New to it all

[kiaora]

Hi guys,

I have recently purchased an Indian ring neck from a local pet store.

I was told that the parrot was about a year old and aviary bred.

I've had the bird home for around a week now and i think things are progressing well.

The bird will eat from my hand provided its apple, my fingers are the appropriate distance from the end, the bird is in one particular spot in the cage and its the evening after food has been withheld for a few hours

I have started conditioning the bird with a clicker but it seems fairly indifferent to the sound and it really doesn't like hands staying in the cage.

I guess my questions are,

Should i persist with the clicker training? If so how long for?

How should i address the hands in the cage issue?

I also eventually want it to step up and be able to get it out of the cage without it flipping out.

Last of all is anyone able to put a time frame on this training i know every bird and its past is different I'm just trying to prevent myself from getting discouraged.

Thanks guys.

[liz]

Instead of reaching into the cage for contact with him, parrot proof a room and let him out. Out of cage is important. I would not start training until the bird comes to me while out. If mine don't want to step up when they are out of cage, I use the two handed scoop method to pick them up. Always come in from the side never from above. Preditors attack from above. You are a big preditor who he may think wants to eat him.
Position his cage so he is at face level so you are not going to him from above.

[kiaora]

Thanks for the reply Liz, what defines parrot proofing a room?

The only small ish rooms we have with doors are the bedrooms and a study. The rest is all open.

Not to mention im not even sure if the bird will seek my attention, im sure it would be just as happy to be left alone. Which defeats the purpose of training him to be accustomed to human contact.

Any other thoughts?

[Wolf]

Parrot proofing is removing or covering the things that the bird could hurt itself with, such things as electrical cords, open containers of liquids no matter the size. Birds have drowned in cups and glasses that are half full of water. Toilet bowls are another drowning spot. Many house plants are toxic to birds. Watch for places that a small bird could hide in or under and get stuck in. Pillows on sofas can be a danger as you have to look before sitting on them as your bird may have hidden under them. Never let your bird in the kitchen area if it is being used or has pots, pans or otter dishes with hot liquids in them. Teflon or other non stich surface may kill your bird in minutes so do use them.
Here is a link that can help you with things that are toxic or safe for your bird, the list begins on the second page viewtopic.php?f=8&t=12521 This list has foods, household plants, woods, trees, household products all in their own sections and listed as toxic or non toxic, it has been a major help for me.
IRNs are rather needy birds in that they do require a rather large commitment of time to remain tame. I don't know how long you have actually had your bird but the first stages of your relationship need to be spent in reassuring your bird as it is terrified when it is rehomed. It has lost all that is familiar to it and it is all alone without the security provided by its flock in a totally alien environment which for such a bird is a death sentence from their perspective. Spend lots of time every day talking, praising your bird, singing to it without reaching in it's cage other than for changing the food and water and cleaning, and without asking it to do anything. Watch for your bird to start relaxing in your presence and then start offering the bird treats through the cage bars and continue doing these things until the bird is accepting the treats in a calm manner. At this point the bird should be looking forward to the time that you spend with it and be coming to the same side of the cage as you are on before you even get there. Now you cam place yourself in the doorway of the cage and open the door. Repeat the talking, praising and singing with the bird and offer the treats directly from your fingers in the doorway of the cage. Do not reach inside the cage, let your bird come to you. When the bird is comfortable with calmly accepting treats from you in this manner then start holding the treat so that the bird needs to step onto your hand to get the treat. When is does this say the cue " Step Up" or whatever cue you wish to use for this.
At this time you can begin clicker and target training in the cage. Here is the link to help you with this viewtopic.php?f=11&t=227
Now your bird is going to need time out of the cage to exercise and to explore its new home so I suggest that you do this in the late afternoon, probably beginning about 2 hours before the birds dinner time and dusk. This way you can show the bird when you place its dinner in its cage and it should go back in on its own before dark. It helps if your inside lights are turned off while you do this as it helps the bird to know when to return to its cage. If it does not then if you wait for it to roost like it is going to go to sleep it is a really simple matter to scoop it up and place it in the cage.
This should get you started off in the right direction with your new friend.

[Pajarita]

Welcome to the forum! First of all, please do NOT withhold food from the bird to tame it. It's a super old technique dating from the times when people thought of them as 'just birds' belonging in cages and not sentient living beings with certain rights and needs. It only creates anxiety, stress and insecurity in them and it's really NOT the right way to go about it. You are dealing with a parent-raised bird so you will have to convince him you can be trusted first of all, and you will never achieve this by making him hungry so as to leave him no choice but to approach you for food (this is called a flooding technique and nobody recommends them any longer because they don't work in the long run). They are smart. And they can hold grudges. So don't do anything to the bird you would not want done to you...

Wolf and Liz are correct. Freedom, good food, and lots and lots and lots of time spent keeping it company (talking, singing, praising, offering a treat -but, if the bird doesn't take it, just leave it as near as you can without him spooking so he sees that you are doing all this in good faith and because you want to be his friend and not because you want to dominate it) so he begins to trust you is the way to go. Trust is the foundation of all good long-term parrot-human relationships. Without trust, you have nothing.

Now, a word of caution, hand-fed IRNs are very hard birds to keep bonded to their human and you are starting off at minus ten instead of zero because you got yourself a bird that is not human-imprinted so you will have to put ten times as much work as a person who got a hand-fed baby and be super extra vigilant, assiduous and knowledgeable in order to get a pet out of this bird. Take your time, observe his reactions, don't do anything that he doesn't like or that makes him nervous/tense/anxious, don't try to impose your wishes on him, show him respect and love and he will learn to trust and love you.

[kiaora]

Thank you all you have been a great help.

So what i have gathered so far:

The removal of food isnt a good idea as that is seen as a negative and the bird can associate that with me.

I should let the bird out and let it become accustom to the environment and the humans within it rather than forcing myself on it in the cage like i have been.

Before I even start to think about training the bird it should be 100% comfortable with my presence.

Thanks again I feel allot more positive and now have a clear path forward!!!

[liz]

No matter how good or bad the home and humans before you were, that is all he knows and he misses it. He has to have time to realize that this is his home and you are his human.

Another thing. There are some fast learners like Myrtle but you have to keep in mind that a lot of birds get caught up in the ceiling fan. I don't use the fan in the cockatiel room. In my mind I have invented a cage to go around the ceiling fan so I can use it in that room.

And yes. My house looks like animal house.

[Pajarita]

Thank you all you have been a great help.

So what i have gathered so far:

The removal of food isnt a good idea as that is seen as a negative and the bird can associate that with me.

I should let the bird out and let it become accustom to the environment and the humans within it rather than forcing myself on it in the cage like i have been.

Before I even start to think about training the bird it should be 100% comfortable with my presence.

Thanks again I feel allot more positive and now have a clear path forward!!!

Yep, exactly that! You got it!

[kiaora]

Hi guys,

I have some more questions since my last post, and i would like you opinions on a few things.

Firstly i have built Buddy a prich and play are that is free standing.

He seems to want to hide in one of the purches just unde the open area at the top. Normal? Or not normal?

He also seems to have become less people friendly. He runs away alot and if someone walks past the purch he tries to fly off, how can we get him to be used to people?

And since i stopped taking his food away he wont take food from my hand and he wont let me even close to him.... please help

[Wolf]

You need to understand that when you bring home a new bird that it is terrified of you and its new environment and this is made worse by the fact that he was an aviary bird and not accustomed to much human contact at a critical point in its life. These birds require a lot of human interaction and physical contact to remain tamed and social with humans and this is much more important with an aviary bird. The thing is that you need to have the bird trust you as without earning the birds trust you can't really have much of a relationship all except winning the birds trust first is a waste of time.
Gaining the birds trust require you to stay out of its cage except to clean it and to change its food and water. It means hours upon hours of quietly sitting down in front of the cage treat in hand and talking and singing to your bird and waiting for him to come to you. It means opening the door to the cage and backing off to allow the bird to come out on its own. It means sitting down with a plate of bird safe food and nibbling on it without offering it to him until he is willing to attempt to steal a piece of it and then offering him a piece. It means doing the same thing with a bird toy. The concept is that the bird will get curious and want the food or want to help with the toy enough to forget about being afraid enough to approach you on his own. Unless the bird overcomes its fear and wants to spend time with you, you have nothing as far as the bird goes.