Budgerigars or parakeets are fun birds to keep as pets.
Although budgies are not difficult to tame, the taming process requires plenty of time,
patience, and consistency.
Don’t forget to have fun while you’re taming your budgie; it can be a truly rewarding
experience for both you and him!
Allow your budgie to adjust to its environment.
Budgies can be nervous and skittish animals.Taming them will not be effective if they are nervous
in their surroundings.
If you just purchased your budgie, give them about 2 weeks to become settled in to their
new environment.
One of the things that they will do during this time is locate his food and water dishes
in their cage.
Place the budgie in a busy room during their adjustment period, if possible.
Although this may seem counter productive, having them in a busy room will actually let
them get accustomed to seeing people as companions rather than threats.
Have the cage next to you when you are doing relaxing activities such as watching TV and
reading.You do not have to directly interact with your budgie when you have his cage close
to you.
It’s more important for the budgie to be comfortable in your presence.
Interact with your budgie without touching them.
Once the budgie is comfortable being around you, you can start working on interacting
with them more often.
You will still need to be very patient with them so that you don’t increase their anxiety.
Be mindful not to make eye contact with your budgie.
Budgie’s eyes are located on the sides of their heads, which is common in prey animals.
Because human’s eyes are positioned on the front of the head, looking directly at a budgie
signals to him that you are a predator−you definitely don’t want him to see you this
way!
Place your hand on the outside of the cage and talk to your budgie in soothing tones.
In this way, they will be able to see your hand as non-threatening; your soothing voice
will help to reduce their anxiety.
Give the budgie about a week to become comfortable with your hand being outside of the cage.
Place your hand inside the budgie's cage.
Open the cage door slowly when you do this so that you do not startle your budgie.
Do not try to touch them or anything else in the cage.
The goal is to have the budgie get comfortable with your hand being in his physical space.
It may take about a week for him to become comfortable with this
Having a treat in your hand each time that you reach into the cage to change your budgie’s
food and water will encourage them to get more comfortable with your hand.
Encourage your budgie to step onto your finger.
Once the budgie is comfortable with having your index finger close to him, slowly place
your index finger on his chest just above his feet and gently push up.
Make sure to use light pressure when you place your finger on their chest.
If you are too forceful when you place your index finger on your budgie’s chest, they
may get nervous and fly away from you.
Your budgie may not understand this movement at first and may fly away.
Just be patient with him and try again until he understands what you want them to do
Take your budgie out of the cage.
Now that your budgie is comfortable stepping onto your hand, it is now time to practice
taking them out of their cage.
Use slow movements and a soothing voice to coax them out of their cage.
Your budgie may be very reluctant to leave their cage, because that is their comfort
zone.
You can try enticing them out with treats, but do not rush them
It is okay if your budgie flies away, or flies right back into their cage, when you get him
out of the cage.
Walk with them to different rooms when they are perched on your finger.
Once your budgie is comfortable being perched on your finger outside of their cage, take
them to rooms that are unfamiliar to them.
The bathroom is a common room that budgie owners will take their bird to.
Your budgie may fly off your finger because it’s a new environment.
Once again, do not chase them if they do this.
Offering your budgie a treat in the different room may help them be more comfortable in
this new room.