corey
Moderator: Mods
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matt
corey
hi i have just got IRN corey in last month and i got him from a pet shop, they said that he had been hand raised but hadnt been handled for a while and for me to be able to handle him i need to put on gloves but he hates them he goes all crazy when i go to touch him but if i try to touch him without them on he bites me and let me tell u it not a soft bit, iam trying to get him use to me by talking to him and putting my hand near him in hope he will get over the fear of me but its not working so my question for u is what can i do to stop him from biting me and for him not be scared of me so i can touch him PLEASE HELP COREY AND I
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MonknSharona
- Posts: 31
- Joined: Wed Apr 27, 2005 8:20 am
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ringneck
I dont know if this helps much but I was in about the same situation. We got our female IRN about 3 weeks ago and it said that she too was tame. However, she has been very determined to take her time coming around. All I can tell you is that it is taking extreme patience on our end and going very slowly. Like, one step a week or longer. If he is biting you, I would personally use perches instead of your hands for now. Get two dowel perches and teach him the step up command using them. The more he trusts you, the shorter you can make the perches. Personally, I don't like the use of gloves as it's too difficult to tell how much pressure you are putting on the bird's body and it still looks like a hand to them, therefore making them afraid of the hand.
Also, I do know that pet store birds are a bit difficult to handle sometimes. Also, I would recommend making sure to take him to an avian veterinarian for a wellness check as he is a new bird. You'd want to be sure everything is up to par and he's healthy (even if the pet store told you he was already). Pet store birds are exposed to a lot of different things so I'd just have him checked out to be safe.
I dont' know if this has helped much but thought I'd give you a tad of our experience with Posey.
Also, I do know that pet store birds are a bit difficult to handle sometimes. Also, I would recommend making sure to take him to an avian veterinarian for a wellness check as he is a new bird. You'd want to be sure everything is up to par and he's healthy (even if the pet store told you he was already). Pet store birds are exposed to a lot of different things so I'd just have him checked out to be safe.
I dont' know if this has helped much but thought I'd give you a tad of our experience with Posey.
Corey
Hi Matt. I got my first IRN in March (right after Easter). He is a hand-fed baby, born January of this year. When I saw him at the bird show he was easily handled (this was in the beginning of March). His breeder continued to handle him as he was weaned, right up until I brought him home. At first I swore we had the wrong bird! LOL He was VERY nippy, afraid of hands. He was not that way at the show, even with strangers. I decided to give him some time and just be patient.
Slowly he is coming out of his shell.....I can now reach in and ask him to step up and he will. In the beginning I was trying every day, and whenever he bit I would give him a stern "no" and put him away. This was the advice I got from my breeder. However, I felt I was reinforcing the biting since he really didn't care to be with me, which is why he was biting in the first place. So I did a bit of research and followed some other advice that I read about ignoring the bites. (This is sometimes difficult when he bites hard, but I try real hard not to react or pull my hand away.) Guess what? It works. It has been about three weeks since I began this line of thinking, and he is really coming around. He still tries to bite almost every time I approach him with my hand to step up, but now he bites once or twice, and not nearly as hard, then gives up.
Today for the first time he stepped up onto my hand without attempting to bite me first...he came right to the front of the cage when I opened the door....I would say that is a milestone! =) I have also noted some other changes in his behavior....he is interacting more with us from within his cage. He will talk back to you when you coo at him, and he is taking treats from our hands without incident. After eight weeks, I feel like we are finally making some progress.
The only problem we have now is once he is on my shoulder I can not reach up to remove him. As soon as I reach up, he bites. I am now starting the (painful) training to try to get past this. Ignoring being bitten is difficult, but I do not want to reinforce the bahvior, so I persevere until I can remove him from my shoulder (and I win). Midori is a sweet, adorable, quirky boy who is just beginning to adjust to us.....I know it is hard to be patient, even more so to be consistent, but trust me, your boy is worth it if you just give him the time he deserves. Good luck...hope this has helped some!
Kristi
Slowly he is coming out of his shell.....I can now reach in and ask him to step up and he will. In the beginning I was trying every day, and whenever he bit I would give him a stern "no" and put him away. This was the advice I got from my breeder. However, I felt I was reinforcing the biting since he really didn't care to be with me, which is why he was biting in the first place. So I did a bit of research and followed some other advice that I read about ignoring the bites. (This is sometimes difficult when he bites hard, but I try real hard not to react or pull my hand away.) Guess what? It works. It has been about three weeks since I began this line of thinking, and he is really coming around. He still tries to bite almost every time I approach him with my hand to step up, but now he bites once or twice, and not nearly as hard, then gives up.
Today for the first time he stepped up onto my hand without attempting to bite me first...he came right to the front of the cage when I opened the door....I would say that is a milestone! =) I have also noted some other changes in his behavior....he is interacting more with us from within his cage. He will talk back to you when you coo at him, and he is taking treats from our hands without incident. After eight weeks, I feel like we are finally making some progress.
The only problem we have now is once he is on my shoulder I can not reach up to remove him. As soon as I reach up, he bites. I am now starting the (painful) training to try to get past this. Ignoring being bitten is difficult, but I do not want to reinforce the bahvior, so I persevere until I can remove him from my shoulder (and I win). Midori is a sweet, adorable, quirky boy who is just beginning to adjust to us.....I know it is hard to be patient, even more so to be consistent, but trust me, your boy is worth it if you just give him the time he deserves. Good luck...hope this has helped some!
Kristi