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How to get my bird to like me?
I have had a budgie for almost four years now, but I got him when I was younger and didn't know how to care for it. I want to earn his trust again, but I don't know if that's possible. I took the mirror out of his cage because he stares at himself all day, and I heard it's unhealthy to give a lone bird a mirror. He bites me when I put my hand in the cage. Is it possible to earn his trust and train him even though he's been with me for almost 4 years and doesn't trust me?
1 Answer
- The First DragonLv 72 years agoFavorite Answer
The most effective method I have seen - and I have never heard anybody else recommend this - is to wrap the bird in a cloth [like a hand towel] and hold him so he can't get away and can't bite you; then carry him around for 15 or 20 minutes talking to him nonstop in a friendly way. Then put him back in the cage.
Actually I would not recommend this for the bigger or more recently domesticated parrots - but for budgies and cockatiels it works fine.
If the bird does bite you, control yourself and act like it doesn't bother you. Do not yelp or treat the bird roughly - the bird does not understand your point of view, and they do not discipline their own chicks in this way. If a puppy bites you, yes, you yelp; this is what its mother and littermates would do. But not birds.
So, if the bird bites you, try not to react at all, though you might blow in its face; that often helps. You can put him back in the cage sooner than planned, but try not to hurry, because you don't want him to understand that this is a good way to make you put him back. But if you are afraid you can't control yourself, just put him back anyway and try again later.
Do this periodically, and in time the bird will realize you are not going to hurt him; he will like being talked to. Probably he already does. Lots of birds who like to be talked to are afraid of being handled. Once he is no longer afraid of being handled, it will go easier.
I also recommend clipping his wings. This makes him easier to deal with outside the cage, and it is safer for him too.