A Matter of Trust

I saw my sister doing it when I got home from work. She was holding the honey bar treat to Fluffy who was eagerly pecking at it.

When she left to read, I tried it with Botchok and then with Vanny - and they ate out of my hand. Fluffy even came to join in the feeding. Awww!

We are able to stroke Botchok's, Vanny's and Fluffy's tummies now when they are a bit tired or napping. Botchok is funny because when you stroke him, he closes his eyes as though savoring the caress. He is so sweet! I think I was able to stroke Coolit's tummy once and am usually able to stroke his tail feathers, but once she sees you coming she would usually fly away. Batty is the most untrusting of all, only my husband has been able to touch him - and Batty has pecked him a few times because of it.

The only budgie who has yet left the cage on his own has been Batty. When my husband changes their water or puts up new toys, Batty usually flies out and then just sits around watching us. He cannot fly for too long or very high so when he tries my husband lets him land on the palm of his hand. He tries to fly a couple of times more then angles off to the direction of their cage and that's when my husband would move his hand where Batty sat into the cage and he would rejoin his friends. The other budgies do not seem interested in flying out of their cage yet.

I feel that the budgies are getting used to us, but are still a bit frightened. They don't fly away when I change their seeds or their water. I can rotate the placement of their toys without causing too much of a fuss. I feel that they are starting to trust us though because they let us touch them now and they eat out of our hands. Maybe sometime soon they'll perch on our finger and let us play with them outside their cage...