Ask Lafeber

My finch doesn’t like me

Everytime I put my hand in the cage she flies everywhere and she chirps and jumps around a lot too I’ve also had her for 3 days

Hi Jenasis,

A finch is not a bird that likes to be handled, except in some rare cases if the bird was hand fed. But most finches should have another finch as a companion because they are not going to be a bird you handle. You don’t have to get the opposite sex – same sex finches will usually get along just fine. Finches are prey animals, so they are afraid of anything that might grab them. You need to move very slowly when you change her food and water or clean her cage. Your hand should not be in the cage except for feeding and cleaning. She has only been there a short time, and she needs a lot more time to get used to you and to trust you. But she is likely to always fly or move away from your hand no matter how long you have her. She is never going to ”like” you – again, a finch is not that type of pet. But she can learn that you aren’t going to grab her or hurt her so she can learn to at least trust you.

Thank you for asking Lafeber,

Brenda