Help!

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Cho Co Bo
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Joined: Mon Nov 15, 2010 6:29 pm

Help!

Post by Cho Co Bo »

I've been reading on this forum for hours. I've found some good advise, but I better just start with my own tale and see what advise I get. Here goes.

My family and I were taking a walk and found an IRN that we brought home in a hat. We posted signs and checked all the pet stores in town for weeks and no one claimed this beautiful scared bird. It does not have a band on it's leg and it does not have the ring yet, so we don't know if it's young or a female. (It's yellow.) We tried at first just to feed it plenty of variety and let it calm down from being stressed out. It didn't make any sounds for at least a week. Anytime you get close to the cage it starts flapping around and now that it's been a while it screeches also. So now when we're near the cage it's starting to lunge and snap at us. We've let it out a few times but it's a chore to get him back into the cage. I have to limit when and where I let him out. I have 3 small dogs and 1 cat. (so I have to know where everyone is before letting them out) I'm looking at bigger cages. He has a few toys. We thought if we just let him settle down for a while it would get use to us and start to become friendly. So occasionally he screeches, but today he's been almost non-stop screeching and he starts at sunrise.
I'll take all the advise I can get; care, feeding, training, toys, baths, and anything else I can get from people who know these birds.
Thanks.

PS. I do have other birds. (finches) And I've had parakeets in the past.
Melika
Posts: 1920
Joined: Thu Aug 04, 2005 9:11 am
Location: Florida
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Re: Help!

Post by Melika »

He or she may have been an aviary bird, perhaps even a breeder. So it could take time. Use food. Seriously, food is an IRNs weakness. Popcorn, fruits, sunflower seeds, veggies.

We had a patagonian conure (anyone say LOUD?) at the shelter that would do something similar. So every time I walked by I would say 'hi' and drop a treat into it's bowl. He began looking forward to me coming over and we worked up to hanging out together.
Another bird I had used to scream, so I popped in some ear plugs and sat down next to his cage and read a book. Just plain ignored him until he stopped, then he got treats and attention.

Investigate wing clipping?
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I've been called 'birdbrained' before, but somehow I don't think this is what they meant. say:hah-nay
Cho Co Bo
Posts: 3
Joined: Mon Nov 15, 2010 6:29 pm

Re: Help!

Post by Cho Co Bo »

I noticed there seems to be a lot of breeders on this forum. I'm not trying to get into your field, I just love animals and rescued this bird and wanted to take good care of him. So please humor me and give me all of your advice on being the best owner I can be. Thanks.

Thanks for the tip about the treats throughout the day when we go by his/her cage. My daughters have started doing their school work, watching tv and playing games in the room he's in and we've been opening the cage. It takes a bit to get him back in, but I don't want to get chewed up taking him to get his wings clipped yet.

Here is a link/address to pictures of him that my daughter put onto facebook.
<http://www.facebook.com/?ref=home#!/alb ... 1018417732>

We give him a small parrot food mix, plus: peanuts in the shell, baby carrots, broccoli, crackers, and a mixture of dried fruit in small pieces at a time so he doesn't waste so much of it. (he dips them into his water to soften them) Fresh fruit when I have it in the house.

I've read we should also use pellets.
We use to give our parakeet Roudybush pellets, is that a good brand for an IRN? (and what size?)

I don't watch him eat but at a distance, so I can't tell from looking but it seems like all he eats out of the parrot food mix is the sunflower seeds. Are there certain seeds that they like and that are good for them? I want to give him a good variety and keep him healthy.
Are there certain veggies that are better for them and/or that you should not let them have?
And the same with fruits and nuts?
Is it ok to give him all of his food choices at one time or should I do seeds and/or pellets and then later in the day give the fruits, veggies, and nuts?

Will they take a bath in a bowl of water or do you just need to spritz them down occasionally? (how often for either?)

Thanks for all the help you can give.
Melika
Posts: 1920
Joined: Thu Aug 04, 2005 9:11 am
Location: Florida
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Re: Help!

Post by Melika »

I am not a breeder either. :)

As far as foods, try: http://www.indianringneck.com/forum/vie ... f=3&t=8078
I wouldn't feed crackers as they normally have salt and parrots cannot rid themselves of excess salt easily. Consider crackers and processed human foods to be 'junk foods'. Dried fruits for birds should have no sulphur or E additives. Dried fruits are also higher in sugars per bite so they should be more of a treat.

Hane gets his fruits after he's eaten his veggies because he will pick the fruit out and the veggies are more important for his health. Fruit is his dessert.

I prefer to use seed mixes that use safflower instead of sunflower seeds (or I pick out the sunflower and use it as a treat) and I sprinkle a spoonful on top of his fresh foods. Millet sprigs are also a great treat and healthy. I've found Hane likes to eat all of a NutriBerry or AviCakes too which can also make feeding seeds into a foraging activity (hiding the foods around the cage and inside toys).

You in no way have to give pellets, they are simply convenient. Roudybush is fine, Hane preferred the small size but Tsume liked the Mini or crumbles. It will depend on your bird.



Hane prefers his baths via hose in the yard or bathes in his dish but Tsume enjoys a run under the water faucet. Whichever your bird likes. Just make sure to bathe early enough in the day that the bird is dry before the sun goes down and kept from draughts. A bird can bathe as often as he likes.
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I've been called 'birdbrained' before, but somehow I don't think this is what they meant. say:hah-nay
Cho Co Bo
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Joined: Mon Nov 15, 2010 6:29 pm

Re: Help!

Post by Cho Co Bo »

Thanks for the feeding info.

I've also decided that ours is a very social bird. If I move him into a room that the family is in, then he will be very quiet. Leave him alone in a room and he squawks.

Even giving him treats when I come into the room, he just freaks out when I'm near him.

He really gave us a scare :shock: the other day. We were in the family room, he was in the living room with our other birds (finches). We had let him out, he slide up and open the cage door to the finches and was in their cage with them eating their seeds. When we walked into the room and saw him there, we didn't see the finches, we thought the worse. Luckily they were just scared and down in the bottom of the cage. We had to take the top off of the finch cage to get him out. Crazy bird. :lol:

He still won't let any of us near him. He won't come to us, or let us reach out to him to give him a treat or try to get him on our hand.
Melika
Posts: 1920
Joined: Thu Aug 04, 2005 9:11 am
Location: Florida
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Re: Help!

Post by Melika »

haha! Smart bird! Just give him time and keep trying. Every time he lives through an experience, he realizes it won't kill him and can get used to it. Might take a while for some things, but eventually he should calm down.

Sorry my response took so long. Half the time I'm running in and out of here and forget to check in on this part of the forum...
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I've been called 'birdbrained' before, but somehow I don't think this is what they meant. say:hah-nay
ellieelectrons
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Joined: Mon Jul 19, 2010 1:17 am
Location: Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Australia

Re: Help!

Post by ellieelectrons »

Yes - I'd say it's a very smart bird who figures out how to open a cage door (although it is easier from the outside of the cage :) ).
Cho Co Bo wrote:Even giving him treats when I come into the room, he just freaks out when I'm near him.
Instead of confronting the bird with the treat, you could perhaps start by just popping a treat in his feed bowl. Hopefully, over time, he will associate you with good things and he will want to get closer to you.

Ellie.
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