# Is this method ok?



## LivvH (Nov 25, 2015)

Hi there!

I posted about a year ago about my boys (you can read it here). I was struggling with hand taming them because they were both adults and had come from difficult backgrounds.

After spending months researching, asking experts, trying different methods and getting contrasting advice, I gave up. I resigned to the fact that they were happy (if you read the above post you'll see that they get lots of time outside the cage).

When we go away I leave them with my grandmother who has her own hand tame budgie. I found out that because they were so eager to be with him they would willingly sit on my grandmother when he was with her, which is huge! They've never done that with us. After I found that out my husband urged me to try again and I've devised a training plan, so I'm keen to know if you think it'll work.

1. *Split them up when attempting hand taming so they don't feed negatively off each others behavior.* We have a breeding cage that has a detachable divider down the middle, so I can do this easily without removing them from the cage. A reputable breeder and trainer told me to do this.

2. *Place hand in the cage and simply rest it nearby without touching or advancing at them.* Do a few times a day until they become completely calm while my hand is in the cage.

3.* Once step 2 has been achieved approach them with millet spray and lure them closer and closer each time.* Even though we haven't achieved step 2 they do let us to this with them. They just won't eat unless it's hanging off our hand and they don't have to climb onto us.

I haven't gotten any further than that...I've read lots of forums, but I haven't gotten helpful answers because my situation is kind of unique. I get lots of advice about babies, and singular budgies, but not a lot about taming 2 adults at the same time.

My husband thinks I should split them up until they're tame, but I think it's a little cruel. I split them up this morning with the divider and Ace was doing acrobatics all over his cage and trying to chew through the divider (it's opaque). They can hear but not see each other and I think it was stressing them out. Thoughts?


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## lbeckman (Jun 26, 2016)

I think you're going to continue to get conflicting advise on this.  I personally would not split them up to work with them, but I am a ridiculous softy. Also, I've had birds get bolder because of competition over treats with their friend. It's also true that if one of the birds jumps away in fright, the other one will follow. Since you *are * splitting them up to work with them, you could run an experiment. Work with them together sometimes and with the divider in sometimes and see if there is a difference.


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## FaeryBee (May 9, 2011)

*I would continue to house the budgies together.

Personally, at this point I believe that working with them together is going to be just as successful as working with them individually. 
It is just going to take time and patience.

Once one of them becomes brave enough to step onto your hand to try some millet, the other won't be long after in following the first one's lead.

Have fun in the journey!*


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## Wiki (Feb 25, 2012)

Just make sure you consider their motivation. To choose interaction, the perceived reward must be worth more the effort and risk to earn it. For food to work as a motivator, you must time your sessions for when they are hungry for it. You can't motivate a budgie with food when their crop is full.


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