Yoshi Step II

[Hannes]

Hi all!

So' we've had our 5 month old budgie for a little over a week now, and I'm just checking if we're going about the bonding in a good way.

Wake up in the morning, take the cage out to the living room (he spends the night in his cage in our bedroom).
Usually we open the cage door and put it next to a homemade perch, take him out, talk softly and pet his belly, put him on our shoulders and fix breakfast with him on us.
Usually he wants to go to his perch or sit ontop of the cage near a window in a room we are in, if we leave he calls for us (?).
We talk to him throughout the day, say his name alot and "nice birdie" "cute birdie", chirps and whistles. He jumps onto our hand and we are aloud to pat/kiss his back and stomach, he hasn't bitten us once, or even tried to bite us.

He like to climb alot in the perch-tree we've set up, he eats and drinks with us around.

In the afternoon when we watch tv or listen to music he makes cutelittle chirps, whistles and tweets, his posture is much more relaxed now, and he "fluffs" himself up, and make little clicky sounds with his beak.

He doesn't want to sit in our lap, or sleep in our hands, lap, and in the morning or sometime during the day he can get a little unsure of our hands when we try to lift him up to talk to him or pat him (if he is on the cage he runs around avoiding our hand).
He doesn't play with the toys or want to play with us if we roll a coin, or a small ball on the floor.

So, is this good progress? Comments to improve our bonding and playing. Constructive criticism, are more than welcome.

Cheers bird lovers!

/Hannes

[AmazonServant]

Sounds to me like you're getting along pretty well! Is there a reason you put the cage in your bedroom at night? I don't know if that's really necessary, seems like it would be kind of annoying to keep moving it back and forth. I wouldn't be concerned about him not wanting to sit in your lap or play ball on the floor. Super cuddly birds seem more interested in lap-sitting, but I know my bird just finds that confusing. She's used to perching on hands and doesn't understand why she's sitting on my lap or chest, so she inevitably tries to step up or climb up onto my shoulder. It doesn't mean your bird doesn't like you or isn't comfortable with you, just doesn't understand the concept of sitting in your lap - I'd imagine that if anything, it's probably a good sign that your bird is well trained to step up and be handled. As for the floor, its normal for birds not to like being on the floor because it's so low and they'd rather be high up. Maybe try playing on a tabletop instead?

Anyways, the reason I clicked on this in the first place was just to comment that Yoshi is such a cute name for a bird! Love it!

[AmazonServant]

Oh, and as for petting: my bird refused to let me pet her for years. It was pretty upsetting but I tried not to let it get to me. She's still not the biggest cuddlebug, but she loves head scratches now and will let me touch her a lot more. I think what really helped was not trying to pet her for a while. You want to make sure that your bird is used to you and completely comfortable with stepping up before you start trying to pet him. You don't want him to be scared of your hand. So I'd just avoid trying to pet him for a while until he doesn't show hesitation to step up anymore in the morning. Then once you do start petting him, don't reach for his back. That's a vulnerable spot for him, he can't really see what you're doing, so it's more likely to freak him out. Also, use just your index finger instead of your whole hand. Extend your finger up to his face (not too quickly, let him get used to it being there) and let him nibble a bit on the tip of your finger, getting him comfortable with it being there. Then try petting his cheeks and see if you can get him to let you scratch his head. If you can get him to let you scratch his head and enjoy it, then he's more likely to let you pet him and handle him in general. The sure sign of enjoyment, by the way, is if he puffs up the feathers on his head. Be careful with his pin feathers if he has new feathers growing in, as they can be sensitive. But anyways, be patient with this, as trying to get him to let you pet him right away will probably only make it harder to convince him he wants to be petted. Just be patient, and good luck!

[Hannes]

Thank you for your reply and suggestions!

And yes, Yoshi IS a very cute name, and so is he



Cheers!

p.s. Also tried "step up" for 5 minutes with some millet spray, jeez he really loves that stuff. Going to keep practicing that, giving him the reward, and once he get comfie, we'll give him som cheek pats and later on, throw in a head scratch and check the reaction. d.s

/Hannes