Pacing

[Qib]

My female IRN has started to pace up and down her perch. Ive had her for little over a week, she's got a male friend who seems to be adjusting well to being in a cage (they were previously in an aviary) of course they will not always be in their cage once I've tamed them, however taming and training them is taking a while and I cannot take them out of their cage unless I can get them back in without towling them (otherwise they will distrust me further). I have clipped their wings but this is why they are even more hesitant to allow me near them.
I feel horrible watching her pace intermittently and try to provide as much mental stimulation as possible in the form of food puzzles but she does not seem interested.
A few times each day will offer them capscum (as their special taming treat) but I would like to know if it is better to let them out of the cage in a small room or if I should wait a few more weeks until' they have settled until I try and let them out.

 

[MikeyTN]

For me, I train from day 1. But everyone trains differently. Sometimes depending on the bird, I may not start until day 2 depending on how they're acting.

 

[TessieB]

I'd say your ready to start! Good luck!

 

[Qib]

Thank's TessieB,
over the past week I've been getting them used to me feeding them with my hand inside the cage. I know I need to take this training slow and not overwhelm them but she's still pacing. im assuming this is a boredom thing, can they pace for other reasons too?
its not good for such an intelligent bird to be inside, but I would like to know how long is too long before this pacing becomes a permanent pathological behaviour (weeks, months? ect)
My boy IRN Louki is doing pretty well and is very chill.

 

[UnkTob]

My IRN is also pacing a lot. I’ve been target training multiple times a day but it is slow going. Not hand fed (I got him/her a month ago) and the only treat he likes are apple slices. And those only work for a few interactions. He was doing ok with stepping up on a perch, so I let him out yesterday for the first time. It was crazy. Some scared flying at the start and a few crash landings but not too bad. Eventually he found a floor lamp with long arching arms, and perched up there. The idea that they will go back to their home for food and/or water doesn’t hold water, at least for this birdo. 3 hours later, I postponed dinner as long as I could, so then tried getting him to step up on the perch and take him back. Getting on the perch worked fairly well, but he flew off said perch some where around 20 tries in a row. Once I finally got him back in his home, not a shock, he was VERY unhappy with me. :02: So now we are back to the target training and am hoping for more progress before he comes out again. But, the pacing is getting worse. I’m not sure what to do. Thoughts /suggestions? Thanks!

 

[clark_conure]

I agree with target training, fortunately for me my bird was already used to humans so it was like a one time thing to get his trust. Within two days everything was pretty much settled. I cannot comment on IRNs because I have never owned one, but pacing for my bird means come pay attention to me and let me out. Your bird may be doing it for completely different reasons.

 

[LordTriggs]

the first few times out of the cage are normally the hardest. My conure flew off the perch a load of times whilst I was attempting to get him back in. Eventually I kept him distracted long enough with a larger treat than usual, that may be an idea for you. I used a raisin so the gooey texture of it took him longer than usual to eat so by the time he was done with it he was already in the cage with a small pile of the sweet treats on a perch in sight for him to go munch on.

I definitely found that food and water just being there doesn't illicit a big response but often them seeing treats go into the cage piques their interest and makes them more ready to go check them out

I never did target training so have nothing really to say on that

 

[UnkTob]

My problem so far is he or she doesn't like many treats. I think the aviary feed him bird seed. Only other thing he likes are apple slices. While training before he'd take the occasional sunflower kernel, almond or cashew, but now, if I present something that isn't apple as a reward, he just turns around and goes the other way. LOL
I think when I come home from work today, I'll just let him out and hope for the best. I have a couple of outside the cage perches, a play area and other toys. Fingers crossed he doesn't just stay on his lamp.
Thanks

 

[LordTriggs]

mine came eating nothing but seed which of course contained papaya and chilli so there were no obvious things I had

I ended up splitting open a raisin and holding it in front of him. eventually the sweet smell got up his nose and he became interested, ever since then he loved raisins so maybe give that a go

 

[UnkTob]

I haven't tried raisin's yet. I'll stop off at a store and try that tonight. Thanks!

 

[LordTriggs]

worst case scenario you end up with some tasty raisins to eat!

 

[UnkTob]

Yes! Along with all my tasty roasted cashews, unroasted cashews, split almonds, whole almonds, pistachios, sunflower kernels, roasted peanuts, baby carrots, lettuce, spinach leafs, grapes... Perhaps I should also see if I like his millet and pellets, both small and medium sized. LOL

All these things that he doesn't like... the only things he really likes other than his bird seed, are apples for treats, and cucumbers but not as treats.

 

[LordTriggs]

be thankful he's giving you a healthy diet!

 

[UnkTob]

Update- I tried the raisins for the first time yesterday, and he did his normal nibble then watch and listen to it drop. But I took a little bit off of the end of one and tried again, and he actually took a few bites out of it and seemed to enjoy it before dropping it down into the death bed of vegetables, fruits, pellets and nuts. Today, while training in the cage, he actually took it as a reward and again took a few bites before dropping. Thanks for the suggestion, LordTriggs, since although noting gets a response like apples, raisins seem to have the second best reaction plus they are easy to keep in my pocket as rewards, since the brand here in the states has them in small cardboard boxes.

I let him or her out for the second time today. He was out for 3 hours, and mainly perched up on the same floor lamp. But muuuuch less panicked flying, and really no crash landings to speak of, just bad landing spot selection a couple of times again. He was really just relaxing up there (lots of beak grinding and standing on one foot relaxing) so I decided to try some target training. It worked! (the first time he was out, he completely ignored any attempts I made at targeting) He hopped & climbed his way from one lamp arm to another to get to the target then took the reward (eventually... the first couple times he flew back to his favorite lamp arm then had to work his way back to get the reward). After a couple of these, it was going so well, I held up my perch (still not finger tame, and I have to use a perch at this point) and took a couple of steps back. He actually flew to the perch when I said "come here" (my targeting cue for him) I was so happy I blurted out something and scared him and he flew back to the lamp without his reward, but I couldn't believe he flew to me! So awesome! I gave him some breaks between training, but I think he flew to the perch about 6 times!! One time, he even stayed on the perch to start eating his reward, which was cool! normally he flies back to his lamp arm carrying his reward and eats it up there. Amazing how much progress for just the second time out. (Been 3 days since the crazy first time out, and I went straight back to basics to work on basic targeting for the last two days, which I think helped!)

Getting him back in the cage... same crazy battle. Had to use the perch to get him to step up, try to carry him back to the cage, and he'd fly away. He wouldn't fly to the perch if I was too far away and too close to his cage. (clever little birdo!) Probably a dozen or two tries with the perch and I got him back in. He again was pretty grumpy for a little while, but persistence in talking soothingly to him softened him back up, and all eventually was forgiven.

Huge steps made today, and I couldn't have done it without all the great help & suggestions from the wonderful people here and without all the knowledge I gained from reading the very helpful posts! Thank you all for your help!! :60:

 

[LordTriggs]

Yay excellent progress!

I did exactly the same with splitting them open, the general sweet smell gets them interested. I got to the point where I split each raisin into a couple little bits to help keep the attention and to cut back on the sugar