Questions about adopted birds
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Questions about adopted birds
Hello! My Husband and I just adopted (rescued) a mated pair of ringnecks from a family, who, sadly, were afraid of them. After only one night, I can say they seem like sweet birds, and with some love I think will be great. What I was wondering was if there were any good words of advice for how to socialize the birds. My guess is they are 2 to 4 years old. They were not handled much by thier previous family and tend to bite to see if they can scare you - they aren't biting hard, and if you don't flinch, they stop biting and start tasting, and testing. They are very skittish, though. According to the owners, they already have had one clutch, but all the eggs died as they didn't know what to do. We have had other birds before but never ringnecks. I have read everything on the site, but any words of wisdom would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!!!
First, thank you for being willing to rescue a bird. The bird world needs more like you.
The primary thing is to be patient. They need some time to adjust to their new surroundings. You might be best off not even trying to handle them for a few days and insetad just spend some quiet time near their cage letting them get used to the sight of you. Treats offered through the cage bars are a good way for them to form a positive association with you as well. Once they seem a little more comfortable with you, try getting them out and working on the "step up" command. You can use wooden perches initially if the biting is too much for you to handle. I've found it helpful when taming a new bird to work with it at first in an environment that's as distraction free as possible - no other birds, kids, TV, etc. - and then gradually ease into a "normal" environment. Speaking of which...
Are you able to keep them seperate? Birds are sometimes difficult to socialize if kept together, possibly more so in the case of a mated pair.
Finally, where in Washington are you? My thing here says Texas but I lived most of my life in Seattle and still spend quite a bit of time up there.
Good luck and remember - Patience. Patience. Patience.
Jim
The primary thing is to be patient. They need some time to adjust to their new surroundings. You might be best off not even trying to handle them for a few days and insetad just spend some quiet time near their cage letting them get used to the sight of you. Treats offered through the cage bars are a good way for them to form a positive association with you as well. Once they seem a little more comfortable with you, try getting them out and working on the "step up" command. You can use wooden perches initially if the biting is too much for you to handle. I've found it helpful when taming a new bird to work with it at first in an environment that's as distraction free as possible - no other birds, kids, TV, etc. - and then gradually ease into a "normal" environment. Speaking of which...
Are you able to keep them seperate? Birds are sometimes difficult to socialize if kept together, possibly more so in the case of a mated pair.
Finally, where in Washington are you? My thing here says Texas but I lived most of my life in Seattle and still spend quite a bit of time up there.
Good luck and remember - Patience. Patience. Patience.
Jim
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Thanks for the advice. After only 2 days, they seem to be coming along nicely. We do have two cages, but they are so much happier together. On the plus side, they are responding to the step up command, and will perch nicely on our hands or shoulders while we talk to them, so we are taking each out one at a time for individual time. It seems to be working.
Also, the male has stopped biting all together. The female only bites occasionally now. Either the previous owners greatly eggagerated their issues, or these birds were just craving attention, or maybe a little of both, but I think they will be great additions to our family.
One question I had was shoulder sitting. I have heard good things and bad recently. Is it wrong to let them sit on your shoulders often? What might the risks be? I should probably post this question to another subject, but thought I would ask.
As for Washington, we are near Port Orchard. Where in the Seattle area do you spend your time?
Hopefully things will continue to go well for you.
Shoulders is one of those things where there seems to be a wide range of opinion. Some people think that allowing a bird on your shoulder encourages the bird to act in a dominant manner and therefore may lead to behavior problems. Others don't have a problem with it. What really matters is how your individual bird behaves. If you like having a bird on your shoulder and are happy with the way it's behaving then, by all means, let the bird on your shoulder. If, on the other hand, your bird is having behavior problems then keeping the bird off your shoulder is something to consider when trying to address the problems.
I lived in the north end of Seattle, not far from the University of Washington. When I'm up there these days, though, it's usually for work so I'm typically in downtown Seattle.
Jim
Shoulders is one of those things where there seems to be a wide range of opinion. Some people think that allowing a bird on your shoulder encourages the bird to act in a dominant manner and therefore may lead to behavior problems. Others don't have a problem with it. What really matters is how your individual bird behaves. If you like having a bird on your shoulder and are happy with the way it's behaving then, by all means, let the bird on your shoulder. If, on the other hand, your bird is having behavior problems then keeping the bird off your shoulder is something to consider when trying to address the problems.
I lived in the north end of Seattle, not far from the University of Washington. When I'm up there these days, though, it's usually for work so I'm typically in downtown Seattle.
Jim
October is National Tagline Awareness Month