Need help!

Ciel · May 4, 2019

Hey guys. I recently bought an Indian Ringneck (I just want to let you guys know the shops here treat their pets really bad and are a bit unprofessional, so I try to rescue lots)
The store owner said she is around 9 months, and that someone had taken her home but returned her after 10 days. That broke my heart so I decided to take her, especially since I’ve been wanting my first parrot for a while!

They also clipped her wings, so I’m currently waiting for them to grow back (she can still fly, just not too high but its decent)

Anyways. She’s very aggressive when I try to come close to her cage so I know she has cage aggression. Her appetite is good and I feed her lots of vegetables and fruits, and noticed she looks much healthier now. She doesn’t make much sound, literally barely, while some can’t shut theirs up I’m dying just to hear her voice..

I also noticed that she gets scared when I try to make her step up on one finger, she bites and refuses but she steps up easily when its more than one finger which is a bit strange. She also absolutely hates being pet, the minute she’s on my arm and I even get my other hand CLOSE she flies away, when I manage to pet her she turns down her head as a sign that she doesn’t wants to. How do I make her not bite and be scared of my fingers? It’s just odd that she easily steps up on one hand but when I get ny other hand close she freaks out. Do you guys have any tips on how I can make her happy and bond with her? I’ve had her for 2 weeks now and I sometimes hear her whistle when I’m not in the room but she turns quiet when I come in &#55358;&#56698; I just really want her to be happy and I try my best but I need some tips. I did notice that she looks MUCH healthier than when i got her! So that’s good

she also wants to fly back on top of her cage every time she’s on my arm

EllenD · May 5, 2019

Welcome to the community, and thank you for rescuing this poor baby...

First of all, 2 weeks is like 5 seconds in bird-time...Regardless of what she has already gone through, even if she hadn't been abused, tortured, or scared in some way by a prior-owner or shop-owner, you still wouldn't have earned her trust yet, so you need to SLOW DOWN!!! It sounds like by what you are describing that she was a hand-raised IRN, because at 9-months old she is willing to step-up for you, get close to you, etc. But unfortunately it also sounds like someone has made her quite scared of hands...Who knows why she'll only step-up for 2 fingers, could be because someone had her stepping-up on only 1 finger and then did the "earthquake" thing whenever she did something they didn't like, making her scared to death of being unstable...You'll never know why, but the fact that she is stepping-up for you regularly is a good way to start-off...So just use 2 fingers and make her feel comfortable...

Don't push anything or force anything with touching her. She's stepping-up for you, but she doesn't trust you yet, and she's not bonded to you yet. So all you need to do is do what SHE IS COMFORTABLE WITH, not what you want to do or what you want her to do...Because that will only make her scared of you in-general and then you'll not get her near you at all...The rest will come in-time, the more time you spend with her, the more time she is on your hand, shoulder, etc. but you DON'T try to touch her/pet her, the more she'll realize that you respect her wishes and that you're not going to hurt her like others did, and then the rest of her trust will come, along with the petting and the rest...But we're talking months here, not weeks...

****Also, the reason she is screaming/making sound when you're not in the room with her but she stops as soon as you enter the room is because she knows you're at home but she can't see you...She's a Flock-Animal remember, and if you have her cage located in some spare-bedroom or back room of your house and away from the "main-room" of your house, or the room where you and others you live with spend most of their time whenever they are at home (usually the living-room, family-room, TV-room, etc.), then you need to relocate her cage to the main room of you house ASAP so that she is simply in the same room as you most of the time whenever you're at home...The other thing that is good to do is to buy or build a T-Stand/Perch that is light and portable, either a floor-stand or a table-top stand (PVC T-Stands are great, cheap to build, light, and they love them), that way you can keep it in the main-room of your house, near her cage so she knows that whenever you open her cage up she can go to her "Stand", but then you can move the stand to whatever room you're in so that she can still be with you/around you whenever you're at home, but you don't have to necessarily be interacting with her directly to make her happy...If you keep her cage in a spare-room or back-room away from where you usually are and then just let her out once in a while for an hour hear and there to be with you, she's obviously going to scream and yell for you whenever you're home but she can't see you, and they rarely play with their toys in their cages or entertain themselves at all in this situation, they are Flock-Animals and when they can't see their Flockmates but they know they're at home and can hear them/sense them, this causes them a lot of stress, anger, frustration, and they just sit and yell (it will get worse and worse the more bonded she gets to you, trust me, lol)...But if you are watching TV, gaming, reading, eating, etc. and she is in her cage or on her stand in the same room as you, even though you're not paying direct-attention to her it doesn't matter, she'll be very happy to be "among her Flock" and she'll happily entertain herself and not yell and scream....

Overall it's all about time though...Don't push her at all or force her to be petted/touched if she isn't comfortable with it, as there is a good reason why she doesn't like it. The fact that she steps-up for you and is willing to get close to you the way she is after only 2-weeks puts you WAY AHEAD of most people who bring-home an IRN or any bird who has a sketchy history and may have been neglected or worse (IRN's especially tend to become more and more wild as time goes on without them being bonded and close to someone, even if they were hand-raised)...It will be months and months before you fully earn her trust and she realizes that you're not going to hurt her...So don't push it, and try to move "her territory" into the main-room of you home, and spend as much time with her, being around her, etc. as you can each day...Don't rush the touching thing and she'll trust you much more quickly than she will if you push it/force it...

noodles123 · May 5, 2019

Yes--- slow way down (and welcome).
Before even attempting to touch your bird you need to spend weeks just building trust and doing things around the cage..Go about your day, but also, read to the bird etc.
After that, see if you can feed your bird from your hand, but if it hesitates, don't push it. You don't want to associate yourself with anything stressful.
If it can be done safely, considering allowing the bird's cage door to remain open so that it can enter and exit of its own accord.

Ciel · May 6, 2019

EllenD said:
Welcome to the community, and thank you for rescuing this poor baby...

First of all, 2 weeks is like 5 seconds in bird-time...Regardless of what she has already gone through, even if she hadn't been abused, tortured, or scared in some way by a prior-owner or shop-owner, you still wouldn't have earned her trust yet, so you need to SLOW DOWN!!! It sounds like by what you are describing that she was a hand-raised IRN, because at 9-months old she is willing to step-up for you, get close to you, etc. But unfortunately it also sounds like someone has made her quite scared of hands...Who knows why she'll only step-up for 2 fingers, could be because someone had her stepping-up on only 1 finger and then did the "earthquake" thing whenever she did something they didn't like, making her scared to death of being unstable...You'll never know why, but the fact that she is stepping-up for you regularly is a good way to start-off...So just use 2 fingers and make her feel comfortable...

Don't push anything or force anything with touching her. She's stepping-up for you, but she doesn't trust you yet, and she's not bonded to you yet. So all you need to do is do what SHE IS COMFORTABLE WITH, not what you want to do or what you want her to do...Because that will only make her scared of you in-general and then you'll not get her near you at all...The rest will come in-time, the more time you spend with her, the more time she is on your hand, shoulder, etc. but you DON'T try to touch her/pet her, the more she'll realize that you respect her wishes and that you're not going to hurt her like others did, and then the rest of her trust will come, along with the petting and the rest...But we're talking months here, not weeks...

****Also, the reason she is screaming/making sound when you're not in the room with her but she stops as soon as you enter the room is because she knows you're at home but she can't see you...She's a Flock-Animal remember, and if you have her cage located in some spare-bedroom or back room of your house and away from the "main-room" of your house, or the room where you and others you live with spend most of their time whenever they are at home (usually the living-room, family-room, TV-room, etc.), then you need to relocate her cage to the main room of you house ASAP so that she is simply in the same room as you most of the time whenever you're at home...The other thing that is good to do is to buy or build a T-Stand/Perch that is light and portable, either a floor-stand or a table-top stand (PVC T-Stands are great, cheap to build, light, and they love them), that way you can keep it in the main-room of your house, near her cage so she knows that whenever you open her cage up she can go to her "Stand", but then you can move the stand to whatever room you're in so that she can still be with you/around you whenever you're at home, but you don't have to necessarily be interacting with her directly to make her happy...If you keep her cage in a spare-room or back-room away from where you usually are and then just let her out once in a while for an hour hear and there to be with you, she's obviously going to scream and yell for you whenever you're home but she can't see you, and they rarely play with their toys in their cages or entertain themselves at all in this situation, they are Flock-Animals and when they can't see their Flockmates but they know they're at home and can hear them/sense them, this causes them a lot of stress, anger, frustration, and they just sit and yell (it will get worse and worse the more bonded she gets to you, trust me, lol)...But if you are watching TV, gaming, reading, eating, etc. and she is in her cage or on her stand in the same room as you, even though you're not paying direct-attention to her it doesn't matter, she'll be very happy to be "among her Flock" and she'll happily entertain herself and not yell and scream....

Overall it's all about time though...Don't push her at all or force her to be petted/touched if she isn't comfortable with it, as there is a good reason why she doesn't like it. The fact that she steps-up for you and is willing to get close to you the way she is after only 2-weeks puts you WAY AHEAD of most people who bring-home an IRN or any bird who has a sketchy history and may have been neglected or worse (IRN's especially tend to become more and more wild as time goes on without them being bonded and close to someone, even if they were hand-raised)...It will be months and months before you fully earn her trust and she realizes that you're not going to hurt her...So don't push it, and try to move "her territory" into the main-room of you home, and spend as much time with her, being around her, etc. as you can each day...Don't rush the touching thing and she'll trust you much more quickly than she will if you push it/force it...

Thanks! I noticed I might be rushing, sorry for that. I’m not quite familiar with birds so I still have a lot to learn, she’s never alone though. Whenever I’m not with her, someone else is because I don’t want her to be alone, she continues singing etc with them around but not around me (I’m with her the most though). It just seems like she doesn’t want to interact at all. Whenever I put her out of her cage (her cage is open, she can go in and out whenever she wants except for at night) she simply goes back in, or when she steps up she just flies back. I’ll be patient and I’m sure there’ll be progress eventually, thank you so muchh, i’ll definitely take it easy for now

Ciel · May 6, 2019

noodles123 said:
Yes--- slow way down (and welcome).
Before even attempting to touch your bird you need to spend weeks just building trust and doing things around the cage..Go about your day, but also, read to the bird etc.
After that, see if you can feed your bird from your hand, but if it hesitates, don't push it. You don't want to associate yourself with anything stressful.
If it can be done safely, considering allowing the bird's cage door to remain open so that it can enter and exit of its own accord.

Yes i will! She does eat from my hand, she’s usually calm when she’s outside or not near her cage and is in general pretty sweet.

EllenD · May 6, 2019

Well again, she has only been in your home and with you and the others you live with for 2 weeks! Of course she just goes back in her cage and doesn't want to interact much yet, she doesn't know you yet...Parrots have the intelligence of a 3-4 year-old human child, they use logic and reasoning skills, and the only other type of pet that is anything like them or as intelligent and as emotional as they are would be pet Primates, such as monkeys, lemurs, etc. They are nothing at all like dogs, cats, etc., they are like people, and if you start thinking of her in that way then you'll start to understand where she is coming from and why she is acting the way that she is after only 2 weeks of being in your home...Imagine if a young child is put in a Foster-Home...Even if it's a very, very loving, responsible Foster-Home that ends-up being their forever-home and the people end-up becoming the child's parents, if they have only been living there and only known the people there for 2-weeks, that child isn't going to want to automatically just start hanging-out with the people all the time and allow them to hug them, hold them, pet them, etc. It would take a long time of the child living in that Foster-Home and with their new family before that child is going to give their trust to that family and for them to feel comfortable living there like it's their home...And that's the same situation here, you've got a 9 month-old parrot who may or may not have been neglected and/or abused in some way by her prior owner, her breeder, or by the employees in the shop she came from...At the very least it seems like she was hand-raised but is now pretty scared of hands due to something that someone did to her...So she has to be given a reason to trust you, and to eventually give her trust to you...You have to earn it, and it's going to take a few months before that happens...

The good thing is that is sounds like you are doing very well with her, and you're absolutely invested in her life and well-being, and you are making sure she is getting ample attention and time. So it will happen, no doubt about that, it's just going to take a while. Little by little you'll earn her trust, until she eventually bonds very closely with you, and when that happens it will all be worth it...But they'll make you work for it first...

noodles123 · May 6, 2019

You sound like you are doing a good job (off to a good start) and that you care a lot!!!

I would definitely try to get her used to being alone from time-to-time. They live a long time and you won't be able to keep that up forever--- it's great that you are spending a lot of time with her, but she should spend at least a few hours alone (at least during the week)---due to the fact that anything else is unsustainable but it will become a precedent if you never allow her to be alone (and then she will freak when she is).

For example: On the weekends, I spend most of my time (sometimes full days) with my cockatoo.
That having been said, I work, so during the week, she spends quite a few hours alone and she handles it because she is in a routine. Don't get me wrong--she is still out of her cage at least 3 hours a day (and often more) but that is a lot less than the 13 or so hours that she is out on the weekends.

If she is alone and she screams, don't come running back in...That starts a very bad cycle. You want to bond with your bird and include them in "flock" activities, but you must also teach some independence (because, as humans, we can't be with them 24/7--even though that is what they would prefer). Yes-- birds "flock call" and that is natural, but, if your bird calls and you come back, it teaches your bird that if he/she screams loud and long enough, you will respond. I would say start slowly weaning away a bit of the constant attention...Go to another room for 10 minutes or so and if there is screaming, don't return until your bird is quiet for at least 5 seconds (no screams in between). Once your bird has this down, increase the time to 10 seconds and so on (do this over weeks, not days-- unless you find that 5 seconds is easy). Ignore screaming when it is aimed at getting your attention and praise any noises that you prefer instead of screaming. For instance, if your bird normally screams for you but suddenly makes a cute little sound that you prefer, return to the room and praise. My bird now says "I love you big bird" because I ignored screaming, but stopped what I was doing when she did this lol!

I have found that if I talk to my bird from the other room, that sometimes helps, BUT NEVER if my bird is screaming. I only talk to her if she is quiet, or if she says something in an acceptable tone. I also tell her what I am doing before I do it, which seems to have built up her sense of time and ability to anticipate.

Need help!

Ciel

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EllenD

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noodles123

Well-known member

Ciel

Member

Ciel

Member

EllenD

New member

noodles123

Well-known member

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