Taming

[Mephynx]

I'm on a quest to bring a bird home, I've been losing myself in bird species black holes trying to figure out what bird(s) is/are right for me.

The list is currently:
Budgie
Linnie
Cockatiel

I know of breeders of both linnies and tiels who hand raise and produce healthy and happy birds, but it's become apparent that no one within driving distance hand raises budgies. I do have a few pet stores that do sell them, however. It's not ideal, and I'd rather not go that route, but I may. Every time I've popped in to look at the birds they've been healthy and in clean enclosures, and the vast majority of them are still quite young. They still have barring all the way down to their cere and everything.

So, I'm wondering how successful would taming a young budgie from a store would I be, generally speaking? I have the time to do it, and I want to do it, but I have heard of non-hand raised budgies just staying hands off. Am I better off visiting a breeder and seeing if I connect with a linnie or tiel (and vice versa)?

My only concerns with linnies is their terrible twos and their propensity to get hand-shy and burrow, and with tiels I'm concerned about the dust and night frights (and piercing contact calling). I don't have allergies or asthma (to my knowledge) but I don't want to find out the hard way either.

 

[lexalayne]

I always loved parakeets. I had one when I was younger that loved everyone. The door to his cage was always open and he would fly to someone and start preening them and talking. I also had one that I had a hard time taming. My best advice is to get the one who seems most interested in you - in any species.

 

[Monica]

Taming is all about earning a bird's trust, and it does not require being young, either. It greatly helps to pair good things (i.e. treats) with yourself.

An Experiment with Budgies

I used to own 5 adult, flighted budgies. Four females, one male. None tame. The male and two females (given to me as males) were second hand birds, where-as the other two hens had come from a breeder, but both were older birds (perhaps 1+ years old?) March of 2007 (when the flock was...

forums.avianavenue.com

 

[Dorcas George]

I had tame buddies years ago and find memories. I had the same issue (no budgie breeder anywhere near) and I have two per store birds. It is slow going, I admit. But my two little budgies are a joy (most of the time). I do get discouraged at times, I admit, but I'm persisting. It seems people's experiences vary widely when it comes to taming, so I think it is hard to say.

 

[Lady Jane]

What state do you live in? Maybe we can help you.

It does take a little longer to train a pet store budgie but it is doable. Have you checked bird rescues in your state?
Also look on pet finder if you are in US.

 

[Mephynx]

What state do you live in? Maybe we can help you.

It does take a little longer to train a pet store budgie but it is doable. Have you checked bird rescues in your state?
Also look on pet finder if you are in US.

I live in Ontario, Canada. From what I can see, I've only found one budgie at a rescue. There are a number of them up for rehome on Kijiji (a site similar to craigslist) but most of them seem about as tame as the ones in Petsmart so either way I might still be in the same boat. There is an ad for a clutch of hand-raised ones right now but I'm not ready to take the plunge just yet. I've left them a message asking if they are a breeder or it was an accidental clutch and am waiting on a reply.

 

[Mybluebird]

I got a baby budgie from Petsmart at the end of Sept. You can see from the threads and comments that I have written that the training is slow. She's just now getting to where she doesn't fly away from my hand. I can put my finger on her toes and push on her belly. She steps away, won't step up yet but also doesn't fly. When I was a teenager, we had a family parakeet. None of us knew anything about training but our parakeet bonded with our flock. I think he must have slept during the day because when we all came home he would tweet, sing and jump around his cage. Whenever any one of us would go to his cage, he would jump onto the cage bars and sing away. He was also a pet store bird. Memories of him make me believe my little girl will be a fabulous pet. I think a hand raised may be quicker to tame but the store birds I believe will get there also but slower. And they're so stinking cute!

 

[Monica]

I can put my finger on her toes and push on her belly. She steps away, won't step up yet but also doesn't fly.

You might want to change your approach. Instead of pushing on her stomach, teach her to come to you. Teach her to put her feet on you rather than pushing into her stomach. This way, it's "her" idea, rather than yours. Millet and treats can go a long ways into helping with this!

 

[berries]

I've had several pet store budgies over the years and have had different experiences with each, depending on personality. Its probably easier with hand raised ones but pet store birds can still make great pets. I've personally found budgie taming to be rather slow going, maybe because they are generally very skittish? But it certainly can be done.

 

[Lori D Pert]

I've had many budgies through the years and all but 3 were pet store budgies. The ones I got from breeders were not hand tamed and were parent raised. I tamed them all. They were all young when I got them and I always had only one until tamed. I also watched them before I got them to get an idea of personality. The ones that were outgoing, playful and seemed curious about me were the ones I chose. Some tamed easier, some were more challenging but I tamed them all. All were free flighted except one who had already been clipped before I got her. I did have alot of time to spend working with them but ALL became tame. So yes, it is very possible to tame pet store budgies.

 

[Boom]

With Coco, my first budgie, taming was easy. She was 3 months old when she was adopted by my daughter and things came easy in our endeavour to tame her. Trust is the milestone and if the budgie gains trust in you then tami g comes natural.
With the second budgie we adopted few days ago its a totally different story. His name is Blu and he is around 2 years old. Very scared and not yet tamed. We need more patience than we allowed Coco. His behaviour is as of an abused bird, scared and afraid even of turning light on in the room.
Any advice on taming Blu?

 

[Gribouille]

Where I live there isn't such a thing as hand-raised budgies. They are all parents-raised, unless the parents abandon them, and you can't buy them before they are weaned and eat on their own, which is usually around 6 to 8 weeks old. There isn't a tradition to clip them either so most breeders will wait until they can fly relatively well before selling them.
Still, most budgies will be tame if you take the time to train them. It is easier with young birds (vs adult, but they don't have to be extremely young either) and one bird at a time. Tame the first one before you get another. Budgies are usually happier with a friend, unless you have really much time to spend with your little friend.