IndianRingNeck.com

Hi,

I mentioned elsewhere that I'm hopelessly trying to tame a very wild female (roughly 9-10mths). I wonder if any of you recognise these behaviour patterns so I can tell if I'm getting anywhere after about 8 months (!!!!). I'm on the lookout for new ideas having exhausted all the ones I have.

I offer her one of her favorite treats at about 2 feet away....she stands off and starts screaming oikoikoik. She'll run if I approach.

If I approach during the day (she's always outside) she only runs if i "look at her" until about 1 foot when she'll run anyway.

If I approach at night I can get to 1cm when she will hiss and bite, she'll run if I continue too long. This is with the Alex being petted 2 inches away (I don't think shes jealous, I think she's glad it's him and not her)

She's been uncaged for 3 months now. Although this doesn't help I can't trap her - she has ridiculous stamina and she hurts herself if she gets into a frenzy. Thanks for the note from an earlier reply, I do let her sit and watch me undisturbed and this has allowed her to fall into a comfortable life pattern.

I'd be grateful for new ideas to try and get to a step-up stage; shes really restricting me on door/window opening and the ability to let the birds have a few hours in the sun.

I've tried a few controversial ones:

Immersion - gently holding her for 5 mins a night and stroking her with as little claustrophobic effect as possible. Result? She put massive effort into avoiding capture and gave me some vicious bites. She did calm over the 5mins but as she calmed down she seemed to just resolve to bite in a much nastier way (I hope this one doesn't get a flame, its not nasty, no worse than towelling).

Withholding the treats - Giving her base food with the snuflowers removed then offering apple/sunflower etc. Result? She seemed to know exactly what was going on and was willing to hold the stalemate much longer than me. I couldn't see it through or her diet would be unhealthy. We have a deal now where I put the stuff down and she approaches as I turn away.

Caging - Caging with the intention of me getting close would just make her act like she was ill , if I approached she would initially panic and then go into a frenzy and hurt herself. After a 'week in the cooler' she was no more approachable and was starting to look very unhappy and dejected, no singing, no preening and very little eating.

try having just one kind of food that you give them from your hand
but when you give the food to the alex then place a bit of it on a table or on top of her cage
i did this with kieron when i first got him we had a very spoilt tame riku & kieron who would freak if i even looked at him
as i gave riku a peice i would say napple for riku then i would place a bit on the top of the cage & say apple for kieron then i would give riku another peice while i was paying attention to riku keiron would rush & grab his peice slowly he became comfortable enough to take it from my hand
as a suggestion of a food to use popcorn works wonderfully and wont mean she misses out on anything from her diet

Thanks Bec, I'll start this - roughly how long was it until she started to take things from your hands?

its different for every bird
riku was taking food from larissa befor e we left the petshop
with kieron it was harder it took ages!!!
but i think he had been hurt by somebody wearing gloves as the sight of anything resembling gloves would throw him in to a panic
(last year i broke my wrist & my kids had to feed the birds untill the cast came off i couldnt even enter the room for 2 weeks) but he did respond better to food being offered through the cage bars (no chance of the evil hand thingies getting him there)
be prepared & very patient it will be a slow journey but a very worthwhile one
good luck &keep us posted
by the way we would love to see pics & i dont know if youve said it somewhere else but what are the birds names?

Thanks for the reply. Sometimes we just need a bit of reassurance that we will finally get there.

This is Milky



She's a lovely bird and but I would dearly love to get my hands on her 'first owner'. She's clever and it's obvious shes had a really unpleasant experience in the past.

It seems strange that the Alexandrine (Oodie) spends all day crawling over me and yet I spend hours trying to get the IRN just to sit near me and be comfortable. Maybe she's even smarter than I thought...winding me around her little...finger?

hi im going threw the same thing as u my irn was rescue and ive had him for nearly 4 months and he wnt come near me but hes getting better slowly very slowly i can now put my hand in his cage to put his fruit bowl in now.

but he's still not came out his cage and a so wish he would

your irn is beautiful by the way

toni

milky is georgeous!!!!!
& the look in her eye shes definitly assessing you!!
she realy looks like a smart cookie
kepp up the good work with her !!
& keep us posted!!!!