New to IRN with a six month old

[hefaanne]

Hello,

I am living with a 6 month old IRN that was aviary raised by parents with three brothers and sisters. Having never lived with or tamed an IRN before I was wondering if anyone might see something that I could do differently.

She was very shaken to have been moved. When I picked her up from the breeder I used a 40cm by 30cm cage to transport her. When we arrived home she seemed very nervous and I did not want to frighten her so left her in the small cage to adjust to the room. Over the past couple of days she has let me put my hands in to change food and water, but sometimes flaps around the cage. There is a large cage environment prepared and waiting for her. If her wings were clipped I would feel more secure transfering her. I am reluctant to towel her before we have managed to establish trust. Does anyone have any thoughts on this?

I have been sitting very still and calm by the cage and offering her small pieces of my morning apple through the bars then dropping them into the food bowl. She hasn't moved to accept the treats yet and often stands as far away as she can. She eats only when I am not in the room and isn't particularly vocal. In these past few days I have heard her vocalise twice. I do not think that this is unusual for her though, because as I watched her with her brothers and sisters she did not once talk then either. Perhaps she will become more vocal as she matures? I am slightly anxious that this may be a sign of ill health.

I know taming is going to take time and persistance, we will get there I am a student and have placed the larger cage about a meter away from my desk so that she can observe and I can talk to her.

Wowee, big post. Thanks for reading through it all

h.

[jonringnecks]

good luck

[ellieelectrons]

Hi

Sounds like you are doing well and you understand that you are looking for small incremental changes. Some info I wrote here:
http://www.indianringneck.com/forum/sea ... d=newposts
may also be of use to you.

Personally, I would probably be inclined to put the bird in its bigger cage but that's only because I think it will ultimately be happier in the bigger cage not because I think it's a positive step for training. Do you know someone who is confident with toweling birds who could do the transfer? You can minimise the trauma by making it as quick as possible. I suspect your bird will also be calmer if there aren't too many people around and there is not much light (not dark, but more late afternoon type light). I may be giving bad advice here, so I'd be happy for someone to contradict me... but I just know I worry about my guys all the time (eg. what's going to happen when I take them to the vet? I had to grab Janey the other day because she was about to give my husband's ear a severe bite) --- but they are pretty robust... they'll scream like crazy at the vets but once they're home, they seem to have forgotten about it within 10 minutes. My two, at least, are much more robust than I give them credit for... although having said that, mine are tame so it is a little different...

When you do the transfer put some familiar things in the new cage from the old cage. Your bird may be a little scared in there at first.

Good luck with your decision.

Was just thinking of another approach - can you rig the two cages so that their doors open onto each other (or at least are very close to each other)? By putting your bird's fav treats in the second cage, your bird my go in itself?


Ellie.