Slow progress with taming my IRN

[lisascannell]

So, I've had chippy, my silver Indian ringneck, for a few months now. Bought her as a hand raised baby, however she was not tame AT ALL.
She was scared of me and if I put my hand in she would let out an awful scream, thrash around and crash into things. On the occasions I would have her out the cage she would get really scared and fly into things. At one point I must admit, I thought I wouldn't be able to tame this bird, I thought I was way out of my depth with this bird! The good thing is, she has never been a biter
She looked really sad in her cage so I told myself I must perservere with her training. I'm so glad I did as she is really coming out of her shell now and starting to trust me. I take her into my bedroom at night to play with her. She will now step up (although she still looks a bit uncomfotable doing it) and she climbs all over my shoulder and body. She will step up for stangers. She is not comfortable being touched! I'd really like to pat her!
Here's a very short video of her hanging out in my bedroom last night. I have taught her to poop on my husband's side of the bed J/K.

[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xPjhqx18JOc"]Young Indian Ringneck hanging out - YouTube[/ame]

 

[Betrisher]

Lisascannell, it might be that your birdie will never be comfortable to be patted. My Beaks aren't. They love me to bits and want to hang around on me all the time, but if I move to touch their bills or the tops of their heads, they freak! Ringnecks of all kinds are famous for being touch-me-not birds.

Having said that, though, I've had a little success with Barney. I say to him 'Touch a pretty beak' and put my finger on his beak just once, then reward him with food. If he's in a good mood, he'll allow it. Other times, he'll suffer it but then lunge at me. Thing is, I know he just doesn't like being patted, so it's kinda cruel of me to keep trying. Instead, I sit and whisper to him and copy the noises he makes and generally just hang out together. He loves this!

Madgie is a different kettle of fish. She's nowhere near as trusting or as snuggly as Barney is. She likes to be on me, but will fly off to do other things while Barn's a limpet. Madge absolutely will not permit patting at all, no matter how much food I've got for her (even honey!!!)

So, I guess my advice would be to keep trying with your Chippy (NB. That's my sister's horse's name - LOL!) and use food rewards, but if it turns out he's not keen, give it up and find other ways to show affection. Hope this helps?

 

[lisascannell]

Thanks so much Yeah I'm prepared for the fact that she may never like to be touched. she is still somewhat nervous around me so I do have a way to go as far as taming her and making her feel comfortable. I'm just taking it slow But if she doesn't like to be touched I'm happy with that also She's so pretty and entertaining. She will also show my dogs she is boss

 

[Terry57]

Chippy is beautiful! Congrats on the progress you have made with her. That would never have happened if you hadn't been so patient with her and given her the time she needed to learn to trust you Great success story.

 

[Betrisher]

Lisa, why don't you have a go at trick training with Chippy? I wasn't going to bother, but thought I'd try teaching the Beaks to wave one day. It took literally about five minutes to get Barney waving on cue and another ten or so to get Madge doing it. I was hooked! More than that, though, the Beaks were hooked. When they come out of their cage, they immediately fly to the chair-backs we use as training perches and eagerly wait till I open the drawer that contains our balls and trick stuff. This suggests to me they're enjoying doing tricks for rewards. It must give them something they want, whether it's satisfaction or something to think about or just the extra food rewards. Whatever it is, I know my Beakies just love training and so we keep doing it. I think it has something to do with the bird's intellect: ringneck species are all pretty cluey and great at solving problems, so I guess it stands to reason they'd enjoy the challenge.

 

[lisascannell]

Hi Betrisher! Yes I hadn't thought much about training but it would be interesting and cute and fun for Chippy. I'd love to see her slam dunk basketballs haha Only problem is she doesn't take food out of my hand and I haven't found a treat she goes nuts over yet.

 

[Betrisher]

Treats that Barney and Madge go nuts over: sunflower seed; dried pawpaw (papaya); peanut; almond; cashew; peanut butter; honey.

 

[WesselG]

Lisa,

The one treat that never fails to attract interest with my IRN's are unshelled peanuts. It seems they take great pride in how delicately they can bite through the shell to get to the peanut. Another favourite of my oldest female is cheese...she can be in one of her crankiest moods imaginable but if she sees cheese it's like an immediate mood swing. I know the cheese is probably not healthy for a bird so she gets it very rarely...making it even more of a treat.

Have patience with Chippy about taking treats from you or accepting whatever training you have in mind. With my youngest IRN (hatched October last year and also supposedly hand-reared) it took me till two weeks ago to get him/her to take a treat from my fingers and even then it just grabs the treat and retreats to a corner.

Like previous posters mentioned: some IRN's just aren't the cuddly type but with a lot of patience some interaction is definitely possible.

 

[lisascannell]

Yeah she actually had her first peanut in the shell just recently. She enjoyed it and I liked watching her crunch the shell open I normally just put their treats on a dish. She also likes cucumber and toast but not enough to take it out of my hand

 

[lisascannell]

Chippy is so much happier since I tamed her though. She used to sit at the back of her cage looking sad and scared and now she wanders around the cage, swings on her bouncy rope etc I love her so much!

 

[lisascannell]

 

[lisascannell]

 

[Dinosrawr]

Wow, your IRN is absolutely adorable and your progress sounds great! You give me a lot of hope for when I look into getting my first baby IRN

 

[lisascannell]

Thanks she is very elegant and pretty