5 Things to do Differently with SMALL Parrots (Budgies, Parakeets, and More)

One of the first ‘tricks’ I taught my budgie was to fly to my hand (he was more receptive to that than stepping up in the beginning) and that turned into him always wanting to fly back to me when he’s bored or scared or wants to play 😭 it’s so cute

I always tell people who say "little dogs are aggressive and untrainable" that the reason little dogs act so differently is because people don't treat little dogs like they would big dogs - bullying them and picking on them and doing things the dog has signaled that they're not comfortable with. Little dogs who are given the same respect and consideration as a large dog are just as much a dog as any big dog. I love the "treat it like a tiger" analogy, thank you for sharing that!

Me : "Would you treat a tiger like that?" My Lovebird : "I am actually a dinosaur, back off!" 🤣

Yeeees, more small birdie videos 😍

I've started working more on rehabilitating birds, since watching birdtricks. Every time someone tells me a bird is tame, I take it with a grain of salt, because a bird that is comfortable with a family for months, is a completely different bird when brought into a different environment. Far too often, people buy or adopt birds that they hear are tamed, but get frustrated when they get the bird home and its no longer the sweet bird they saw with the previous owner, or in the pet store. Then they put the bird away and never work with them, or get their feelings hurt and then resent the bird, so it's usually rehomed, or neglected. Right from the start, these birds are set up with high expectations that are rarely met, and it's just a recipe for failure. So I whole heartedly agree with the statement that with small birds, you have to look at them like they're dangerous, because they're used to being bullied and manhandled, as is the case nearly 95% of the time. Don't take personal offense if a bird doesn't fall in love with you, within the first 5 minutes of meeting them.

I'm so relieved to hear you say it's best to separate their meals. The internet is flooded with the advice to always keep the food tray full for our little friends, which seems like an utterly unhealthy thing to do even for us humans.

#5 has never really been a problem for me. My tiel associates his travel crate with going to my grandma's which he knows means he's about to get spoiled lol

You are a great advocate for birds and other animals. You talk sense so much. May you please take care and stay safe.

We accidentally taught our conures the word noise, and we use it all the time before we are going to make a loud noise, and they have learned to wait for it and brave themselves, even if it's a completely new noise. As for their transport cage, I regularly take them outside in their cages in the summer, and they go very willingly. They also have night cages as well as huge macaw day cages with small bar spacing, so they have been desensitized for cages. I have 1 sun, 2 green cheeks, one of which was a cage bound biting monster, and 1 pearly, who was handled roughly at a pet store and was biting hands/neck compulsively. Thanks so much for your videos, as you've helped us rehabilitate two biting conures, but it's a very long process.

Crate train your other pets as well! You never know if your pet will need to be confined for an injury/illness, travel. It makes it way less stressful for the animal. My dog actually goes into his crate if he’s feeling unwell, it’s his safe place. Great tips for little birds!

My grandma's budgie could bite pretty hard, I respected that bird.

Lol the end

Your videos are so helpful! These are great tips! I will definitely keep them in mind the next time I train Sunshine! (I have a Pineapple Mutation Green Cheek Conure)

I have been binge watching your videos for a little while now. I have almost always had some form of animal in the house, including canary and budgies when I was younger. With our birds back then, we didn't have the knowledge we do now about training and allowing the bird to be more than just a pretty item in a cage. THANK YOU from the bottom of my heart and my family for showing us how to care for our recent rescued bird and helping us add joy to her life and ours.

wow.. i had a budgie back in the 80s when I was 9 years. and knew nothing about birdtraining AT ALL.. now i got one for my daugther who is 10, and i am learning and binging your very helpfull videos. I really didnt know how much you can do to tame and train a budgie. But i am loving it. thank you for you very helpful videos from this new budgie owner from Denmark

Thanks for sharing! I miss the house backround though. More fun to see your wall of photos behind ya!

floating head and hand jamie is the new flame head jamie

Great video! People need to understand that small birds need to be trained, just as large birds do. Thanks for all you do. 🐦

I had a budgie when I was a kid and I remember him biting me and it hurt like hell, lol. Strong tiny birds. In his defence I was probably doing something to stress him out as I am learning from you now. So informative. If I ever have another budgie I will definitely be looking to you for guidance

I love the red hair, I think even a lighter red would be really pretty, it's actually why I clicked on the video, although I am a subscriber and do watch you often. You are really good at what you do and I think so many birds and bird owners are better off because of it.