wing clipping

[charlieIRN]

I am not sure if this is the right place to post this. I have a 1.5 year old female IRN. Bought her from a pet store 4 months ago. She is not tame, bites too. But she taked food from my habd theough cage bars but when I put my hand inside her cage she bites.

Even though I dont want to clip her wings I am left with no other options. Please members what would you suggest.? Shoud I clip my darling baby's wings ? Whenever I think abt clipping it, I feel guilty. Feels like she will lose her confidence and trust.

Please help with your opinion.

Regards,
Ishaan

[InTheAir]

I think if you want a healthy happy and more confident bird you should leave her wings as nature intended them to be.
By clipping them she will not automatically become tame, she just won't be able to fly away. This may result in her biting harder and more in self defence.
It can take a long time to build a birds trust. Have patience and she will learn you are safe and don't hurt her.

[charlieIRN]

Thank you for your reply.

[MissK]

Hi Ishaan,

I must agree with InTheAir.

When you feel guilty thinking about possibly clipping the bird's wings, that is your own mind confirming that deep down, you know clipping will not stop biting. Clipping is not the only option left; it is simply not an option at all. If anything, clipping to prevent biting could be seen merely as punishment for biting that has already happened. Birds do not understand punishment.

I believe you are correct, that clipping will make the process of building confidence and trust more difficult.

BUT! I have some really very good news for you! Your bird will take food from your hand! I believe this is the single most important tool you could have for taming that bird. Over time, you will ask your bird to accept certain behaviours from you in order to gain the treat from your hand. As long as you present your behaviours in small, acceptable increments, and your treat is desireable enough, the bird will agree to accept you.

Someone else is working on this right now, too. Please follow these threads:

Ziggysmom/Stephanie has a bird who is afraid to come out of the cage and bites.
http://www.indianringneck.com/forum/vie ... =7&t=17504

Doodlebug/Loo has a bird who is not tame but has just started taking food from the hand.
http://www.indianringneck.com/forum/vie ... =2&t=17479

deHens/Jack has a bird who will climb on him, but bites.
http://www.indianringneck.com/forum/vie ... =2&t=17497

Please do not feel that you have no options anymore. This could not be farther from the truth! You simply need a little education and guidance, patience, and time.

Take heart!
-MissK

[charlieIRN]

Thanks a lot MissK formyour valuable reply. I thought of taking her to clip her wings today. But when I saw her face I couldn't. I simply cannot do it. She is my angel and how could I trim her magical wings ?

[clawnz]

MissK has helped you heaps and I am glad you could not bring yourself to doing the clip job.

I am on the edge of confrontation over this subject.
But this forum has a lot of members who are not into clipping.
And with the right situation you should be able to tame, at least to a point where you can bond with your bird.
Barbara Heidenreich preaches Positive Reinforcement Training, and target training to avoid the bites.
And she says she prefers to work with flighted birds. As they are more confident, as they can fly off when they have had enough.
As for your situation. I personally feel that taking in an older bird and clipping can back fire on people. Think of it this way.
You have been moved into a new home with new giants and then they take your flight away! How would you feel?
When they are babies they may not know about life and can get over it. Not that I feel it is right anyway.

Sure there can be good reasons to clip, sometimes, so I cannot say clipping is a bad thing. It does need to be kept in perspective.

Another thing is that clipping can bring in new dangers to a bird. As some will still try to fly. In some situations they could crash and get hurt. If they are very strong fliers (Like with the smaller birds they can still get flight with full Primaries clipped) But put in so much effort in staying airborne they end up flying into things.

[charlieIRN]

I have a doubt now. Is my birdie still in bluffing stage ? Can period of bluffing stage differ from bird to bird? I read in the internet that bluffing stage. Will end when bird is around 1ye old. Some times through cage bars she tries to attack ( quick steady bite), just only 1 bite though. Is it something like a warning to us like telling me leave me alone. ?

[MissK]

Hi Ishaan,

I did not experience bluffing as my bird came to me as a well-matured adult. However, since bluffing is the device of a recently weaned juvenile gaining independence, I rather doubt it. Others may be able to tell you more. Try and relax and understand you're in this for a while. Ringnecks are known for being like this. It's not a mystery. Your bird just isn't comfortable with you or tame yet. You just have to work on it steadily over time. It's possible you didn't realize this type of bird would need a lot of work, but it does, and you are the one for the job. You should examine yourself and decide if you are up for it, or if you should rethink your original decision. I strongly urge you, however, to continue feeding by hand and gently speaking to your bird at a range that the bird finds comfortable. They are absolutely delightful creatures when you learn to approach them on acceptable (to them) terms. They just need to be won over.

Best wishes.

-MissK

[Skyes_crew]

Hi Charlie...you have been given great advice by MissK. Please don't give up. IRN'S to me are such a noble species. And when you earn their trust and respect they can make you feel like royalty. We just have to get you to that point. Patience is very important right now though. When your bird bites you don't feel like the bird is telling you she doesn't like you. She's scared. And she feels cornered. And her defense is her bite and her flight. And since I haven't heard you speak of her flying away to a place you can't reach her, I'm thinking when you reach into the cage you are cornering her. You have to earn her respect and her trust and you can't do that if you put her in a position that she can't escape from. My first question is the size of her cage. Is it big enough that she can easily escape your hand inside the cage? Can she spread her wings end to end? Can she take short flights? For right now her cage has to be her safe place. Which means you must stay out of it and respect her space. She lunges through the bars most likely as a warning not to invade her space because she fears you are about to enter her home. For right now, feed her a treat through the bars, praise her, and walk away. Her comfort level must be addressed first. I know you have it in you. You can do this