Hi everyone,
I have a few quick questions with regards attempting to hand train budgies.
1. Most places say if you have two birds, put them in separate cages for training. Thing is, they're not tame, so how can I get them in and out of their cage? Catch 22 :glare:
2. What treats other than millet can I use? Any tips? Last week they were eating out of my hand. This week, they've regressed to not approaching my hand, and millet doesn't seem to be the temptation it could be. I'm taking their seed away for a couple of hours before training, and they're still not that psyched by the millet sprays so I'm looking for a bit of variety and interesting alternatives.
3. Many training videos etc say to carry on a stage of training (e.g. hand in cage) until your bird looks "comfortable". However, they don't actually tell you what comfortable bird behaviour is (although a couple do mention drinking in your presence). If my budgies are preening themselves and each other when my hand is in the cage, does that mean they're comfortable? If they're clinging to the bars in the top corner does that mean they're uncomfortable? (They mix these two behaviours without rhyme or reason as far as I can see )
I know patience is absolutely key, and calmly end a training session whenever I feel myself starting to get frustrated. However, I thought I'd try and arm myself with as much info as possible before I continue because I'm, having a real "getting nowhere" kind of day.
Thank you in advance (and for all your patience with me <3)
I have a few quick questions with regards attempting to hand train budgies.
1. Most places say if you have two birds, put them in separate cages for training. Thing is, they're not tame, so how can I get them in and out of their cage? Catch 22 :glare:
2. What treats other than millet can I use? Any tips? Last week they were eating out of my hand. This week, they've regressed to not approaching my hand, and millet doesn't seem to be the temptation it could be. I'm taking their seed away for a couple of hours before training, and they're still not that psyched by the millet sprays so I'm looking for a bit of variety and interesting alternatives.
3. Many training videos etc say to carry on a stage of training (e.g. hand in cage) until your bird looks "comfortable". However, they don't actually tell you what comfortable bird behaviour is (although a couple do mention drinking in your presence). If my budgies are preening themselves and each other when my hand is in the cage, does that mean they're comfortable? If they're clinging to the bars in the top corner does that mean they're uncomfortable? (They mix these two behaviours without rhyme or reason as far as I can see )
I know patience is absolutely key, and calmly end a training session whenever I feel myself starting to get frustrated. However, I thought I'd try and arm myself with as much info as possible before I continue because I'm, having a real "getting nowhere" kind of day.
Thank you in advance (and for all your patience with me <3)