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Hi alalawih,

Congratulations on your new friend.

Hi alalawih

Miss K has given you some good advice.

There are several things you can try to tame your bird.
1) offering treats to your bird through the cage bars. Firstly, find out his fav treats by giving him a bowlful of all different types of things (fruits, veg, nuts, etc.) and see which ones he eats first. Withdraw these from his regular diet and only use them as treats. If your bird doesn't take the treats right away, hold them (i usually do this at the opposite end of the cage from where he currently is so that he isn't startled and has to to come to you) through the bars for a bit and when he starts to show a bit of interest (eg. looks interested at it, takes a step towards you), put it in his food bowl ensuring he sees you doing it. Each time you do it, try to get him a little closer to taking it from your hand until he will do this.
2) eat in front of your bird and offer him some.
3) make sure he is in a place where he can see you going about your daily routines so that he can observe you but you aren't necessarily observing him.

Regarding when is the right time to get out of the cage, I wouldn't try to "get him out of the cage" unless you have to. Open the doors and let him come out when he wants to. He may not come out initially but let him do it at his own pace. I would also recommend doing it for the first time in the afternoon because usually the birds will go back of their own accord when it gets dark - don't turn any artificial lights on until your bird is safely back in his cage.

Regarding the playstand, he may be frightened of it to start with. Can you place it near his cage for now so that he can get on it and explore it himself? I use our playstand as a place to interact with my birds outside of their cage. They love going there. It's where I do trick training, however you may find it it difficult to get your bird to stay on it, at least initially. My experience is that they need to be raised to be just about eye height for them to be comfortable on it. Any lower and they don't feel comfortable. I've heard some people say they can't keep their bird on their playstand.

Regarding wing clipping, I have two IRNs and both are fully flighted now. When I first bought them I got their wings clipped every year for several years. It definitely helped with the taming process but I understand why people don't like to do it... and it needs to be done by someone who doesn't cut them too short and not too many feathers. The bird still needs to be able to fly once his wings are clipped. He needs to be able to fly down but not up so that it can glide to the floor if it falls. If they can't do this, they are more likely to get injured if they fall.

Ellie.

This is all really good advice. When Bug was new, I bird-proofed the house and just let him find his own way out and about. He would eventually go back into the cage of his own accord, and over time we introduced the food-lure process. I know it may not be best-practice bird training, but it (almost) always works with Bug so I've stuck with it.

I also practised step-ups with him inside the cage a lot in the early days, slowly moving my hand closer until he was comfortable with it. I think it was good that he learned early that I was a safe perch, because it meant he was happy for me to 'rescue' him when he got in trouble around the house (his early attempts at flying weren't always successful!) Like Ellie, I had him clipped lightly once he was flying confidently, just to slow him down a little, but he's fully flighted now.

I remember when Bug was a little bird, he was so shy and quiet in the first few weeks. He used to sit on my shoulder and just contemplate the world, and we started wondering whether he was ever going to make a sound. Then all of a sudden, this huge personality bubbled up out of nowhere, and now he's the funniest, cheekiest little thing I know!

Enjoy getting to know your new friend, you have lots of fun years ahead of you.

We look forward to hearing how you go.

Jen&Bug wrote:I know it may not be best-practice bird training, but it (almost) always works with Bug so I've stuck with it.

And I'd like to add that there really are no "rules" when it comes to bird training. I used to worry myself silly with things I'd read like "no bird on the shoulder", "make sure they sleep when the sun goes down", etc. In the end, you are an individual and your bird is an individual. You can take advice from others but you do what works for you. Regarding no bird on the shoulder, I try to keep one of ours off the shoulder who will sometimes bite faces but the other I let go there freely.

The main guideline I try to adhere to is trying to keep my bird safe and away from any form of cruelty. I try to build a relationship of trust with my birds rather than one of submission to force.

Ellie.