2nd time out of cage, chaotic

[Crayfish066]

I let my IRN out of the cage for the first time yesterday and all went well, although he stayed on top of his cage the entire time.

Today I did the same but he seemed more confident and took flight, so I'm pretty sure he isn't clipped now.

Long story short he flew into a number of things including a t.v screen, shortly after he flew a short distance and landed on the floor with his wings spread out, it was at this point a family member decided to grab him lightly to prevent any chance of him injuring himself.

He seemed pretty shocked by the entire ordeal and kept closing his eyes for a couple of minutes which worried us a little but he seems like he is back to normal now and is eating from my hand again.

What did I do wrong, is there anyway I can prevent this in the future?

One of the things he did fly into was a t.v screen which I guess he thought resembled a mirror but he was flying into opaque objects too.

 

[wrench13]

You have to walk around your apartment and show him what walls are and TV screens and windows and mirrors. Do it several times too. He can break his neck crashing into those things.

 

[Crayfish066]

You have to walk around your apartment and show him what walls are and TV screens and windows and mirrors. Do it several times too. He can break his neck crashing into those things.

He doesn't step up yet.

 

[LordTriggs]

work on getting him to step up inside the cage at first onto a perch. This is the most vital lesson even before they come out of the cage IMO. The first couple times are normally chaotic, his wings being spread out is him being exhausted so he probably has had a light clip meaning he has to work more to fly.

Closing his eyes is almost certainly from the bump into stuff. Just wondering when he was out were you following him around constantly? He could have seen that as being chased which isn't exactly fun for them. Next time you're feeling confident try just relaxing as much as you can and let him figure himself out. I advise covering mirrors and closing any curtains so he doesn't have the temptation to fly into them. Even having the tv on so he isn't seeing reflections as easily and of course make sure you have plenty of treats for him so he will be more happy to work with you

 

[plumsmum2005]

Great stuff above but I would prefer to cover the TV or if a flat screen on a stand maybe place in on the floor covered with a blanket, sheet or towel as if knocked they may fall over.

Take a good look around your home especially the flying zones and with a critical eye look for and remove all those possible dangers to your feathered buddy.

If he is panicky you could try taking him around in his carrier and talking to him showing him the dangers just so he can build a picture for himself but this doesnt stop taking those all important measures as mentioned.

Idea: Place a bowl with some treats in a safe place for him to land, sofa maybe? Show the bowl, the treats going in and then let him watch you place it? Idea is something to aim for a focus instead of panic when he is out.
Update us of any progress please?

 

[T00tsyd]

I have walked Syd around his house sometimes on a perch but more on my shoulder or a finger. I have tapped walls and windows, put him really close to the boundaries and shown him doors and windows, and I notice he tends to stick to those flight paths.

Until a few days ago when he realised he can climb curtains, sit on the curtain rail and dive bomb me!

 

[FlyBirdiesFly]

You can start to target train him inside the cage, then target him to your hand or a handheld perch. Or you can just use treats to lure him out of his cage. After he has learned to step up on either a hand or a stick, you can start walking around the house with him and showing him where he can land. Just don't clip his wings.

 

[itzjbean]

Differing opinions on this but I'm a fan of the clip. Especially if he's dive-bombing you from the top of the curtain rod...not fun. I would clip to at least give you more control for the time-being of where he flies.

 

[Crayfish066]

I was target training him but someone recommended I let him out before the training was finished, I guess I should stick to my original plan lol.

I thought he would be intelligent enough to distinguish between the reflection on the tv and a window or mirror due to the much darker reflection but I guess I overestimated his abilities there a little.

The only real difference between that session and the 1st one is that my dad was standing much closer to him this time around, he isn't as familiar with him as he is me because I spend most of the day sitting a few feet from his cage. Is it possible he got spooked because of this?

He seemed to be flying very close to the ceiling which made us nervous because he didn't seem very in control, this may have made us follow him closer than we should have but we still kept our distance to an extent except when he flew right past me a few times.

Differing opinions on this but I'm a fan of the clip. Especially if he's dive-bombing you from the top of the curtain rod...not fun. I would clip to at least give you more control for the time-being of where he flies.

I assumed he was clipped already because this is the first time i've seen him fly excessively, I still have mixed feelings about the subject. If I were to get him temporarily clipped would this have any long term negative effects on his flight? He is almost 4 months old at the moment.

 

[Crayfish066]

I'm kinda struggling with how I would go about teaching him to step up.

I've read it's best to position some food in one hand and let him step onto the other to eat it. However it is difficult to accomplish this because he'll just hang onto the bars of his cage to eat the food instead of climbing onto my hand.

Any suggestions?

Its difficult to position my hand above the perch because this would leave a large gap in the top of the cage which he could fly out of and result in something similar to last time.

 

[Crayfish066]

3rd time out of the cage, after a while he took flight again, we were much calmer and kept as still as possible except for when we had to duck lol.

He ended up flying directly into the wall this time and once he'd recovered from that he flew back to the top of his cage at which point we lured him back in.

I'm guessing it's normal for him to fly into the wall like this while he's still learning to control his flight?

 

[LordTriggs]

Yes they can do especially when they never fully learnt how to stop. Think a child on a bike, they start pedaling away then the parent calls for them to stop and the child shouts "how?" Now try doing that in an enclosed space with creatures around that may or may not eat you and there's nobody around who understands what you're asking. He's clearly getting better as he's landed on his cage after and it appears you're keeping calmer too which is a key part of the process. Focus on those step-ups and getting him comfy with you and those flights will be less chaotic as time goes on

 

[Crayfish066]

Yes they can do especially when they never fully learnt how to stop. Think a child on a bike, they start pedaling away then the parent calls for them to stop and the child shouts "how?" Now try doing that in an enclosed space with creatures around that may or may not eat you and there's nobody around who understands what you're asking. He's clearly getting better as he's landed on his cage after and it appears you're keeping calmer too which is a key part of the process. Focus on those step-ups and getting him comfy with you and those flights will be less chaotic as time goes on

I got some advice in my other thread saying this is not normal, any idea why they might think that?

Your advice has been very helpful so far so I am more inclined to believe you, no offence to the other person and I definitely appreciate all advice.

 

[LordTriggs]

Yes they can do especially when they never fully learnt how to stop. Think a child on a bike, they start pedaling away then the parent calls for them to stop and the child shouts "how?" Now try doing that in an enclosed space with creatures around that may or may not eat you and there's nobody around who understands what you're asking. He's clearly getting better as he's landed on his cage after and it appears you're keeping calmer too which is a key part of the process. Focus on those step-ups and getting him comfy with you and those flights will be less chaotic as time goes on

I got some advice in my other thread saying this is not normal, any idea why they might think that?

Your advice has been very helpful so far so I am more inclined to believe you, no offence to the other person and I definitely appreciate all advice.

Haha I can assure you I'm no expert! I just voice my opinions and try to offer advice

In a sense there's validity to both of us. No it's not normal for a parrot that's a couple months old to be crashing into things. but for a fledgling parrot to crash is more common than you'd expect. The reason we don't normally see wild ones on the floor after a crash is because a cat or other predator gets there first. I don't know the full history of your parrot of course but he is only 4 months old. Now that is a very young Ringneck, as Silversage has noted they find their babies normally wean at about 5 - 7 months old. So really this is the first time your parrot is learning to fly, in the wild when they shoot off and forget how to turn or stop it's not much of an issue, they have a whole planet to fly through but in a house they have only a few feet. Just make sure any time he has a tumble to check that he's not hurt himself. Really if he does keep crashing it may be an idea to clip but really then you would have to keep him clipped or he would just go back to crashing when his new feathers grow in. Now it's nobodies decision apart from yours, you have been given a lot more knowledge than the average parrot keeper. think how many just throw some seed in the cage and clip because "that's what you do". If you feel he's going to be at risk of hurting himself then book a quick appointment with your CAV, let them do a quick exam of him and discuss clipping, you never know they may find something that nobody here could think of in regards to flight or they may agree it's for the best

 

[Anansi]

Okay, at 4 months your IRN should've been well into his fledging process. Problem here is that he's getting a bit of a late start, and he's learning in a confined space. This doesn't mean that you need to clip his wings, however. You'd only be putting off the problem if your ultimate intent is for him to be able to fly well enough to negotiate all of the twists and turns involved with indoor flight.

Think of what's happening to him this way. He gets a chance once in a while to do something that he feels a powerful urge to do on an instinctive level. But combine that excitement with a lack of fundamental flight skills and you have a problem. Since he has not yet had the chance to fledge, his abilities are nowhere near the equal of his ambition. So this is where you are needed to step in and level his playing field somewhat.

My first ekkie, Bixby, had a similar experience in terms of being allowed to fledge. He was in a store until he weaned at 4 months, so he didn't get the chance to fledge as he should have. If upon bringing him home I'd let him out into the open expanse of my home, what's happening with your IRN is exactly what would've happened to Bixby.

Here's what I did:

I purchased 2 adjustable height training perches and worked with him in a small room, door closed. The limited space prevented him from slamming full speed into walls while he was learning to maneuver. (He still crashed. Just not at a speed sufficient to cause him any real harm.) And the room was cleared of as many distractions as possible. A teaching space. Nothing more.

To start, I placed the 2 training perches side by side. There was just enough space between them to allow him to comfortably step from one to the other at my prompting. (Yes, flight training and target training go hand in hand.) Each time he followed my command and went to the indicated perch, I praised him enthusiastically and gave him one of his favorite treats. Usually a sliver of almond or cashew.

Once he was reliably going back and forth on command, I began increasing the distance between the perches so that it required a bit of a stretch to make it across. And once he got confident with that distance, I widened it enough so that he had to do a little hop. And then wide enough where he had to flap his wings once or twice to cross the gap.

This incremental approach was important to begin teaching him control, to build his confidence, and to establish the targeting routine that served as the basis of his training.

Once he was confidently flying from perch to perch from across the room, I started adjusting the heights of the perches for varying difficulty levels. Also done in increments. Flying from a higher place to lower. Lower to higher. (Keep in mind that the steeper the climb or drop, the greater the difficulty. So your increments would now go in reverse. Start farther away and then work your way closer. This builds skill AND strength.) Eventually he was able to fly from down on the floor up to a fully extended perch at a nearly sheer incline!

I then stopped placing the perches directly across from each other, instead angling them so that he'd have to turn a bit in order to land. With increased confidence was a proportionally decreased tendency to panic when encountering the unexpected during flight. Why? Because he was increasingly confident of his ability to circumvent it.

Once he got to this level, I introduced him to the rest of the house. I took him on tours again and again and again, until he was intimately familiar with every window, every mirror, every hallway, every wall, and every good perching surface. ***Also important! The more landing areas you provide throughout your home, the less likely he is to crash. Why? Because he will have a landing perch mapped out in his head already. Often, it's the panic that ensues when they can't find a perch that leads to headlong rushes into the wall.

With time, Bixby became a proficient flier. He never, however, approached Jolly's level of skill. Jolly is an example of a properly fledged bird. Flying is second nature for him. But Bixby did become rather good at it. Enough so that his absolute joy for flying showed in every triumphant flourish of his tail whenever he'd pull off a particularly challenging maneuver.

It takes time and patience, but your guy can definitely learn.

Here's a really good video on indoor flight:
[ame="https://youtu.be/NzyZGdMp9kM"]Myth-busting! Parrot Training - Indoor Free Flying - DUCK!! Pet Parrot Free flight Skills - YouTube[/ame]