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Quiet and skittish yet tame-ish Derbyan

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Quiet and skittish yet tame-ish Derbyan

Postby PrettyLola » Sun Sep 01, 2019 1:38 am

Hey everyone,

We are new here and going to jump right into the fray with a question about our new Derbyan.

We got her yesterday from a breeder/parrot rescue etc. They seem to be a bit of everything with parrots.

They said she used to be tame and sitting on a climbing tree with the other birds at the entrance of the store but that they switched them after a while and put her in a big cage with another Derbyan. Which was at the back of their parrot area where not alot of people come.

We immediatly felt sad for her and chose her. The breeder then went while we waited and he came back with her wings clipped and nails done etc. We didn't really want her clipped so that added up to her sadness =/

Now we put her in a smaller cage at the moment as we are getting our big cage today. We immediatly noticed her being very very quiet with her head bowed down. She isn't scared of our hands touching the cage from any side. But she doesnt want to be touched and didn't come out yet. And it looks like she didnt eat since she got to us.

Does any of you have an idea what we could do to make her feel more calm and safe? It's so sad they neglected her after her being so tame before.

This is her btw:
Image
PrettyLola
Parakeet
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is male
Posts: 2
Number of Birds Owned: 1
Types of Birds Owned: Derbyan Parakeet
Flight: No

Re: Quiet and skittish yet tame-ish Derbyan

Postby Pajarita » Sun Sep 01, 2019 9:32 am

Welcome to the forum! Poor thing! I hope she had not bonded with the other Derbyan and that a bonded pair was split because these are aviary birds and bond very deeply to their mates -which humans can never replace.

There is little you can do right now... Make sure her new cage is VERY roomy and tall (these birds live in very tall trees and feel terribly insecure when near the ground so never loom over her, always keep her roosting perch a bit higher than your head) and that is placed near a source of natural and artificial light (but NOT an UV lamp) and that is either against a wall or has some sort of material draped in the back (this will make her feel secure) but do NOT cover the cage with it (birds cages should NEVER be covered during the day, only at night after night has fallen naturally and the bird is asleep) and make sure her diet is the right one because they are mainly fruit and bud eaters with VERY little seed (and green seed at that) for dinner. Spend as much time as you can in the same room as her, talk/sing/whistle to her and offer her a teeny tiny bit of a millet spray every now and then (but not too often). If she doesn't take it from your fingers, just leave it there for her to get later.

As she becomes used to the routine (which needs to be EXACTLY the same every day), start letting her out about two hours before sunset (once you see the sun halfway down to the horizon, more or less) without any artificial light on and, once you see it's beginning to get a bit dark, put her seed dinner (you should use finch seed mix) in the cage and, if she doesn't go back into it by herself, put a light above it (like a flashlight) shining down into the cage (birds always fly toward the light when it gets dark). If this doesn't work (it will but it might take a couple of days for her to figure it out), wait until it's completely dark and she is asleep and gently grab her with a towel and put her back in her cage.
Pajarita
Norwegian Blue
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is female
Posts: 18701
Location: NW Pa
Number of Birds Owned: 30
Types of Birds Owned: RoseBreasted too, CAG, DoubleYellowHead Amazon, BlueFront Amazon, YellowNape Amazon, Senegal, African Redbelly, Quaker, Sun Conure, Nanday, BlackCap Caique, WhiteBelly Caique, PeachFace lovebird, budgies,
Flight: Yes

Re: Quiet and skittish yet tame-ish Derbyan

Postby PrettyLola » Sun Sep 01, 2019 9:45 am

Pajarita wrote:Welcome to the forum! Poor thing! I hope she had not bonded with the other Derbyan and that a bonded pair was split because these are aviary birds and bond very deeply to their mates -which humans can never replace.

There is little you can do right now... Make sure her new cage is VERY roomy and tall (these birds live in very tall trees and feel terribly insecure when near the ground so never loom over her, always keep her roosting perch a bit higher than your head) and that is placed near a source of natural and artificial light (but NOT an UV lamp) and that is either against a wall or has some sort of material draped in the back (this will make her feel secure) but do NOT cover the cage with it (birds cages should NEVER be covered during the day, only at night after night has fallen naturally and the bird is asleep) and make sure her diet is the right one because they are mainly fruit and bud eaters with VERY little seed (and green seed at that) for dinner. Spend as much time as you can in the same room as her, talk/sing/whistle to her and offer her a teeny tiny bit of a millet spray every now and then (but not too often). If she doesn't take it from your fingers, just leave it there for her to get later.

As she becomes used to the routine (which needs to be EXACTLY the same every day), start letting her out about two hours before sunset (once you see the sun halfway down to the horizon, more or less) without any artificial light on and, once you see it's beginning to get a bit dark, put her seed dinner (you should use finch seed mix) in the cage and, if she doesn't go back into it by herself, put a light above it (like a flashlight) shining down into the cage (birds always fly toward the light when it gets dark). If this doesn't work (it will but it might take a couple of days for her to figure it out), wait until it's completely dark and she is asleep and gently grab her with a towel and put her back in her cage.


Yea we him in a new cage now (turns out she is actually a he and is called Tommy now ^^). The top perch is high up and we are trying to get her to eat a bit. We aren't sure if she drank yet either..really hope he does the poor thing..

We will try your tips and see how it goes. For now he doesn't want to take anything we try to give and we tried a few things already. Have to wait and give her time but very afraid about her not eating and maybe not drinking...but maybe she does that when it gets darker..

Image
PrettyLola
Parakeet
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is male
Posts: 2
Number of Birds Owned: 1
Types of Birds Owned: Derbyan Parakeet
Flight: No

Re: Quiet and skittish yet tame-ish Derbyan

Postby Pajarita » Mon Sep 02, 2019 9:05 am

What makes you think it's a he? It has a dark beak and males have orange beaks...
Pajarita
Norwegian Blue
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is female
Posts: 18701
Location: NW Pa
Number of Birds Owned: 30
Types of Birds Owned: RoseBreasted too, CAG, DoubleYellowHead Amazon, BlueFront Amazon, YellowNape Amazon, Senegal, African Redbelly, Quaker, Sun Conure, Nanday, BlackCap Caique, WhiteBelly Caique, PeachFace lovebird, budgies,
Flight: Yes


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