Are you wondering how to tame a Budgie?
As you’re going to learn, taming your Budgie isn’t as hard as most pet owners imagine, and it’s important for your bird’s wellbeing.
Fortunately, I’m here to help you with step-by-step instructions about the taming process of Budgies and how to care for a Budgie.
Just keep reading.
Table of Contents
How to Tame a Budgie? A Step-by-Step Guide
Check out this pretty insightful video!
@charlieisabudgie Reply to @xxsimi_mahroshxx Hope this was helpful, I didn’t have much time to explain it, if you have questions you can ask! #fyp #budgie #howtotame ♬ original sound – CharlieTheBudgie
Budgerigars are one of the most popular pet birds because they’re cute, charming, and easy-going, and it’s easy to fall in love with their happy chirps.
However, birds are easy to spook and can escape from their cage when you least expect it. As such, you must tame your Parakeets and earn their trust.
So, how to tame a Budgie? Taming your Budgie is as simple as getting the bird used to your presence by bribing it with tasty food to make your pet associate your hands with good things.
It’s a process that will take time, patience, and commitment until your pet parrot builds a positive connection to your presents.
Fortunately, Budgie taming is easy as long as you follow these simple steps and don’t panic.
#1 Place the Cage in the Right Spot
Before you bring your Budgie home and start the taming process, you should think about where you will place the Budgie cage.
Choose a room where Budgie can see the people from the family without being too bothered by their presence. You want your Budgie to understand people aren’t a threat. (1)
Moreover, the birdcage should be close to the wall, so your pet doesn’t feel surrounded and has a safe place to retreat. And keep loud noises to a minimum to avoid stressing your bird.
Budgies don’t like too much movement above their heads, and Budgie taming will take more sessions if your bird gets worked up often. So, place the cage at eye level.
You should also know how to size bird cages for Budgies if you’re going to take care of more than one pet bird. Otherwise, your parrots will get too stressed.
Related: Proper Cage Size for 4 Budgies
#2 Let Your Budgie Adapt to the New Environment
Don’t start the Budgie taming process when you take your Budgie home. Most Budgies come from pet shops where they live in noisy cages with little human contact.
So, it’s quite a shock when you move your Budgie to a quieter cage and stick around to chat with them. They’re not used to getting so much attention from humans.
As such, you should allow your pet at least two weeks to get comfortable with its new surroundings before you attempt hand taming a Budgie.
During the adjustment period, interact with your Budgie without touching them:
- Talk in a soothing voice so your pet bird can get used to your voice.
- Avoid looking Budgies in the eyes since birds consider direct eye contact threatening.
- Open the cage only when you have to change the water/food.
#3 Start Building Trust
Once your Budgie adapts to your home, it’s time for the next step in your how to tame a Budgie plan. You have to get the Budgie comfortable with your hands:
- Slowly raise your hand and put it on the cage’s bars.
- Talk in a soothing voice to your Budgie to communicate there’s nothing to be afraid of.
- Do this exercise for 10-15 minutes and have several training sessions per day.
- Observe your Budgie for signs that they’re happy – wing flapping, beak grinding, tweeting, chirping, wagging its tail, and puffing.
#4 Place Your Hand in the Cage
When you think your Budgie isn’t afraid of your hands near its cage, it’s time to move on:
- Open the cage and slowly put your hand inside.
- Don’t try to touch or grab the Budgie. Just let them get used to your fingers being in close proximity.
- Put a towel over your hand if you’re worried about your Budgie biting you. And don’t panic if the parrot starts flapping around the cage.
- Keep your hand inside the cage for about 15-20 minutes and repeat a couple of times per day.
#5 Tempt Your Budgie with Food
Choose a treat your Budgie loves, such as bits of millet spray, seeds, suitable fresh fruits, or pellets. Place the treat in your hands and move the hand close to your Budgie.
Your goal is to get your Budgie to come close and eat from your hand. It will take a couple of days and lots of patience, so keep your cool.
To speed the process, offer your Budgie its favorite treat every time you open the cage to change the water and food.
#6 Begin Finger Training
As Dr. Sharman Hoppes explains, “Birds that are cage bound tend to get overweight and have associated health issues.”(2)
So, once your Budgie is bold enough to eat the spray millet from your hands, it’s time to get your pet bird out of the cage.
But how to get a Budgie out of a cage without it flying away? You need to finger train your pet bird to perch on your hand (3):
- Open the cage, place your hand inside, and talk in a soothing voice to your pet bird.
- Stick your index finger and move it close to your Budgie. Do it slowly and watch your parrot for signs of unease.
- If the bird remains calm, encourage the Budgie to perch by placing your index finger on its chest, just above the feet.
- Give your Budgie a gentle push, say “Step up,” and wait for them to step up onto your finger. It can take you a couple of tries until your Budgie gets the idea, so be patient.
- You can bribe them to perch on your index finger with a treat. Just make sure there’s no sneaky nibbling – your Budgie should be able to reach the treat only by stepping on your finger.
- Have several short taming sessions per day and reward your Budgie every time they perch on your finger and stay.
- Watch this video for a demonstration.
#7 Take the Budgie Out of the Cage
It’s time to learn how to get Budgie out of the cage. Get your parrot to perch on your finger and slowly remove your hand from the cage.
- Do it slowly and try not to panic if your Budgie flies back. Reward with favorite foods if the Budgie stays calm.
- Don’t be disappointed if your parrot flies back inside the cage as soon as you take them out. Give it time and offer plenty of tasty treats whenever the bird stays.
- Also, don’t chase your Budgie around if they take flight. You’ll scare it because you mimic a prey animal. Instead, wait for your Budgie to land and offer your finger as a perch again.
#8 Take Your Budgie to a Different Room
In a couple of weeks of finger training, your Budgie should be ready to see the rest of the house:
- Ensure the room is bird-safe – no other pets, dangerous objects, mirrors, fragile ornaments, or uncovered windows.
- Take your Budgie in hand and slowly walk to the other room.
- Use positive reinforcement and reward good behavior with a piece of millet.
#9 Return Your Budgie to Its Cage
Once your Budgie has explored the other room, you can return them to the cage. Repeat the same exercise a couple of times per day until your Budgie is comfortable with your house.
Check out this video for more tips.
How Long Does It Take to Tame Budgies?
As you can see, taming Budgies requires a bit of patience. You shouldn’t force things or you can make a mistake and lose all the trust you’ve built.
So, let’s talk about how long it takes to tame Budgies.
How Long Should It Take a Budgie to Trust You?
As one Budgie owner says, “Take things at your bird’s pace and not what everyone else tells you to.” (4)
But you should be able to get your Budgie to trust you in a couple of weeks. Just don’t make any sudden moves over your Budgie’s head and don’t try to grab them.
Moreover, ask yourself, ” what do budgies like in their cage.” Ensure your Budgies has a comfortable cage with enough space to explore, plenty of toys, and suitable perches. Then you can start thinking about how to tame a Budgie.
Is Taming a Budgie Easy?
Taming Budgies isn’t hard, but it requires time and commitment. You need to spend time with your pet bird to earn its trust, and you can’t rush through the taming Budgie steps.
But how long does it take to tame Budgies? It depends on the individual bird and its temperament. Usually, Budgies are social birds, but some are very shy or come from the wild.
Parakeets will warm up to their Budgie owners in a few days if they have had plenty of human interaction in the past. However, a wild Parakeet can take several weeks/months until it’s tame.
What Is the Best Age to Tame/Train a Budgie?
The best age to tame a Budgie is when the bird is around 10-12 weeks of age. (5) Baby Budgies are too little for training, but once they’re weaned, they’re ready.
In general, the sooner you start taming your Budgie, the easier the training process will be. Older birds are more suspicious by nature, so you’ll need a lot of time to tame adult Budgies.
5 Tricks to Tame a Budgie Fast
Are you having trouble taming your Budgie? Then I’ve got five tricks to help you tame your Budgie as fast as possible.
How to get Budgie back in the Cage? Use Light and Food!
No matter how careful you are, your untamed Budgie can still escape the cage and perch on out-of-reach places. In this case, don’t start chasing your panicky bird around the house.
So, how to get untamed Budgie back in the cage?
Place a night light near the cage and turn off all other light sources. Your pet parrot will think it’s time to sleep and will fly back inside the cage.
You can also tempt your anxious bird back inside the cage with a sprig of millet or its favorite food.
Clip the Wing Feathers
Some owners think it’s cruel to trim their parrot’s wing feathers. However, clipping your untamed Budgie’s wings ensures they won’t get hurt if they get loose inside the house.
As such, it will be easier to finger train your Budgerian, and it will take less time since you won’t be worried about escape attempts.
Moreover, your parrot’s flight feathers will grow back in time, and you can stop trimming the wings of your tame adult Budgie.
Pick the Right Time for a Training Session
Since you should focus on training and taming your Budgie, pick a day and time to start when you’re not too busy or agitated. Rushing things is only going to scare your bird.
Moreover, pay attention to your Budgerian’s body language. If your bird seems anxious or stressed, you should postpone the training and work on gaining your pet’s trust.
And keep your training sessions short – up to 15-20 minutes. Otherwise, your Budgie will get tired and stop paying attention to you.
Use Gloves
In the first few days, your Budgie may bite you when you place your hand inside the cage.
It’s important not to flinch or jerk your hands. Otherwise, your Budgie will learn that biting works at making the threat go away.
That’s why you should use gloves or cover your fingers with a towel when you’re hand taming a Budgie.
Don’t Shout
To bond with your Budgie and tame them, you should talk in a soft, gentle voice. Avoid shouting and loud noises until your Budgerian has adapted to your house.
And don’t punish your pet bird if they don’t want to get out of the cage. Be patient and use only positive reinforcement, or you can traumatize your Parakeet.
How to Tame a Budgie: FAQs
Can Budgies Be Too Old to Tame?
As I already said, it’s best to train Budgies when they’re over 10 weeks of age. But is it too late to tame an adult Budgie?
No, you can still tame adult Budgies, but it’s going to take more time and patience, especially if the bird is older than six months with little human contact.
What Is the Fastest Way to Tame a Budgie?
Use a tasty treat like a spray millet to teach your Budgie that your hands aren’t something dangerous. Wait for your bird to become used to your presence and start finger training.
How Do I Bond with My Budgie?
Speak to your Budgie in a soft voice and stay close to the cage as much as possible during the day. Give your pet parrot time to get used to your presence and use it to earn your Budgie’s trust.
Conclusion
Taming your Budgie is an excellent way to bond with your pet bird and get it to adapt quickly to its new home. It’s the same as training a new puppy or a kitten!
And while you can tame some Budgies in a couple of days, it can take you weeks to earn the trust of others.
As such, you shouldn’t despair if you have little success at first. Just be patient and use plenty of positive reinforcement to make your Budgie feel happy and safe in its new house.
What do you think about our step-by-step guide on how to tame a Budgie? Is your Budgie finger-trained? Share your experience in the comment section.
Resources
- 1. Where to Put a Budgie Cage | Budgie Cages | Budgies | Guide | Omlet UK [Internet]. www.omlet.co.uk. [cited 2022 Feb 20]. Available from: https://www.omlet.co.uk/guide/budgies/budgie_cages/where_to_put_a_budgie_cage/
- 2. Parakeets [Internet]. CVMBS News. 2013 [cited 2022 Feb 20]. Available from: https://vetmed.tamu.edu/news/pet-talk/parakeets/
- 3. How to hand tame budgies and parakeets – some tips for you – Lets Talk Birds [Internet]. www.letstalkbirds.com. Available from: https://www.letstalkbirds.com/taming-training-budgies/
- 4. Alieste. How And Why I Tamed My Budgies In The First Week [Internet]. 2019 [cited 2022 Feb 20]. Available from: https://www.reddit.com/r/budgies/comments/b311ix/how_and_why_i_tamed_my_budgies_in_the_first_week/
- 5. What Is The Best Age To Get A Budgie? [Internet]. Budgie Central. 2021 [cited 2022 Feb 20]. Available from: https://www.budgiecentral.com/best-age-to-get-a-budgie/
Barry Stingmore is a British content writer living in Fuerteventura, Spain. An animal lover at heart, he shares his home with a dog and four rescue cats and has a passion for writing about animals big and small.
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