Towel the IRN and pat him - Bad method of taming ?

[sujithsubramanian]

Hey Everyone,

I have got a 6 month old male ring neck a month ago from a local breeder. I have been feeding him through the cage bars with a wooden stick for a month till now as he very rarely accepts food from my hand. When the cage doors are open, he loves to come out and spend some time out. I have tried to pick him up from the floor to put him back in the cage and ended up with sore fingers. For the past two days, I am taking him out of the cage by using a towel and by wearing a glove on the other hand. He makes crazy noises when picked up and attempts to bite when I approach with my hands to pat him. Is it to check whether my fingers are a stable source to step up or is it just hinting me to put him back in the cage ? I could pat him with my glove while holding him close by my chest and he stays quiet at that time. I have been talking to him every day, sitting with him near the cage, whistling him to get attention. I have waited a month to let him settle into the atmosphere so that so i can start my taming methods. Its two months since he has been into our family.

My questions are:

1) Is it ideal to hold him in a towel and pat him every day ? Will he be tamed this way ? Bcoz once he is out of the cage, he never wants to be touched/disturbed ?

2) Please help me with the duration of the training session ? And some most recommended toys ?( I bought him a wooden swing which the shopkeeper told that it would be good for sharpening the beak and he hardly steps on it)


Any help would be much appreciated

Awaiting your replies

Sujith

[ellieelectrons]

Hi Sujith

Welcome to the forum.

1) Is it ideal to hold him in a towel and pat him every day ? Will he be tamed this way ? Bcoz once he is out of the cage, he never wants to be touched/disturbed ?

This type of training is called 'flooding'... and it can tame your bird. Flooding tends to work by making the bird realise that resistance is futile and it might as well to submit to what you want it to do. It is more likely to work on a young bird.

I prefer to work with positive reinforcement. I want my guys to want to interact with me rather than submit because they know there is no point resisting.

I have been feeding him through the cage bars with a wooden stick for a month till now as he very rarely accepts food from my hand.

Does your bird have a favourite food? You can find out what its preferred foods are by offering him a bowlful of different foods and see which ones he eats first. I suggest you find this out and then withdraw that from his diet and start using that as the treat. Your bird may not take the treat from your hand to start with... so you do it in small steps. First of all, let him see you put the treat in his food bowl. Then, hold it between the bars at the opposite side of the cage to what he is. If he shows interest in coming towards you or takes a step towards you, put the treat in the bowl. Gradually expect him to get closer and closer and eventually he will be taking treats from your hand. Once he is doing this, then you can start more training. Some people find it helps if you hold the treat between the bars and look away - your bird will feel less threatened and will be more likely to take it from you.

My inspiration for taming and training my guys came from a DVD titled "Parrot Behaviour and Training #1" (see http://www.goodbirdinc.com/parrot-store-dvds.html)

2) Please help me with the duration of the training session ? And some most recommended toys ?( I bought him a wooden swing which the shopkeeper told that it would be good for sharpening the beak and he hardly steps on it)

Toys are very individual and different birds like different toys. A book that I have, "Parrot-toys & Play Areas" by D'Arezzo & Shannon-Nunn lists 11 different parrot-toy categories for you to try with your bird. They suggest that at any one time your bird should have toys from at least 4 categories. Someone else has written the 11 different parrot-toy categories here: http://lafebercares.com/what-to-chew-today/

I hope that helps. Good luck and best wishes.

Ellie.

[sujithsubramanian]

Thank You so much Ellie for spending time to answer my queries and for the vivid answers ! I will give a look into the DVD's and the article on Toys to get me closer with my feathered friend. He is 8 months old as of now and I think I can follow the methods you suggested and don't have to pull a rabbit out of my hat to tame him I will also try Positive Reinforcement methods for a week and figure out if there's an improvement.

Thanks once again Ellie
Sujith

[MissK]

Keep us posted and don't give up!

Best wishes,
-MissK