advice or tips to gain trust

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courty (:
Posts: 17
Joined: Mon Jan 17, 2011 11:38 pm
Location: Queensland, Australia

advice or tips to gain trust

Post by courty (: »

hey i got my bub Indy about a week ago now (: shes made a lot of progress and i'm very proud of her. she will sit on me or any of my family with no problems. but she doesn't like people touching her or putting their hand near her.. i have heard it can take months or years depending on how much dedication and effort you put in. i dont want to rush her i just want her to know that this is her new home and we are her friends and not going to hurt her, so i was just wondering if anyone had any advice or tips on how to build trust and to help her be a bit more tame (: i dont really know what to do except just let her sit/ walk around with me and hold out some fruit until she takes it off me.

also i think she may be a bit scared of hands as well, i got her from a pet shop i didn't really look at her properly then later she lifted up her wing their was dry blood so from what ive gathered over the last couple days since i saw her wing is that i think her wings have been clipped way to short from her moving when they went to clip them (that would properly explain why some of her tail feathers are snipped to) and she may be in pain still and a bit scared so tomorrow shes going to the vets to make sure shes alright (:
Joanie
Posts: 80
Joined: Fri Jan 29, 2010 8:41 pm

Re: advice or tips to gain trust

Post by Joanie »

i wish i had the answers for you because i have the same problem. Piper has been here 3 days now and she is supposed to be hand tame. she won't let me near her.
i know its soon but everything i have read says they must be handled and worked with often or they revert back to an untame state. i just don't know how to accomplish this, as each day passes is she getting worse? do i wait till she comes out and towel her for a while?
how do you get yours to be on your shoulder?
sha has me stumped.
Melika
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Re: advice or tips to gain trust

Post by Melika »

Trust can be a difficult thing to build and will depend on your bird and you. Setbacks can happen. Everything is uncertain when a big change happens in your bird's life.

Let things settle. Joanie, I believe you were going to get her wings clipped. That could help a lot so I wouldn't towel.

There are two ways to try and tame a bird: 1) You have to let me pet you because you're my bird and I want to pet you now and you have no choice in the matter. 2) Let's take things at your pace and see what you allow me to do because I want to respect your feelings and space.

I've used both, it depended on the bird. Both work. Both can establish trust but that depends heavily on the bird. With Hane I have mostly used the second method, with exceptions for certain things. I just follow my 'gut' with him. I have been training dogs since I was a very young child and if there is anything I have learned about bird training: a bird is NOT a dog. You have to be much more flexible and accepting with parrots. Dogs are basically fear, aggression, devotion, respect, and trust. Birds have so many more complex feelings and emotions! Parrots are wild animals and do not have the tendencies domesticated animals have to submit to humans.

We also need to remember that some birds will never want to be handled. I had a tiel that would step up onto my forearm but that is it. Absolutely NO HANDS allowed. That was how he came to me and that is how he stayed, no matter what I tried. I finally accepted that he just didn't want to be touched and he went on to live the remainder of his life happily. He was a great whistler and that is how he wanted to interact with humans- just whistle back and forth.

Can't really blame a bird, I don't like being touched either! :lol:


It can be extremely frustrating to have a parrot that one day allowed petting and the next took a chunk out of you for trying the same thing. But you have twenty+ more years to figure out your relationship. :)
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I've been called 'birdbrained' before, but somehow I don't think this is what they meant. say:hah-nay
courty (:
Posts: 17
Joined: Mon Jan 17, 2011 11:38 pm
Location: Queensland, Australia

Re: advice or tips to gain trust

Post by courty (: »

thanks for the advice (:

when i first got Indy she was a bit of a bitter and scratcher but shes calmed down a lot (: i'm not sure if this will help Joanie but when i got her if i was scared she'd bite she wouldn't go near me so i kind of had to trust her that she wouldn't. she also hates going on me if i wear a singlet top so i usually have to wear tops with sleeves just for her. but anyways i just sit down and talk with her and try to gt her to take little bits of apple or grapes from me because from what i've learned she loves them. i have a pillow of mine which she adores so she climbs on it then i bring the pillow slowly up to my shoulder and she steps on.

today i took her to the vets and she screamed the whole time made me feel horrible but i had to make sure her wing was alright, as soon as the vet put her down she ran to me (: so she must have some trust :D
Joanie
Posts: 80
Joined: Fri Jan 29, 2010 8:41 pm

Re: advice or tips to gain trust

Post by Joanie »

thanks for the tips. yes i did clip her wings yesterday and she is slowly realizing she can no longer fly away at the drop of a hat. she ends up on the floor looking for a way back to her cage. i offer her a stick and after a few trries she will stay on long enough to get back to her cage. hopefully she will soon get on my arm for her ride back.
its slow going but we'll work on it.......
next time she is on the floor i am going to be brave and offer my finger :shock:
JustinKyle
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Joined: Tue Oct 19, 2010 11:58 am
Location: South Africa

Re: advice or tips to gain trust

Post by JustinKyle »

This is such a great topic!

I think it's useful for both the novice and experienced IRN owner.

Thanks everyone!
ellieelectrons
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Joined: Mon Jul 19, 2010 1:17 am
Location: Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Australia

Re: advice or tips to gain trust

Post by ellieelectrons »

Melika wrote:today i took her to the vets and she screamed the whole time made me feel horrible
Janey makes sounds that I've never heard come out of her before when she goes to the vet. The first time I heard them, I cried.... now that was embarrassing!
Joanie wrote:next time she is on the floor i am going to be brave and offer my finger
Our birds are more likely to step up when they are on the floor than anywhere else.

Good luck and best wishes!

Ellie.
courty (:
Posts: 17
Joined: Mon Jan 17, 2011 11:38 pm
Location: Queensland, Australia

Re: advice or tips to gain trust

Post by courty (: »

yeah i felt like crying when i heard her screaming and knowing it was me who chose to take her made me feel just that much worse but it had to be done.. and now her wing is better (:
thats what i have found out to, when she is on pretty much anything higher then the ground she hates hands but when she is on the ground she will always jump up on my hand when offered but sometimes she nips (never hard) my skin a little to help her balance before she steps up but not as much anymore. the other day she was on my shoulder and decided to 'fly' and landed straight in the bin about a metre away from me there was no hesitation for her to jump on my hand then either :lol:
KornNZ
Posts: 14
Joined: Thu Jan 06, 2011 4:01 pm
Location: New Zealand

Re: advice or tips to gain trust

Post by KornNZ »

I took my girl to the vet on firday to get her wings cliped an was dreading it but she did'nt make one sound i was so proud.An as of today she started taking food form my hand through the cage :D.
bec
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Location: boronia

Re: advice or tips to gain trust

Post by bec »

courty (: wrote:thanks for the advice (:


today i took her to the vets and she screamed the whole time made me feel horrible but i had to make sure her wing was alright, as soon as the vet put her down she ran to me (: so she must have some trust :D

aaawwwwww poor bubby!!!!!!
the nasty vet person scared her
what did he say about the dried blood & her "clipping" ?
Joanie
Posts: 80
Joined: Fri Jan 29, 2010 8:41 pm

Re: advice or tips to gain trust

Post by Joanie »

well today she was on the floor again and i bravely offered her a finger and she did step up! woo hoo! no bites
so she really is hand tame, just cage agressive.
hmmmm , i guess i need to find a wee sign for her cage that says "keep out" lol
courty (:
Posts: 17
Joined: Mon Jan 17, 2011 11:38 pm
Location: Queensland, Australia

Re: advice or tips to gain trust

Post by courty (: »

when i took her to the vets he held out her wing and there was a chunk of flesh actually missing ): so she was on antibiotics for 7-10 days just so she didnt get an infection but i can really see how much shes improved she uses it a lot more. then later my mum rang up the pet shop i got her from and informed them of everything that had happened and let them no it wasn't right and so on and they responded by telling my mum that they dont clip wings the breeders have to and it isnt actually the first time its happened whenever they get birds from this one breeder they usually have people complaining about wings not being clipped right so they said they'd inform the breeder of it...

joanie i have the same problem with Indy when shes in her cage she can be feral but as soon as shes out she just adventures around or sits with me (:
jimmyjack
Posts: 198
Joined: Thu Apr 29, 2010 5:54 am
Location: australia

Re: advice or tips to gain trust

Post by jimmyjack »

what has to be remembered is that their cage is their safe haven. though some people see it as a quasi-prison, they come to see it as their territory, a place they can feel safe and secure and they know exactly what to expect when their in there. when suddenly a human starts placing their hand in there, it upsets their understandings of their safeplace. the best way i think, from my experience and from reading sources, is to take a slow gradual approach toward entering this space - the same patience you apply when trying to get them to trust your hand.

this subject has also touched largely on vet trips. what do people find is the easiest transport to the vet? someone in a previous post, i think either ellie or melika, suggested staying silent during the wing clipping, and then come to the rescue at the end. i thought this a genius idea, so wanted to resuggest it. i have two little girls who need clipping - one growing back from the malt, the other was a bad job by the breeder - fortunately the opposite scenario as courty, they did a particularly messy job (by the way, thats horrible they did such a bad job and i hope shes okay after the antibiotics!). is it best to take them one at a time, like in seperate trips, or tkae the whole family along for a ride?
Melika
Posts: 1920
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Location: Florida
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Re: advice or tips to gain trust

Post by Melika »

For my sister and I, we each had our own bird. We also clip wings ourselves, sister holds and I clip. Perhaps you can take a person for each bird?

I've never taken more than one bird by myself. Dogs yes, parrots no. I'm not sure how I would do it.

-ponder-

Ah. I would probably just take them in together. I would, again, remain quiet during clipping though. After you've calmed the first one, into the travel cage he goes and second birdie is up for his turn.
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I've been called 'birdbrained' before, but somehow I don't think this is what they meant. say:hah-nay
ellieelectrons
Posts: 2708
Joined: Mon Jul 19, 2010 1:17 am
Location: Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Australia

Re: advice or tips to gain trust

Post by ellieelectrons »

We took both of ours to the vet at once.... the avian vet is an hours drive a way so it doesn't make much sense for us to take them separately. I find that ours are traumatised (at the time) by the vet but they get over it pretty quickly. The first time I took them I tried to stay out of view... but I didn't worry this time.

I do however want to work on training them to be more comfortable with the vet. Our vet said that he has a couple of birds that come in and he gets them to stand on a t-perch, the owner stands there stroking them and comforting them and he is able to do the whole examination with the bird on the t-perch. Not sure that I'll ever get to that stage... but am going to try!

Ellie.
courty (:
Posts: 17
Joined: Mon Jan 17, 2011 11:38 pm
Location: Queensland, Australia

Re: advice or tips to gain trust

Post by courty (: »

most the vets near me mainly just specalise in cats and dogs which is a bit silly... i ended up finding two vets close by that would look at indy and wouldnt charge me a lot of money for it. i think one of the main things that makes most pets feel very uncomfortable are trips to the vets even when we had our dogs and cat they would get all worked up as soon as they knew where they were heading. the t-perch thing sounds good but for some people it could be hard and wouldnt work... like its now just over three weeks since ive had Indy and she occasionally lets people touch her but only for a couple seconds. so it may not work for most people and there birds.
but yeah as i said indy is now letting people touch her for a couple seconds :) i thought after the recent cyclone we had in north queensland she would hate me so i was really worried.. i had to keep her in her cage for a couple of days most the time with a towel over her because she was going crazy and i was scared she was going to hurt herself.... but as soon as everything was over she was back out of her cage and sitting with me and the family like it had never happened :D
ellieelectrons
Posts: 2708
Joined: Mon Jul 19, 2010 1:17 am
Location: Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Australia

Re: advice or tips to gain trust

Post by ellieelectrons »

Yes, ours are generally pretty resilient too.

Hope you were ok in the cyclone. I heard they weren't taking pets at shelters... it would be very hard to leave them behind.... our disaster evacuation plan is get the birds in their travel cage, pack up our laptops, then anything else we can get is a bonus.

Ellie.
courty (:
Posts: 17
Joined: Mon Jan 17, 2011 11:38 pm
Location: Queensland, Australia

Re: advice or tips to gain trust

Post by courty (: »

it was meant to be heading right for us but then it went down south a bit more so we didnt get as much of it as we thought we would. yeah they werent taking pets and we were bout to go to a evacuation centre and then we heard they were packed and best to just stay in your house if you could so we ended up staying which was a good thing because we had about 13 people and 7 pets and we made it through it fine (: but apparently theres meant to be two more coming soon so im a bit scared for those ones and the chance i might have to leave indy if they do hit.
yeah when we had to get ready for it i went straight for the cupboard with indys food, newspapers and toys and then got my laptop and clothes.

i was just wondering do you know how often birds molt? and how old they are roughly when they do? when i first got indy my sister told me she wasnt the nicest colour green but i didnt mind but everyone else who has green birds seem to look bright so its kind of got me wondering if shes going to get brighter after she starts molting or if people just edit most there photos...
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