help tame alexandrine parakeet

[halley]

Hi . im new to this forum . I am from india and presently own an juvenile alexandrine parakeet . I got him as a chick in last january and continued hand feeding for the next two months and then weaned him to an adult diet . i still feed him once a day , mimicking the natural process in wild where parents continue feeding chicks even after they have grown old . I have kept parrots before and most of them were tame and friendly . now this guy here is naturally tame since i was hand feeding it . but after it grew up , i noticed that he is extremely cautious and gets frightened at simplest of noises and movements . I understand that parakeets are timid at juvenile stage and this might be a passing phase . however a recent behavioural change has cropped up .

He has been undergoing his first moult now . over a last few weeks i am finding him not keen on human handling and either flutters away or shows agrression sometimes resorting to biting even . he is showing a strong reluctance to perch on the fingers when i put my hand in the cage ! but when i approach with his hand-feeding food in a bowl with a spoon , he readily steps onto the finger and gulps it down. but at other times he simply doesnt want to step up !
but he also seems to enjoy my company since whenever i am near his view he climbs onto the cage wall and hangs on to the sides where i am ! he also has no reluctance to take treats and titbits from hand . it seems like he is oscillating between being tame and being not ! :-/

is this a mood swing he is undergoing due to moulting ? or is it a fallout of some bad experience ? i really dont want to loose the bond at this early stage .

in india veterinary world deals with mainly dogs and cat . there arent any avian hospitals or speciality advice centers , so we have to rely largely on western books and internet . birdkeeping has been here for millineas but mostly on unscientific traditional lines . not much scientific help can be gotten from bird markets too . please help ...

[spiral71]

hello there
I dont know but these parrots have smaller coisins (indian ringnecks) who go through a phase called bluffing when they are between 4-5 months old where they test the boundireis of what is acceptible behaviour.

it is hormonal related and passes after a short time and you continue to interact with your bird daily and with patience i susspect it will be fine.
you can train your bird with operant conditioning (she michels articles on the blog) read the blog it will help you.

i dont know if you know this but ringnecks become quickly untame if you do not handle them enough .When i got my indian gringneck i read an article which said how they are handled in their first six months of life really affects how they behave later in life.
Therefore you must be consistent with them, and establish a routine, introduce your bird to a wide range of foods fruits and vegitables.

you can look at the website indianringneck.com

they can help you i think also see my other post entitiled an interesting website for diet and spicies information.

thankyou hope this helps good luck

[halley]

many thanks for your answer .

i did not know about this 'bluffing' !!! perhaps thats what the problem is with my bird . since he is 5 months old now ! cant thank u enough for introducing me to this new term . i will look up the site and try learning more .

[Cockatielsongs]

Its likely to be the stress of his first molt. This is an uncomfortable time and is common for birds to be nippy at this stage, baths help ease out new feathers.

[spiral71]

Its likely to be the stress of his first molt. This is an uncomfortable time and is common for birds to be nippy at this stage, baths help ease out new feathers.

i agree that the first molt is a uncomfotable time so its maybe because of this also.

[ABHIJIT GANGULY]

I have one alexandrine parakeet he is juvenile ,I want to know how to tame it sometimes when i approach near his cage and put my fingers in the cage it really tries to bite me hard and after sometimes when I put my hands on its head it stays calm and again when I move my finger in the it again tries to bite me ,I want to train my bird and also tame so plz help with replies

[Eric&Rebecca]

ABJHIT-

You need to start over completely. DO NOT put your hands near the cage- the best thing is to start over.

This will be a long process but so worth it.

viewtopic.php?f=11&t=227

[spiral71]

to move your hands or fingers to fast near your bird slow deliberate movements work best try to learn your birds body language you might want to she chet wilmachs training video on you tube called the power pause techeque. for geting you bird to accept you if it is fearful this wil take time so dont get to disheartend to quckly also there are videos that micheal made which could help.

she traing your porrot to come out of the cage video