Every Budgie I've ever taught to talk always gets the talking lesson with phase "pretty bird". I think Budgies like words with Bs in them for some reason.

I just talk to the bird while in a quiet room and it's in the cage. Just repeat the phrase over and over like you would normally talk for a minute and take a short break ... then repeat over and over again for another minute. Repeat that for 5 or 6 minutes a couple of times a day for a few weeks. This worked well for Pogo, as he was chattering up a storm trying to say "pretty bird", then one day I could hear it clearly and he was off talking and picking up new words pretty easily after that.

Yes, Jerry seems to love B words! But I tend to think that's because I say Budgie and Birdie so often - when talking to him I'll say "Jerry, you're such a good birdie!" or "How's my little budgie doing?" So he hears B words all the time.

I tend to talk to all of my animals as if they are people that I'm conversing with.

Ziggy Update - Day 3

I hope you aren't sick of hearing about Ziggy, but this is basically the entry for my "Ziggy Journal" that I started. I did the same thing with Pogo and it's kind of fun to go back and read it to see how things panned out with training, etc.

So I come home from work today and Ziggy had his cage kind of tore up. The perch that angled from next to the cage door up to the corner about half way up was laying down on the floor, and the paper towels in the bottom were all messed up.

I let Pogo out and had him with me to go see Ziggy. Well, 5 seconds after they see each other they are both going nuts ... Pogo jumps on the top of the cage and Ziggy starts jumping all over the sides of the cage trying find a way out. I had put the angled perch back in, so Ziggy jumps down on that perch and shuffles down to the closed door and starts to try and open it with his beak! I'm thinking the little manic was probably trying to open the cage during the day and somehow dislodged the perch while trying. Luckily, there is a heavy metal clasp on the moveable part of the door, so it's pretty heavy for a bird. There's no doubt he already knows how that door opens and he thinks he's going to operate it. I think this bird is going to be a handful ... LOL.

So I take Pogo back down stairs as they would not calm down, then went back upstairs to calm down Ziggy and let him out. As soon as I opened the door he darts out and lands on my head. I have him step up and hold him on my finger for a minute, then he makes a couple of circles around the room and lands up high on some furniture. I let him sit out for awhile to get use to being out of his cage and talk to him some. I was pretty nervous taking him out today because last night he got a little too nuts and crashed into the wall a couple of times -- I didn't see it, but heard it so I really don't know how he hit. I don't think it hurt him much (no signs), but it could have been a risk of injury. I'm thinking of clipping some of his wing feathers, especially if he doesn't show some control ... but he really did a lot better tonight. Maybe he figured out he can't go too wild in this room and knows he's gonna crash if he does.

Anyway, I have him step up a couple of times and then he all of a sudden decides he must get back inside his cage. He flies over and lands on it and tries to find the door a couple of times. I get him on my finger and bring him close to the door for a straight shot in, and he bolts into his cage. He gives one of those big Budgie ruffles and then relaxes to the point where he's on one foot, beard all fluffed out and doing the beak grinding action which means he's good and content. I guess his "safe haven" felt good after another big flight adventure ... and without incident to boot.

I've gotten to the point where I can touch him and pet him without much fuss. He eats and preens in front of me, so I think he's well over his fright stage. He's eating Zupreem pellets and seed mix too ... just like what Pogo gets, so that's a plus.

When I was looking at him at the pet store, I noticed his front inner toe nail on is right foot doesn't seem to clamp down on the smaller perches like all his other toe nails. It looks like his toe will wrap around everything just fine (even the skinny cage bars), but his actual toe nail can't bend right near the tip, like his toe was hurt at some time and that joint doesn't work right anymore -- or maybe he was born that way, hard to tell. When I saw this at the pet store it really didn't concern me much because there is no indication it hampers him or bothers him. I watched this carefully when focusing on him at the pet store. I probably watched him for 20 to 30 minutes, then came back about 45 minutes later and watched him again for about 15 minutes. He seemed so friendly, active and smart that I wasn't going to let a little toe nail prevent me from picking him.

Great journal - & no i'm not bored at all.

He might have crashed at night time because of the poor quality of light & of course the unfamiliarity of his surroundings. Laker cashed a few months ago - i think inside my son's closet - like you said i only heard the thud. He must have been stunned because i was way past calm by the time he landed on my shoulder all innocent like. I couldn't find him anywhere. I think Rio crashed once but i can't remember at he moment. Being flighted right from the start is a great advantage I think. It wasn't until Rio's 6th month tho that he could fly as well as Laker - he 'sounded' louder when he flew & he didn't wiggle his tail like Laker does.

I am so miffed! - you can touch your new bird already! Now I'm certain i'm doing something wrong! I was able to pick up Rio when i got him - the previous owners would hold their birds & stroke their heads. But it isn't my style to hold my bird so Rio quickly decided he doesn't want to be held or touched.

By the way Laker & Rio acted the same when they knew about each other. I would think that having them in the same room would be against the quarantine - sounds like you have the same issues we had ....

Yes, it's kind of nerve racking when they crash. Now that I think back, Pogo had a couple of crash incidents too. Luckily, no injuries resulted.

I don't think you are doing anything wrong. I think Ziggy is so tamable is because he so young. I bet he's only about 6 weeks old, 8 max because the tip of his beak is still a little black. I think any bird that is older or was with other owner's will naturally be much harder to tame down. It is even surprising to me how fast Ziggy has tamed down ... I had him figure trained in one day.

I think the biggest concern is when they actual touch each other and can pass on things. Since they never touch each other I'm not too worried about it. Based on what I've seen from Ziggy, I don't think there is anything wrong with him. His droppings look very good, there is no discharge from his cere, etc, he's very active and strong. I've looked for mites (you know what I went through with Pogo on that one ... bad stuff) in Ziggy's cage every morning. Don't know what else to look for, but if anyone has suggestions, please let me know.

I have to say that birds diseases are often air-born - dust, on us, clothing, communal things. Their lung capacity makes them prime candidates.

This is why i essentially gave up on the quarantine when Laker flew into Rio's space.

Ziggie looks Ok - i think Pogo will be Ok.

Yes, I think they are both very healthy. Since I've had them both in the same room a couple of times to look at each other maybe I've already blown it. Guess all I can do is not do that anymore.

I think I'll stay on course with the quarantine and use that time also for more training, etc with Ziggy. I want him to be well behaved when he and Pogo finally start hanging out together.