Hand Training my Green Parakeet

User Question
I am getting a green parakeet and I would like to ask you how long would it take to get the bird settled down and begin to hand train the bird? I would love to play with it. I would also like to know would it bite me? when I put my hand in the cage and try to teach it to "up" on my finger? please e-mail me back asap for you answer thanks.

Lisa's Answer
All birds bite as a defense mechanism, that is the only way they can defend themselves. So as long as you are sure not to be a threat to your bird, she should not bite. Parakeets only have small beaks so while a bite from a parrot or other large bird can really hurt, parakeets can't cause much harm unless they are scared out of their minds. Which hopefully your parakeet will not be!

I have a ton of links on my site stepping you through the process of how to hand train your bird.

http://www.lisashea.com/petinfo/articles/bird_hand.html

That will be the very first step. If you buy a hand raised bird, it will in essence come to you hand raised and you will be able to have her on your finger on the very first day. If instead you go for the cheaper bin-o-budgies bird, it's going to take you a week or two to get past that 'humans are scary' mentality she has learned and get her to start trusting you. It's all about time and patience. Don't rush her, just take it step by step. Parakeets live for 10-20 years so you have a LOT of time to spend with this little bird - savor those first few weeks!

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