Our new alexandrine

[IcyWolf]

Hi everyone, I'm new here, we just adopted a 2.5 year old female alexandrine on sunday. Her previous owner had her fully flighted and didn't really interact with her on a handling/bonding level. I clipped her wings when we got her home so I could begin socializing with her and attempting some basic training. We have two dogs in our home and an insanely high ceiling, it just didn't seem safe to keep her flighted, atleast not until she looses her slight fear of people. She is slowly getting used to having her wings clipped, the first two days I felt absolutely horrible because she kept flapping her wings expecting to take off and when she didn't she would just give me this look like, "what's goin' on here?!". Fortunately, she isn't aggressive, but as I said, she is shy. At this point, if she is in her cage, I can reach in and get her to step up and bring her out of her cage and hold her. She doesn't enjoy any kind of petting yet and she insists on climbing up on my shoulder, which I'm trying to break her of because now when I try to take her off of my shoulder she will give me a slight "pressure bite", not enough to draw blood but enough that I don't want it to escalate into a harder bite. She has a very large cage(I'm 5'10'' and the top of the cage is a few inches above the top of my head) and she loves sitting on top of it, if I try to get her to step up when she is on the cage she will either run away or lunge at me(it's usually more of a bluff than an actual aggressive bite). I have oodles of books on birds and quite a few of them are specifically on training, about 2 years worth of bird magazines and I have been reading online and watching videos to get ideas. My biggest problem is, everyone says something different. I have worked with aggressive birds in the past but not with one like her, the "shy" type. But I want to be sure that whatever training method I use doesn't turn her into an aggressive bird. There seem to be two main strategies that everyone says is right and they are completely opposite of each other. Method A: Sit next to the cage(which I do already, ALL day) and slowly talk to them and let them come to you on their own, make sure that they know that they have a "say" in what is happening and form a bond that way. Method B: The "direct" approach. Pick up the bird from inside or off of the cage, even if it requires a slight bit of chasing or getting nipped and then hold them until they calm down and offer treats, toys and other special things that they only get when they are with you. I don't really know what the best way is to go about this, the woman that had her before me had her for a little over a year and pretty much inadvertently did method A, she sat by the cage and talked quietly to her, feeding her treats, but she never showed any interest, even after a year to be held. I have been taking the more direct approach, picking her up talking very sweetly to her, holding her for about ten or fifteen minutes and then allowing her to climb back on her cage, wait an hour or two, or three and then do it again, I just want to be sure that I am not doing anything that is going to turn this shy little girl into a biting monster that hates people. Any advice is greatly appreciated, sorry for the incredibly long post, I tend to be a rambler Here are some pics to make up for the novelesque post

Here you can see her cage. Our dog likes to hang out under it and wait for her to drop food She came from a home with two dogs and she is completely fine with them and he doesn't bother her.

 

[IcyWolf]

Here's some pictures of me and her, sorry they are so dark, I had to take them with my webcam.

 

[dragonlady2]

I have 4 male Alex's. I can pick up two of them from their cages. I have stick trained all of them so in a pinch if I need to have them step up quickly for whatever reason, they will step up automatically on the stick. Alex's are generally shy birds anyway and most do not like being petted. I would not take the 2nd approach and force things. One of my birds is a sucker for a piece of Walnut and he knows everyday when I open the door to his cage he will get a piece if he steps up on my hand. Find something she likes and work with that. You want your bird to trust you and not worry about whether you are going to go at her when she does not want it. You are just looking to get bitten. I also do not have my Alex's on my shoulders. One serious bite can do some major damage. Good luck with her. I love Alex's

 

[merlinsmom13]

I go w/method A also. She is a shy girl, so letting her set the pace will be more comfortable for her. It could take months, so be patient. She will come to you because she trusts you, not because she doesnt have a choice. She's a beautiful girl, she will be worth the effort.

 

[IcyWolf]

Thanks for all of the input guys. I have been trying very hard to break her of the shoulder habit, everytime she is on my hand she wants to run straight up my arm and onto my shoulder so I have been holding my hand up and kind of out, about at shoulder height, it seems to be working, hopefully with some time she will learn that she isn't allowed up there. I have four facial piercings, 3 in each ear, and one in my neck, she hasn't shown any interest in chewing on them but I don't really want to take the chance, my boyfriend actually had one of his industrials(upper cartilage) ripped out by our goffin and it still looks pretty weird, even two years later. That, and as soon as she gets on my shoulder she starts to get nippy if I try to take her off so we are definitely breaking this habit asap.