Ask Lafeber

Budgie training

Hi, I recently bought a budgie that I was told was hand reared, I got him at 8 weeks old and he is now 10 weeks. He literally runs away from me every time I try get close, he sometimes gets on my finger when I am holding millet but jumps off as soon as I try move, I talk to him all the time and am very calm around him; I have never tried grabbing him and have slowly introduced my hand around him but he just doesn’t seem like he’s getting use to me at all: I feel like it’s 2 steps forward 10 steps backwards. Just wondering if you have any advice? Thankyou

Hi Natasha,

You haven’t had him very long so he is still settling in and learning to trust you. That being said, he doesn’t seem to be behaving like a hand raised bird. He should have been very tame at 8 weeks, since he would just barely be weaned. It’s more likely he was pulled from the parents – basically sold directly from the nest box which is a common practice with parakeet breeders. Either that or he is older than you were told. A hand fed bird will revert to being wild if not handled enough after weaning, but at 8 weeks old, he would not have been weaned for long enough to get wild again. It is possible you have a female and they are not as social as the males and tend to be more shy of hands. Just be patient with him and spend time sitting with him and just talking to him. Wait to let him get more curious about you and approach you. I’ll give you some links with more details about taming and training as well as how to understand his body language. Hopefully with some more time you can hep this little guy trust you and be a good pet.

Teaching Your Bird

Caring For Your Bird

Thank you for asking Lafeber,

Brenda