out of the cage

Should i let my new budgie out of cage or should i first hand tame him? at the moment he is still scared of my hand

The only trouble with letting him out is that you may end up chasing him if you need to take him back into his cage, which could be detrimental to the bonding process. I personally only let birds that are at least semi tame (i.e., once they are happy to step up) out of the cage. I would be patient, and keep on spending time on the bonding process. Patience is key.

Id say let your Budgie out yes but also work on step up training. Hand feeding is a good way to establish trust so do this regular and your birdy will grow more confident and eventually learn to step on your finger which makes in and out the cage more easier and opens the door to trick training, petting and all the fun stuff and a closer bond.

P.s. It can take time so dont get discouraged. Every tiny step is huge progress x

the first time out of the cage, keep blinds/curtains on windows. Make the place bird safe, no chainsaws or boiling drinks etc!

Talk gently to the bird, maybe sitting down and non threatening, have treats available too. Let the bird come out of its own accord, if it doesnt want to come out dont force it. When I had budgies and they would not go back into the cage i would turn the lights down very low as they really do not want to fly in the dark, this will allow you to either pick them up or step up to you to go back in the cage.

Good luck and have fun

I would read Reebs sticky on budgies http://www.parrotforums.com/budgies-parakeets/72068-taming-bonding-budgerigars-tips-beginners.html

Follow that and you will have no problems.

Will read that budgie sticky in a moment but wanted to pop in and say that yet again, I agree 100% with that Reeb Aviculturist.


Taking out of the cage in my mind is right when the bird starts to reliably step up intead of trying to flee your hand(can still be hesitent about it, but it should be a consistent reaction. The bird should know what "step" means, and know you are not going to eat him/her). Expect not to get the bird out of the cage the first few times you try. It will probably hop back to the nearest perch. That is OK, just keep trying. My usual MO is to spend several very short taming sessions per day with the critter. As with training any animal, end on a positive note. Fatty is not what I would call "very tame", so I am still doing several short sessions a day with him. I start by talking to him thru the cage, getting him to step up in the cage, taking him out of the cage, we currently are working on getting him to "step down" and he sometimes takes off at that point, but I just go ask him to step up again(which he does), and we keep working on it(as long as he doesn't get super stressed). Eventually he will step down to my knee or the adorable gym my mom surprised him with for christmas(my mom is a sweetheart) and will chatter away and hang out with me. He *loves* him some Alex Bird, so usually 1-2 times a day I will have them both out together(Alex needs breaks from Fatty, he gets super annoyed by him). After about 10-30 minutes(sometimes longer if we are watching a documentary, which is a great cheat for taming birds. Once they get to where they will not run off on you, put on something on the TV, and watch it with your bird. Reading a book is another good one, but consider reading the book out loud to your new pal) I ask Fatty to step up, I give him a little scritch, and I tell him to "go home" as he steps from my finger to his perch in his cage. I LAVISH praise on him(How has he not learned to say "GOOD BIRD!" yet but has learned so much else?), and sometimes will give him a bit of millet or something. I do not walk away immediately after putting him in the cage. I usually praise him and then hang out talking to him for a bit longer.

Of course, that's just on paper and things don't always go as smoothly as we would like. All budgers are unique characters, but they are all fabulous. I have literally never met a parakeet I didn't adore.


OH! And when you do this, it is helpful to keep a few things in mind: the cage is home and safe. If your pal can see it, they will try to reach it(especially in the early stages of taming). Also it can be helpful to bring the bird to a smaller room the first few times you take it out, so that if it does take off there are fewer hazards, and it will hopefully be less stressful on the bird as it reduces the liklihood of needing to chase the bird, and smallens(lol is that a word) the likely duration of any chase, as there will be less area in which the bird can evade you and draw out the stressful situation.

Always use a calm voice, even if you are panicing and trying to chase down a terrified budger before some awful fate can meet it. The bird will react to the tone of your voice. Keeping a calm voice has several times enabled me to "deescalate", if you will, a hazardous situations.

Anyway, sorry for the short novel comment. I am apparently in a talky mood this morning.

EDIT: This is my opinion, and I have seen posts implying different approaches to this, but I do not use "time out" in training birds. If the bird bites, DO NOT REACT AT ALL, and I say DO NOT PUT IT BACK IN THE CAGE right away. If the bird takes off, DO NOT IMMEDIATELY PUT IT BACK IN THE CAGE. ESPECIALLY in the beginning, that is giving the bird *exactly* what it wants and it teaching it that to be left alone all it needs to do is bite you or take off or destroy this or poop on that or whatever other way of "acting out" that prompted you to put the bird in "time out". That is so far one of the bigger differences I have noticed between my training methods and the methods that seem to be reccommended on this forum. Act like all is normal and keep the bird out longer, even if you had been planning to put them away anyway.