Help training 2 new English budgies

[2budgies2]

Hi there!

I just brought home 2 sweet English budgies 4 days ago. They're a little over a month old and they were hand-fed and tamed by a nice breeder. He advised taking them out for 15 minutes every day right away, and he thought they would be cooperative.

But they aren't! They're very bonded to each other, which is quite cute. When I go near them in the cage, however, they either hop away or, quite often, just do nothing and ignore me. (Sometimes they even shut their eyes and appear to sleep.)

For a couple minutes, many times a day, I hold some millet in my hand and just hold it out to them. So far, they ignore it or hop away. Usually just sit there and ignore.

The breeder said it would be fine to gently grab them and take them out of their cage, since it was very important to get them out so they could bond with me. Once out of their cage (I did it one by one), they did indeed sit on my hand and tried to hop away sometimes -- were clearly a bit scared -- but did stay on my hand for a few minutes and let me pet them.

I do not really want to grab them again. Everything online I've read said that is bad, and it seemed to traumatize them a bit.

I read a lot online about how how to hand-tame parakeets from a pet store, but is there a different approach/pace to take with parakeets who are babies and hand-tamed (with the breeder, but not with me)? I'm happy to take a slow approach, but I don't want to lose any training that the breeder did with them (and he seemed to say it was very important to handle them each day).

Is there a different approach to take with a pair? Will it be possible to tame them if they're so bonded to one another (without removing them to separate cages, which I'd ideally like to not do)?

Is grabbing them and bringing them out to work with them okay, or should that be avoided and just take a very slow approach?

Would love some tips on what to do!

 

[Laurasea]

Awww I love English budgies.
Id probably scoop both of em up and go to your bedroom sit on the bed , close tge door and play and have treats,.
You have some Lee way with babies, abd if you keep it calm and positive and work with them together , i think it will be OK. Taking just one away would probably stress them. But allowing them both to explore you and have tge space of the bed might help. Put down towels for tge poop of course

 

[2budgies2]

Thank you for the tip! So you don't think scooping them both up (I used a towel last time, since it seemed more gentle than my hands -- but didn't like, cover their faces or anything like that) will make them distrust me too much and go backwards?

 

[bug_n_flock]

Towels are scary parakeet eating monsters generally speaking. Just use your hands gently. I bet there isn't a need to restrain them or anything. At that age, I will "grab" babies by hand, but it isn't the same type of grab as might be used on an untame bird. More picking them up than grabbing. "Scooping them up" is a great way to put it.

 

[Laurasea]

Bug n flock the towel eating g monter is correct! So funny
2Budgies2 no towel, just cup your hands around them, if it a long walk to tge bedroom cuddle tgem up to yiur chest as you walk. Be calm and happy snd bsby talk them, dobt be hesitant or nervous, burds pick all tgst up.
Babies like this thst have been handled , tiu want to be spending a lot of time with them, they loose thst bsby easy going in a few shirt weeks if you dont keep up handle and messing with. Having tgrm both together and tgdy will relax after a couple if miniuts and should start exploring and hsve some of their seeds sbd food. Do t focus on train per say just let them jump around and nibble on tge millit yiu are holding get8 used to being able to jump on off yiur hands just a few inches from tge bed. I just think thsts a safe controlled environment for you guys to get to know each other.

 

[bug_n_flock]

We currently have 2 babies around the age of yours right now-Robin and Fish. We have handled them every day since they hatched, and mostly at this stage we do just let them hang out and do what they want. We play the "step up game" and things like that, but no serious focus on training yet. Lots of naps, kisses, treats, and cuddles. If your home is warm enough you could offer them a shallow dish of water in their cage to take a bath in. Robin loves baths, but Fish not so much. Robin even splashes around in their water dish. spray millet is always a hit with budgies, especially young ones. Now is also your best time for introducing a varied diet. Baby spinach, chopped kale, broccoli, the list goes on. Budgies love veggies, but fruits don't tend to go over quite as well. New experiences are fantastic at this age, within reason. Think socializing a puppy: lots of new experiences but not too many, and make sure the experiences are as pleasant as possible.



Overall have fun and enjoy! They are only babies for a little while.

 

[2budgies2]

Thank you for all this advice! Taking them out together (gently scooping with just hands, but not waiting for them to just step up while in the cage) was great advice. They seemed much better being out together! One of them is also a lot calmer than the other, so hopefully that calmness will rub off.

I hadn't realized that I could do something a bit different with babies, so this was really great!

 

[2budgies2]

Also, how do their personalities change once they mature and are no longer babies?