New scared IRN baby - how to gain his trust?

[Pattu Rani]

I just brought home a hand raised 3 month old green IRN male on Thursday - breeder shipped him to me so I was unable to meet the little guy beforehand. I have a lot of experience with birds and I have to say 'Krishna' is unlike any other handfed bird I have taken care of. He won't let anyone near him. The moment anyone goes close he will run/fly in the opposite direction. He is so scared, poor baby. How do we gain his trust? The only way I can handle him is if I towel him and hold him close for a few minutes, then he will let me touch his head, though I still stay clear of his beak as he tries to bite.

Any advice on how to make Krishna less afraid and more tame would be appreciated!

[ellieelectrons]

I had a similar problem when we brought home our lutino IRN Charlie. He had been handraised but was really scared of us.

I am presuming he is weaned because I'm not sure how you would go about hand feeding him if he is that wild other than grabbing him in a towel.

With Charlie I started getting him used to taking treats from a baby spoon. He found the baby spoon less threatening than my hand. Once he was used to that, I gradually started moving my hand up the spoon so that it was closer to him and eventually I got him taking them from my hand... and then taking them from my hand whilst he was sitting on my hand. Charlie is really tame now and a very sweet bird.

I hope that helps... although I'm not sure what you should do if you are still trying to handfeed him.

Maybe he got traumatised in the shipping process?

Good luck.

Ellie.

[Pattu Rani]

Yes, he is weaned - eating seeds, pellets and some fruit. He is still scared - whenever someone comes up to his cage he flies in the opposite direction. He is partially clipped but can still fly from the top of his cage to a room divider where I can't reach him. I am looking for an avian vet in my area and will see if the vet can clip him a little more. I used to trim my Senegal(who passed away 4 yrs ago ) but this little baby would probably never forgive me, if he would even let me handle him. I did get him to step up to a handheld perch a couple of days ago(after which he flew off as usual) and that is as close as I have been able to get to him. Will try different foods to see what he likes the best. I know he likes apples. Honestly I think he is still traumatized from his big voyage - he doesn't play with toys or utter a peep unless he is trying to get away from me. I think he is depressed.