hey im new and i have just bought an IRN an he is about 6 weeks old.
i love him but the probs is that the guys i bought him from did not hand rais him very well and he is not used to handling. he doesnt bite me (though he has given me warning nips) but that is not the problem. when he is in his cage he will not come out but i know that i need to spend at least an hour with him a day to get him used to being handled. he is only a problem to get out of the cage. once he is out he is fine , he doesnt nip but he is very curious. is their something that i am doing wrong to get him out of the cage? and if so what is it and what els can i do to get him out of the cage withought breaking the small amount of trust that i have gaind with him.
help me plz!
Moderator: Mods
help me plz!
there is no limit to the love i have for my bird xD
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Dolphinheart
- Posts: 109
- Joined: Tue Sep 02, 2008 4:55 am
- Location: Perth WA , Australia
From doing searches and asking very much the same questions i have found (have a 10 week that i got a 5 weeks and hand fed him/her) that it is about patience. i go into the cage and get my little one out and while she(just using she for ease) fusses for a few moments once out of the cage is happy to engage me. She likes to run over the keyboard go figure???!!! and loves a scrathc behind her neckand stroked gently down her back . she is not into be ing enticed by food yet but i put that down to age 
I have an older bird now 14 months who is less inclined - wont stick my hand in her cage to get her out but i con her out with food casue like most(from what i have gathered from this forum) IRN are easierly swayed by their stomaches. I have a few fav foods she can not et unless hse is out of the cage and comes to me. She is not into being touched or handled but will come and "chat" to me and see what i am doing/eating and so forth.
not sure if that is any help but the others will put their answers in time
I have an older bird now 14 months who is less inclined - wont stick my hand in her cage to get her out but i con her out with food casue like most(from what i have gathered from this forum) IRN are easierly swayed by their stomaches. I have a few fav foods she can not et unless hse is out of the cage and comes to me. She is not into being touched or handled but will come and "chat" to me and see what i am doing/eating and so forth.
not sure if that is any help but the others will put their answers in time
Skye was not tame when I first got him. He was hand-fed, but not hand-raised. There's a difference. Hand-fed, the babies are fed and put away. when babies are hand raised, the babies are fed, cuddled until they fall asleep, and then are put away and played with after they wake up from the first nap and before the next feeding.
Skye was very fussy. The first day I brought him home, I opened his carrier and set some food and water in small dishes right in front of it. And he explored his area a bit. Then he got used to that and I put him in his new cage and I just sat by him, held my hand with some food next to his cage, and read a book. Did that about 30 min every day and sometimes longer when I had extra time. Then he got used to that, and I opened the cage door and held my hand in there with food. Millet spray works well. Then he got used to that and even began climbing on my hand. I talked to him a lot in a very sweet, soft voice while first getting him to take food from my hand. From there I started saying step up the second I saw he was going for my hand and praising him vocally. Then he started doing it on command after a while. It took some time.
It took a couple weeks, but he did eventually get used to it. Now he loves both me and my husband. i made sure to have my husband do it some, too. Now he'll go to anyone. He loves everybody.. except for some reason the pet sitter. XD Everyone else, he's fine with. [/i]
Skye was very fussy. The first day I brought him home, I opened his carrier and set some food and water in small dishes right in front of it. And he explored his area a bit. Then he got used to that and I put him in his new cage and I just sat by him, held my hand with some food next to his cage, and read a book. Did that about 30 min every day and sometimes longer when I had extra time. Then he got used to that, and I opened the cage door and held my hand in there with food. Millet spray works well. Then he got used to that and even began climbing on my hand. I talked to him a lot in a very sweet, soft voice while first getting him to take food from my hand. From there I started saying step up the second I saw he was going for my hand and praising him vocally. Then he started doing it on command after a while. It took some time.
It took a couple weeks, but he did eventually get used to it. Now he loves both me and my husband. i made sure to have my husband do it some, too. Now he'll go to anyone. He loves everybody.. except for some reason the pet sitter. XD Everyone else, he's fine with. [/i]
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pinkdevil
- Posts: 2601
- Joined: Thu Oct 11, 2007 11:35 pm
- Location: Central West NSW Australia
- Contact:
Hi bagman, welcome
Congrats on your new little one, exciting isn't it?
At 6 weeks of age, your new baby may not be fully weaned. Do you know if s/he is eating seed, fruit and veg ok and eating enough?
When I wean my bubs, I get a small amount of bird pellets and moisten them and leave it in the cage for a while in a shallow container like a large plastic lid etc and walk away. After awhile curiosity gets the better of them and they generally have a peck at it. Also soaked and sprouted seed is a good way to start bubs eating solids as the seeds are nice and soft for them to crack.
I also find that even my handraised bubs don't want to come out of the cage until they hit a certain age then overnight, they pace the cage and want to come out and never want to go back in. lol
Also being an aviary bird, your little one is scared and has also been taken away from his family so s/he will be a bit timid.
Like Dolphinheart mentioned, food encouragement is always a great bonding treat. If you find out what his/her fav food is, try offering that and see if s/he will come to you. Also when you have him/her out of the cage and cuddling try offering a bit of fruit and see if s/he will eat it from you. If s/he does, then that is a great start.
I got my last tame bird out of the nest about a week before he was ready to fledge. I thought I would have all sorts of trouble taming him down, but he was the best and quickest one to tame down. Very clingy birdie.
Have you tried just leaving the cage door open and see if s/he will come out on his/her own accord? That could be another option.
Like I mentioned, just from my experience, I have found that my birds wasn't too fussed on coming out of their "safe" cage until they were ready to fly then I couldn't get them to stay in.
Good luck with it all and keep us updated on your progress.
Oh, have you named the little one yet?
Congrats on your new little one, exciting isn't it?
At 6 weeks of age, your new baby may not be fully weaned. Do you know if s/he is eating seed, fruit and veg ok and eating enough?
When I wean my bubs, I get a small amount of bird pellets and moisten them and leave it in the cage for a while in a shallow container like a large plastic lid etc and walk away. After awhile curiosity gets the better of them and they generally have a peck at it. Also soaked and sprouted seed is a good way to start bubs eating solids as the seeds are nice and soft for them to crack.
I also find that even my handraised bubs don't want to come out of the cage until they hit a certain age then overnight, they pace the cage and want to come out and never want to go back in. lol
Also being an aviary bird, your little one is scared and has also been taken away from his family so s/he will be a bit timid.
Like Dolphinheart mentioned, food encouragement is always a great bonding treat. If you find out what his/her fav food is, try offering that and see if s/he will come to you. Also when you have him/her out of the cage and cuddling try offering a bit of fruit and see if s/he will eat it from you. If s/he does, then that is a great start.
I got my last tame bird out of the nest about a week before he was ready to fledge. I thought I would have all sorts of trouble taming him down, but he was the best and quickest one to tame down. Very clingy birdie.
Have you tried just leaving the cage door open and see if s/he will come out on his/her own accord? That could be another option.
Like I mentioned, just from my experience, I have found that my birds wasn't too fussed on coming out of their "safe" cage until they were ready to fly then I couldn't get them to stay in.
Good luck with it all and keep us updated on your progress.
Oh, have you named the little one yet?
)Patience
I recently got a new IRN named Summer. Unlike my other three who were really confident, poor little Summer used to have a squawking panic attack everytime I went near her.
I read somewhere that if the bird is not confident stepping onto your hand, cover your hand with your sleeve. I tried this and she happily stepped onto my sleeve. It must be easier to grip. Now I can get her out of the cage without the panic attack.
It does still take some time for her to get ready to come out although I have noticed that she is now lining up with the other birds to be lifted out. She also now happily sits on me until she is ready to go and play with the other birds or around the room.
My avian vet also told me that birds feel most comfortable sitting on your forearm and not your hand. I let Summer step up onto my arm and she seemed happier doing this.
I am impressed that her confidence has improved so much. She used to move to the other side of the cage whenever I went near it but now doesn't bother. I thought I would never form the same comfortable bond with her that I have with the others but I was wrong. She just needed a bit of extra time and attention. I now get an occasional squawky panic attack but not very often.
I read somewhere that if the bird is not confident stepping onto your hand, cover your hand with your sleeve. I tried this and she happily stepped onto my sleeve. It must be easier to grip. Now I can get her out of the cage without the panic attack.
It does still take some time for her to get ready to come out although I have noticed that she is now lining up with the other birds to be lifted out. She also now happily sits on me until she is ready to go and play with the other birds or around the room.
My avian vet also told me that birds feel most comfortable sitting on your forearm and not your hand. I let Summer step up onto my arm and she seemed happier doing this.
I am impressed that her confidence has improved so much. She used to move to the other side of the cage whenever I went near it but now doesn't bother. I thought I would never form the same comfortable bond with her that I have with the others but I was wrong. She just needed a bit of extra time and attention. I now get an occasional squawky panic attack but not very often.