Bonding with a budgie?

[asdf6121]

Hey everyone! I've only had my little Soda for about a month now, and she's still a bit shy sometimes, and rarely wants to come out of her cage. I bought her a nice wood playstand but she's afraid of it

I also know taming takes a while and I don't want to push on her chest to make her step-up to me. Sometimes I lure her onto my hand with millet~ I've been doing some target training with a clicker and she seems to enjoy it. I can tell she also likes my presence--I hear her contact calling me when I leave and the few times she left her cage it seemed like she wanted to fly to me but didn't know if it was safe to land.

My sister also has a baby budgie, but the two are being quarantined as of now. Hers was hand-raised by a breeder, while mine was parent-raised. Hers is already tame after a few days so I'm a bit jealous Hopefully they can live together soon and keep each other company!

I just want to know if I'm doing things right? If theres anything I can do to make her more comfortable, I'd love to know. If anyone has any tips or stories of taming their budgies, I'd really appreciate it! Here's a photo of Soda because she's too cute not to share!

 

[Eggburt Dobson]

Hey everyone! I've only had my little Soda for about a month now, and she's still a bit shy sometimes, and rarely wants to come out of her cage. I bought her a nice wood playstand but she's afraid of it

I also know taming takes a while and I don't want to push on her chest to make her step-up to me. Sometimes I lure her onto my hand with millet~ I've been doing some target training with a clicker and she seems to enjoy it. I can tell she also likes my presence--I hear her contact calling me when I leave and the few times she left her cage it seemed like she wanted to fly to me but didn't know if it was safe to land.

My sister also has a baby budgie, but the two are being quarantined as of now. Hers was hand-raised by a breeder, while mine was parent-raised. Hers is already tame after a few days so I'm a bit jealous Hopefully they can live together soon and keep each other company!

I just want to know if I'm doing things right? If theres anything I can do to make her more comfortable, I'd love to know. If anyone has any tips or stories of taming their budgies, I'd really appreciate it! Here's a photo of Soda because she's too cute not to share! View attachment 349272

It sounds like you're on the right track and she's already starting to bond to you since she calls when you're away! Just keep it up with the treats and positive reinforcement, and if you haven't already, make sure she doesn't get the special treats when she's just in her cage. Save them for only when she's with you. I'm sure there are others on here with more advice, but it sounds like you're doing well so far.
Good luck!

 

[Mybluebird]

Often parent raised budgie take longer to bond with their human. One thing to think about - if you and your sister put the two budgie together, they will form a bond between them and you'll have a lesser bond with Soda. Your sister will also have a lesser bond with her budgie. It does sound like you're doing everything right. Congratulations on your beautiful little girl!

 

[Lori D Pert]

Don't get discouraged. Trust takes time. Continue with what you are doing. Talk to her even if she seems shy. Slowly put your head next to her cage. Tell her how pretty she is. When she moves closer to your head to listen to you this is a breakthrough. Once that happens you can slowly start to bring your hand up to your face so she sees there is no harm in your hand. It takes time. Don't give up...let her do this in her own time...

 

[Bookwyrm]

I'd place a perch on the outside of the cage right in front of the door. You could sit near it, and do some step up training if she came out onto it. And if she decided to fly around and acted like she wanted to land on you, she could have the option of landing near you, but not on you on a place she seems safe.
In regards to the play stand, you could place it on a table very close to the cage. This way she could see it and know that it isn't a threat. After some time, she could get used to it with it just being outside of the cage. If she doesn't, you could consider moving it into the cage (depending on the size of both the playstand and the cage) so she would have the opportunity to get used to it while in her environment. That might not be a good idea, but if she was obviously comfortable with it very close to the cage, you could give it a go.
Another thing you could try is leaving the playstand in her favorite place to hang out while out of the cage and put a little millet in different places around it.
She's a beautiful little bird, by the way! And for some reason, I LOVE the name Soda!
Good luck!

 

[asdf6121]

It sounds like you're on the right track and she's already starting to bond to you since she calls when you're away! Just keep it up with the treats and positive reinforcement, and if you haven't already, make sure she doesn't get the special treats when she's just in her cage. Save them for only when she's with you. I'm sure there are others on here with more advice, but it sounds like you're doing well so far.
Good luck!

She's learned that whenever I come, I also bring millet, so I think it's helping her a lot! I guess I need to just continue being patient and let her choose to come out and be with me out of her cage

 

[asdf6121]

I'd place a perch on the outside of the cage right in front of the door. You could sit near it, and do some step up training if she came out onto it. And if she decided to fly around and acted like she wanted to land on you, she could have the option of landing near you, but not on you on a place she seems safe.
In regards to the play stand, you could place it on a table very close to the cage. This way she could see it and know that it isn't a threat. After some time, she could get used to it with it just being outside of the cage. If she doesn't, you could consider moving it into the cage (depending on the size of both the playstand and the cage) so she would have the opportunity to get used to it while in her environment. That might not be a good idea, but if she was obviously comfortable with it very close to the cage, you could give it a go.
Another thing you could try is leaving the playstand in her favorite place to hang out while out of the cage and put a little millet in different places around it.
She's a beautiful little bird, by the way! And for some reason, I LOVE the name Soda!
Good luck!

Thank you so much!! I do have perches on the outside of her cage by the door, but she seems to prefer the desk lamp to perch on. I'll definitely start leaving the playgym out where she can see it every day!! Hopefully she learns to like it

Btw, Soda's buddy's name is Lemon~ Lemon Soda

 

[asdf6121]

Don't get discouraged. Trust takes time. Continue with what you are doing. Talk to her even if she seems shy. Slowly put your head next to her cage. Tell her how pretty she is. When she moves closer to your head to listen to you this is a breakthrough. Once that happens you can slowly start to bring your hand up to your face so she sees there is no harm in your hand. It takes time. Don't give up...let her do this in her own time...

You are 100% right, it's only been a month so she's probably still uncomfortable around me...
She will come to my hand for millet, but almost always hops back immediately once she's done

 

[asdf6121]

Often parent raised budgie take longer to bond with their human. One thing to think about - if you and your sister put the two budgie together, they will form a bond between them and you'll have a lesser bond with Soda. Your sister will also have a lesser bond with her budgie. It does sound like you're doing everything right. Congratulations on your beautiful little girl!

As much as I want the birdies to bond to us separately, it makes me sad to hear Soda contact calling me when I even leave for a bit to go to the bathroom I think their happiness should be the #1 priority, and since we're quarantining them as of now, we want to make most of the one on one time to train! I've read a lot of books on clicker training and animal psychology, and most say that training is possible even with multiple birds, as long as we are patient
Thank you so much for your help!