Taming Adult Bird After Partners Death

[Daniel 416]

Hello All,

Looking for some advice/knowledge. I had a bonded pair of 3 year old budgies. Sadly one of them died.

These birds came from the pet store and where never tamed. My question is, now that the remaining budgie has no partner, do you think it is possible to tame the remaining bird. Or should I consider the possibility of slowly introducing a new partner?

This bird is really quite fearful, so I’m sceptical about the possibility of taming. Also the bird is currently kept in a home office sized room that we converted to an Aviary. If I were to try to start working on taming should I rehouse the bird in a cage? I’m worried that such a drastic change in available space would be cruel and upsetting for the bird.

Sorry for the long post. Any advice is greatly appreciated. Thanks

 

[SailBoat]

Only Good /Safe things happen when Humans are around.
It takes time, but it is very possible.

 

[Zoruace]

whats thier favorite treat or food? whenever you go inside the room drop one or two in a bowl
they will soon learn to assosiate you with yummy treats
once they do try target training there is a million of tutorials on you tubes here is a thread that might help

Taming and bonding with budgerigars: tips for beginners

I have seen a lot of questions on the forums about taming budgies. Some users have suggested that I create a single post with some helpful information. There's a lot of myths about budgies. Firstly, many people do not regard them as parrots. Budgies ARE parrots: they can bond with their owner...

www.parrotforums.com

 

[Daniel 416]

Only Good /Safe things happen when Humans are around.
It takes time, but it is very possible.

Thanks for the replies. Encouraging that the opinion is that it is possible. I guess what I want to know aside from that is how should I facilitate the positive interaction given that he is flighted and has a massive room to avoid me in.

should I move him to cage? Should I keep on the large room and consider having flight feathers clipped for a time so the he needs to begin to ‘rely’ on me. Or should I just start to spend time in the room? Thanks for the feedback.

 

[Zoruace]

Thanks for the replies. Encouraging that the opinion is that it is possible. I guess what I want to know aside from that is how should I facilitate the positive interaction given that he is flighted and has a massive room to avoid me in.

should I move him to cage? Should I keep on the large room and consider having flight feathers clipped for a time so the he needs to begin to ‘rely’ on me. Or should I just start to spend time in the room? Thanks for the feedback.

i personally am against clipping spending time in the room will be best for me maybe with a bowlful of millet spray near you? anything that makes him curious about you
you cn live with him in a room and no need for bonding but its up to you

 

[fiddlejen]

IF you wish to tame the bird, both your ideas (clipping, and moving to a cage) might be useful.

But, I would strongly recommend to not make the changes at once, or together. Most budgies find change, especially sudden change, highly threatening. So, whatever changes you make, do them slowly and one-at-a-time.

First try moving the cage Into the room, if it isn't there already. IF it is in the room, does the budgie sleep there already? If not, try encouraging that. Try placing the food and water into the cage. (IF that's not the usual spot, then gradually adjust the spots where food & water are placed until they are closer to the cage.)

There are threads about taming birds in general. Sit near the bird, reading aloud. Along with, treats appear when you are near, etc. All good advice.

Another important question, though. You've had the bird a while. What is the bird's personality? I can tell you all about my first two budgies, Jefferson and Calliope.

Calliope would've been tamable, indeed might've been my only-bird-ever, IF i had gotten her first. She is much more willing to be friendly. More docile and less timid. Without Jefferson (and without, now, her babies), she would be quite willing to learn to step up, to interact, probably relatively easy to train. However, she has always considered herself to be Jefferson's bird.

But Jefferson, on the other hand. Very much Bold, and In-Charge, and terrified. Mr. Do NOT Touch me. (Not just, people. He's happy to preen other birds, but won't even let another bird preen him.) He would never be tamable. However, after much training, he Does believe he has sufficiently taught me that he is in-charge.

My Jefferson, once ever given freedom of my rooms, if I took it away, it would break his heart. Clip his wings?!!? Oh horror!!! (He was depressed AT me for weeks last time I did that, out of necessity.) Calliope, she would not care.

The reason I'm telling you all about my budgies? IF you cannot tell this much about the personality of your current budgie, then you should start by observing. Sit quietly in the room with the bird, relaxed, observing. Also interact similarly.

Hopefully you should be able to figure out the best way to proceed, for the personality of Your bird.

 

[Daniel 416]

i personally am against clipping spending time in the room will be best for me maybe with a bowlful of millet spray near you? anything that makes him curious about you
you cn live with him in a room and no need for bonding but its up to you

Thank you very much. I agree, I do not want to clip his wings. I will likely do as you suggest and take it very slow. Spend my free time in the room with him.

 

[Daniel 416]

IF you wish to tame the bird, both your ideas (clipping, and moving to a cage) might be useful.

But, I would strongly recommend to not make the changes at once, or together. Most budgies find change, especially sudden change, highly threatening. So, whatever changes you make, do them slowly and one-at-a-time.

First try moving the cage Into the room, if it isn't there already. IF it is in the room, does the budgie sleep there already? If not, try encouraging that. Try placing the food and water into the cage. (IF that's not the usual spot, then gradually adjust the spots where food & water are placed until they are closer to the cage.)

There are threads about taming birds in general. Sit near the bird, reading aloud. Along with, treats appear when you are near, etc. All good advice.

Another important question, though. You've had the bird a while. What is the bird's personality? I can tell you all about my first two budgies, Jefferson and Calliope.

Calliope would've been tamable, indeed might've been my only-bird-ever, IF i had gotten her first. She is much more willing to be friendly. More docile and less timid. Without Jefferson (and without, now, her babies), she would be quite willing to learn to step up, to interact, probably relatively easy to train. However, she has always considered herself to be Jefferson's bird.

But Jefferson, on the other hand. Very much Bold, and In-Charge, and terrified. Mr. Do NOT Touch me. (Not just, people. He's happy to preen other birds, but won't even let another bird preen him.) He would never be tamable. However, after much training, he Does believe he has sufficiently taught me that he is in-charge.

My Jefferson, once ever given freedom of my rooms, if I took it away, it would break his heart. Clip his wings?!!? Oh horror!!! (He was depressed AT me for weeks last time I did that, out of necessity.) Calliope, she would not care.

The reason I'm telling you all about my budgies? IF you cannot tell this much about the personality of your current budgie, then you should start by observing. Sit quietly in the room with the bird, relaxed, observing. Also interact similarly.

Hopefully you should be able to figure out the best way to proceed, for the personality of Your bird.

I agree that things must proceed slowly. Thank you for highlighting just how slow that is for a budgie, especially one who has just gone through a traumatic loss. Thank you also for pointing out the need to observe. I will definitely apply this sound advise. Thank you again.

 

[Skarila]

As fiddlejen already mentioned, budgies are really shy little birds, and changes should truly be done one step at a time.

Our little rescued budgie Csilli is with us now for 7 years or so. First 3 years since we found her she was completely wild and afraid even from her own shadow. She is still and extremely shy bird. not food driven at all. She likes us, she likes whistling back and forth with us, and has her way of playing. Very very much hands off bird, still extremely shy.

If you want the bird to grow closer to you, especially now that it is a single, I highly suggest being in the same room where the bird is most of the time. Read a book, do your work on the computer, just your presence should help the bird to relax. They're definitely harder to tame than bigger parrots, since they're so small.

Clipping wings won't really help with your relationship, you'll end up having a terrified struggling little bird who will freely jump out of your hand because of fear. And I'm sure you wouldn't like a wounded bird...

Because it is aware of your presence for around 2-3 years now (far as I understood) I do believe there might be a slight sliver of chance for the bird to grow closer to you. Just keep in mind not to have high expectations of the bird.