lost cause??

[lilamy]

Hi im in the UK and have taken on an alexandrine that a family member had been bought (who has previously had a parrot) she is elderly and has not been able to give Percy the attention he needs I have got advice from petshops websites etc and have taken on the bird which I was told was 7-8months. In the house it was in there were lots of people in and out we were assured our house would be a better environment and we have the time and have thought about getting a bird for a while. Percy would stay at the back of the cage and panic when people came in the house in and appeared unhappy nobody else was willing to take him on.
he has arrived today we have seen improvement in last few hours he has become more confident moving around cage but still very flighty if you go near him. Unfortunatly on arrival we found he has the black and pink band round his neck already and now realise he is not the age we were told and have no idea how old he is although we are trying to chase this up! I now am worried we are going to struggle to be able to train him to be more sociable if anyone has any advice or words of encouragement, questions etc I would be very greatful!
Thanks Amy

 

[MikeyTN]

Someone may have abused him at one point or he was never tamed to begin with. Have you watch some videos on target training? If not you should give a try. Mean birds can be trained as it just depends if you have the time and patience to train them.

 

[lilamy]

Thanks for your reply we are trying to get hold of previous owners as his nanna has only had him 4 month previous owners said he bought him at 3 months old.
We have ordered a new cage which should come tomorrow as previous cage and toys belonged to previous parrot and I have be told this could have negative affect on him too but im also concerened moving him here and into new cage is too much upheaval.
I will definitely look at videos I have seen some but even if we try and open cage at the min he just starts panicking and flapping like mad.
thanks again for your advice its reassuring as I am really questioning my choice to take him on at the min feeling very out of my depth.

 

[sonja]

Helping an animal in need is never a lost cause. Never.
He's only been with you for one day. Please slow waaaaay down and let him adjust slowly to his new environment. If you search the forum you will find many threads about new birds in new homes. The most important thing is patience.

 

[lilamy]

Thank you I know we have done the right thing and I know we can give him a better environment but I just got a shock when realised he not age we thought as we convinced ourselves because he young he would be able to adjust better. Now I have no idea how old he might be or what kind of life he has had and its just a bit daunting. I have been looking through posts and found great tips but most for baby birds and as far as I know he could be years old and I may never know. Thanks again for advice and I will give percy all my time and patience just panicking a bit!

 

[Betrisher]

Don't be put off by Percy's age! No matter how old he is, you should still be able to provide him with an environment where he's happy and healthy. You should also be able to train him to behave in ways you want. Birds never stop learning and in my experience, Alexandrines are very food greedy: they will do a lot for food rewards!

It all depends on how patient you can be. Percy will not become a snuggle bunny overnight (in fact, he may never do that - my Alexes are not cuddly in the slightest), but he will develop a bond with you if you work at it. The way I did it was sitting for hours with my birds, shamelessly feeding them treats and talking quietly with them. Quiet and calm are the key. A noisy living room is not the best place to start out with a nervous bird. Try to find a quiet corner where you can sit and have one-on-one time with him. Read to him or just sit and watch TV near his cage. If he doesn't mind it, you could sit with your hand in the cage. Hold a spray of millet or something he can reach for and nibble. Taking slow steps, you can coax him to trust you and gradually come to you on his terms, not yours. Keep checking in here and ask your questions: there are lots of us who are happy to help if we can!

 

[Bundiibird]

I agree with Betrisher. My Alex is not cuddles either. She has her moments but even then it is only a brief scratch and that is it.

I too spent and still do spend a lot of time talking quietly with Bundii. I am not her favourite person but she is getting better. Food, treats, patience and time is what you need.

There are plenty of people on here who have successfully trained scared/nervous birds. Please do not hesitate to ask for help - after all you have already taken a big step in helping to provide for this awesome birdie.

 

[lilamy]

Thanks you both for advice!
Im hoping new cage will come today and this can be his new start as I think he has been passed from pillar to post .
I hoping he will be happy in my living room as rest of my bungalow is open plan and my living room is seperate and theres only me and my partner we only use living room to sit and watch tv and now interact with him but we are already considering moving him to another corner as he is next to the door and panics when we walk in or would we be better letting him get used to us coming past as other corner has less light and he wont b able to see tv??

could I also ask does a quiet bird mean he is unhappy?? He has not yet made any noises. Yesterday he made some very small noises but watching him I think he was grinding the top and bottom of his beak together?

Im feeling more positive today especially now I know I can come on here for advice thank you!

 

[Betrisher]

Why don't you try keeping him in a quieter corner and moving him to be close to you when you're watching TV? I think you're quite right about him being quiet because he's still a bit nervous. My Beaks were like that at first but have certainly found their voices now! Oh my wordy-lordy yes they have! LOL! This is not the first time I've said a member: 'be careful what you wish for'!

PS. I read in your other post that your bird is actually an Indian Ringneck. It's easy to tell: Alexes have a large red splotch on each shoulder and a proportionally larger red bill. Alexes are rather larger in body size than IRNs but I'm not aware of much real difference between them. I've never owned an IRN, although I would like to eventually. Now you've got me wondering whether any of our members owns both Alexandrines and IRNs. Anyone???

 

[lilamy]

Literally as ive read your post we r quietly watching tv eating lunch and he has just made a little chirp!!!! U could definatly be right about be careful what you wish for haha but as long as he is happy I dont mind too much! Looking into it he is definatly a ringneck he doesnt have red markings on wings I have tried to add a pic but not sure how! X

 

[Betrisher]

Excellent! Be as patient as you possibly can and take things very slowly. It won't take long before he responds to you, I bet.

Lilamy, I'm going to move your thread into the Ringnecks section so you can be in touch with other Ringneck owners (as I said, I've never had any )

 

[lilamy]

Thank you for moving post! Im over the moon to have found these forums they very helpful. Percy is now in his new cage was a bit stressful seeing him so upset when my partner had to get hold of him to put him in but he seems to like it and I wanted him to have a nice new cage that is his with all his new toys because all his other stuff had been second hand. Gave him his first spray too

 

[Kalidasa]

Sounds like he's settling in nicely beak grinding is like cats purring..it's a sound of relaxed contentment.

 

[lilamy]

Oh really is it?? Thats so good to know he often does it after eating I thought maybe he was just cleaning his beak or something ive sat with him in mew cage last hour or 2 and he seems quite content just doesnt like us going near him but hopefully we can work on that

 

[WesselG]

hi Amy

As other members noted Percy is at least a 2-3 year old IRN and not an Alexandrine like you were told. Having said that he's a beautiful bird.

A quiet bird isn't always an unhappy bird...I have vocal birds in my flock as well as a few "introverts".

I purchased two new IRN's at the end of last year and although I can move around them quite comfortably without a panic attack from the new adult female she always panics whenever my mom goes out to cover their cages. Me and mom's approach to them differs like day and night: I'll just go out quietly, change their dishes and spend some time with them while my mom would approach them talking in an excited voice so you might have to figure out which approach works for you and Percy.

Kind regards,

Wessel