Could a six months old rosella be tamed?

[ivandhro]

Hello,
I've been given a female eastern rosella. She is about six months and I've been told she's grown up in an aviary with other birds.

Now I have her in a cage, outside. She eats her seeds, sometimes whistles, and seems quite fine. Still, when I approach too near the cage, she takes fright and begin to flit around.

I'd like to let her free to fly out of her cage and to get she used to me, so she may eat seeds from my hands or just move around in a room without fearing me.

Is there something I can do or she is just too old for that?

 

[oled]

I think that 6 month together with other birds is perfekt !! Now she now that she is a bird. I think that you should training UP and DOWN in the cage before she is out from the cage. The reason is that it is not trust building if you have to catch hear for getting her back in the cage.

 

[melinda]

Rosellas are a harder bird to tame down. I had one that was hand fed then sold to a lady that worked with her but not as much as she wanted to. After 14 years of not being able to handle her she gave her to me. That was my first bird other than a keet or cockatiel. I did get her changed over to pellets but she had a lot of damange to her liver. I worked with her everyday for a year. Never got her to step up but she no longer threw her self into the side of the cage. 5 days after our year annv. i woke up to find she passed away. Not sure if i would have ever got her to step up but at lest i could let her out to fly around the room. When she got done she put her self up so i would not have to touch her. I wish you much luck with yours

 

[ivandhro]

Thank you for your replies! I have to clarify that she has never been hand fed and is pretty reluctant to human interaction.
She seems to like apple slices but not enough to accept it from my hands (passing it though the bars). When I try this she flies to the other side of the cage and stays there.
How should I gain some trust?

 

[melinda]

Spending a lot of time setting next to her cage. You don't have to be paying any mind to her but it gets her used to you being there

 

[Pedro]

ivandhro, about the only thing you can hope for from a Rosella is talking gently to her everytime you pass by her cage or feed her, is that she will stop being flighty. They are really are best suited for an aviary. But from experience it could take up to a year for her to settle enough to not fly into a mad panic each time you approach her cage.

However to keep this little one calm & not place to much stress on her cover her cage with a blanket & only leave the front uncovered that will give her a bit of security.

Here in Australia it's very unlikely for anyone to keep a Rosella as a pet, even a hand-reared bird is very hard to keep tame. We do hand-rear the chicks but once weaned are placed back in the aviary, H/R chicks seem to be less flighty than a parent reared chick.

Little word of warning be very careful if you are considering letting it out of the cage because it will fly straight into a window or wall & most likely injure or kill itself.