Lisa Shea Forums Parakeets General Parakeet Chat Hi! I'm own a budgie too!

'm new here. I have a 4 1/2 year old Harlequin ( at least resembles one) parakeet named Trouble. She is mostly yellow, with black spots on the wings, and a green/yellow tail. I was reading the instructions on taming a parakeet, and remember what I went through with Trouble. She hates being handled;however, she has no problem eating from my hand. (especially, if it is millet!) I realize that it might be too late to hand tame her, and since she is real resistant I would be afraid to make her any more nervous than she is. She is very gymnastic, and likes to listen to a CD with a variety of bird sounds. This keeps her happy, and that is what counts.

Welcome to the forum. I have to admit I do not know what a Harlequin parakeet is.

I don't think it is too late to hand tame your keet. We have one forum member that go a keet that was older and had been neglected and managed to make quite good progress with her keet.

Although if you are happy with enjoying her the way she is that is great. And like you said that is all that matters.

We would love to see a picture of her. She sound beautiful.

Welcome!

I agree with BLR. It's definitely not too late to tame Trouble. She sounds very healthy too -- just be sure not to feed her too much millet! Don't be afraid to make her a bit nervous. There's no getting around that while training. It would definitely help to have her wings clipped. This way, you can more easily control & tame her and in case of emergency you can save her. Bring her into a different room where she can't see her cage -- she will be more willing to learn if the cage is not visible. Be consistent. Every day, do 1-2 20 minute training sessions where you simply put your finger in front of her chest repeatedly and say "up". Reward her with literally 1-2 bites of millet when she does so. You may have to push slightly on her chest to get her to ose her balance.

I'm glad to hear that you mainly care about her happines rather than her being tame. But there are many benefits to having a tame keet. It's much safer and more rewarding for you. During the training process, which may take as little as a week or up to a year, you really shouldn't play the bird sounds for Trouble. That will cause her to long to be with these birds and she will likely ignore you and have no interest in bonding with you. It is VERY possible to atleast get Trouble to trust your hand since she is alone with no other keet friends. Good luck with Trouble!

Welcome!

3buds has pretty much given you the best advice. Hope we can see some picturs. Trouble sounds absolutely beautiful from your description.

hi 3Buds,
after reading your answer to i own a budgie too, i figure it will take me a year to train KiKi. i keep calling her a she, but i think it might be a he. i'm working on getting a pic posted. she has decided a while back when she started molting that she was going to bite. this has been going on for 3 weeks. i am now putting the perch through the bars and saying up kiki. she just sits there and sometimes will get up. if i were to put my finger in the cage or if i put it near the cage, she comes after me to bite. i'm not giving up, but i wonder what the problem is. she pecked at my hand and arm a little when i had it in the cage cleaning it. it didn't hurt. i used to rub her tummy, but now forget it. any suggestions? there isn't any way i can get her away from the cage unless i get bit hard. i really don't want to let her out until she's trained. i was thinking about another bird, but i'm not sure now. looks like she or he is going to take a long time. i know they get nippy when they molt, but i don't know what to do. would another bird make her act worse?
thanks
KiKi's mom
Kathy

Kathy -- Yes, another bird would make her act worse and you would lose any training that you've accomplished so far. A second keet would just distract her and make her not want to bond with you. You're doing the right thing by putting the perch through the cage bars ... for now. Eventually you want to put your hand in the cage with the perch to get her used to having your hand in the cage. It may take time, but she will eventually step up on the perch even if she sees that your hand is holding the perch. You say that you had your hand in the cage and she pecked at your hand but it didn't hurt -- that's great because that means that she is tasting you. It means that she is interested in getting to know you. She may still be frightened and try to bite, but because of that she efinitely seems interested in you.

It may not take you a year to trin KiKi. Sometimes keets will all of a sudden willingly step up and will soon want to be with you. Continue putting your hand in her cage for 10 minutes a day (Helwa recomended that to me and it's working so far) and feed her a few bites of millet. This will help you gain her trust. Also, as you know, she is molting and she's moody because of that. She should be done with her molt any time now and may be more willing to learn. Just keep up the work and be consistent! Good luck and keep us updated on KiKi.

thank you. i'll keep it up and keep you all posted.

Welcome!! I am late getting here and you already have great advice. Pictures PLEASE????