Taming my new IRN (LUCI)

[cylent]

hello all.

this is a continuation (or rather i am sort of moving my thread here) ...

as you can see from my previous thread i am new to the forums and new to the IRN world.

in my previous thread: http://indianringneck.com/board/viewtop ... 2950#52950
I stated that I am purchased a female IRN (i believe her to be female due tot he lack of the neck line) however i maybe wrong cause i am told shes still under a year old...

Luci has been through a hard time with her previous owner. aparently she nipped or bit the finger of the guys girl. i now understand how this happened or i think i do.
during my 2 days with her if i open my palm (outside of the cage) and i have sunflower seeds in my palm she (for some reason) goes for my finger and starts to nip it ignoring the seeds.. this happened a few times .. when i pull my hand back she runs away then i reposition the seeds and she comes and grabs one correctly. so i think thats what may have happened.
the previous owner after seeing his girl nipped punished luci and threw her in the backyard for 3 months. or so the story goes. then she sat at the pet shop for 2 weeks with the crazy pet shop guys.

I believe she somewhat has some tameness in her. I can move close to the cage and chat with her while she's sitting on one leg (dont know why) but if i touch the cage with my hand or get my hand at her without food she'll make a run.
if i pick up the cage she'll start to climb the bars.
I can give her food ((her favorite treat is cucumbers although she will eat almost anything)) through the cage and she seems to be OK with that now however if i drop the food and attempt a very slight touch she will run.

here's a pic with her eating some peanut flavored chips (also tends to like it):




how do i gain her trust in a speedy way?
i read in another thread that i should handle her and start to pet her head. this has to be forcefully because she will run. i am also sort of afraid of her big beak!

help!?

[[update]] a video of the issues i am having. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JvxKWA8xh-U

[sherry]

I saw your video and also read your post. I also have an IRN who needs taming and will only take food out of my hand. You need to gain her trust. Please change the location of the cage, and make the cage more stimulating. STOP poking her with the dowel, she is not ready for this. What I did with my IRN was to continue to give food with my hand, then when he was comfortable eating with my hand near him, I would slowly move my hand next to him. You want the bird to trust you, and it cannot be forced. My IRN will know let me pet his beak, but it has taken me three months to get that far. I want a friend for life so patience is a virtue. You make want to try CHET Warmach, he has a series of taming videos and lessons, which has helped me to tame an agressive parakeet. Keep giving her treats until she gets used to your hand, talk quielty to her, move slowly around her, don 't stick anything in her face, and get her in the cage with food. She does not trust you or your hand at this point. Good Luck and happy taming!

[julie]

Have you tried asking her to step up and put your hand out ? going by the video you move far too quick at her, she is getting defensive because she doesn't know what you are trying to do. Most birds don't like red and I would probably bite you too if you tried to poke me with stick. You should be showing her that things are safe, not chasing her over the side of the cage with it.

[cylent]

Have you tried asking her to step up and put your hand out ? going by the video you move far too quick at her, she is getting defensive because she doesn't know what you are trying to do. Most birds don't like red and I would probably bite you too if you tried to poke me with stick. You should be showing her that things are safe, not chasing her over the side of the cage with it.

Julie
I have tried asking her to "Step up" but she doesnt respond to that. Being we are in Baghdad I have a feeling maybe the previous owner taught her words in arabic which i tried but still no luck

Now... I was not rushing at her with the "Stick". i did mention that in the video because i was holding my camera in my left hand by the time you see the stick you feel like its rushing at her but its not. you can also notice that her eyes dialate way before the stick appear on camera proving what i said above.

i have created a new shorter video using the stick method... another failure

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cnVBXHt_xec

I noticed the following items always make her run like crazy:

A Towel
A stick (the one she stands on from her cage)
A hand

I even tried Chad Womach's Power Pause trick.
http://www.birdtricks.com/PowerPause

In the video he shows his wife slowly getting close to a McGaw.
When i try that on lucy I get an immediate rush from Luci. at least with the McGaw it gives her a chance.

I honestly dont know what else to do...

[julie]

don't point the stick at her , it needs to be something she steps onto, like a perch. stand side on to her cage and hold the stick just above her feet and slowly move it towards her so she has to step onto it. If she takes off from the cage use it to your advantage and help her back to the cage, but use your hand to pick her up from the floor or wherever she lands.

[julie]

sorry I stopped watching that video when I noticed that the bloke keeps squeezing the birds foot, he seems to do it when the bird gets a bit restless and causes it to put its foot in its mouth

[cylent]

sorry I stopped watching that video when I noticed that the bloke keeps squeezing the birds foot, he seems to do it when the bird gets a bit restless and causes it to put its foot in its mouth

which video? 1st or 2nd?

[julie]

The power pause one , sorry I didn't mean your vid.

[cylent]

ok well here's some progress... or is it?

very late at night i found her in her cage but not sitting on the cage perch thing but hanging to the top right of the cage with her eyes wide open.. the whole room is plenty dark yet she refuses to go down on the perch and sleep.

i decided to turn on a low light and bribe her with some sun flower seeds. at the same time i thought why not make some attempts at trying to touch her.
i can sneak my hand in SLOWLY to touch her head but she quickly snaps with her beak at my hand scaring me.
at times i can see she was sort of ok with it but it wasnt much success. i can at least say i did touch her head a few times but thats it.



in the meantime i did buy some gloves i was going to try but that may freak her out ... any advise? am i doing this wrong?

[Jackie]

Hi cylent -
It seems to me from what you've said and the video that you have been approaching your ringneck with your hand on a level or higher than her head. This will probably serve to make her very nervous if she is already having trust issues. Most birds hate to be approached from even slightly above, unless they are very confident and tame. Also, her cage is very low. To boost her confidence and make you seem less scary faster, I would raise her cage - put it on a table or something that puts her highest perch on a level with your face, and always always approach her from below with your hand. Nervous birds will definitly lunge if you try to touch them on the head from above. I would discontinue trying until she is much tamer, or she may start to view it as teasing.
Good luck!

oh, and I wouldn't use the gloves. They will almost certainly freak her out.

[cylent]

Ok so she needs to be at a level with my head. Got it.

At times though she seems like she maybe playing and I am just scared for no reason... in fact a lot of buddies of mine told me she maybe ok with the touch and she maybe playing but i am just freaked out of the beak. how do i verify play or real? (The pupils do get dilated sometimes)

[Janet]

Offer the bird your forearm rather than your hand. Apparently, birds are not comfortable sitting on your hand until they are feeling confident. It worked with my little panicky bird.