Expert: Chrys Meatyard - 4/15/2007

Question
Hello Chrys.I just want to know to tame budgies that are scared of you and not hand trained.I try making them stand on my hand but they'd either fly around or huddle up in a corner.They are very scared of my hand and one of them bites.You have told me to clip their wing but it would be dangerous for them because I've got a cat that can somehow open doors and break chains no matter how hard they are.And my budgies won't be that happy.So can you tell me another way to tame them without clipping them and can you teach me what to do if they bite.Also, can you tell me how to separate female budgies with male budgies.Thanks.

Answer
Hi, Aline.

Your birds are scared of you and your hand/fingers because they were not handfed as babies.  This is also why one bites.  

Your situation will be difficult at best to work with because you have more than 1 bird, they aren't tame, and the cat problem.  Cats and birds don't mix!  In order to work with your birds, you'll need to work with each one separately in a room where the bird won't have access to the other birds, where the bird can't get to its cage, and where the cat can't get to the bird.  The bird's flight feathers will need to be clipped so the bird can't get away from you when you work with it.  Otherwise, you won't be able to work to try and tame your birds.

You can't try to tame them all together in a cage because taming doesn't work this way.  You have to work with each bird individually outside its cage in a location where the cat can't get to the bird.  Biting is a bird's way of defending itself.  If you corner a bird in its cage, its going to bite because it has no where to go to get away from you.  Teaching not to bite is part of the taming process, so until you can allow your birds to safely come out of their cage, you can't teach them not to bite.

Female budgies have brown/white/tan/beige ceres (colored area above the beak); male budgies have blue ceres.

Another way to have tame budgies is to pull them from their parents for handfeeding when the babies are about 10 days old and hand raise them for the parents.

Chrys