WE finally got a pet

[bambii]

living at an apartment is hard having a pet. and I miss having one so we went to a pet store and bought a parkakette. it is white, blue and black.

We named him Stanley. he sure can churp up a storm especially in the morning, and he likes to rearrange his cage he is allways moving his water around, one morning I heard all this noise and I yelled at my oldest to go back to bed, and it was the bird..

i dont really know very much about him i have to get a book we have had him for 2 weeks and he still pecks at me I have to wear a sock on my hand when I hold him. and he wont sit on my finger yet and I have to catch him to hold him. So he is still wild.

I love having him.

 

[Nutsy]

C O N G R A T U L A T I O N S

 

[epcotfan]

Congrats on the new family member...BUT PLEASE do not hold the bird in a sock hand! He is NOT wild, he is scared. With budgies (parakeets) you need to build trust before they will sit on your hand or finger. Parakeets do not like being held like that and will associate fear with appearance of your hand every time he is grabbed.

I've had several parakeets (budgies) over the years and it took lots of patience and trust before they would sit on my finger. I spent many hours just putting my hand in the cage and letting the bird take treats out of the palm of my hand. Eventually they warmed up to sitting on my finger. Talking softly to them helped. You cannot force it to do anything. If you do, it will make taming him/her harder. Again, you don't want the bird to be afraid of your hand. You want Stanley to associate your hand with good things, ie TREATS.

Once my bird began getting used to eating seed/treats out of my hand I gently stroked his tummy with my index finger. After he got used to that, I'd gently press my index finger along the lower portion of his tummy and try to get him to step onto my finger. Eventually he got the idea and began stepping onto my finger himself.

Here are some helpful links:
http://home.ca.inter.net/~dhansen/first.html
http://home.ca.inter.net/~dhansen/consider.html
http://home.ca.inter.net/~dhansen/budgie.html

 

[bambii]

Then I hold the bird. Dont worry the bird doesnt not go in the sock I would never do that

so he wont bite me...

and I hold him on my chest and give him apples, then after his holding time I let him fly around the house for a few minutes.

 

[Dan Murphy]

That's great, bambii. Enjoy your new feathered friend. Cool.

 

[helenabear]

Congratulations on your new pet!!!

 

[JESW]

Awww...enjoy your new featherd friend! I love his name! We have 7 of the budgies - 2 females named Max and Sylvia and 5 males named Jerry, Jake, Tweety, Bob & Zapdos. We also have two male grey cockatiels named Fred & Ziggo. Ziggo is the only tame bird and he loves to sit on me and sing up a storm. (As I type this he is on the monitor yakking at me - he just did the wolf whistle as he is trying to get my attention. )

Our budgies aren't tame because I chose to have more than one and have them live as a flock. There are three cages that house all the birds. The budgies and the tiels get along just fine, in fact, Fred thinks he is a budgie! We also let our birds out all day since we have the room for them. When they get to the point where they won't get on the ladder and let me put them in at night, then I clip their wings. They usually put themselves to bed when the sun goes down. (They don't want to get clipped!)

Budgies can be bribed with sprigs of millet. It takes a while, but most will adjust to your hand. Our youngest budgie (Zapdos) was on his way to being tamed but I knew he wanted to be with the rest of the flock so I let him join them. (We had been keeping him separate)

Good luck!

Jill

 

[cassie]

Hi bambii, glad your enjoying your parakeet. Here's a great parakeet forum that I frequently visit

http://forums.birdhobbyist.com/