more receptive and open to you. I have used this method multiple times with success where I have used a fully tamed budgie to earn the trust and tame another budgie.
For all the detailed information, be sure to check the stickies at the top of the Taming and Bonding section's main page.

Good luck!


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## Therm (Aug 2, 2015)

Aluz has given you great advice. 

I do not have tame birds, but even with multiple birds, I have been able to use a bond with one of my birds and had others follow his example. 
It is possible to do, but will take a lot of work. 
I agree that Rubble isn't in need of re-homing and it's up to you to consider what well work best for you and your family with the advice given to you by aluz.


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## FaeryBee (May 9, 2011)

*aluz has given you the best possible advice under the circumstances.

I do not believe it is at all fair to either Skye nor Rubble for you to separate them at this point in time.

Additionally, it is very important you have a calm and stable environment for the budgies well away from any dogs and cats in your home. 
Simply having them in a cage isn't enough protection.

http://talkbudgies.com/general-budgie-talk/329945-cats-dogs-predators-birds-prey.html

When We Don't Want Eggs*


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## IAmStarby (Aug 23, 2016)

I agree with everyone. I also recommend you spend time training your budgies separately, that'll strengthen your bond immensely! Start with touch-training so that you can get them to go where you want, and make sure they're stepping-up reliably. After you get that trained you should let them out of the cage! It's good for them to explore around and have fun. And you can get them to go back once you strengthen your bond with both of them. Every budgie is capable of being trained and tamed, you just need to dedicate the time! 


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