Well hellooo again!

Thought I will check in with my progress! Well its been slow progress but progress indeed. So where did I get up to?

Well he now jumps onto the perch without any worries although does hop off the "training" perch onto his other perch within a few seconds of jumping onto the "training" perch.

It has progressed so far that I can put my finger 9/10ths of the way up the perch without him not getting worried about jumping onto the perch. Saying that though the moment I completed cover the perch with my finger, he runs off and refuses to get onto the perch and just sits on his other perch. Now if I remove all the perches he get reluctantly onto my finger. SO I am unsure how to get him to get onto my finger whilst the other perches are available.

OK now onto another interesting development. I decided to leave all the doors on his cage open for a while now. One day when I was attempting to perch train him, he decided to jump out the cage and fly around the room and sit on top of the curtain woot woot ! SO I decided to fix one of his swings to the roof now he sits on there happy as a kid in a chocolate factory!

Now he is a bit of a nightmare to catch and put back in the cage although when I do manage to catch him, he doesn't fight me nor nip me too much. I can actually stroke him for a while before he flies off again or get agitated. I can put him on my shoulder and walk around the house and he doesn't fly off but the moment I enter the room with his cage and swing in, he flies away towards either the curtain or swing.

He still isn't very sociable and like to be left alone and as you can see, he still doesn't fully trust me.

SO he comes my few questions

1. Should I try to catch and try to get him use to being handled?
2. How can I progress this so he fully trusts me and want to spend time on my hands?

Looking forward to your replies!
Gheto

P.S. Here is a photo of my budgie ontop of my Gf's head hehe!


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excellent advice about ...enjoying the journey there kiddo and indeed that sums it up

lobster is what ill call ya its too much to type the whole name im feeling rather lazy ...

absolutely not on the grabbing and handling thing...that will set you so far back it wouldnt be funny...always think of what this bird went thru and then take account how far it has come...it should NOT be out tho till fully trained...and very possibly i would suspect the bird after always having been couped inside hates that cage or any cage now that it has found some freedom ...it also knows going into that room means you will be putting him back to a place he SHOULD love and feel safe in but rather DOESNT like very much...

get into the habit of not putting him back when in that room and chasing him down to do it...show him ..it doesnt always mean going back to jail time...as that must be how this all seems to the bird...

when he does go back reward him with a special VEGGIE ...not treats like birdie junk food...we think of treats as treats but they dont get that...to them veggie are and can be treats too so get into a good habit...let the bird train YOU...into better habits lol...

also dont remove the perches just to get him to train for you...thats force training what other choice really does he have...you want him to WANT YOU...not feel like he HAS to do this...thats not training thats re-inforcing he has to be made to feel uncomfortable to be accepted and think how you would feel in that kind of atmosphere...

keep your hands moving slowly whenever around him ...give it all time BIRDIES time...place with veggies in your hands play with some of the birds toys when out and let him see them in your hands...let him learn by watching at first that when things are in your hands ...its not bad...or something to be afraid off...

you havent had this bird that long to be wanting and expecting a fully trained bird of two or three years...you will have a lifetime with this lil one...so if it takes a lifetime...so be it...but it will be one the bird will enjoy compared as mentioned once again to what it new for 3 yrs or more...so now you give it another 3 yrs or more lol...

that bird has comes leaps and bounds from where you thought it would never even want to come out of its cage to now where it doesnt want to go back...

and please visit this forum more instead of just when advice is wanted its a nice place to be and share things an learn a ton as you go as well.

I held a bit of romaine lettuce (don't give them this anymore but thought would try it for training) and Pips, who is not the biggest fan of my finger, got on and had a great time shredding and doing some sort of head dive into it for the longest time today. She was having a blast, while being on my finger.

A sort of breakthrough for us since she has never seemed to enjoy the finger perching. It's like she completely forgot where she was sitting and was having a grand time tearing up lettuce and watching it fall to the floor. I was so thrilled.

ROMAINE is ok...just not the iceburg lettuce or any chard...next time thoroughly wet down the romaine and stick it in a shallow dish wish just a touch of water along with a couple of leaves and maybe this is how they will also take a bath by rolling in it as well as muching on it...

Yeah, have tried that. They love it.

I had a wet piece in my hand and I think that's what Pips was having fun doing...getting all wet. I don't think she ate any, just shredded it for some fun and entertainment. I was just so glad she forgot she was on my finger and had fun.

How are things going for you with the training? I am in the same boat with 4 parakeets.

Well, better since they are separate (although right next to each other) Pips, with some coaxing, perched on my finger this morning. I'm going to clean her cage so will let her out and she seems to be more friendly then. She is not the friendliest girl anyway, but will remember to close the blinds this time. Last time I left the blinds to the sliding glass door open and Chirp flew into it. Yowza! Real bad bonk on the beak.
Chirp is so easy, night and day from Pips. But since he hurt his little wing a couple of days ago, he is in birdie ICU and will not get out for a while.
I'm hoping that with them separated they will want to interact with me a bit more. Hope hope.