Prudence was doing pretty well, and actually getting curious about my hand, until yesterday when I went to change her food. She got spooked when I accidentally banged my hand against the side of the door, and flew straight out of the cage and into my face! I had to gently throw a towel over her after several minutes of trying to get her to sit still long enough to do so, and then I let her sit in her cage with the cover over it for a bit to let her calm down.

I feel so bad! Is there a better way to handle escapes? I know it certainly didn't do her any good in regard to taming...

she will get over it in about a week or so and yes re: escapes...dont panic..

unless you have a dog or cat loose somewhere or a small child running about...and havent birdie proofed your home which should be done already...otherwise...

let the bird stay where it landed...without chasing after it...and next time use a perch instead of a towel...its ok if it just sits where ever it landed for gosh a half hour without you trying to retrieve it even...just let it get its bearings and not encroach on its space and speak softly to it...then crouch low with a long PERCH...or handy dowel found in any hardware store or hardware dept of lets say a walmart...and if you have two birds together taming is going to be very very difficult...they should be separated into individual ROOMY cages...

its always a bit of a shocker when they first escape and some birds you could leave the door open all day and they wont come out...funny lil buggers they are sometimes.

I would do the same as illusive. If she escapes again and there is no big or urgent reason to have to get her back in right away, just let her be. If she landed in a safe spot just let her calm down and hang out there so she can look around and get the lay of the land for a while. Let her take time to figure out it's safe to be out and about. If you need her to go back in, and she hadn't decided to do that herself yet, try the long perch illusive describes.

Once on the perch, walk her slooowly back to her cage and let her hop in from a short distance. That way she is learning to return to her cage by herself.