taming a scared and parent reared Baby IRN , please help.

[mustii]

Hello there everyone

I am sorry if this post is in the wrong place or anything, this is my first 15 minutes on this site..

I have read quite a lot of all you guys posts, and the replies to most things are really good and helpful, so I was hoping I could get a good reply to my question.

I bought a Green IRN Baby around 5 months old, (I was told by the person I bought it from , breeder) ..
So I got this little guy, and first the breeder sold me a cage for quite a lot of money, but as I reaallly wanted the bird I took the cage, and I was told it was a good size for a IRN, obviously later I realised it wasnt, so I bought him a very good and big cage and he seems much more happier now ... at least now he can move around and hes got 4 perches instead of just 1 plastic one.

anyways let me just get to my point, The baby IRN hes really scared, well hes not as scared as he was when i first got him, about 3 weeks ago now ..
He does come out of his cage now, this cage has a door, that opens and he can come and stand on it, so he does that in the mornings.. but hes scared still, i cant get close to him, and i have tried to offer him apple through the cage bars but he wont come and take it, until i leave it and go a bit back then he will, also hes got a perch with a toy attached to it, he never plays with the toy, and any other toys. I talk to him 4-5 times a day ever since the day i got him, i have him in my room and I spend most of my day in the room after i come back from uni (while im in uni hes not alone, my mom is home, and she looks after him as good as I do.. I put songs for him, I talk to him everyday, he does seem to look a bit happier when i do, but i dont know if thats just something Im thinking .. every morning before I leave uni i will talk to him for 10 mins, and then give him a piece of apple. then when I leave my house I can hear him do his loud scream, (and Im thinking awww poor little guy miss me ) and I get happy that he likes me, but its just hes really scared, I dont know how to tame him and get him to trust me..
please if anyone could tell me it wud be great help, coz he is so cute and i just want him to not be scared of me.

Also he doesnt have a tail, the guy i bought it from said he had bitten it off him self, but it will grow back again, (when will it grow back)? ..

I hope someone could help me and I am willing to do anything to make him used to me and trust me..

thanks

- Mustii xx

[julie]

it might help to find something food wise that he will do anything to get. Mine love fruit juices and fruits like passionfriut and strawberries ect, they will eventually come to take it from my hand when they have the taste for it. It does take a while to gain their trust and lots of patience. normally when they are scared they dont call like you described, what you described is more a contact call. The tail should grow back when he has a molt.

[louieirn]

Hi! IRN Parront!
Don't get discouraged, you are doing great!! Attention, care & love are the best and it sounds like you are doing well!

I'll preface my posting by stating I only have Indian ringnecks and I have 2. Louie my Lutino, I got at 3 mths old & is 3 1/2 yrs. and Libby, my grey, I got at 1 1/2 yrs. & is 3 1/2 yrs. now.

Louie was my first parrot and I didn't have a clue, except to give him lots of attention, care & love and that I did well but he was very afraid especially of hands. he wouldn't come out of his cage & when I did get him to step up or came close to his cage he would lunge & bite. I was very upset as you sound. I did what you are doing and contacted experienced bird owners online and I was lucky, they saved me & Louie, I thank them always. They came me great information and so all I can do is pass along is their suggestions that worked great for me... & Louie.

They first said he is being very cage protective, and he was. Here is what they instructed me to do & I did.

Everyday when I came home after work I opened his cage & let him come out by himself on his door (as you do) then I let him step up on a towel over my hand so he wouldn't be as afraid & not biting me. I took him into my bedroom (out of site of him cage, so he wouldn't be protecting it). I covered my bed with towels and put lots of toys, treats & items for him to play & think about instead of thinking about being afraid. I used anything small that wouldn't hurt him. (straws, paper clothes tags, buttons, shelled nuts, raisins, balls, playing cards) I would let him play and get settled as I stood next to the bed. Then I would put my hand up to him feet/chest, say "Step up" & scoop him up so he had to step on my pointer finger/hand. he would bite me hard and I'd hold him just a second & set him back on the bed or he'd hop back on the bed. I would let him get settled and do it again & again for just a second at a time. Then after a few days, I'd step away from the bed, so he'd have to perch on my finger/hand a 2-3-4 seconds and then I'd turn back to the bed & he's hurry & hop on the bed again. i didn't know about having their top beak filed down a little, so when he bit me, it didn't break the skin each time. Have it done by who ever trims your bird's nails & wings. I had to put bandages on all my fingers to get thru this because it got to hurt to much somedays.

Finally I decided to lay on the bed with him and watch TV, just to spend time with him, so he could get more comfortable & less afraid of me. I laid on my stomach and didn't pay any attention to him and just let him climb on me, check me out & I got to enjoy his company more.

It probably took a month before one day he stepped up and didn't bite me and he did it again and again so I held him longer & walked around with him on my hand, always bringing back to the bed, so no pressure. It still took him another month or so to come out of him cage & step-up without biting me.

He still would not let me touch him at all. Over the next six months, I was so upset because I wanted to love & pet him so badly. He would go into the shower with me & when he came out I would use a thin baby towel & wrap him lightly & put him on my chest to dry him. I would lift the towel at his head & use the towel to dry his head feathers. Then every chance I got I's sneak a touch. Then with a finger I would softly stroke his head a little each time, till one day he let me give his head scratchies. I was finally so happy I cried. (yes, I'm a girl & a Mom) LOL

From there I touch him more & more as I could sneak. Even then he was still hand afraid, so at night when I'd sit on the couch, he'd sit on my chest or climb all over me & the couch, I always had to make sure I moved my hands very slowly as to not startle him.

He got better & better & better. Now today, if I am home, he is on my shoulder. He gives kisses to anyone, says 50-60 words or phrases and loves to be petted & scratched. He still doesn't care for his tail to be touched but that's an Indian ringneck trait.

This certainly is just how I got my wonderful baby boy to get close to me and he has become the ideal companion parrot. Indian ringnecks are not the easiest to tame as they are known for being bitey. They don't ever totally stop because it's part of their personality but like Louie, he only nips when he wants to let me know he doesn't want to do something, like go to bed early. LOL He's a typical 2 yr old for sure. A wonderful 2 yr old!!

Good Luck!! Keep being patient and your IRN will be great, too!! Mimi (IRN mom)
Check out Louie & Libby's videos on youtube, search by LouieIRN
Check out http://www.birdchannel.com for lots of great Indian ringneck parronts who would love to give you lots of great advice, that's where I got mine 3 yrs ago, when I was so lost!

[mustii]

Hello there

thanks for the replies..

Well , I try all the time to give him apple through the cage bars, only once he tried to come near it but came half waay and went back.. otherwise he will just sit in the end of the perch and wont come, and I will sit there talking asking him to come for 10-15 mins.. I know he loves apples coz when i try with other fruit he wont even show attention, with the apple he will keep moving one step and go back again.. so basically more like a 1 step forward 2 step back lol. I want to know, if he dont come and take the apple, should I then just not give it to him ? coz normally i try for 10 mins then i stop, then after few minutes i try again for 5-10 mins, then when he dont, i feel sorry and i just leave him the apple, coz I know how much he loves them lol, Then as soon as I move a bit back he will come and eat it..

Also I know you say you made him jump on the towel but my one if hes out of his cage and i just go a bit near the cage he will jump off the cage and on the floor, until i move away from the cage a bit he will run back and then climb back on the cage..
Someone told me to towel him, and just try and keep him in my hand a bit with the towel take him around, or maybe feed him an apple , but I havent tried that yet coz I thought he will just hate me for it..

Please could anyone just give me like a step by step what I should do, not to fully tame him , I know that take time, but just a bit so he can come out near me or come up to my hand, I even tried to put in a perch and try and get him to step up on it, but he just runs away in the cage as soon as i stick the perch in.

thanks for the help so far xx

- Mustii xx

[ellieelectrons]

Hi Mustii

Welcome to the forum.

Well , I try all the time to give him apple through the cage bars, only once he tried to come near it but came half waay and went back.. otherwise he will just sit in the end of the perch and wont come, and I will sit there talking asking him to come for 10-15 mins.. I know he loves apples coz when i try with other fruit he wont even show attention, with the apple he will keep moving one step and go back again.. so basically more like a 1 step forward 2 step back lol. I want to know, if he dont come and take the apple, should I then just not give it to him ? coz normally i try for 10 mins then i stop, then after few minutes i try again for 5-10 mins, then when he dont, i feel sorry and i just leave him the apple, coz I know how much he loves them lol, Then as soon as I move a bit back he will come and eat it..

I think you need to not give him the apple.... well, at least, I think you should require him to show progress to get the apple. I think it was promising that he made it halfway to you before stepping away. You should see that as a positive sign..... so, you could either not give him the apple unless he takes it from you (but try to give it to him several times a day).... or, you could only give it to him if he shows more progress than last time... although I'd be inclined to give it to him only if he takes it from you.

Make sure you have placed his cage somewhere where he can observe you when you go about other tasks in your day... so that he can observe you when you are not observing him... that will help him get to know you and learn to trust you. If you let him out of the cage, you can do so when you are eating something... they are naturally curious and will want to know what you are eating and probably want some.

I think you are doing ok... just patience and time.

Ellie.

[mustii]

Hi Ellie, and thanks.


Thanks for the advise, I will do that from now, and I hope soon he comes and take it from me
I know a lot of people say if you want a tame parrot then get a tame one, but I think me giving the time to tame him etc will be much better and makes the bond much better

I will try my best, and I hope he will learn to trust me, even that he was not hand fed

if anyone got more ideas etc, please do let me know im a first time bird owner and will love to hear advise from you guys


Mustii xx

[kimmy]

hey, i have the same problem with my IRN i did buy a alex but he got sick :[ so the breeder gave this lil baby, i think he's about 3 months old. when i first got him he was so jumpy but he's heaps quieter now but if i try give him a piece of fruit he'll just sit there and look at me, wont come anywhere near me! he's got toys and 5 perches and i talk to him constantly! he's starting to get really loud and he's trying to talk, its so cute! but i just want to be able to hold him. i don't want him to be scared of me :[ i got told to put my hand in he's cage every day to let him try get use to me but he's too feral, he doesn't like it and i don't want to stress him! poor lil baby. he's so gorgeous!

[ellieelectrons]

Hi Kimmy

You can probably tame a bird by just sticking your hand in like that... but, personally, I prefer the gently, gently approach. It may take longer but it produces a bird that will want to be with you instead of being one that just gives up and figures, "I might as well, she's going to get me in the long run anyway"...

When we got Charlie (our lutino IRN) home, even though he was handraised, he was really scared of us. I started taming him down by putting his favourite treats on a baby spoon that was the yellow. He was less scared of the spoon and it didn't take too long for him to learn to take treats from it. Over the next days, I gradually kept moving my hand up the spoon so that it was closer to the bird. If he showed signs of discomfort, I would go back a step. Eventually, he was taking the treat from my hand, not the spoon. Then, I didn't need the spoon any more. I'm sure Charlie was easier to tame because he had been handraised, but the same principles apply.

I suggest you check out the taming threads for some more advice.

Good luck... Be encouraged.... With time and patience, you can do it. Make sure you celebrate every little success so that you know you are getting somewhere. (A success can be as little as, he took one step towards the spoon.)

Ellie.

P.S. I also have a theory that if your bird grew up around other birds, he probably feels less scared of items of that colour. For example, Charlie seemed to like the yellow baby spoon. I don't know that if that is true... but it may help. When we first brought Charlie home, we were baby-sitting another lutino IRN... Charlie was extremely attracted to it... but gave Janey (our blue IRN) a wide berth. Once the other IRN went home, that's when Charlie started to take an interest in Janey.

[kimmy]

hello :]
yeyuh i really don't like stressing naboo out. aw yes i will try it! should i use the same spoon so he knows its a treat? thanks for the advice haha like how i just butt into someone else's post :]

[ellieelectrons]

Yes, I used the same spoon each time. For some reason, the yellow spoon for my yellow bird seemed to work well. It was a plastic baby spoon, got it for $1 or something from the supermarket.

Ellie.

[kimmy]

i tried it, didn't work :[ he's way too feral. wont even let me put my hand on he's cage!

[mustii]

Lool Kimmy , its fine my post is your post lool .. as long as we both using the advise i dont mind hehe..

My IRN , he does come out his cage but I cant get near him, even with a stick , i have a long stick i try to get him to step up on, but he get scared even of that .. I have had him nor for a month, of course hes not as scared now, coz before he used to freak out as soon as i get close to his cage, now he does go on the other side of the cage but hes calm .. and he will come out of the cage and eat if i leave something on top of his cage, even if im in the room..

But i just cant get close to him at all, like i tried with making like a fruit stick kebab, which is about 10cm long, and he even flies away and i try and put it into him while holding it, but if i stick it to the cage he will come straight away and eat from it..

I really wish i could just get him not to be scared .. I really would like to make some progress ..
I think the spoon method wont work with mine because hes parents reared not hand fed, so he wont know the spoon and he will probably just be as scared of it as me ? but i will give it a go


thanks .. please if anyone else got more advise please dont hestiate..

[mustii]

Hiii Everyone


My Baby IRN finally ate from the apple i held threw the cage bars I havent given him fruit the whole day today, so i brought a apple and was eating it earlier on, and i had cut him a piece of it before hand, so i was eating the apple and making ssure to make enough noises to make him know that the apple is TASSTYY , so he kept looking etc. so i put the piece of apple through the cage bars, and i kept talking to him, after 10 mins he took a TINY bite and jump to another perch, then i spoke to him again and then 5 mins later, he came and was eating from it, I then removed my hand slowly, to show him i dont want to hurt him i just want him to come and take it from me..
he then finished it, and i then brought grapes in a bowl, and i was again eating and showing him how nice it is, then i cut one in half and gave it through the bars and this time he looked for max a minute and snapped it out from my fingers

Im soooo happy he is i still a bit scared obviously and is very cautious when he took it from me, but this really proves to me I am making progress and i shouldnt give up ..

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE , if anyone know what i should do next to tame him please tell me .. I would like all the advise you have
Im gonna keep try and feed him through the cage bars for the next few days, before anything else, but if anyone have any advise i could use, please dont hestiate

- Mustii xx

[ellieelectrons]

Well done Mustii. That's great!

You just have to be really patient and spend the time, eventually you will break through.

If you want to use a spoon or something else with the bird, it's probably a good idea to introduce it gradually. You can start by just leaving it ouside of his cage but where he can see it and observe it... and eventually he will get used to it. You can then gradually move it close to the cage... You could then leave it in the cage for the bird to inspect it, perhaps with a bit of apple in it. .... and then you could hold it out to the bird with apple on it, don't put it in the bird's face, leave it near the door of the cage and let the bird come to you. It may take several goes before he has the courage to approach the spoon... but eventually he should do it providing he wants the apple (or whatever the treat is) enough!

Well done! Good luck!

ellie.

[kimmy]

oh wow thats so good mustii :] i've never let naboo out before but i tried today and he refused so i closed he's cage back up! im going to try eating a apple near him, or corn cause he LOVES corn!!!

thats really good :] i hope naboo follows.

[maz7598]

well i bought 2 female IRN 's in a cage and I have managed nothing i've leant on various sites. The rings on the IRN's indicate that they are between 10+15 years ols and someone obviously wanted to get rid of them, but me being an avid animal rescuer will NOT give up on these two. We just spent money on buying them a huge spacious cage to live in till the end of their lives. it sits in my Patio area, where i also have a canary and budgies in their own cages. I also have an outdoor Avery.
These two love fruit and especially Apple. they were very noisy and shrill, but that has seemed to pass now. I noticed it had something to do with jealousy on each other about who sits at a food bowl.
I tried the glove method and managed to get Sally the oldest to sit on my glove, but not Rosie. Rosie is a biter!
They won't take any treats from me, i must hang it in kebab or put it in bowl
Are they past the age of taming? I talk to them everyday and they are used to us. the one makes a sound like a little puppy sometimes, obviously copied.
they do talk but i can't identify it.one sounds like Apple, other one sounds like calm down!but limited vocabulary.
is there hope? will they tame? will i ever be able to stroke them or love them or hold them?
OR ARE THEY TOO OLD?
Mariane

[ellieelectrons]

Hi Mariane

Your birds can always become more tame. MissK has had success with her rescue bird, Rocky. I'd recommend you searching for her posts as a starting point.

Ellie.

[maz7598]

Thanks a span will do.

[Redzone]

Just an fyi also, IRN's are not a breed that generally likes to be touched at all, i'd say 99% of them dont unless it is molting season & they don't have another bird to assist them with it...

[maz7598]

Thanks but I want them to sit on my shoulder or hand at least and take treats from me. Help? None of my birds like to b touched no finches no budgies no canary. Not even my 2 Turtledoves I raised but they come+sit on my head or shoulder in *very. And only 1 lovebird Shy doesn't mind me picking her up so I understand the touch part, thanks for yor input. Anything that can help me calm or tame my IRN girls. Mariane

[InTheAir]

Time, patience and having no expectations!
Try searching on this forum, as Ellie said, Missk has written lots of very useful posts on the subject.
I have just written quite a lot about how I worked with my new bird too, but mine is much younger so had no preconceived ideas about people to work through.

[maz7598]

Thank you for all advice. Will check forums for miss k. Patience is my middle name, only with animals though. Not so with people. I feel humans can sort themselves out. Animals depend on us especially if they r locked up in cages or Aviaries. At least they r safer from Predators.

[MissK]

Hi Patience, nice to know you; my middle name is Katherine!

Little joke.

My experiences center around the mature bird, but I have written trying to help some people here. I know it's hard to search everything, but give it a try. I would like to let you know that I think one of the best tools you can use is treating the bird by hand. Also, if you can, work a little more with those doves where your IRNs can watch. Let your IRNs see you touching them, them coming to you in whatever way they will, etc. I'm not sure if the IRN learns the behaviour or the confidence from watching others, but I'm a firm believer that they do learn. Probably some of both. Since you have those doves coming to you, in the vein of "leaving no stone unturned", I think you should at least try to exploit that angle.

Good luck, and keep us posted!

[maz7598]

Thank you will try anything. I opened new cage up today for them to get out and wander. Sally went out but not Roie. I used a towel to put Sally back. Sall stepped on my glove+pecked at piece of guava but was off again. Will persist. They love Apple+guava+peas+corn odd spinach+carrots. Thanks all
Maz