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I got a birdy!

Well I got my mom to agree to getting me a birdy in ONE DAY! World Record...I swear! Well anyway the poor guy (or girl) is really scared (of course) because he needs time to settle in and get used to me. So far I think he's gotten a little used to me. But not enough. Can anyone give me any advice on bonding? I want him to be so comfortable that he will be allowed out of his cage most of the time so he can fly around my room. And I can call him and he'll land on me and stuff. I also need some advice on some fruits that they like. The artificial stuff isn't the best for em. Fresh fruit would be nice.
 
The only advice I know for bonding with a bird, is to touch it everyday until it gets used to you. Does the bird bite and if it does, just wear clothes and in time it will get used to you, unless you didn't clip it's wings, then it will fly and hit the fan
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, like mine did.
I had a parakeet once but i could never tame it, In my opinion love birds are easier to tame.
 
do everything you do gradually. don't start touching it right now because it'll just traumatize him.
and in my opinion lovebirds are a pain to tame!!
 
Alpha is spot on.

Slow and steady.  Don’t go trying to touch it now unless it is already used to that.  By the sounds it is not.

Juts a mix of thoughts off the top of my head (having trained 2x Cockatiels) that might help:

Keep everything around it calm and quite.  

Maybe partially cover it’s cage to give it security.

Keep your movements very slow and gentle as to not startle it.

Do ALL training based on reward. Spend the next few weeks learning what its favourite food is.  Once you start to do some training (start with trying to get it to step up on to your finger) that food is the reward. For example, our new Cockatiel loves grass and was not hand tamed.  We started by just giving her small amounts on the bottom of her cage and keeping our hand at the door.  Then as she focussed less on the hand and more on the grass, we started to feed the grass from out hand.  Again as she learnt to focus more on the grass we slowly put her in a position where she had to step onto our hand to get to the grass.  As she adjusted to being on the hand we then slow started to bring her out form the cage while on our hand.  You get the idea.  From being terrified of our hand to stepping up on command (we still get the odd bite) was maybe 4-6 weeks work for 1+ hour every day.

If you try to do something and the bird seems scared or backs off, then just let it. Don’t force the bird.

Once you have its trust it will come to you.

Just remember that it’s all about patience, kindness and consistency.  The bird will learn to fear MUCH faster than it will learn to trust.

BTW how old is the bird?

Aaron.
 
Dont get impatient with it... if you rush it will ruin the cance of bonding with you (well it will prabably just extend the time it takes to tame it)

I know you are exited about a new pet (i know i was) but watch it from a distance. Get to know its daily routeines, and in turn it will learn yours.

May i ask the location of the cage? near windows arnt good (heatstroke) and its not good to have it in a high traffic area. (stress from being watched all the time.)

A big hit with budgies is romane lettuce (
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not like cellery, cabbage or iceburg lettuce) This should be fed first (always a hit). You can try any fruits you wish unless its avacdo or... um the flesh of peaches or nectarines near the pit (the pits toxic) Spray millet, pomegrane and hemp seeds ae often big hits too


If i were you i would clip the birds primary flight fethers, atleast at first. This is so it wont freak out (as it will almost undoubtedly do if you let it out at first) and hurt itsef by flying into unfamiliar objects. the fethers will grow back in time.

And study! lern all you can about your birds! the iformation is all over. Learn about their housing and dietary needs. You can even tell the age and gender Of budgeriers by looking at the fleshy part above the beak.

Be patient! Always remember that with birds!

P.S. My Finches are producing young again. They [young] just hatched hours ago!
 
yep... they're fearful by nature.
just keep that in mind... if you loose your temper you will very likely waste many days of work. take it from a brother of an idiot who didn't train his birds right. (b/c he was such an idiot my mom bought them from him and then he moved to hawaii
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I don't know who was happier... me or the birds
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probably me.... LOL)
 
and once you train them theres a committment. you cant grow board with them once their tame because theress a commitment between you and your birds. You would be soly responsible for its mental enternainmenta and stimulation. toys arnt good enough because-just like kids- they soon grow board of them.

If you suddenly started ignoring it or stopped playing with it, the bird will grow lonely. it woudld miss you. Its a commitment. its not something you can get and then suddenly lose interest in. Not only will you lose out, but the bird will suffer. How would you like it if your family suddenly started ignoring you for weeks and weeks? And you had no way to entertain yourself?

Once you bond with it it is your responsibility to care for the animal as you would a dog or cat. And this will last for as long as the bird lives.

Now i onley say this because i have seen many a pet tossed away or forgotten by kids like old playthings. Do not let this happen to your bird, as it deserves better

(guys do you think i laid it on a bit hevy?)
 
It's in my room and I'm the only one that goes in there. It's not near a door. It's really quiet and lately it's been about 75 degrees in there. Cuz I have a heater on in there for my terrarium. I usually leave him to himself most of the day and spend an hour with him. He doesn't seem to like me in there which is understandable right now. Whenever I keep my distance he looks curious. I don't know how old he is either. But all I have right now as fruit...is Kiwi. So is that good for him? I just looked in there and he was huddled up in the corner trying to escape. I feel horrible but it just makes me want him to be comfortable even more. For Christmas I'm getting him a friend though. I'll have to bond with that one too.

Finch, you didn't lay it on too hard at all. You said it the way that it's supposed to be said. I know that if you leave a bird alone for too long it'll die. But I know that I won't let him get lonely. Especially after I train him. I'll go in my room and let him roam around while I play Video Games. ^_^
 
Well it sounds asif it was not handfed, but bred in a birdfarm. Do you know?

if so it would have had little contact with humans exept rude little kids (not u) rapping on the cagebars at the petshop

and dont let it out yet! its too soon! wait a few days, atleast!
 
  • #10
hey.. that's serious! the way you said it wasn't hard at all. (I'd probably said it harder :p)
stupid people that annoy animals in pet stores! or anywhere for that matter.. makes me want to ......

yeah...
 
  • #11
There was this lady trying to pet the birds through the cage. The birds didn't really seem to care. I was waiting for her to get bitten. Hee hee. I think her son was too. LOL
 
  • #12
well when i was younger i must admit to deliberatly scaring the petshop finches a couple times. But thats kind of how i became interested in them (i did not get them so i could scare them more, i got thenbecause i did reserch on them and discoverd how facinating they really were)
 
  • #13
I saw some Zebra finches there and they were the ones that made me want a bird. ^_^ They were just hopping around and chirping. Really cute cuz they're tiny.
 
  • #14
if you research almost anything (in nature) you'll find that it's addictibly amazing... which is very annoying because I want to see and know and have everything and I cant.... but hey, that's what makes me happy! I'll never run out of things to see/have... that's the sad thing... some people are ready when they die. I never will be.
 
  • #15
I know. Unfortunatly my breeding zebra is the ugliest of the lot and im sorta hoping its not genetic (hard to find the babies homes) However i am giving her and her mate the benifet of the doubt and keeping my fingers crossed


heres for hopeing
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TheAlphaWolf i know. trust me stay away from New Zeland because its native species are so facinating and bazar (and rare) that its hard to stop learning. Imagine. A Flightless Fly, carnivorus snails the size of hockypucks, luminous worms so bright that you can read by the light of one worm. Huge 10-feet tall extinct birds caleed moas, eagles with 10-foot tall wingspans with talons the size of tiger claws and who were able to hit their prey with thw force of 35-pound concrete block dropped from a eight story building. The island is home to what may be the most inelegent animal, a bird called the Kea, and
im rambling now so im just gonna stop
 
  • #16
My sister said that Aven let her pet him 4 strokes on his stomach before he went to the other part of the cage.
 
  • #18
eeeeeehhhhhh... I wouldn't say keas are the most intelligent animal. first of all, humans are animals...
I'd also say that other apes and dolphins and stuff are smarter than keas...
and extinct birds don't count lol.
 
  • #19
PS.
kyle, you can get glowing fish. they're genetically modified (w/ comb jelly DNA) but they're supposed to glow.
 
  • #20
Well in some reserch tests reserch tests they have matched the intelegence of those said animals and are able to solve some complex puzles that the others cant (likely due to their bioligy)


But tyour right, its premature for me to assume it. The Keas have not been reserched nearly as extensivly as others like dophins and chimps. But it is assumed that they are amoung the most intelegent of all birds, rivald only by members of the families Corvidae and by (some) other members of their family (african and tongo Greys), Psittacidae
 
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