Hi, I got my female budgie about a year ago from an elderly couple that no longer could care for her. She never really had any interaction and was therefore a nervous wreck, she went crazy if you walked by her let alone tried to put your hand in. I have spent a year getting her used to people, she is in our living room where there is constant noise and we have discovered she loves the sound of the TV, radio and even my voice. I have managed to get her used to my hand in the cage but if I put my hand too close she sits rigid and feel sorry for her because she is clearly scared still even though she has come a long way. Is there anything else I can do other than what I am doing to tame her? I talk to her all the time and she is always trying to get my attention so I get millet in my hand and put it into the cage but she is still too wary to have a nibble of it or jump onto my hand. I don't want to give up on her now we have come this far!! She has gone from a complete silent wreck to such a cheeky little thing that loves my company so I want her to eventually enjoy being out of her cage.

Bless you, shellbell for your patience with that poor little bird. I don't have an constructive suggestions as I do not know birds but would suggest you visit a pet shop where they have budgies and possibly get some feed back from them.

I hope someone from here knows a lot about them and will possibly help you.

Tick

I had a cockatiel with this problem. She had gotten loose, we found her on our neighbors screen window, caught her, brought her in (thankfully I still had a cage from my last bird) and then for the next 3 months she refused to come out.

I finally ended up calling a friend of mine who has raised birds since he was a child. He clipped her wings and that made all the difference.

One of the training techniques I've used is the dark room. You hold the bird in your hand, go into a room with no windows, turn off the light and sit there for 5 minutes.

Once the bird realizes that nothing bad is going to happen while in your hands, even in the dark, they calm down, and are far easier to train. In fact, most of my birds were instantly calmer and sat on my finger or shoulder after the dark room experience. This technique was told to me by the same friend that clipped my birds wings.

Clipping can be beneficial when taming. The feathers will grow back within around 3 months, so that gives you some time to train your bird without the fear that she'll panic and fly into a wall or worse, a window.

It doesn't hurt, but do have someone who knows what they're doing do it for you.

Budgies are great pets and love to be with their chosen people. They usually only bond with one person, and it sounds like she's chosen you.

Sometimes you have to take things slow, other times you have to push a bit. If she's still skittish after 1 year, it may be time to push a bit. You'll know if you're going too far.

We'd love pictures. :)

Thank you for your replies! I will try get some photos up asap for you to see her. I think it might be worth getting somebody who knows about birds to see if her wings have ever been clipped because I really don't know, I don't even know her age exactly but I think she is around 6 perhaps. I do feel so sorry for her, she was put in a cage on top of a high cupboards by the people that had her previously and she literally couldn't see or hear anything so coming home with me was a huge shock. People laugh but I do love my little bird :)

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Originally Posted by shellbell1984

Thankyou for your replies! I will try get some photos up asap for you to see her. I think it might be worth getting somebody who knows about birds to see if her wings have ever been clipped because I really don't know, I don't even know her age exactly but I think she is around 6 perhaps. I do feel so sorry for her, she was put in a cage on top of a high cupboards by the people that had her previously and she literally couldn't see or hear anything so coming home with me was a huge shock. People laugh but I do love my little bird :)

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I'm not laughing. I totally understand. We have a house full of animals, one of them is our cockatiel Marty, she was given to us because her former owners realized their son was allergic. She's a sweetie.

They won't be able to tell if her wings were ever clipped. Every 3 months or so they molt and grow new feathers, same goes for the flight
Feathers. The only reason you need a professional to do it, is that you can cut too short, clip the blood vessel, and seriously injure the bird.

Once you know what you're doing, if you want her to remain clipped, it's
Easy enough to do it yourself, but for the first time, let a professional show you how it's done. Many of them will come to your home to do it, you just have to find someone in your area. I was lucky, have my buddy who knows more about birds than birds do. ;)

I grew up around budgies and cockatiels, my grandpa bred them, so if you have any questions, ask away. If I don't know the answer I can probably find out for you. :)

Take a look at this website. I read through a bit of it and so far they sound fantastic, really know their birds. I haven't read all of it though, so don't know if I can recommend the whole thing, but from what I have read, they're legit.

Winged Wisdom Pet Bird Magazine - Wing Clipping: Why, When & How for pet parrots and exotic birds - Birds, Birds, Birds

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shellbell1984 : Ahh thank you! I didn't mean you were laughing at me sorry if it sounded like that, my husband is always grumbling at how much I love my birdy :) for instance she is sat by me on the sofa right now in her cage chatting away and he is sat on the floor

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Hi shellbell.

AMHD has a new skin, which is what you're using. It's confusing and the bugs haven't been worked out, so when you posted, you posted as a comment to my post, not a new post. Also, most of what you wrote was cut off.

I'm not sure how the new skin works, refuse to use it, but if you want an easier format, I believe you have the option to switch to the easier "skin". There should be a link on top that says "Take me to the old AMHD". If not, go to your option, to "skin" and select v2, it's easier to use, not as confusing. :)

Sorry for the confusion. Apparently they're testing this new skin out, and it's not ready. :(

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Originally Posted by Altenweg

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Apparently they're testing this new skin out, and it's not ready. :(

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Yes, I know off topic but I have had more reddies in the last week, then I have had all year. Something has to be done about the *new skin*.

Tick

If you don't like the new skin then click back to the normal window.. It does give you that option...

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Originally Posted by Lucky098

If you dont like the new skin then click back to the normal window.. It does give you that option...

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Yes, I know, but it's messing with the old skin, so even if you click back to the old, you still have to deal with it.

This isn't the place to discuss it though. There are a few threads being devoted to the new skin. :)