[elga]

Hi everyone!

I have a new budgie Umi (12 weeks). He joined the cage of our older budgie Teebo (17 weeks) around 3 weeks ago. I spent a lot of time daily training and interacting with Teebo, he got used to me and is not scared of hands.

Umi comes from an outside voliere from a breeder who had a big amount of other birds. Umi has never been held by people before I got him. From the beginning he was very wild and bity. Budgies seem getting along and spend a lot of time together. The problem is that being together I see that Teebo started to be scared of my hands as well as Umi. I continue trainings, but it gets quite complicated with such a wild bird. Umi sees how Teebo step up, does sometimes the same but he is very insecure. They both started to run away from me if I have to change something in the cage or offer them a millet. Sometimes playing outside they fly down to the floor but cant get back due to their clipped wings. Biting Umi is always a problem to return back to the cage. He runs away like crazy and will better hurt himself being stuck in between the table legs rather than step up on my finger or allow to touch him.

Question is: How can I prevent Umi from biting me? He bites very hard. Should I separate the birds and start training Umi in another cage?

 

[Therm]

You could keep the bird together and have training sessions wit them one on one.

It might also be worth trying to get your birds to try stepping up onto a perch before your hand.They might feel more comfortable that way.

Have a look through the training and bonding stickies and you might find some answers there also. Good luck.

 

[elga]

Thank you Therm for your suggestions! I will also check thoroughly the thinning and bonding stickies!

You could keep the bird together and have training sessions wit them one on one.

It might also be worth trying to get your birds to try stepping up onto a perch before your hand.They might feel more comfortable that way.

Have a look through the training and bonding stickies and you might find some answers there also. Good luck.

 

[FaeryBee]

Using a small dowel perch to move Umi from one place to another as Therm suggested is a good option.
Since Umi is not used to being handled, taking each budgie into a different room for one-on-one training sessions should be helpful.

http://talkbudgies.com/articles-gen...ship-differences-dynamics-between-flocks.html

http://talkbudgies.com/articles-bud...-biting-learned-often-avoidable-behavior.html

http://talkbudgies.com/articles-budgie-training-bonding/315073-positive-reinforcement-training.html

http://talkbudgies.com/articles-budgie-training-bonding/315065-basics-clicker-training.html

 

[philw]

I would suggest keeping your new bird in it's own cage in another
area and begin training as a new bird, and invest the same amount of time that your did with Teebo. Teebo is identifying with his
bird side, and less with you since birds unless strongly bonded with their humans, will prefer other birds. Put time into the new one
and then reintroduce them later when you've made progress with
Umi. A bird that bites strongly is usually just very afraid.

 

[IAmStarby]

To stop biting, first you need to find out why he's biting. Most likely, it's out of fear. You really need to get him used to your hands and comfortable around them. My budgie also had a very hard bite. He wasn't afraid of hands, exactly, but he would get nippy if I tried to get him to step up by pushing against his abdomen. I made stepping up his decision--once he was completely desensitized to me and my hands that is. I first started with millet, telling him to step up on my finger. I never pressed, just offered it in front of him. Now he does it pretty consistently unless he's just not in the mood. If he isn't, I leave him alone. Sorry if this isn't answering your question haha. I would suggest definitely training them separately, but if you really want to make sure they're both bonded to you I'd keep them in separate cages and let them out to play together until you're ready to move them back in together. Hope this helps!

 

[elga]

FaeryBee, philw, IAmStarby thank you very much for all your suggestions and links! I appreciate the stories you have shared with me.

Actually, it seems it goes well with Umi. I didn't separate the budgies, but I kept interacting with them both and trying to play with them further from their cage. In just three days Umi steps up on my finger and not anymore bite me nor my boyfriend! Umi is still afraid and everything excites him very much, but the progress is very much seen. He always gives Teebo to do stuff first and only after he is going to eat millet/step up/etc.