Hand Taming Parakeets that Have Never Been Handled

Most people want parakeets that are hand tamed so they will sit on your hand and spend time with their owner. Unfortunately, most parakeets from pet stores are not hand tamed and are rarely or never handled before they are purchased. The good news is, it can be fairly easy to hand tame parakeets, even older parakeets, that have never been handled.

Getting Parakeets that Have Never Been Handled. I got my daughter a pair of parakeets last year from a lady who was moving away. She had originally gotten the birds from a pet store and they weren't hand tamed. The lady loved the parakeets, but she also had two large dogs and was afraid the birds would get hurt, so she had never taken them out of their cage or handled them. She said the male was approximately six to seven years old and the female was approximately two years old. I thought to myself, "Wow, these are not young birds and they may have no interest in being hand tamed." But I knew my daughter wanted to be able to handle her birds and I had experience with hand taming, so I was going to give it a try.

Letting the Parakeets Settle In. It is always good to let a new pet get used to their new home, so I knew the best thing for the birds was to let them settle in before we started freaking them out by getting them out of their cage. Though my daughter was impatient to hold her parakeets, that she named Luke and Leia, I told her they needed time to adjust to their new surroundings and owners. After a week of hearing our voices, seeing our faces, and getting used to our hands taking care of their food and water, I decided it was time to let them out of their cage.

Hand Taming Without Clipping Their Wings. Some birds can be hand tamed without clipping their wings. I love my birds being able to fly and had a pair of cockatiels that were hand tamed without needing to have their wings clipped, so I decided to try the no wing-clipping route with the parakeets to see how it would go. Besides, I thought they should get some much needed exercise after being in their cage for so long. So, we made sure the room was safe with doors closed and curtains down and let Luke and Leia out of their cage. They thoroughly enjoyed themselves as they flew back and forth, landed on the curtains for a moment and then flew some more.

After a little while of just letting them get some exercise and enjoy themselves, I worked on getting them to go on my hand. I found that Luke was more willing and that I could get Leia to join him if he went on my hand first. I was even able to transfer them to my daughter's hand a couple of times. I was amazed that they were so willing without being hand tamed or previously handled. Often, if hand taming starts out this well, there will be no need to clip the birds' wings, and with time and patience, they will become more tame each time you work with them.

Unfortunately, Luke and Leia wouldn't stay on our hands for very long, especially Leia. One little move that she didn't like and off she went and Luke followed. It ended up being a lot of work in between each time to get them back on my hand only to have them leave within moments again.

Wing Clipping for Hand Taming and Safety. We worked with Luke and Leia several more times without clipping their wings, but they became more uncooperative, especially Leia, instead of more hand tamed. Then Leia started running into the ceiling and walls, so I decided it was best to clip their wings.

I personally prefer to not clip my birds' wings, but will do it when it becomes necessary for the birds' safety and for hand taming purposes as with Luke and Leia. A bird that recklessly flies into ceilings and walls could accidentally kill them self by breaking their neck and some birds, like Luke and Leia, refuse to be hand tamed unless they are unable to fly.

I was trained by a breeder on how to clip wings, so I did the clipping myself, but it is important to know that if you don't know what you are doing, you can seriously injure the bird and render it flightless for the rest of its life. If you don't know how to clip wings, please learn how before you do it or have someone who has experience do it for you.

Once Luke and Leia had their wings clipped, they became much easier to work with. They soon became content to sit on our hands without trying to take off all of the time and Leia even began to give kisses, though I will say that Leia still has her little attitude and will bite your finger if she doesn't want you to pet her. Still, they've come a long way from two birds that had never been out of their cage, to hand tamed and nice most of the time.

Related Content:

Should You Clip Your Pet Parakeet's or Lovebird's Wings?