Behavior help for rescued IRN

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shanc21
Posts: 17
Joined: Fri Jul 22, 2016 7:31 pm

Behavior help for rescued IRN

Post by shanc21 »

Hi,

I posted some of this in the introduction forum too but copied this here (hope that is OK) because it is more to do with behavior and taming. I recently rescued what I think is a mature female IRN who was found flying free (either escaped or let go). I'm trying to learn what I can about her.

My main concern for Neela is socializing her. She appears to be a biter. I'm wondering if someone let her go on purpose :( Would somebody do that? The thought horrifies me but it would explain why I've not gotten any responses. She is very social in the cage. She is very responsive vocally and with her eyes. She is a good eater (better than my lovebird). She has eaten grapes, broccoli, ava cakes, zupreem pellets, and seed, and she loves pistachios.

However, if fingers are put anywhere near the cage bars she will lunge or nip at them. She will however take seeds and other desired treats from fingers through the bars, which seems like a good sign. She also will put her head back, pin her eyes, and make very sweet soft chattering noises when I am around. This seems to be a positive contented kind of behavior, and from what I understand something that females do - is that right? I have had her out of the cage a few times and have been trying to work on having her learn to step up on a stick and reinforcing it with giving her a sunflower seed, and also working on having her eating seeds from a bowl in my hand. The sessions started out going well but she seems to be getting bolder and has started trying to bite my hand holding the stick or bite my finger instead of taking the seed. Maybe I was trying to go too fast.

I really feel like she has a lot of potential because she is so social in the cage. If she was only ever comfortable being a cage bird, I'd be OK with that - I don't want to force her. But I think it will probably be better for her health and happiness if she could learn to interact in and out of the cage.

I'm guessing she has had bad experiences with fingers in the past......or could this be hormonal?? Are there any particular books that y'all would recommend about IRNs in general or behavior training? Do you recommend clicker training? I don't know much about it specifically but I understand the concept of behavioral reinforcement in general.

I just trying to learn the best way to help her become ok with fingers in a positive non threatening way.

Thanks for any input. I'm happy to be here :)
Shannon
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