I can tell already (and I expected as much) that hand taming these guys is going to require the patience beyond sainthood... I do recognize that they may not be able to be tamed, but I am going to continue to try my hardest. Here is what I have been working on lately (and yes I know it is still VERY early in the game).
1. Moved my desk next to their cage and have been spending most, if not all of the day with them.
2. Once they settled in I started getting them more comfortable with my hand occasionally reaching in the cage. At this stage they were now pretty calm as long as I was not reaching directly for them.
3. I then spent several hours just leaving my hand in the cage near the floor.
4. I then moved onto sticking a little bit of spray millet in my hand and leaving my hand in the cage. They will come to my hand, but will not step on my hand unless by accident. They are ok with a toe or breast brushing up against my fingers though so making progress it seems. I can also now hold their food bowl calmly between my thumb and index finger and they will come perch on the bowl and eat pretty happily.
5. I briefly tried to use a perch to approach them, but they were a little frightened by the perch so I decided to stop for now. However, last night, I was able to bring my finger within 1/2" of Emma and she seemed ok with it.
Lastly, I am also sitting now with the cage doors completely open. Yes I have eliminated as many bird hazards as I can in the room. They have floated out a few times on accident, hung out on top of the cage, and eventually made they way back inside without me having to catch them. I stayed calm, and let them explore a little bit to see if they would find there way back, that way I would not have to terrorize them with a net. They don't seem to be too interested in leaving which makes sense and is a good thing. I figured keeping the cage doors open while I sit with them may help. If they start becoming more adventurous (without being hand tame yet), then I guess I will have to stop with the cage doors open, but for the time being they seem ok and 99.99% of the time stay inside.
I know I just need to have patience patience patience and I am sure that is what everyone here will tell me over and over again. I'm not trying to rush things, but I am coming to you all to report this status and see how you think my progress is going and if you have any recommendations for me on what I should do next, or stop doing, or go back and do more of, etc.
Thanks again everyone!
1. Moved my desk next to their cage and have been spending most, if not all of the day with them.
2. Once they settled in I started getting them more comfortable with my hand occasionally reaching in the cage. At this stage they were now pretty calm as long as I was not reaching directly for them.
3. I then spent several hours just leaving my hand in the cage near the floor.
4. I then moved onto sticking a little bit of spray millet in my hand and leaving my hand in the cage. They will come to my hand, but will not step on my hand unless by accident. They are ok with a toe or breast brushing up against my fingers though so making progress it seems. I can also now hold their food bowl calmly between my thumb and index finger and they will come perch on the bowl and eat pretty happily.
5. I briefly tried to use a perch to approach them, but they were a little frightened by the perch so I decided to stop for now. However, last night, I was able to bring my finger within 1/2" of Emma and she seemed ok with it.
Lastly, I am also sitting now with the cage doors completely open. Yes I have eliminated as many bird hazards as I can in the room. They have floated out a few times on accident, hung out on top of the cage, and eventually made they way back inside without me having to catch them. I stayed calm, and let them explore a little bit to see if they would find there way back, that way I would not have to terrorize them with a net. They don't seem to be too interested in leaving which makes sense and is a good thing. I figured keeping the cage doors open while I sit with them may help. If they start becoming more adventurous (without being hand tame yet), then I guess I will have to stop with the cage doors open, but for the time being they seem ok and 99.99% of the time stay inside.
I know I just need to have patience patience patience and I am sure that is what everyone here will tell me over and over again. I'm not trying to rush things, but I am coming to you all to report this status and see how you think my progress is going and if you have any recommendations for me on what I should do next, or stop doing, or go back and do more of, etc.
Thanks again everyone!
