Very aggressive 10 week old irn

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Ree20
Posts: 1
Joined: Sat Jan 28, 2017 7:29 am

Very aggressive 10 week old irn

Post by Ree20 »

Hi everyone the other day I got my 9-10 week old ringneck hand reared (meant to be anyway) and ever since the second I went near him/her he just wants to bite REALLY hard not just nips. Witch really sucks because I was so exited waiting for weeks! I know they go through bluffing but is it this intense and from the very first day? Most people get a chance to bond with the bird before they go through this stage ,I'm worried it will make him untamed because he hasn't let me interact with him unless I'm wearing a thick builders glove, as soon as he sees any flesh he goes for it! Is it true that the only way to get over this it just let it Bite even if you do bleed and they take little chucks? This doesn't sound fun to me! And also how long does it usually last? For one this age anyway?
sanjays mummi
Posts: 2050
Joined: Fri Apr 27, 2012 12:07 pm
Location: Bedfordshire UK

Re: Very aggressive 10 week old irn

Post by sanjays mummi »

He's scared of you, and thick gloves will make him even more scared. He sounds semi feral to me, hand reared?, I don't think so!
nicolem
Posts: 11
Joined: Fri May 06, 2016 3:46 pm

Re: Very aggressive 10 week old irn

Post by nicolem »

Oh man, this sounds like my Ollie! I got him when he was almost 4 months and he had been handfed, but just not handled much at all. Luckily, he has a buddy Marcel who was slightly more tame, and so I think he learned by observing Marcel. But I hear you on the aggression! Ollie would literally fly to me just to bite me! I stopped offering my hand to step up and decided that my forearm was safer because he couldn't grab as much. You could try wearing long (non baggy) sleeves initially to get him used to being on you. Make sure that you're not forcing him up on you by corning him or anything...he should always be coming because he wants to come. However, Ollie still bit even when he wasn't cornered...

I did some work with recalling the birds initially: whistling to them and tapping my arm to signal for them to come to me. When they came, they got a seed and "good bird". Sometimes with Ollie, I would just keep giving him seeds to keep his beak occupied while he was on me to build up some time with him being calm on me. I would reward him for coming, then, if it looked like he was about to bite, I would show another seed...etc. Personally, I never tolerated/ignored being bitten. I shook them off because I'm not risking nerve damage! But my boys can fly, so they just flew away and were never harmed. All I can say is that VERY gradually, the biting grew first, less painful, and second, less frequent. Infrequently, I would go through spurts of trying (with a seed behind my finger as motivation) to get him to step up on my finger. If he chomped, no seed. Only recently (at about month 10) have I noticed that Ollie is finally somewhat accepting of stepping up on the hand/finger without chomping. Sometimes he will use his whole beak like a chomp, as if he's deciding whether to step up or bite, but I haven't really gotten any pressure. It may take a while. But in this 10 months, Ollie grew much more comfortable with my shoulder and forearm. If he flew to my head, I would use my forearm, not my hand for him to step up on to get him off my head. Good luck, I know it's frustrating to be attacked for no reason!
sanjays mummi
Posts: 2050
Joined: Fri Apr 27, 2012 12:07 pm
Location: Bedfordshire UK

Re: Very aggressive 10 week old irn

Post by sanjays mummi »

They Don't attack "for no reason", they are telling you to back off.
Firefli
Posts: 1
Joined: Wed Apr 26, 2017 6:43 am

Re: Very aggressive 10 week old irn

Post by Firefli »

I'm not sure if sex has anything to do with birds behavior. Ex- female birds liking male owners Male birds liking female owners. Maybe they were taken care of by opposite sex?

I'm trying to understand my female indian ring neck. Who's has only taken to my husband not me or my daughter. She lunges and bites if has the opportunity.
sanjays mummi
Posts: 2050
Joined: Fri Apr 27, 2012 12:07 pm
Location: Bedfordshire UK

Re: Very aggressive 10 week old irn

Post by sanjays mummi »

My hen loved my late husband and I equally.
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