How long did it take your IRN to get used to hands?

[Crayfish066]

I've heard that IRN's have a thing about hands but that it can be overcome with enough patience and training.

Currently I'm at the stage where my IRN will perch on my hand when I offer it as a stepping stone for food, allowing him to approach my hand.
It will often bite me but the pain isn't really an issue because it's nothing extreme and very brief as I drop my hand to make him lose balance when he does this.

However the real issue is when I am the one approaching him with my hands, he will lunge at them everytime.
He seems to appreciate that I'm removing my hand when he lunges so when he's made contact he hasn't bitten down or anything.
My only real worry is if I'm not quick enough for him, these bites look a lot more aggressive than his regular ones and like they'd hurt a lot more.

How long did it take you to get past this type of behaviour with your IRN?
I know each IRN is an individual but if I could get some kind of average based on the replies then it would definitely help.

 

[LordTriggs]

don't remove when he lunges. That's teaching him that to get rid of things he doesn't like he needs to bite. you need to look at the whole situation and learn to read him, figure out the 'why' of the situation. Is he in his cage at this time or is it anywhere? Are you moving too fast? Are you surprising him? The simple rule is it's not his fault, he bit for a reason. The biggest key is persistence, he needs to learn that biting doesn't get him his way. Also you say he bites a lot but I think he's beaking more often, when he "bites" then climbs on to your hand that's to make sure your arm doesn't fall to the floor, he may put a bit of pressure on but that's because he doesn't know his strength yet.

Also IMO the shaking/drop method doesn't work, what would you do if the ground started shaking or began to fall? You'd grab on to the nearest thing for dear life, so why would a bird not do the same?

 

[Crayfish066]

don't remove when he lunges. That's teaching him that to get rid of things he doesn't like he needs to bite. you need to look at the whole situation and learn to read him, figure out the 'why' of the situation. Is he in his cage at this time or is it anywhere? Are you moving too fast? Are you surprising him? The simple rule is it's not his fault, he bit for a reason. The biggest key is persistence, he needs to learn that biting doesn't get him his way. Also you say he bites a lot but I think he's beaking more often, when he "bites" then climbs on to your hand that's to make sure your arm doesn't fall to the floor, he may put a bit of pressure on but that's because he doesn't know his strength yet.

Also IMO the shaking/drop method doesn't work, what would you do if the ground started shaking or began to fall? You'd grab on to the nearest thing for dear life, so why would a bird not do the same?

Dropping my hand seems to have been pretty successful so far and it's stopped him biting with 100% accuracy, I guess every parrot will react differently.

The lunging is happening outside of his cage and I always go slow and steady when approaching him with my hands.

I'll try enduring some more pain to see if he is just struggling to get a grip sometimes next time I get him to step up. Personally I get the impression that he just loves to chew on things regardless of the pressure he's putting out but you may be right.

 

[Crayfish066]

I didn't move my hands from the lunges like suggested, he basically just ended up doing his normal chewing, I let him chew for a while and endured the pain but he eventually drew blood.

Even then the pain wasn't too bad mostly just a lingering uncomfortable feeling that lasted about 30 minutes.

I've noticed essentially growling at him when he bites does get him to stop temporarily though lol, but then he just starts again a few seconds later.