New to the forums and seeking advice

[mistoferin]

Hello everyone,

I am open to all advice anyone can give me. I would like to start by saying that I am not new to owning birds. I have spent many years rescuing, rehabilitating and releasing wild birds and also have a Goffin and a Quaker who are our "feather kids" and are very much members of our family.

That said, I am coming here today seeking advice from those of you who have experienced integrating a new bird into your family. We have just taken in a 15 year old Sulphur Crested who I suspect did not come from an optimum environment. We got him from our local vet. The bird was turned over to him by a couple who stated they have been his one owners but can no longer keep him due to health issues.

As I stated, he(?) is 15 and does not have a name, which just breaks my heart. That will soon be remedied...we just want to get a good feel for his personality first. Our vet felt that we would be a great match for this bird as he said "he is going to need some patience". I don't believe this bird has ever been handled. We were told that he is very aggressive...and I do understand where that impression came from as the transfer and transport was not without scars. However, I don't believe that he is the "bad" bird that was described to us. I simply believe that he has not experienced being handled outside of his cage.

What I am finding is that he is very sweet and LOVES attention and will stand with his head bowed at the bars of his cage for as long as your fingers will keep scratching his head. Now that we have him home our plan is to just give him lots of patience and not try to push the issue of getting him to come out of his cage or handling him too quickly. We just want him to get used to us and learn to trust us, but I believe that he will be an amazing pet if we can just get him over the bumps.

I already know that he loves, loves, loves to dance and show off, and gets really excited when you notice and praise him. He does not seem at all concerned by our three labradors (which was a huge concern for me). He does not seem to be concerned by our other birds either...in fact, he seems to be interacting with them in a positive way.

I have noticed (would be really hard not to) that he does have a screaming habit. This is not a constant thing but seems to be triggered when we move out of his sight. It is not that raw and loud, gutteral screaming...this is very high pitched (think smoke alarm), and starts out rather softly and increases in volume the longer we are out of his field of vision.

He loves to eat and has accepted everything that we have offered him...pellets, fruits, veggies, beans and a bit of seed. He has lots of toys and things to chew and is very active with them. He will gently take food from your hand through the cage.

So...I guess what I'd like to know is if we are on the right track, taking the right approach? What time frame should we be looking at before we begin to attempt teaching him things like "Step Up" or attempting to handle him...or are there signs that I should be looking for that may indicate that he is ready to allow us to try. I just don't want to push him. We plan on having him here for another 40 years or so...so we aren't in a hurry.

Any advice tips or tricks that you can offer is gladly welcomed!

Thanks in advance,
Erin

 

[SharonC]

Erin, it sounds like you have everything under control! The time frame depends on the bird. It sounds "trite" but you'll know when he's ready for a "step up". You can leave the cage door open, so he can come out if he chooses. He sounds like he's going to be a great family addition, when he's ready!

As far as the screamng goes, try to ignore...although it wouldn't hurt to tell him you'll be right back when he starts. He's probably scared and needs to be reassured that you haven't left him someplace scary...

 

[Bobby34231]

Hi Erin and welcome to the forum, I'm hoping that your vet is an avian vet or at least knew enough to thoroughly test and quarantine the bird before turning it over to you, or at the very least explained to you the importance of protecting your existing birds by complete quarantining in the home....... as for sexing, while not a guarantee, check the eyes, dark brown iris in the males, redish brown iris in the females, if its important for you to know, you can do a DNA test for about $20....... as far as taming, training and trust are concerned that takes time, and the amount of time it takes to accomplish this is always determined by the bird and not us, thats where patience comes in, I would start by letting him settle down and get used to his new environment for at least a few days, leaving him in the cage and just interacting as you have been, talking to him with a soft and calm voice, giving him scritches through the bars, after that you can start by opening the cage door and see if he'll come out on his own, if not then you'll just have to take it one day at a time, after 15 years of little or no human physical contact it may take awhile, try this for a week or so and see how it goes, let us know how things progress and then maybe we can give you some more advise on how to proceed from there, its really great that he excepts a wide vareity of food, many behaviorial problems can be linked to poor nutrition, so at least thats one less concern, time, love, patience and understanding are the keys to gaining the trust, after that things will fall into place, you seem to be headed in the right direction, keep the faith and keep up the good work