Frustrated! My finches are unfriendly

[mondo]

I don't know how you people do it... your java finches are extremely friendly and fond of the owner, to the point they act like a puppy but with wings
Even some people have tamed their aviary inhabitants, just offering food with one hand and the birds are swarming all over

Its been about 6 months since I've adopted my 6 java finches.
I've been patient and slow, but they never ever warmed up to me...
used to be I can wait until some brave ones came down to feed, even that is still keeping their distance (not touching me) and disperse if I made any slight movement
Now I don't know what's happened, but every feeding time they just scatter to the highest perch or cage wire, and patiently waited until I'm out of the aviary...

worst of all, I'm afraid my tame friendly canary got influenced!
he's now more reluctant of perching on my hand, used to be the first to feed and always greet me when its feeding time!
I'm so frustrated, so pardon me for writing all these

any tips maybe? or any new approach I should do?
does this have anything to do with the birds in breeding mode? the canaries are incubating nest, and some javas I think are building new nest or is incubating as well

[MariusStegmann]

I personally don't like my finches tame, but if you want them tamer, you have to find something that they are crazy about and offer it to them. It could be live mealworms, green seeds, egg, whatever. The other alternative is to hunger them out and put down food while you are close by, but I don't like to do that.

[wildbird]

I have two Javas. One was handfed & is very tame. The other was not, but she has become much more trusting since she watches him hop on my hand and even take a nap there. If your birds were parent raised in an aviary, they may be difficult to tame. It could also be because of nesting. Mine are in a large cage, not an aviary, and they get a lot of attention. They will both come to me and nibble on my fingers, but only the handfed one will allow handling. I would not withold food to tame them. After breeding season, you might try spending some time in the aviary with them at feeding time. Just sit quietly and read a book and get them used to your being there.

[mondo]

MariusStegmann

Well that's a first... may I ask why?

hmm... they're crazy for corn. whenever I gave them corn they ignore the seeds

[MariusStegmann]

mondo Are you talking about me not wanting them tamer? It is easy to explain. I have 2 outside aviaries. Both are 3 meters long by 1.8 X 1.8. I have one very tame canary, and when ever I want to go inside my aviary, he flies towards me. Sometime he sits/hangs on the door. He has flown away one like that, luckily, I could catch him. Imagine the trouble I will be in if 30 birds fly towards the door whenever I want to go into the aviaries. I want them to fly away from the door that I can go in.

[lovezebs]

mondo

Hello.
First of all, let me say, that your birds are absolutely gorgeous! !!!

That said, you mentioned that they love corn. Why not grab an ear of corn, put It In a dish close to you, while you sit in the aviary and chat to us on line or draw. Maybe your birds will decide that it's worth while to come close for a snack. If no go, than put it a little further away, then once they are comfortable with the distance, move it a little closer and a little closer each time.

Don't offer them any corn otherwise, so that it will stay a very special treat that they will really want.

Good luck

~Elana~

[MiaCarter]

Aw, I'm sorry to hear about this!

Taming finches can be tough. Some are hard nuts to crack.
And unfortunately, you're right -- a tame bird can become less so when they're surrounded by other birds who are skittish. (It makes sense. If you walked into a room and saw several people looking very obviously fearful and terrified, you'd get nervous yourself. And if you saw that they were fearful of a specific person or situation, you'd probably adopt that fear yourself to some degree.)

That said, maybe you're going about it the wrong way?
Taming is tricky. You need to find out where they're comfortable and then slowly push them past their comfort zone, but you must do this without scaring them.
Let's say they're okay with you sitting alongside the cage or inside the aviary. Once they're really accustomed to this, you move to the next step, which would be placing your hand inside the cage with a piece of millet --- something where they can keep a distance but still associate that treat with you.
Gradually, you shorten the length of the millet and ultimately, they start eating out of your hand. And you just progress from there.

The problem, though, is that you can't frighten them. If they're comfortable with you sitting alongside their cage, and then you move forward and try to touch them, that's too much too soon. It's scary. So it becomes counter productive. We don't want them to associate you with fear. So it's about pushing them past their comfort zone in a gradual manner, without scaring them. If you see they're scared, back up a bit. Wait until they're comfortable again, then move forward.

I think that's the most common mistake -- trying to do too much, too soon. And you need to be consistent with the approach you take, so they know what to expect.
For instance, I start every session sitting alongside the cage for a few minutes. Then I open the door and put a hand in to offer millet. Then I put a treat in my hand and let them eat out of my hand. Then I'll handle them inside the cage. Then we progress to eating a snack outside the cage. Then to handling outside the cage. So they're eased into the situation. Every day we go through those steps faster and faster. But you can't just stick a hand in and handle them until they're totally comfortable (which can take a long time to achieve. And some birds never get to that point.) Sticking a hand in and handling a finch is unpredictable and unpredictable = scary. So you want to go through those steps, easing them into it.
So every session together, we go through the same steps. They like to know what to expect. The unknown is scary. We want to teach them that you won't do anything frightening or unpredictable. <--- that's really key. That should be your mantra. I want to show them that I won't do anything frightening or unpredictable.

My process:
http://www.petfinchfacts.com/all-posts/ ... her-birds/

Some general taming tips:
http://www.petfinchfacts.com/all-posts/ ... ing-birds/

Here's a writeup about using millet (or another treat) as a taming tool, just like Elana described:
http://www.petfinchfacts.com/all-posts/ ... cockatiel/

In most of my writeups, I chronicle my experiences with my cockatiels and budgies. That's just because I haven't tamed a finch since I started the site! But I'll chronicle that once I get a new "project". The process is really the same, regardless of species.

I'll caution you that taming aviary birds is more challenging. This is true of any animal. It's easier to work in a small space like a cage when taming an animal. The reason: a large area like an aviary gives them the ability to back away so they don't need to confront their fear/discomfort. In a cage, they don't have a choice. They must confront the discomfort and work through it. Confronting the discomfort is essential if they're to become tame.

Here's an example: we adopted a family of cats. The feral mama cat, her 3 kittens and her adult son.
The kittens and son did great because they were still young and impressionable. The feral mama cat was very frightened and resistant to taming. She lived in our house for about 2 years and we'd never touched her! She was very happy amongst the animals, but she avoided us humans. She would run if we got within a few feet of her. She had full run of the house so she could avoid us quite easily. So she never confronted her fear or discomfort; she just avoided us. We'd hope she'd lose the fear once she saw that every other cat in the house was tame and enjoyed us. It didn't work like that.

Then the mama cat got sick. We had to isolate her in the bathroom so we could monitor her and ensure she got her medications in her food and so forth.
Something incredible happened while she was in the bathroom. She was forced to confront her fear of us. She couldn't just run away anymore. So we kept her in the bathroom for a couple weeks after she recovered, working with her intensively and spending a lot of time with her. That's what it took to tame her. She had to be forced to confront that discomfort and work through it.
The same is true of many other animals, including birds. They generally avoid the fear and discomfort. So you might find that working with them in a cage or a smaller area is easier.

I would also focus on 1 or 2 at a time. Working with 6 at once, plus 2 canaries is difficult!

[lovezebs]

MiaCarter
Hi Mia,
He has an aviary, so he can't really sit with only one hand in there, lol. That's why I thought sitting in there with them may work better for him

~Elana~

[mondo]

MiaCarter
those are all very interesting story all bird keepers can relate
and thanks for the articles

hmm I guess its different to every people...
I know this guy who has an aviary full of exotic finches, the kind that usually flutters away when approached.
BUT instead, his birds are tame and friendly. I asked him how and all he can say is be patient for they will someday warm up to you
here's the link http://www.finchforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=31496

I'm going to try both ways, be patient with the ones in aviary, but for any new ones, I will tame them first before they can join the outdoor life

[mondo]

lovezebs
yes, Elana,
note to self: in the future I better have a seating area inside the aviary where I can just chill

[Rox]

2 of my gouldian hens are relatively tame - outside aviary birds. They land on the food bowl and we can even walk with them on the dish before putting it down. But this has taken loads of repetition and patience, every day. My mom is retired and lives with me, so she feed the birds in the mornings when I go off to work. If she hadn't had inclination or time to spend each morning, the birds would not have gotten 'tame'. I do the same on weekends with them when I feed. The other birds are super curious and are starting to build up the courage to get closer. I have Gold-breasted waxbills that basically eat out of the live food dish while your hand is still on the dish.

BUT I need to reiterate what Marius has stated. The aviary which these gouldians are in has a safety door. The one hen has become so confident that she flies into the safety area each time we enter the aviary. If I didn't have the safety cage, she would be long gone.