another newbie

[Rana]

Hi Everyone,

My name is Rana, I'm from the green isle of Ireland.
My flock consists of myself my husband and our two feathered kids,
Scottie, a green cheek conure , or the feathered anti-christ as we sometimes call him (jokingly, he is really the sweetest most well behaved little thing ) and Little, our Hahns macaw - who is not so well behaved sadly, and that's why i'm here...

Litlle is about a year old now, and we've had him for the guts of 3 months. He was handreared but has been so neglected by his (5!) previous owners that he has no interest in going through another human dissapointment...

We've given him a very large cage, which took us about a month to get him comfortable with (he was kept in a small budgie size cage before, no daylight, only seed food, no human interaction etc...). But even now he only likes one particular perch in a corner and hardly every ventures out to explore, he has no interest in toys what-so ever, and despite us trying every nut/berry/fruit under the sun - is just not open to food bribes, he just picks it up and throws it away.

when he's in the cage though, he does take treats (pinenuts by his choice) and he even gets a bit chatty sometimes, but as soon as we try to have him step up (never by force by the way) he just bites - and bites to make you bleed.

the tactic we're trying with him now is just to take our time to get him to step up out of the cage and take him in to a different room where his cage and Scottie are out of sight, and just read a book, or do something quiet and relaxing to get him used to us.

Any tips/ advice is more than welcome, the problem with general websites is that they are infact too general... I'm hoping to meet some people here that have some real experiences to share!


Kind regards,
Rana

 

[wenz2712]

Hello Rana and welcome to the forum

I am not familiar with Hahns, but there are many Members here who will be able to help you with this one.

Would love to see some pics

 

[kc_y0]

Hello Rana, and welcome to the forum! Good on you for taking in that bird after he's had a rough life, poor bugger! I imagine with the neglect he has suffered in the past, he will be a tough cookie to win over, but keep at it!
Hopefully other members will have some helpful advise for you!

 

[Rana]

thank you for the advice so far guys little's had a couple of vet visits by now, we had him quarantined from scottie for a while till we got the all clear. he's perfectly healthy apart from some liver issues due to only eating sunflowerseeds for so long, but he's being weaned onto organic pellets ( and daily fresh fruit and veg ) at the moment, which is going rather well. i think i just feel like I should have made more progress with him than i have...

some pictures attached if anyone does have extensive experience with either hahns or just neglected parrots i'd love to hear from you!

Scottie:

Little:

Little in the much to small cage...:

Little in his new castle:

 

[PortaPerch]

Welcome, Rana. You no doubt know that rana in Spanish means Frog. Wifey's name is Ronna, and I sometimes call her Froggie.

As for Little, I can't offer much but encouragement. Greybeard was shop worn from a year in an exotic bird store, so we got him at a bargain price. They had named him Grumpy Girl, because he was a biter. He is a delight, and bonded to wifey.

The only time we cage him is at night in motels. He and Chewbaca could do serious damage if they were out while we were asleep.

If we had Little, we would trim his flight feathers and leave his cage open.

 

[MonicaMc]

Will he step up on a perch? Can you lure him onto your hand? The easiest way would be to place your hand at the end of the perch (not near him so he can bite) and if he looks towards your hand, give him a treat. If he steps near your hand, give him a treat. Keep up this process until he touches your hand and, hopefully, in time even standing on it.

Does he show any interest if you eat near him? If so, handing him some bird safe foods from your plate may help.



No experience with hahns, although my cherry head (RIP) rarely accepted a treat from me, even if he liked it. He was usually ok with taking food from my hands, but as soon as he had it, he'd drop it. He was a bit of a special case and learned to "work for" kisses (which he didn't like at first! not recommended)

Was also able to work with a green cheek conure to show the owner how to train her... because she nips and she nips hard! However, she's very food motivated, so working with her was rather easy. I only showed the owner how to train her and that was it.

 

[Rana]

Hi Portaperch, I had no idea about Rana meaning frog
We actually did that. Scottie was severely clipped when we got him - and he was too young aswell so never learned to fly, he's nearly fully again flighted now though
We had little clipped by the vet, he got into a habbit of flying off in a panic and i was afraid he'd crash into something. he's grand when he's out and about on his cage, but that's it. The cage, no where else or he's in distress... that's one of the things i'm hoping to help him get over by taking him into another room twice a day for 10 or 15 minutes...

Hi Monica,
he won't step onto a perch, we tried that for a while but he just ignores it all together and if you gently push it agains his belly he'd just attack it - same with your hand... it's only when you hold one hand behind him that he'd step up (the lesser of two evils i guess is how he sees it) as soon as he's out of his comfort zone and something is near him (your hand or whatever...) he has no time for treats. doesn't want them and if he does take one it's only to drop it again. he is interested when i'm eating alright, scottie will usually be on my shoulder and works his way through whatever (parrot safe ) is on my plate. little only takes small pieces of things but then he grabs it and scampers off to his trusty perch inside his cage.

 

[Adinafloyd]

Rana, sounds like you are doing your best with little. I thank you for taking little in. I cant believe he is on his 6th home in a year. Poor guy. I guess I would be anxious too. Hopefully with time, love and patience Little will come around. Best wishes to you all

 

[Rana]

Hi Adina,

I have to admit i've had my regrets, but i would have never forgiven myself for leaving him with the last owner, knowing i could provide him a safe and loving home.... but lord...a baby would have been handier!

 

[kc_y0]

From what your describing, it really sounds to me like he is still very nervous and hasn't settled in yet, so I am guessing it will take a little more time. My new baby straight from the breeder took a few months to settle in properly and she didn't have a bad past of neglect. I just think you will have to keep positive and keep working with him, he will take a lot longer to earn your trust.
Even though a babier would have been easier, you made a big difference in his life, he no longer has to live in a tiny cage and eat bad food, and hopefully he will have a much happier, longer and healthier life with you!
Treats may not be the way to go, I was unable to win my bird over with treats either. Try singing to him in a happy voice, it might make him feel calmer.

As for him feeling distressed when not on his cage, I also think this will just be one of those time things. My bird was the same, she would always fly back to her cage whenever I tried to hold her. But now she wants to be on me rather then the cage. With time, he will come around.

 

[kc_y0]

Oh, something that was suggested to me to stop my bird from just wanting to be on her cage was to cover the cage up while holding her. She couldn't see it so she wouldn't be constantly trying to get back to it. It helped. Maybe this could help you too? Although he might be too smart for it haha.

 

[Rana]

Hi KC, Thanks for your reply, I was only half serious about the baby sure it would be handier but i wouldn't trade him in for all the baby birds in the world. I plan to prove this bird he is not as disposable as he has been made to feel by being passed around like an old shirt. I guess i just needed some confirmation that i was doing the right things and gotta give him time, however much he needs, though keep the feedback/tips and advice comming in! i've found a goldmine of advice on this forum allready... Really happy i ended up here today

Oh PS: thanks for the tip on covering up the cage haha, quite simple idea but could be very effective! i'll try it out, i'll let you know how i got on

PPS: I keep calling him "he" but really, i'll be getting the DNA results back somewhere this week, so "he" could well be a"she".
Scottie is deffinitely a "he" though.

 

[antoinette]

Rather late than never

WELCOME

Enjoy our wonderful forum

 

[Rana]

Thanks Antoinette! As per my last post - i just got a call from the vet with Little's DNA results, and "He" is in fact a "She".
I guess that explains a lot in regards to why "She" is so much more difficult than the other one...