Basics

Handling

It is important to handle budgies carefully and to be able to catch your budgie without hurting it. The time you spend with your budgie will encourage your bird to become tame. Budgies can be difficult to socialise, according to their age and previous experiences, so you need to be very patient at first.
You must spend time with your budgie, especially if you keep it on its own. You need to spend at least 10-15 minutes two to three times a day teaching your budgie to become accustomed to being handled.

Approaching

When you first put your hand into the cage the bird may interpret this as a threat. A swooping hand may resemble a predator in your budgie's eyes. To avoid this move your hand very slowly into the cage, making sure it is clenched and does not come from above. When your budgie is relaxed with your hand near to it slowly extend your index finger alongside the perch. Again, wait until the budgie is used to this. Then move your finger up to the budgie's toes to encourage it to step onto your finger. It may fly to another perch or drop to the floor, but persevere and it may well sit on your finger before too long.

After this stage, encourage the budgie to stay on your hand as you move it towards the door of the cage. Make sure there are no hazards around, and only let it out of the cage when you are absolutely confident that it will come back!

Holding

To hold your budgie, gently wrap your fingers around it, moving your hand so that the budgie's head rests between your first and second fingers. Your budgie's back should lie on the palm of your hand. It is very important not to put any pressure on the side of a budgie's neck, as this can make it difficult for your budgie to breathe.

Talking

As regards talking, birds should be trained to do this as early as possible. The best time to start is when the birds have just come out of the nest box for a week or two. It is possible to get them to talk when they are up to six months old, but after that it is very difficult.