# I need help with my budgie



## Latte (Sep 3, 2017)

Hi, I got a budgie like a month ago, and he won't stop running away from my hand! I've tried everything I can but he isn't interested in me. I can hand feed him by cornering him. But he never comes to me. :sad:

Stuff about Latte:
Latte is about 2 months old,
He's a boy,
He's scared of me,
He's my first budgie,
I'm pretty sure he's an Australian Budgie,
He's wings are clipped,
He eats pellets,
And loves millet.

he's my first budgie.

:yellow face 2: he looks like that with a yellow tail.


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## Therm (Aug 2, 2015)

To be incredibly blunt with you, Latte is running away from you because you're scaring him.

Budgies aren't a pet bird that are quick and easy to tame. They are not docile birds that will jump on your hand and allow you to pet them. 
If you have seen videos or pictures of people online with budgies that are very tame they have worked long and hard on establishing a bond with their bird.

Firstly, while wing clipping is the owners choice and some birds come with clipped wings, it takes away the birds natural ability to fly. If Latte perceives you as dangerous (which he currently does) and he can't fly away, it's going to distress him a lot more.

The fact you are cornering him to pick him up is not helping him to trust you.

You need to start right now by leaving Latte alone. 
Feed him, care for him, talk to him, but no more trying to touch and feed him.

When you bring a new budgie home it is advised to cover three sides of the cage to create a safe secure area for them in their cage. 
For the first week or two, you do nothing with them. Clean the cage and change the food and water, but besides from that all you do is sit beside the cage and talk to them. you can also sing or read, but you don't out your hands on or inside the cage unless you're cleaning it.

Once they are comfortable (and as your bird is running from you, you should know what his scared body language looks like, so don't move on to step two until his body language looks different. It may be longer than two weeks considering he has learned to run from your hand at the minute) step two is to sit beside the cage the same as before, talking but you put your hand on the cage. Not near the bird, just on the cage. Again do it for at least a week, until they are comfortable with this.

The next step is putting your hand in the cage, just inside the door, not approaching the budgie, just in the cage not making any moves towards the budgie.

You need to work on these steps before you try and progress any further if you want a meaningful bond with Latte.

And start by reading through the following stickies.

These will help you to understand a way to establish a bond with Latte.

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

http://talkbudgies.com/taming-bonding/339058-how-tame-budgie-who-afraid-people.html

The rules here that are established are very important such as no grabbing your budgie. 
http://talkbudgies.com/taming-bonding/339042-how-my-grandfather-taught-me-tame-budgies.html

I feel you would also benefit from reading a lot of our stickies on the basics of budgies pet keeping. Even members who join with experience in caring for budgies learn a lot of new things that help them look after their pet birds.


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## StarlingWings (Mar 15, 2013)

Hi there and :welcome: to the forums!

Therm has given excellent advice and I agree with her completely.

You need to go back to the beginning with Latte. Pretend he's a brand new budgie and you're trying to gain his trust properly now that you know how to to do so: 

Leave him alone, with no attempt at putting your hand in the cage, until he no longer runs away when you get near the cage, as mentioned. During this time, you should read, talk, sing to him, etc. to help him get accustomed to your voice. This is a very important step, and will build the foundation of future trust with your budgie. 

After you are confident that he is no longer stressed and scared by your presence outside the cage, you can move to putting your hand inside the cage, as far away from him as possible, and not moving it at all. When he is no longer afraid of your hand there, move it a bit closer, etc. It's very important that you realise this will take a long time and a lot of hard work, but with patience and respect towards Latte, you will see results. Also, it's very important not to skip steps. If you see that after putting your hand in the far corner of the cage is fine for Latte after a few weeks, that DOES NOT mean that he'll suddenly want to step up. Take it slow. 

Also, you've come to the best 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!

Best of luck with your Latte! 

Best wishes! :wave:


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## FaeryBee (May 9, 2011)

*Hi! :welcome: to Talk Budgies!

Therm has given you excellent advice and it is very important you follow it. Taming and Bonding with a budgie is all about helping it learn to TRUST you.
This takes a lot of time and patience. 
If you continue to try to rush the process you will not succeed.

Please take the time to read through the Site Guidelines, all of the How To Guides, the FAQs, the Budgie Articles and the stickies located at the top of each section of the forum.

Truly, the very BEST advice anyone can offer you is to take the time to read ALL of the stickies throughout the various Talk Budgie forums as well as the Budgie Articles we have posted.

These are great resources for Talk Budgie members and have a wealth of reliable information which will assist you to learn the best practices in caring for your budgies for their optimal health and well-being.

Site Guidelines
http://talkbudgies.com/general-budgie-talk/333106-posting-forums.html
http://talkbudgies.com/general-budgie-talk/388145-lets-talk-budgies.html
How-To Guides
FAQs Frequently Asked Questions
Budgie Articles
http://talkbudgies.com/general-budgie-talk/295001-list-stickies.html
http://talkbudgies.com/general-budgie-talk/295033-prepared-veterinary-care-expense.html
Avian First Aid
Why Quarantine?

http://talkbudgies.com/articles-general-budgie-info/227841-50-common-budgie-dangers-watch-out.html

http://talkbudgies.com/budgie-breeding/327881-heartfelt-plea-forum-members-new-old.html
When We Don't Want Eggs

http://talkbudgies.com/housing-budgies/24411-cage-sizes.html
http://talkbudgies.com/housing-budgies/31719-essentials-great-cage.html
http://talkbudgies.com/general-budgie-talk/339826-resource-directory.html

When you upload pictures as thumbnail attachments directly from your computer, tablet or phone, the forum automatically defaults to landscape.

To upload full-sized pictures with the proper orientation, please use a photo-sharing service such as Imgur and follow the steps in these instructions:
http://talkbudgies.com/how-guides/175818-how-post-full-size-pictures-photo-sharing-site.html

By the way, all photos entered in any of our forum contests must be a full-size photo and not a thumbnail attachment so it's good to know how to upload them! 

If you have any questions after reading through everything, please be sure to ask!

Glad you decided to join us and looking forward to seeing you around the forums.

:wave:*


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## Latte (Sep 3, 2017)

Thank you for the advise!! I got a bit too exited and waited a week before training him.

:wink1:


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