Some Newbie help please

[mpanzica529]

Hello all,

I have been researching elclecuts for a while now. I have been around parrots/bird for a good few years. This is my first rescue tho.

As I said, I have been researching her breed for a while. I have read up on the diet, behavior etc.

About her :red::

She is about 4 years old. The owner was a male. He stopped handling her, although im not sure he ever did. He said she lost trust in him after he dropped her, when he got her wings clipped.

So,

I have her home now, and she is showing some signs of cage aggression, although not horrible. When i open the cage, she runs all over, so I go very very slowly. When i reach towards her feet, she bops my hand with her beak. Some times, very rare, she actually charges down the long perch at me through the cage, but not super aggressive. She just runs and stops, and goes back. All the time, I stay still. I don't move or shake. I have been trying to let her climb out of her cage on her own, and she is MUCH better.

So my questions are, how soon can I try to break her of her cage aggression. I know not to let her keep biting me, but how do i encourage her onto my hand. I am trying to learn her treats, but even the owner did not have any. All of her food was in a bowl, never as a treat.

Now, when she is out, she will very politely step onto my hand, no issues. I cannot get her more than a few inches without her jumping off of me. Is that just a trust thing? and over time she will learn to stay?

Thanks for all of the help.

 

[Brodie]

I had the same problem with Scalet for the first two weeks, i couldnt touch her at all or get too close without a pretty hard bite comin my way. Ive had her almost a month npw and honestly i couldnt be happier. She was flying into walls and everything, i got alot of great advice from a few on the forum, it all came down to her just being scared, she didnt know where she was, why she was there or why i took her away from her brother. She got use to us pretty quickly really, i started with some soaked almonds as treats, id sit by the cage and talk to her for a while eventually she decided snatching and throwing the almond wasnt so worth it, she didnt get to eat it then lol.
If i leave her door open she will come out when she wants, but shes still got that bit of cage aggression, i cant get her out myself. Not yet anyway. She still needs alot more training.
But Eclectuses are one of the best birds really, in my opinion. I also have a good time making her up all different meals of the day try her with some hot chillis as a treat, my Scarlet loves them! Or soak some almonds and try them. She wont be able to resist
im sure others on here can give you some more detailed advice, but seriously dont give up she will come around weather its in a few weeks or a few months, just keep trying!

 

[wolf0994]

Time... is the number 1 thing, for a newly rehomed bird. They need to learn their environment is a safe one. Then they need to learn the people there are not going to hurt them. The fact that she will step up is awesome... dont push it. Let her just stay on your hand near the cage, make her feel comfortable knowing that your hand is a GREAT place to be. Nothing bad happens there, and food is offered there... etc. Then you can slowly move her just a little bit. maybe an inch or two every few days, with rewards for when she tolerates it. This is very much a trust thing, and learning a new family/enviroment. She will not do anything she feels is a threat.

Personally I would try to find out what treats she likes before trying to do too much. Something she can look forward to receiving for positive behavior.

Your standing firm on the biting etc which is good, you dont want her thinking she can dominate you. I think your on the right track and just need patience. It can take some birds months/years to overcome fears.

 

[mpanzica529]

Thanks for the info. I'll post updates, but I assume with every new animal/rescue there will be good and bad days.

Yesterday I opened the cage, let her climb out on her own, and she kept hopping up on my hand every time i went close to her. So that was a good day. As far as treats go, she so far likes or favors nothing except her seed/pellet mix. I am going to try everyday to get her on fresh fruit and veggies like she should be on. I just think she got used to all the wrong stuff. That will be corrected over time.

All the help encouragement is appreciated.

 

[Cowtown]

Like everyone has said, be patience.

 

[mpanzica529]

Thanks again,

I can tell, as she is learning to trust me, she is just getting better and better. She just has not been taught anything. She will not use her feet to hold any food yet. She has very mild cage aggression which i'll work on after we are friends outside haha.

The best thing that happened today tho, is I fed her a piece of an apple, and she went nuts. Thats the first thing I got her to willingly and eagerly eat other than her seeds/pellets. So thats a big start. I have so much fresh stuff here and ill keep trying it.

 

[Brodie]

try hot chillis, seriously my ekky goes nuts over them! then you can chop thwm up with some other vegies or something and maybe she will go for it thwn, if shes liking the apple chop it up with some other fruits. if not then try putting some seeds of pallets in with some fruits or veggies.
i give scarlet fruit salad in the nornings which she loves out of the can lol. thwn nixed veggies through the day, hot chillies, peas and corn, capsicun, carrot and broccoli. then for dinner she gets some kiwi fruit, pear, apple, banana, mango, and grapes.
she doesnt eat too much seed, but i mix a budgie mix and wild bird seed mix up with some palets, dried fruits, she gets ona almond and one walnut as a treat in her seeds every morning then i put in some soaked almonds.
she goes crazy over all of this! i suggest trying some of this stuffatleast, and anything else you find she loves once you find their favroute food you can mix it up with other food to try get them to eat different stuff. scarlet will try anything i give her, if she doesnt like it, she wont eat it, normally the stuff she doesnt like takes a trip outside the cage lol.
good luck with her let us know how she goes!