Snowy doesn't make a sound

[Amandastander]

Hi all. My albino IRN that I've gotten "preloved" seems rather pre"abused" to me! IRNs are known to be noisy, curious, and and forward birds that won't think twice about defending their cage or territory against a human? Snowy doesn't make a sound, she is placid, scared as hell, doesn't even whistle or screech if we take her out and although promised she comes out to sit at the top of the cage and doesn't bite, she is way too afraid to venture out, and retreats into a corner if we try touch her, and she does give nasty bites. I wanna gain her trust, I really need help. Tried treats but she never had them before! She doesn't want it, she will wait till I leave the room to investigate but won't eat it. Any ideas?

 

[lene1949]

Hi, and welcome to the forum...

I believe you have only had Snowy for a couple of days? Even though she was pre-loved, he will still be very, very frightened.. She's staying quiet, so she might be ignored by predators.

I would give her space... Walk past her cage quietly and drop a treat into her bowl.. Keep your eyes turned away from the bird... I think the calmer her environment, the sooner she'll come around...

Do you know how her previous home compares to yours, as in amount of people, noise, light etc.... ???

 

[ann]

by making noise she is letting everyone know shes there. If she is afraid and hiding she wont do that. Once she calms down and adjusts, she should be pretty loud, enjoy the quiet why you can . To tame her, just give her time. sit by her cage, or in the same room and talk to her, read to her, sing softly, just make her comfortable with you. Stand up and walk towards her cage, when she starts getting afraid stop. wait. just wait, it could take a long time but when she calms down, take a step closer and do the same thing. do this twice a day and eventually you should be able to get to her cage. every time you reach her cage, give her a treat in her food dish. Once you can approach her cage, you can start clicker training her. heres how to clicker train. once she is clicker trained, you can make her go anywhere, even steop up.
heres how:
http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=...6oDoAQ&usg=AFQjCNFBoxbf_aDbT6lKqWLQtSV70SbdJA

this is how to get close to her
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jMckRNgdXY4]taming wild african grey parrot - YouTube[/ame]

if she bites the stick too hard during clicker training, put it just out of reach so she has to touch it gently, or put a peice of food on the tip. If she wont take treats from your hand use a large treat like millet so she doesn't have to get so close to your hand. good luck .

 

[Amandastander]

Thank you both. She does allow me to approach her cage. And I've managed a few clicking noises from her thus far. I do avoid eye contact as that's the only way to get her to approach whatever treat I gave her, but she does wait till I leave to investigate, but ends up chucking whatever it is to the floor and leaving it there. Her wings were clipped pretty badly by her previous owners. Into the bloodveins actually and I was wondering if that cld be contributing to her fear. She lived with other birds in separate cages, there were dogs, geese, and generally a lot of noise. They did say that she was intended for breeding and they never paid attention to her. And after we took her admitted that she's never made any noises whatsoever, I know she has a voice, coz she screeches if u try touch her. So I've stopped all that for the time being. She does favour her peanuts, should I try using them as treats instead in future?

 

[Remy]

Give her some time. Puck was one of the friendliest animals I have ever met, but even he was sketchy and suspicious the first few days. After a month, he was trying to mate my hand...

 

[antoinette]

Welcome to our wonderful forum
I reckon Snowy needs time to settle down

[FONT=&quot]Top on your list, a visit to an avian vet is a must. Let the Snowy be checked over, peace of mind for a healthy bird.
Snowy must have time to settle down and adjust. Just imagine how many new things the bird has encountered, in these few days. So many new faces and voices, it must be so scary.
To gain your trust could take days, weeks, months even years. Each and every bird is so different. She obviously feels a comfort zone is her cage.
Sit near the cage, talking and singing to the bird. Let her become familiar with your voice. Leaving the cage door open, offer her treats through the bars at first. When she willingly accepts them, try placing a treat near the open door. Eventually she will starts taking the treats from the door, make no attempt to touch her. When she does come out, he will probably climb around on the cage. Let [/FONT][FONT=&quot]Snowy exp[/FONT][FONT=&quot]lore in her own time. To get her back in, place a treat inside the cage, making sure it's visible.

Good luck




[/FONT]

 

[Amandastander]

Hey guys I'm making sloooow progress! Since she doesn't accept my treats, I tried peanut butter last night, at first she refused, so I got some in her beak using a long stick and lots of coaxing, she stopped inbetween biting to try the pb, and actually took some more. We left her be, today I half closed her cage because of a draught on her, she hopped right up to the front and kept peeking and retreating, making sure I was still there and everytime I acknowledged her peeking she had this calm contentedness about her. So as a reward I put a little peanutbutter on her perch as a treat. She hopped right over and ate it! When playing peek a boo I think she enjoyed it cause it appeared that way! Mabey cause I peek around the door every so often to check on her? So where to from now?

 

[wolf0994]

Patience.. if you find things that she views positively like the pb. Then you can use that to increase the trust. See how far away you HAVE to be in order for her to eat it. Then try slowly moving forward, rewarding her for her efforts. I dont know about IRN but I do know that peanuts aren't advised for greys due to a fungus they can have in them. So others can probably comment on that since I don't know. If it is not recommended for them I would find a better treat as soon as you can so that you dont get her used to something that is bad for her. But if it is safe, then I would keep using that.

 

[Amandastander]

Yeehaa! I'm so excited! Snowy has started chatting and screaming her little head off! First time I heard her voice, feel like a kid at christmas time!