So I brought home Mab and Titania on the 8th. I gave them their two weeks of getting used to their cage. Then I started trying to tame them. Every day, I put some millet in my hand and put it in the cage, offering it to them. I don't make moves toward them. I speak in a calm, soothing voice. And I just leave my hand there. After several minutes, they will eventually eat some millet out of my hand. But when I first put my hand in, they still act like they expect me to hurt them. They rush to the farthest point in the cage, stop singing, and watch my hand very carefully. I have to remain very still for several minutes before they will be tempted to move close enough to nibble at the millet I'm offering. Is this normal? Videos I've watched suggest it would only take them a few days to associate my hand with treats and they would stop acting scared of it. I know all birds are different and patience is paramount in hand taming, but I get the impression that they're terrified of me reaching into their cage. Do they just not like me? Are they still holding it against me when I moved them into their cage? I want to bond with my birds and show them that I'm their friend but I don't know if they share that sentiment.

Hi Shiloh,

This is totally normal. Expecting your birds to take to you on a timeline, act exactly like "other budgies" you've seen or read about, or assuming that because they are still afraid of you after a week they must not like you are all mindsets that are going to set you back while taming your little ones

It's perfectly reasonable that they're still scared. My girl was skittish for months, and now I've had her for six years and we have a very strong bond with each other.

You need to take a step back. You did all the steps correctly, just a little too fast for them Since they're still so afraid of you (again, normal), I would go all the way back to just putting your hand on the outside of the cage as much as you can every day and talking to them softly, singing to them, reading to them, etc. Eventually you will see that they no longer shy away when you approach them, and then you can continue - putting your hand in their cage as far away from them as possible without moving it while praising them and talking to them, then a little closer, then a little closer, then finally offering millet from your hand, etc. All of these steps could take a month or they could take several months, it depends on the birds.

It's important to be patient, and eventually they will trust you

Best of luck with your little ones!

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Thanks for the advice~ I'm a first time bird mom so I'm very paranoid I'm always doing everything exactly wrong. I'm moving back to hand-outside-the-cage training until they get calmer with it being around, then I'll go back to trying to hand-feed them.

Excellent advice.
Great that you're going back to having your hand outside the cage until the budgies get more comfortable with it.

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Excellent advice above . Remember too, that budgies (birds) are prey animals, and they’re instinctively wary of “predators”. It can take a lot of time and consistently to get them to trust you. It’s still too soon. It can take months. Many months for some.

Each and every budgie has a different personality, and not all will want to bond as closely as some you might have seen before. Take your time and you’ll have a nice little friend if you go at your bird’s pace.

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