Taming tips(rescued bird)??

[sallyj]

Hi there. We rescued an IRN yesterday evening from being attacked by a cat(it didn't touch her) and took it home because my little niece absolutely adores these things. I'm not sure if this was someone's pet left astray(she didn't have a tag) or if someone's messed around with her because her wings have been clipped. We've had an IRN before years ago, but he was quite the clever bird and got himself out of his cage and flew away, but since he was very friendly, it seems someone else took him in. We found him at a petshop months later though(The person who caught him was in germany at the time and was shipping our old friend via the shop and there was nothing they could do about it unfortunately). We hand reared our old IRN so we never really had an issue with taming, but with this new one, I'm not so sure how to go about it. I've read a bit online, but I'm not sure if I'd be stressing out the poor thing too much. I've walked past her cage every now and then and she doesn't seem to be furiously flapping away as I approach(as I've witnessed in some pet shops and with friends' birds) she calmly turns her back to me, or starts to climb up the cage on the side furthest away from me, so I know that she's not TOO comfortable so I usually just step back a bit and talk to her. Anyway, it's been a really long time since we've had a bird in the house, over 13 years since the older one so I'm a bit rusty with this. Could someone give me a few pointers? What first few steps could I take to win her trust? Also, we have a dog who gets very excited whenever she makes a sound whether it's moving or vocal. He is just very animated and not very vocal though. How do you get her used to another animal? Does that just happen over time? I also know that this is very broad, but how long would it take generally for these birds to get used to human contact?

Thanks!

[ellieelectrons]

Hi Sally

Congrats on your new little guy. I'm glad you were able to rescue her before the cat got to her.

Here is a starting point for taming:
1. Find out what her fav treats are by putting a bowlful of different items cut up small in a bowl and see which ones she eats first (observe from a distance).

2. Withdraw the fav treats from her normal diet.

3. Several times a day get close-ish to the cage and wait for her to look less scared of you or look in your direction or take a step towards you (how much you expect depends on what level of tameness your bird is at already). When you think it has shown interest, put one of her fav treats in her food bowl (make sure she sees you do it). If she's just completely scared of you and she shows know interest in you then you could start by putting her fav treat in her bowl when you walk by and that will help her associate you with treats. Eventually, bit by bit, you'll be working towards her taking a treat from your hand through the cage bars but that could take some time.

Other tips include:
- put her somewhere she can observe you going about your daily tasks without being the centre of attention.
- eat your meals in front of her, IRNs will get curious about what you are eating.
- some people say that not looking at the bird when you attempt to feed them through the cage bars can be helpful too.

Good luck and best wishes.

We look forward to hearing how she goes.

Oh, and that is sad how you lost your boy all those years ago.

Ellie.

[sallyj]

Thanks for the response Ellie, but I'm really worried that we won't have a lovely new companion for much longer!

I don't really know what's happened, but she's laying on her back on the floor of her cage right now. I don't know if this is some sort of strange(but normal response) behavior because I have never seen this before, but my instincts tell me it isn't. Shall be taking her to the vet's to see what's wrong although my dad seems to think that it will be a waste of our time(and money, especially since our dog was viciously attacked only last month).

EDIT: Ag! From noticing her sitting on her perch to her being on the floor of her cage she has unfortunately stopped breathing in literally about 10 minutes. I'm absolutely clueless how this could've happened. I was going to get her checked up today. Such a shame!

[ellieelectrons]

Sorry to hear that. Perhaps she was already sick which may be why she wasn't acting crazy scared of you when you walked by.

I'm not sure on this one but I'm wondering if your vet should do a post mortem to check for psittacosis as i believe this can be fatal if contracted by humans. I'm not sure I have my facts right there so please feel free to do your own checking... And someone please correct me if you know I'm wrong.

Ellie.