Nekkyousha Posted March 20, 2008 Share Posted March 20, 2008 Had a little success with the canary today on spending a stupid amount of time with our hand inside the cage with some food on, he went nuts hopping all over the place and accidently landed on daves hand and jumped straight back off. Atleast buzz now knows that the giant hand thing doesnt harm him when he lands on it but any tips?? We've had him nearly 2months and no real success apart from this, really want him tame as i wanna be able to let him out and to be able to handle him when he needs his claws clipped. im aware little birds are hard to tame but he's on his own everyday and i want him to be more involved, i feel guilty for him just sitting there singing and having no reply (apart from our grey trying to mimic) I know this seems very off topic from parrots etc, but thought someone may have some tips? I dont want to clip his wings, he's a small bird so i consider it too dangerous, plus i want him to be able to fly whenever he wants. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lovemyGreys Posted March 20, 2008 Share Posted March 20, 2008 The only thing i would say is stick at it, i remember only to well sitting with my hand in a cage with 2 budgies trying to tame them i got there in the end,i would let them out to fly but always managed to get them to step on a stick to put them away. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tari Posted March 20, 2008 Share Posted March 20, 2008 I wish you luck with that. Love to see some pictures of your canary too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nekkyousha Posted March 20, 2008 Author Share Posted March 20, 2008 I can see this taking a very long time I know it can be done and he isnt so scared that he starts panting, as he's hopping about trying to get away from my hand he more often stops to grab a bit to eat from his bowl! lol :laugh: i shall get some pictures of him soon, he's a gloster corona, had a nice little ringo star style hairdo :silly: :lol: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MommaFawkes Posted March 21, 2008 Share Posted March 21, 2008 You should be able to get there! My female canary is semi-tame and will sit on my finger with no issues. However I have no idea why since I was given her already like that:whistle: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BMustee Posted March 21, 2008 Share Posted March 21, 2008 Most small birds will never become tame. Some are bolder than others and will be "semi-tame" because of that. I have a pair of Goulds right now that could care less what I'm doing around them and will sit on the bed right next to me if they are out of the cage, and I have only had them for 3 months or so. On the other hand I have a pair of Owls that do not like me near them one bit and I have had them for over 3 years. They know who I am, and don't panic in my hands when I trim nails and do their regular exam after I catch them...they know I'm not going to hurt them...but they just don't like being around people. Here is one of my Male Gouldians sitting next to me while I was on my laptop in bed. I for one do not agree with keeping small birds like Canaries, Doves and Finches single...they really need to be kept in pairs. The are social animals that desperately need a companion of their own kind. Most small birds will never bond with a human, if in need of a friend or not, and most of the time become so depressed that they die from loneliness. I have gone as far as FLY a new bird in from out of state when my female Star finch died because I knew what would happen to my male if he didn't get a partner and there were none in the area to replace her. "Caged" birds like Canaries and Finches can live to be 12 - 15 years old if they are treated right, but if not you will get 3 years max. I'm not trying to be mean here, but think about what kind of life that bird has...no friend to be with and a big giant hand that won't leave it alone.<br><br>Post edited by: BMustee, at: 2008/03/21 15:30 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BMustee Posted March 21, 2008 Share Posted March 21, 2008 BTW, the pictures you see of small birds on peoples hands are not like the ones you buy at a pet store...they have been hand fed like our parrots. No one sells hand fed canaries and finches because no one will pay a parrot price for a bird that you can find for a fraction of the price somewhere else. I have thought of hand feeding my finches but it's much more involved than a parrot...you have to feed them every 2 huors around the clock...and I'm not going to spend weeks getting zero sleep for a bird I can't charge a higher amount for. Most of the time people will hand feed a baby finch or canary when the parents abandon them, and those birds are the ones in the pictures that everyone sees. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nekkyousha Posted March 22, 2008 Author Share Posted March 22, 2008 well i cant be having babies and two male canaries will fight, what about different breeds or a different small bird?? Buzz is getting better and better though, he landed on daves wrist today and was quite content there. he's getting closer and closer to the seed in daves hand :laugh: ive seen many situations where a canary has be tamed and Buzz is still very young, i think he is quite bold though lol! well nout much else i can do but carry on with what im doing, im not in a position atm to be buying any more animals. Fingers crossed on this :ohmy: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BMustee Posted March 22, 2008 Share Posted March 22, 2008 Oopps, well I got egg on my face. :blush: My bad!!!! I have been reading up on Canaries as pets all day and it looks like what many people I have talked to have been wrong, and all the all the books I have read on Canaries have been just on breeding them. Turns out the male canary is much less social than other members of the finch family. The Male canary can be quite happy when kept alone as long as they have a large enough cage, and items in and around the cage to keep them occupied. As for taming them, this is the best site I have found so far. http://www.helium.com/items/111942-canaries-confiding-little-birds Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nekkyousha Posted March 23, 2008 Author Share Posted March 23, 2008 Ah yeah he has loads of space and usually spends his time in front of the mirror! lol. Thankyou very much for the site, i will check it out now I was contemplating getting a companion for him but everything i read said this was a bad idea that other males n species would fight at a certain time of the year, and i cant be having canary babies lol. He has my grey as a companion, she sings with him but i will continue to try and tame him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BMustee Posted March 23, 2008 Share Posted March 23, 2008 My boss at the pet store I work at is always telling me to buy a pair of Canaries to breed them. I seem to have the magic touch to get birds to...well...you know. Hahahaha! I'd like to breed the Gloster Canary, I love the shaggy hair-do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tycos_mom Posted March 23, 2008 Share Posted March 23, 2008 try taking him into the bathroom Or some other small room take him out of his cage and put his cage outside the room have his favorite treat available for him and sit their with him quitely for ten of fifteen minates at a time with you hand open ful of his favorite food the smaller the room the better even in the bath tub with the shower curtian closed put a towel on the bottom of the tub and sit down and eventually he will learn to trust you I found this method to work quite well with smaller birds Pat Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MisterDavE Posted March 24, 2008 Share Posted March 24, 2008 This sounds like a great idea and what we will probably do one thing though... how do we get him back in the cage?? :blush: LOL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BMustee Posted March 24, 2008 Share Posted March 24, 2008 I know will my finches they go back home wihout a lot of help from me. I let them free fly in the room while I clean their cages and when I'm done they normally want to go right back in. Sometimes they can't find the door so I have to catch them to put them back. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nekkyousha Posted March 24, 2008 Author Share Posted March 24, 2008 uh oh, Buzz is a fast little bugger lol, gonna be so hard to catch him! but shall let you know how it goes lol. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BMustee Posted March 24, 2008 Share Posted March 24, 2008 One trick is to dim the lights...as bright as a single candle is the best. If there is just enough light for you to see him he won't fly off when you go to grab him. Make sure that he is perched in a safe spot before you turn off the lights though.<br><br>Post edited by: BMustee, at: 2008/03/24 15:30 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nekkyousha Posted March 24, 2008 Author Share Posted March 24, 2008 ooo yes dont want him hopping off into the toilet lol, thanks for that, i have a candle we can use, since no dimmer switches. Well most likely try this out today, i wish buzz luck lol. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mousa1997 Posted September 26, 2011 Share Posted September 26, 2011 lucky u my canary is even hard to touch it just keeps jumping around once i just put my hand in the cage Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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