scared irn

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alexander6
Posts: 11
Joined: Tue Oct 08, 2013 1:18 pm

scared irn

Post by alexander6 »

i have had my irn for about 3 weeks now, was hoping she would be used to us by now but we cant even walk past the cage without her flying around the cage in a panic, i have tried some of the things people have advised on the forum but doesnt seem to be working
SunniDai
Posts: 222
Joined: Mon Jun 17, 2013 4:49 pm
Location: Washington state, USA

Re: scared irn

Post by SunniDai »

How old is she? Was she ever acclimatized to human touch before you got her? A little more history might be useful. :)
Thanks,
Dana
~Dana

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alexander6
Posts: 11
Joined: Tue Oct 08, 2013 1:18 pm

Re: scared irn

Post by alexander6 »

was told that she was about 10 or 11 months old but not sure previous owners didnt bother with her because she was an unwanted gift
SunniDai
Posts: 222
Joined: Mon Jun 17, 2013 4:49 pm
Location: Washington state, USA

Re: scared irn

Post by SunniDai »

Oh, poor baby. :(
If she was an "unwanted gift", she probably was never handled. She may not have even ever been interacted with. I'm no pro, but I can share our experience with you with our fids:
We got Sunni when she was three weeks old and hand fed her, so she has never been an issue (knock on wood, that could change any day now lol). We rescued Oscar and Luna, clutch mates, in February of this year. They had to be toweled to get them into the carrier to bring them home. They were SO jittery and scared that every time we approached the cage, they would flit around, crashing into their cage, and scream. We left them on the table next to Sunni's cage and went about our day, not ignoring them, but not purposely singling them out. After a few weeks, they didn't flit around like we were attacking them, so we started doing things closer to them, still not purposely singling them out. Always talking to them calmly. Finally we opened the cage door and let them come out at their own pace. They naturally wanted to go high, so they went to the top of the large cage. We slowly stick trained them to step up to a long stick.
Now, only eight short months later, they are out of their cages all day long with Sunni and we still have them stepping up to the stick, but they have also become fully flighted, so they get to fly around the house. It makes them feel safer about us approaching the big cage while they are up there, knowing that if they need to, they can just fly away from us. We can approach the cage and fiddle around with stuff on it without them immediately flying off, but we are still a long ways away from them stepping up. And we are okay with that. When they are ready, if they are ever ready, to take that step, we will be here.
Anywho, the point of this long-winded story is that patience is the key. If you try to force her to do something she is not ready to do, your relationship with her will take steps backwards. She will eventually get to the point where you can approach the cage and even take treats from you, but be consistent, be calm, and realize that it took her 10 to 11 months (according to the previous owners) to get this way. It could take twice that long to make strides with her.
(Disclaimer: this is only MY opinion on this matter...others can and will have other opinions :) )
~Dana

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Doodlebug
Posts: 319
Joined: Tue Jul 16, 2013 7:14 am
Location: Suffolk, UK

Re: scared irn

Post by Doodlebug »

alexander6 wrote: i have tried some of the things people have advised on the forum but doesnt seem to be working
What have you tried so far?
Loo :)
alexander6
Posts: 11
Joined: Tue Oct 08, 2013 1:18 pm

Re: scared irn

Post by alexander6 »

we have tried to get close to the cage, sometimes shes ok but other times shes flying round the cage and throwing herself on the bottom of the cage just trying to get away from us, we have held pieces of apple near her cage, we know that she likes it and she looks at it but wont come near it, when we put it in her cage she runs straight for it, shes making a lot of noise now which she didnt when we first got her we dont let her out of her cage much because when we do it takes us about 3 days to get her back in she knows when we want her to go back n and flies out again if we go near it we can stand about 2 feet away from the cage without her going crazy but she doesnt like us getting any nearer if we do she keeps one claw on the perch and puts the other on the cage bar ready to run
Doodlebug
Posts: 319
Joined: Tue Jul 16, 2013 7:14 am
Location: Suffolk, UK

Re: scared irn

Post by Doodlebug »

Ok. One step at a time! I think the reason it takes you so long to get her back in the cage is because you need for her to be comfortable being around you first. IN the cage.

She is throwing herself to the bottom because she is in a panic. She tries to get away from you because she is scared you are a predator. At first, and many weeks/months after in some cases, they are afraid of us. You need to take a step back and listen to her body language. First get her comfortable around you, spending time in the same room a lot. Don't look at her, pretend you are doing something else. Let her see you pose no threat, watch TV, read a book, just be you. When she is good with that, you can gradually spend time a bit closer to the cage. do it in baby steps. Once she is ok with you being by her cage, put a treat in the bars and back off to see if she takes it.

We can't run before we walk so we can't expect them too either-just get to know each other while shes in the cage at first, then you can move on to letting her out later, without panic for either of you :)

Let us know how it goes!
Loo :)
InTheAir
Posts: 2040
Joined: Sat Jan 12, 2013 4:24 pm

Re: scared irn

Post by InTheAir »

I agree with Doodlebug, except on one point.
I have been using a slight varient of what she suggested with my new bird.
I have only spending short periods of time in her room, say 5 or 10 minutes doing something completely unrelated to her like suggested. I sit as far away from her cage with my back half turned to her when I spend time in her room. If she starts trying to get a closer look at me by climbing down to the closest perch I will move a little closer and acknowledge her, but still not face her directly.
I think your bird deserves some personal space at this stage. You need to listen to her and stop approaching her when she shows the first signs of discomfort. Just stop where you are and let her get herself comfy, while you keep your avoid staring directly at her.
I suggest you should gently warn her before you are going to enter the room, I tell my bird why I am entering the room, I look at the dish that I intend to put the treat into and wait until she has settled on a perch before I appoach it. If she starts getting edgy at my approach I pause until she settles and slowly proceed. If she is busy panicking she will not get a positive association with you dropping the treat in the dish so you need to create a calm approach.
If you get any big reaction from her you will need to change how you are approaching her.
After I have dropped her treat into the dish I leave the room slowly if she is calm, if she appoaches for the treat I just stay in the position I am in until she is calmly eating her treat before I leave.
This approach gives the bird 2 things she desires she gets her favourite food and she is rewarded for her calm behaviour by my leaving the room.

I don't know if this is the "right" way of training, but it's certainly working for me. She approaches me and takes treats from my finger now, when she moved in just over a week ago I couldn't even go near her food dishes without her getting close to panicking.

I just walked into my birds room and she is busy preening, since she is showing no reaction to my presence I take that as permission to stay for a few minutes until she has finished, give her a treat and leave her alone.


Regards,
Claire
AlphaWolf
Posts: 289
Joined: Wed Sep 25, 2013 7:06 am

Re: scared irn

Post by AlphaWolf »

Hello Alexander,
I second what Claire and Loo said. It would be more beneficial to know more about your bird. What did you call him/her. OK so Aero makes a similar behaviour as your bird is doing. Try to spend as much time as possible with him/her and just do what you got to do. Read a move out loud, use the computer anything just don't "single" her out by excessive staring (ik a very hard thing, trust me). Go slowly when you change the food and water and talk in a gently voice telling him/her what a nice and pretty bird he/she is. A word of advice, don't go too slow as this can be mistaken for a predator stalking. Also don't stare just focus where you will put the food. When you finish let him/her calm down and then place a treat between the cage bars and leave the room. Does he/she eat in front of you? If so just back off and let her eat in peace. Imagine how scared you would be if a giant took you and put you in a cage, and had large predatory-fangs (Birds-vewiw of our eyes :)) how scared you will be. But with patience you will have the best pet bird ever! Can you post a picture of your birdie and maybe if you know the gender it will be nice. I finish by saying that you should stick with this forum as it is a goldmine of information.
"Live with parrots and you learn to panic"

AlphaWolf
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