Oliver Comes Home in One Week!

[drlisaort]

Yikes, the time has come, my Oliver will be moving in with us next week. I've been bonding with him once a week since his first little green feather sprouted. He is now 13 weeks.

I do not have experience with a medium to large parrot. I did have a Cockatiel for 23 years who passed from old age about five months ago. I wanted to move to a bigger more interactive bird and found, after months of research, the male Ekkie to be the best fit for me.

Okay, on to my dilemma. Whenever I visited Oliver, Charlie (the bird store owner and breeder) would bring him to me from his little box he lived in. He graduated to a regular cage a few weeks ago after he took flight during one of my visits. Now that he's in a cage he is really maturing and learning from the other birds around him. Last week Charlie's wife told me to reach in and get him out of the cage. I froze with fear. I think I've read too many books and forums on parrots and now fear getting bit. Oliver is very sweet but he sensed my fear and did clamp on my hand (gently). Now I'm afraid and he's coming home next week. I need some advice and suggestions on how to move past this fear.

I have a million more questions but this is the biggest one at this point. Oh, and Oliver learned quickly to step up from one hand to the next when I was bonding with him. But again, I've never reached into his cage....

Thank you in advance!
Lisa

 

[Boysmom]

My Ekkie Ruby uses her beak as a hand when she steps up, and she also always has to taste me. If your had intended a bite you would have surely known it. Many birds will " Beak " you as they step up as a way of holding on and getting a firm grip. He will sense your fear so you really must overcome it. Ruby is my baby girl and we have quite a great bond, but she has bitten me once or twice in all the time I've owned her. Once was when I was teaching her to hang upside down like a Bat and she was scared. I can say that Ruby has never broken the skin when she bit, and that she has only bitten a select few times and she had good reason to bite at the time.

 

[moni.k]

Congrats on your new baby boy!! Such an exciting moment when you know your baby is ready to come home.

I can only tell you from my experience, and Nalani was my first bird EVER that I have owned so it was definitely a lot of trial and error for the both of us. Now, I will warn you that your bird WILL bite you one day, it is just one of those things you have to accept. Whether or not they continue to bite is all based on the training and time spent with him. Birds can only communicate on so many levels: biting, screaming and body language. However, I can tell you after getting bitten by a meyer's and a U2 that an eclectus bite does hurt but it is a manageable pain (IMO). Eclectus do have a softer beak and at his young age will most likely beak you or nibble your fingers. He is just too young to know that his bite can and will hurt. Nalani's first "bite" which didn't draw blood was when she was about 5 months old. I had moved her into a larger cage and she hadn't settled. It was my fault for putting my hand in there and forcing her to be handled when she wasn't ready.

When he does bite you, do not move your hand quickly or hit/scream at him. It will only teach him to be fearful of you and will result in more aggressive behavior. If he does bite, respect his space and back away.

Birds like many creatures can sense fear, it shows in your body language... hesitation, uneasy handling, etc. This will make your bird even more insecure of an already sensitive time (getting to know you, and settling in a new environment). I agree with boysmom that you have to get over your fear. Nalani has never bitten those who have experience with handling birds, yet has bitten my parents and brother because they were uneasy and fearful of her. Even then, she only gave a warning bite, enough to hurt but nothing close to her full potential.

He is still very young and shouldn't show any aggression with his food, cage, touch and handling. It is with older birds that haven't been socialized at a young age that will grow to bite and show aggression. Work with him using clicker training to help create a bond. Good luck and hope you post some pictures of your new baby soon!

 

[drlisaort]

Thank you BoysMom and Moni.k for your kind words and valuable advise. I so hear you that I MUST get over this before I "create" a problem that doesn't exist. Oliver is very sweet for sure and I'm positive it's my end that has the issue. I'm curious, when you put your hand into the cage to get your birds to step up do you use a perch? Do you pet first? Or do you just go for it from his chest/legs. As I mentioned out of his cage he is wonderful at stepping up. Twice he was startled from kids "rough housing" while their parents were looking at other birds, and flew off my hand to the floor but stepped up quickly for me each time.

Thank you for your help...I appreciate it more than you'll know!!!!

Lisa

 

[wenz2712]

Congrats.. you must be very excited

Oliver is adorable.

 

[Mitz]

Please post more pics when he comes home. I definitely would like to see your setup as it will give me ideas too. Lol Oliver looks awesome!

 

[Chikoo]

Just reach in the cage near his abdomen and ask him to step up. If he doesn't respond, then try gently nudging his belly. If he doesn't step up after that, then just leave him alone. My female was very moody when it came to stepping up the first two months I had her. Now, before I have even brought my fingers to her abdomen, if she just sees them approaching, she lifts her foot in the air, every single time. She steps up 100% of the time now. And she always puts her beak on my fingers. Sometimes she will even beak my fingers, by placing her beak around them for a soft nibble, or just for balancing, or to taste me or whatever. It is completely benign though. You cannot fear the beak! I had to get over my fears too, and now I am able to bring my finger to my female's beak anytime and allow her to beak me without any fears that she will chomp down. Usually, a serious chomp is the result of some kind of infraction on our part.

 

[moni.k]

I agree with Chikoo's method. Try not to force him to do something he doesn't feel comfortable doing yet. I look at birds more like people. You wouldn't want someone (a stranger at that) to force a hug or a pat on the head onto you. Instead of demanding step up, ask politely. Offer your hand as a signal that you want him to step up (consistency is the key). If he backs away then let him be alone for a few minutes before trying again. Soon he will realize why your hand is there and that he has a choice of wanting to step up or not. This will reassure trust and confidence in your bird.

With that said, he is pretty young and doesn't quite know how to step up onto your hand. So start with touch training (a great way to build confidence and bond) using a stick, each time he touches the stick he gets a treat. After he mastered that down, put your hand on the table and using touch training, encourage him onto your hand. Please note that you aren't forcing him at all, he is doing this gradually on his own. This will teach him that stepping up onto your hand (or arm) is safe and only brings positive reinforcement. I know this method seems pretty time consuming, but Nalani mastered the touch training almost instantly (she really likes pencils so using that made the training go much easier). Literally in 2, 10 minute sessions she mastered step up like a champ, and she was only 12 weeks old.

PS: your baby is SOO adorable!!! I am so tempted to get a male, they are just the CUTEST. It takes every once of my mental power to refrain. ugh, after one I tell ya. You get hooked!

 

[drlisaort]

Thank you for the Great tips! I love the idea of using a stick or pencil if he hesitates with my hand. The cage he's in is very big and when I put my hand in and touched his belly to encourage him to step up he looked at my hand like he might bite and I got scared. I'm sure he was just wondering why my hand was there as usually they handed him to me. I bought two cages one for my main home and one for my second home I go to once a month. I was told it would be best to get a smaller cage for the second home as he won't be in there much. Anyway, I 'm thinking both cages are not taller than me as they are in the bird store which may have made him more dominant when my hand went inside his home. In any event, all your tips are a life saver. Thank you! I'm certain I have more questions that haven't surfaced yet, but the beak was my biggest intimidator...

 

[Chikoo]

Yes, I should have also mentioned stick training. Just find a small stick and use that to teach him to step up initially.

 

[Jollyjess80]

Don't make the bird do anything....if you want a fulfilling bond with your parrot then let him step up on your hand when he's ready. He's not stupid, he knows u want him to step on...he will learn eventually and at his own pace. Patience is a virtue the best advice I can offer you is to learn your parrots body language, just like us humans they have bad days to, you have to get bit to know how NOT to get bit!