Is it too late to train?

[janelle]

Hello

I have a budgie and he's just over a 1 year old.

I trained him up and he was quiet tame, but over the months I wasn't handling him as much and sadly (my fault though) he is not as near as tame as I would love him to be.

He is also bites hard when I put my hand in the cage.

When I get him out he will sit on me for a moment then fly off.

So, my questions are...
Is it better for him to be tame?
Is he too old?
And what can I do about the biting?


Thank-you

-Janelle

[tielfan]

If he has no other bird companions then it's definitely better for him to be tame. You are his only social outlet, and he can't do much with you if he isn't tame. It's never too late for taming although mature adults usually take longer than babies. But your bird was tame once before so he may relearn it quickly.

Is he biting because he's protecting his territory (the cage) or because he doesn't like your hands? Either way, try to avoid being bitten and start re-educating him to think that your hands are good. Hold a piece of millet spray or some other treat for him to eat from your hands. Positive reinforcement training (with or without a clicker) can help.

[janelle]

Thank-you so much! Will start to re-train asap.

-Janelle =)

[homebird]

I agree with what was said.

My 1st bird was mature when i got him & i think i was probably retraining him - he learned quite quickly. I kept a journal & i think it is a good tool to see how things are going, month to month.

If i ask my bird to do anything right away he usually wants to bite & he's quite gentle really. I have found that if you start talking to them for a bit to get them relaxed they are less inclined to bite & this has another good side effect - in that he comes to me & then steps up.

Training time will increase your bond.

We now have a 2nd bird - a young one - & he's learning from the first one. The first one comes to hang out with us on his own & so is still as tame as he's always been.

[jmacek07]

You can certainly train him even though he's old. You can't teach an old dog new tricks just doesn't apply to birds! :D There are even several products out there to teach you how to properly train your budgie.

[janelle]

Hi, that looks really good, but i don't think i can fork out that much money, cause is it in american dollars? - I live in New Zealand

[jmacek07]

Hey that's cool...I understand that..If it weren't for copywrite laws I'd send you a copy of mine even though it's for the larger birds.