Taming Rosellas

[Anna]

I know rosies have a bad rap as pets apparently being difficult to tame and lots of work. I did not know this when I acquired my two babies at 5 or 6 weeks old. Not to back down from a challenge I have set out to do the difficult (plus it would be unfair to get the birds and then not try to tame them). My main taming sessions basically consist of opening the cage, putting various food near me and then sitting quietly while they hop around. Putting them back in the cages has been a frustrating road especially since my boyfriend has repeatedly tried to grab them around the back to put them away rather than persevering with the step up thing. I have been training him along with the birds and now he is much better. He knows now that the birds will trust him more if he doesnt do that.

We pratice step ups with the birds while they are still in thier cages so the 'getting them back in thier cages' thing is getting much easier. Bullrush(the boy) now holds his foot up when he sees our hand coming. It's very cute, looks like he is waving. They are around 14 weeks old now and look forward to coming out now. They actually beg to come out when I walk in the door after work.

Not trying to brag with this thread. The aim was more to illustrate that sometimes the 'tough to tame' ones can make the most awesome pets so long as you have alot of patience and creative thinking. Also, if anyone has awesome taming ideas that worked for them with tough to tame birds they would be very much appreciated.

 

[FutureDVM]

I'm glad to hear the training is going well. I'm sure it helps that you're starting while they are so young. Rosellas are gorgeous birds! You should post some pictures of them.