Will Doodle EVER conqure hand hatred??

[DoodlesMom]

:smile040: I've been trying to get Doodle over hand hatred for weeks. I've used several methods from the info from here to no avail. Now Doodle WILL take goodies from my hand,hand, but if it's to far to stretch her neck to get, forget it. I was thinking she'd step up on my hand to get the goodie, yeah..fat chance!

Since she was abandoned and I don't know how she was treated I'm at a loss of what to do next.

She will come down off her cage and walk over to me or the OH, even walking across the floor....but WILL NOT CONSIDER stepping up on my hand, shoulder,yeah, go figgure.

Is Doodle THAT fearfull of hands or is it stubbornness! ? Can we EVER get past this? Any advise would be welcomed. Besides the hand thing Doodles come along way since I've had her. Call me stumped!!

 

[Kiwibird]

In short- yes, if given enough time Doodle (and any other hand-shy bird) will overcome their fears. It took several MONTHS of persistence to even make remote progress with Kiwi and over a year before he was stepping up consistently on command. Parrots are prey animals, so hands of a larger animal are perceived immediately and instinctually as a threat until they learn different. Not to mention MANY birds experience bad owners who smack or shake their cages when they scream/misbehave in some way, drop/throw across the room them when they bite, are not respectful of the bird and FORCE it to be petted and/or step up. These things are very traumatizing for a bird, so understand it sometimes requires a lot of time and patience to rebuild trust, even if you personally never did anything to the bird! It sounds like Doodle is doing better, and just give her time with the hand thing.

Also, have you tried using a stick instead of your hand? Many birds are much more willing to take that first step up to a stick rather than a hand. They are more familiar with sticks and recognize them as stable, safe surfaces. Kiwi was stick trained before he was hand tamed. He learned the "step up" command on the stick and how to move around on a stick, which made both easier to teach on a hand. We used gloves too when first step up training on the hand because zons bite so bad. Not sure if a glove (as neutral color as possible) may make you more confident that you won't get bit. A lot of times, they lunge, but are just bluffing and being obstinent. They just need a firm "step up" to get their butt up on your hand.

 

[DoodlesMom]

In response to the KIWIBIRD: I've tried the stick but she ran from that, too. Hummm...maybe I will try her favorite perch!! I'll keep being persistent. She doesn't freak when I have my hands in her cage to clean or change or fill dishes, it's perplexing. I know one thing, the chic that abandoned her is getting a can of whoop-#%* from me! I feel blessed having Doodle, and I'll do whatever it takes to conqure thse hurdles. Now it's gonna be interesting how she handles the Christmas tree and stuff....WHEW that may open a whole new can of worms! LOL!!

 

[weco]

Hi DM & welcome to the forums.....I've seen your threads about Doodle pop-up frequently lately, so decided to take a look see, so did a quick read-through of your posts & realistically, I think you might as well plan on a extended coming around period.....

With brand new birds, birds that may have been hand-fed, but not hand-tame, it can take as much as six months to hand-tame a bird! For previously owned birds, almost anything is possible, as has been mentioned. Over the past several years, some 20+ birds have crossed our threshold...all conures or p'lets and in all forms of tameness. When you rehome a bird with baggage, it can be a daunting task trying to overcome that baggage, but I've always had the benefit of a couple of other birds around when newcomers come to perch.....I think my most challenging converts were essentially wild sibling sun conures of two succeeding clutches that had been parent raised and caged together after the parents kicked them out of their nest cage.....when I agreed to take them, I brought them back to Georgia from Massachusetts and put each of the four of them into individual cages & just tuned out their continuous displeasure with being separated. Since they were essentially wild, I started with giving each sprigs of millet & a few peanuts.....this went on for about a month while everybody kind of settled in and the separation screaming started turning into the morning & evening flock calling, then I stopped the millet & peanuts from their diets, waited a week & started evening teases, opening the cages for my other birds, but leaving the gang of four caged...everybody was out but them...some of my guys climbed up on their cages & three would fly to my shoulder & hang out, then when it was time for bed, I'd put out a communal bowl of some cut up millet sprigs, then I'd make a very obvious display of giving each bird a peanut kernel half, then an again obvious display when each got the remaining half.....this went on for a couple of weeks, when I finally let one of the gang of four out, sat at my desk, pulled a peanut half out of my pocket & held it up.....you could see the wheels of decision turning & concerted squawks from the other three when she flew to my upheld hand, pluck the nut, but flew back to her cage when I moved my hand.....this went on with all four suns for about another month while they wrestled with their individual security problems...they were becoming much more independent and no longer really relying on their siblings for strength.....

All in all, it took almost a year to get them all hand-tamed to a point where I felt comfortable finding them new homes.....on the flip side of this story, I've had several birds cross our threshold that were easier to work with, but they can take much more than the proverbial steak and scratch behind the ear that would make your puppy a friend for life.....

You've received good suggestions, but each bird is an individual & without knowing Doodle's background, you almost have to start from square one.....just try to not be too pushy in your frustration.....

Good luck.....

 

[DoodlesMom]

Thanks for sharing your story,WECO....and yes, I have recieved great info from everyone! I will now stop wondering how Doodle was treated (OR NOT) and go day by day.