*Progress Log* Untamed baby Budgie, untrained bird owner.

[cham87]

Okay guys thanks for the help. I will post a picture later tonight when the cage is filled with toys. Hopefully I do not get too many toys?!

By the way, what do you think will be the best method for putting the toys in the cage... Fleury is going to freak I know it. Do I just put the toys in and not worry about how he reacts? When I took the top perch out he will stand still kind of curiously but if I get too close with an object he will freak out and try to hide in the bottom corner of the cage.

So basically do I just put the toys in and just not worry about my precious little birdy or should I try and let my bird out today so I can get really eccentric with my cage decorating? I'd probably have to towel him to get him back in the cage though . He still has not eaten I don't think.

[cml]

Wood from outside should be fine, but be sure to look up which ones are safe, and remember to througoughly wash them! =)

Cute budgie, its sounds like you want him to be happy, and there was some good advice given here in this thread earlier. Spice up his environment, make the cage a fun place to be =). Then when he's settled in, you can start working on taming him, it might take a few days for him to settle. Michaels guides are great for taming, so use them!

[cham87]

So let me ask this I am a ocd, anxiety, driven college student. I spend enough time at my home I commute to a college that is near by my house; Robert Morris University in Pa. But if you had to put a number on how much time to spend playing with and training and interacting with a bird what would you say. I want to make sure this bird is awesome and loves it's life

Also so birds can really have a fun time by their selves? If so how long until they are bored do you think. I am so new to birds so I am just curious if my bird will have a happy life even if I am busy aslong as his cage is really entertaining and filled with food and fresh veggies/fruit?

[cml]

So let me ask this I am a ocd, anxiety, driven college student. I spend enough time at my home I commute to a college that is near by my house; Robert Morris University in Pa. But if you had to put a number on how much time to spend playing with and training and interacting with a bird what would you say.

Also so birds can really have a fun time by their selves? If so how long until they are bored do you think. I am so new to birds so I am just curious if my bird will have a happy life even if I am busy aslong as his cage is really entertaining and filled with food and fresh veggies/fruit?

Yes and no, yes he will probably have a quite good life if you are home with him almost always. But birds, and budgies especially, are flock animals. They really should have a bird buddy as well in my opinion.

From what Ive heard though, budgies are much harder to tame when they are 2 though, they seem to regress taming-wise when they live with another bird. But I would really like someone else to comment on that though, as I am far from a budgie expert!

[Cliffordsmom]

I have two budgies, I got a second one when I had to start working an extra job. I did not want the one I had to get bored. Before I got the female budgie, the male was extremely hand tame. Now he will bite at me if I put my hand anywhere near him. Im sure its a combination of me spending less time with him, and the new bird. However, he is very happy with her. They are attached to one another. I know he is not bored when I cant be there.

[cham87]

Yea I heard that two birds will create issues with taming. I saw Mike does really awesome training with his parakeet Duke. I mean an hour everyday of interaction at a minimum is probably fine. Obviously weekends and when time is available I will spend more but on my most busy day if I make an effort to spend at least an hour with my little budgie I should be fine and so should my budgie. I just want him to stay tame.

[GlassOnion]

An hour a day is honestly not enough. He will get lonely for sure. But if you're going to be busy a lot, then I suggest you let him fly around during the day or get him a much bigger cage.

Here is my set-up, the cage only costed me $120. My guys are never in it though.


BTW- the big seed bowl on the floor, it's my foraging pit. It's like 95% seed husks and 5% actual seed, so if they want seed, they have to forage for it just like they would in the wild.

[cham87]

would you recommend the foraging pit? Do you buy the seed husk separately?

[GlassOnion]

Yes, it's best to offer as much foraging as possible for entertainment. You don't buy seed husks separately, you just keep adding more seeds to the same dish and eventually you'll have a foraging pit

I also wrap pieces of millet spray in tissue paper with little slits and hang them around the cage, so my birds have to rip through to get the millet. www.foragingforparrots.com is a good reference.

[cham87]

So a little progress report for people who were/are worried about Fleury not eating. He started to nibble at the millet seed. He is at the bottom of the cage doing so. This is a good thing though. Hopefully he is happy to eat. Is millet suppose to be hard? The kind I bought is hard; or is it to be soft?



By the way, I am going to use this as my main thread to keep a log of my progress with Fleury. Since Fleury is an untamed bird and I am a newbie to birds, I feel if I achieve success in taming Fleury it may be helpful to others. I want to stay active on this board and know the top 30 most active members fairly well. So thank you everyone that has been helping me so far and thank you to those have not helped me yet.

Going to go get toys and perches later today... Still worried about how putting the toys in Fleurys cage will go. I know he is going to be really afraid, I hope that it will not set me back in terms of trust building.