Hey everyone! This forum seemed really friendly, so I thought I would post my parakeet questions here. :-)

We are first-time parakeet owners, and have had Ezio for about a month. He mostly seems happy, but he seems to be very timid. I have been working with him several times a day, every day. He will sometimes sit on my hand if there's millet, and sometimes get on a perch, but most of the time he will run/fly to the other side of his cage (sometimes he will cower near his food dish). He likes to climb on his ladder and ring his bell. We've let him out a few times to fly around, which he loves, and have been able to coax him back into his cage with millet.

But it doesn't really seem like he's becoming tame. We have a lot of wild birds living outside near our house, and he talks to them all the time. When he's out of his cage, he'll just sit on the blinds and chirp at them, and does not seem very interested in people at all.

Part of the problem might be that we also have three small children who are noisy and unpredictable. Part of the problem is probably also my impatience. :-D Do I just need to be patient and keep working with him, or do you have any suggestions?

Also, how can you tell if a parakeet's nails are getting too long? I worry that if I try and trim them I will ruin all the trust I've worked so hard to build . . .

Thanks for your help, everyone!

hello. welcome to the forum. i personally would suggest just sitting by the cage for a bit til the bird is comfy with you being there. after it is. then put your hand in the cage away from the bird for 5-15 mins a few times a day. do not move toward the bird at this time again til the bird is comfy with you being there. this can take a few days to a few weeks. then and only then start moving your hand closer to the bird.but do it in your birds time. not yours. its all about them knowing we arent going to hurt them and if you jump into it to fast they dont know that. good luck!.

oh and as for millet some say its ok. i personally dont feed it neiter do a few others. it is rarely fresh and can get stuck in your birds nares. use fresh veggies instead!

ohh yeah i love the cage!! it is a great cage. i have two of them

Thanks for the advice! Maybe it would be good to take a step back and work on that.

My bird doesn't want to eat any fresh fruits or veggies (or popcorn or pellets), but I keep putting them in the cage anyway. I guess he's just really picky, or maybe is not used to them.

HIII angie good to see you back...

Qirien welcome to the forum...as mentioned above its best to let the bird settle in before trying to do any training and then be very patient and not try to rush the bird into getting on your hand but just let it get use to seeing your hand in the cage so it doesnt feel like its this big giant claw coming to swoop it up ...all things in keet time...moving slow whenever your around the bird as sudden movements may also scare it...or make it nervous...

they are not use to toys right away or veggies these new things all take a lot of time for them to investigate ...just always keep trying veggies and refer to the link below for safe and non safe things...

http://www.parrot-and-conure-world.com/non-toxic-for-birds.html

for reasons mentioned above i dont feed nor have i any millet sprays...so many other good things to get them use to...clip some of the veggies to OUTSIDE the cage at first and let the bird reach thru the bars to sample or test it ...after several times of this when its not scaring the bird then you can fasten the veggies to the inside of the cage at the end of a perch area...

most birds hate pellets and mostly will only eat them when almost forced to eat them because its not a food they take to readily...i also never feed pellets too much controversy on them about many things...and slowly the industry and folks are realizing this also.

you may want to read this link also...and there is other information about all this that replicates these findings.

http://www.naturalbird.com/mcwatters/synthetic.htm

ditto on the cage several of us have that cage and love it...good choice...

I would take the advice of those above, take your time. It's only been a month. And even so, not all birds really warm up to us humans. I have one who is fine with being with me, I think he's starting to like it even...but my female would rather I didn't try and get her to perch on my hand. She will step up to a perch perfectly, but I don't think she really accepts me and I've had her since the begining of Dec. That's just how she is and I have to accept that. I still let her out and be with me, but I don't crowd her or expect her to want to sit on my shoulder or anything.

I too have that cage for both of mine and love it. Has anyone besides me had issues with the clamps that hold the bottom on breaking???? I orderd more as replacements but I think they are just poorly designed for as big of a cage as I have, and they are just going to keep breaking at the hinge. I think I have the biggest one they sell. I don't like the perches that come with them though and have rope or natural branches for them.

For anyone wondering how the covers are for this cage...I love mine. Pricy but they fit perfectly and you can oping part or all to check on your bird, or like I do, I put the cover on in the early evening with the front flap up for a while, then put it down when it's time for bed. I tried to make my own cover and it didn't work so good.

Your bird is really pretty and I wish you luck in the training!

kathy, ive had my cage for little over a yr and never have had anything break on it. knock on wood!

nope no breakage here either NOTE when u lift the tabs on the bottom you MUST raise them all the way or you will more than likely break them as ONE member did also when you close you MUST hear the snap on all closures to be sure they are closed securely...ahall has two cages like ours only one is REALLY big being for her cockatiel...otherwise i have the MO 2 model i believe thats the largest for like keet size birds. MANY of us have this cage and other than one other person who did not pay attention to lift those tabs all the way up and broke one of hers thats the ONLY incident reported. I have lifted my cage many times and have never had a issue with them not being able to support the weight of the cage itself...i suspect you maybe did not CLOSE it all the way or LIFT them all the way .

i didnt get the cage cover instead i improvised with a LARGE rectangular table cloth i picked up for $3 at a seconds store or salvation army store i dont recall which as i planed to just use it for some crafts project...instead cappy for $3 got a nice cage cover and i just use as you can view a plastic clothes pin to hold it closed...for $3 i couldnt go wrong lol



i bought some iron on decal and iron them to the material to personalize it a bit.

Thanks again. I just don't know what's normal for budgies and what's not (other than what I've read). I suspect things might be taking a little longer too because he's a little older -- the pet store said he was about 3 months old, but he didn't have any stripes on the front of his head, so I'm thinking he's probably older.

Also, is it normal for them to chew on the bars of the cage? He only does it one spot, behind his ladder. It's like he's trying to chew an escape tunnel . . . :-D Maybe he's just keeping his beak trimmed? He has a natural wood perch and a coconut husk that he also sometimes chews on, so hopefully that's good.

I just love the little cheeps (? is that what they're called?) he makes when he's calm and happy . . . SO CUTE!!!

please take time to review all the threads here by going to the top of this page and click on the forums list...in there you will find the categories of ...general keet chat...and also...medical and heath issue...click on those and read all you can from all the threads available and you will have every question answered you can imagine and then some as its a virtual encyclopedia of bird information dealing with all issues.



depending on the color species its hard to say what the age is unless as directed above you go to

www.photobucket.com

and upload some photos to then copy and paste here...

also get a PLAIN UNFLAVORED mineral block to place in the cage at the end of a perch like this one

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Zoo-Med-Bird-Ban...=item4ab5b8b03e

and get a few toys so he can learn to play with them with YOU showing him how to do that as they dont naturally know what toys are...and how to use them...a couple of small **foot toys** like a small cat ball with a bell in it and something else to place on the bottom of the cage would be nice along with some toys attached to the SIDES of the cage...NO MIRROR toys as the bird will bond with the image in the mirror and not bond to you...which will delay training.

several perch types are recommended...and several food cups placed at the ends of the perches...the perches shown here in this link in the FIRST row (cement perches with SHELLS) are the best for keeping a birds toenails and beak trimmed and groomed...do not use more than two of these in your cage as then the roughness of them will be to much if you use more.

http://www.birdguys.com/bird-conditioning-perch.html

I guess I'm just unlucky as far as the hinges on the cages though. I thought I had not lifted one, one time, so was alwasy sure to open them all the way and on all the other hinges they just broke off in my hand. All 4 on the first cage and 1 on the second cage. it's not a problem as long as I lift from the bottom so I am not worrying about it. I still think they should have beefed up the hinge, it's just a tiny plastic thing. I think the rest of the cage is great and haven't had any problems and still like mine.
I LOVE your cover for Cappy's cage Illusive. Very cool. My attempt at making one just ended up with it being too bulky and was kind of a pain to get it on as I have my cages up high and I have to step up on a stool to do it. So buying the covers were a good idea for me and they hang up easily in my laundry room in the day.