Growling

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Sparkles
Posts: 17
Joined: Sun Oct 28, 2012 2:29 am

Growling

Post by Sparkles »

It has been 2 years since my indian ringneck came to my house.....He tells the words that i taught him....but the problem with him is that whenever i go near his cage ......to talk to him or feed him....he starts growling....that noise is not very pleasant to hear :( ....i have been watching some videos on youtube...and those indian ringneck are not growling at all.....and when i go near to his cage he starts to flap his wings and he hurts himself....i have to clean his blood from the cage everyday.....i have not clipped his wings yet.....but i have seen parrots whose wings are not clipped and they are not having this problem.......Please help me with this situation........ :cry: :cry: :cry:
ellieelectrons
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Joined: Mon Jul 19, 2010 1:17 am
Location: Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Australia

Re: Growling

Post by ellieelectrons »

Clipping your birds wings will not help this problem. I think your problem is that your bird doesn't yet trust you. You need to work hard to build a "trust account" with your bird. You need to go right back to the start and watch your bird's body language carefully when you are anywhere near him and only do things that he is comfortable with. The moment he starts to show scared body langauge back off. Claire in the Air has a link to some information on taming a wild bird that I think you will find helpful. Claire - would you be able to post that link?

Can I also ask, is your bird wild caught or from a breeder? Does your bird get enough exercise? What size cage does it have? What do you feed him? Do you know what his favourite (treat) foods are?

Ellie.
InTheAir
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Re: Growling

Post by InTheAir »

This is what I used to tame my bird http://learningparrots.com/blog/trainin ... l-parrots/

A nice big cage is helpful for scared birds so they don't get forced to be closer to you than they feel comfortable.
Donovan
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Joined: Tue Oct 08, 2013 4:18 pm
Location: North Carolina

Re: Growling

Post by Donovan »

Do Not clip his wings. I've had more injuries with unclipped wings than with wings that are clipped..

The reason you don't see IRNs growling on youtube is because people only record and post the happy moments.

my bird allows me to handle him but if he's not in the mood he snaps at me and makes a growling noise. I take that as, "don't do that", and so I don't.

Having an IRN is a matter of ongoing negotiations. It's not about training or manipulating but coexisting.

Anyway, my bird who is only about 6 months seems very territorial. Your bird is likely the same. What you need to do is make him realize that your coming to his cage is a positive event. You must come bearing gifts.

To start I would say... reach the minimum approach distance (the distance on the threshold of him flopping around in the cage and not flopping around) .. and just kinda hang out there and get him used to you being there... and gradually get closer until you can let him out or do whatever it is that you do with your bird..
InTheAir
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Re: Growling

Post by InTheAir »

Donovan, did you read my link? It has some interesting points to ponder.
Sparkles
Posts: 17
Joined: Sun Oct 28, 2012 2:29 am

Re: Growling

Post by Sparkles »

Dear ellie ,

Thanks for the reply. My indian ringneck was wild caught.He runs a lot in his cage ,he doesnt have a lot of toys to play with,Should i buy him some toys? He is kept in a medium sized cage, I have attached the photo of it with this message. I feed him apples,sunflower seeds,seed mix,guavas and mangoes.....Well he likes everything that i feed him but i think he likes the fruits better.....
He doesnt accept any food from me.....so i leave the food inside his cage....What should i do to make him accept food from me directly?


Yours faithfully
Sparkles
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MissK
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Joined: Sun Jul 22, 2012 3:46 pm
Location: Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.A.

Re: Growling

Post by MissK »

Hi Sparkles,

I'm glad you posted this picture. I believe it would help very much to have a cage that is *significantly* larger. Please have a look at my pictures thread for an idea of how nice a much bigger cage can be. http://www.indianringneck.com/forum/vie ... =5&t=18437 Actually, I believe if you were able to change Just One Thing, it should be cage size. Some Ringnecks live happily (or so their people say) in smaller cages that are only two or three times the size of your cage. However, I think your bird would need some special consideration and a larger cage would be more suitable. Some people have told me that larger cages are not available where they live. If that is the situation for you, then you must build a suitable cage or have someone else build it for you. Make sure that any structural wooden parts are covered with wire on the inside so the bird doesn't chew the cage apart. If you cannot put your bird in a much larger cage, then I would have no confidence that he would ever get more comfortable or tame than he is today.

Also, it should be furnished with a place for the bird to hide from you. You can simply cover a portion of the cage with some paper or a light weight/light coloured piece of fabric. An old cotton bed sheet would be ideal for that. You must proceed with covering the cage carefully because you don't want your attempt at providing comfort to actually upset the bird. My bird Rocky cannot tolerate a cover, but my bird Sinbad likes one. You should first start covering part of the side and front of the cage at the lowest edge and gradually raise the cover to include the full height of the cage. It may not be necessary to cover the roof.

You must also elevate your bird. Because he is afraid and height is security to birds, please give him the chance to be at least as high as your own head when you are standing. I would make him higher, if he were in my care.

Please locate some clean leafy tree branches of a safe kind of tree and give them to your bird. Make sure they have not been exposed to chemicals. Your bird needs the natural wood with the bark on for chewing and also needs the natural variation in branch size to exercise his feet. Make sure he has options to perch that allow his foot to grasp most of the way around the branch all the way as well as not able to close his foot. The majority of perches should be such that he can close his foot 50% to 75% around the perch. He needs this foot exercise for his good health.

You should think about trying to make your bird's habitat look like a little piece of his natural home. Not only would he feel more comfortable, you may create something quite beautiful. Consider painting the wall behind the cage or hanging some fabric or paper on that wall, to paint. The colour should be leafy green or sky blue, not too dark, not too light. If you hang something on the wall to paint, be sure the bird cannot chew it from inside the cage. Give him natural sticks, vines, and grasses, but research first and know what you are giving him so you will avoid filling his home with anything poisonous..

It is also necessary to give your bird more toys. You don't have to spend a lot of money on this. He needs safe wood to chew. He might also like some clean cardboard and paper for chewing. Your bird will also appreciate little objects he can hold - "foot toys". These should be almost anything small with a variety of textures and materials. My bird likes plastic beads, wooden beads, twigs, seashells, plastic bottle caps, clean string, perforated plastic cat toy balls. Sometimes he likes to ring his bell and chew vines and larger blocks of wood. He really likes to take his small objects and put them in a bowl. He also likes his puzzle box, where he must figure out how to extract different pieces of wood from different shaped holes. Recently GeveZe has posted some photos of birds and we can see some really great homemade toys and perches in the backgrounds. Check them out on the Borek's Photos thread and on the end of the Budgie Fans thread.
http://www.indianringneck.com/forum/vie ... rek+photos
http://www.indianringneck.com/forum/vie ... ns#p118042

Your bird also needs to forage for his food. Foraging is just having to work to get the food as a wild bird would have to work for food. If you had your bird from a baby, he might have to learn to forage in little steps, so do not go from feeding him in a bowl to hiding all his food overnight. Hide a little bit of food, his favourite, while he watched you hide it and then let him go get that food on his own. You can wrap some food in paper for an easy start, and if he needs help, then just don't wrap it too well. Another thing you can give him, which he should love, is a nut still in the shell. You may need to crack the shell to get him started. I take whole almonds in the shell and give them a light tap with a hammer to crack them, and pass them to my bird. He is SO happy with that.
Here's a post ellieelectrons made about foraging: http://www.indianringneck.com/forum/vie ... =2&t=11701

Because your bird was stolen from his natural life he deserve some extra special considerations. He might have been taken as a baby, but he was not born around people and he was not caged until he came with people. (If he was taken as an adult I think it would be even harder for him.) Because of this I think he comes with an extra disadvantage, as far as learning to live with people. I also believe you have a great burden to provide the best and most suitable arrangement for him. A very large cage and respect for his physical and emotional needs are the most basic of considerations that are due to him. You will have to be the one who tells us whether he can become tame.
-MissK
Sparkles
Posts: 17
Joined: Sun Oct 28, 2012 2:29 am

Re: Growling

Post by Sparkles »

Dear MiSsk,

Thanks for your reply......I will see to make the changes that you suggested ......

Sparkles
ellieelectrons
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Joined: Mon Jul 19, 2010 1:17 am
Location: Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Australia

Re: Growling

Post by ellieelectrons »

I agree with MissK. I'm sure the cage-size is contributing to his untameness. He is scared of you and there is nowhere he can go to get away and feel safe. Unfortunately, from what you have said, I think your bird is living in constant terror, and that's no way to live.

I'm also wondering if releasing him back to the wild is an option. How young was the bird when he was caught? How long has he been in captivity? If that's not an option, perhaps someone who has an aviary might be better for your bird? Would you be able to get an in-captivity bred bird?

It's good that you have seen that there is something wrong and want to do something about it. Best wishes to you both.

Ellie.
ellieelectrons
Posts: 2708
Joined: Mon Jul 19, 2010 1:17 am
Location: Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Australia

Re: Growling

Post by ellieelectrons »

P.S. Are his wings clipped? If you are considering re-release to the wild, don't do it if his wings are clipped.
Donovan
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Joined: Tue Oct 08, 2013 4:18 pm
Location: North Carolina

Re: Growling

Post by Donovan »

any time you ask... "is this cage big enough"... and you ask it with a tinge of doubt, the answer is NO.

How would you like for your entire life to be lived in your bed room... in a prison cell?...

So as far as cages go, the bigger the better. If you question the size of the cage your bird is in, then it is far too small.

And you have a wild caught bird?.. that bird needs a cage 2-5 acres in size to ever be psychologically healthy again.

So... your cage is too small... way too small... ..

upgrade :)
MissK
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Location: Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.A.

Re: Growling

Post by MissK »

I agree that Sparkles has done a good job in coming to the Forum for help.

I also considered if releasing to the wild might be an option. I feel that if the bird was taken as an adult and was not exposed to diseases in captivity, then release looks pretty good, the right thing to do. If release proves ill advised, then I feel a large, natural type aviary would be second best and almost certainly safer.

However, the bird has been with Sparkles for two years - a long time. We know Ringnecks are smart, and we know they remember well, but after two years in that tiny, barren cage, would the bird come back up to speed for wild living in time to avoid disaster? Also, can we know what kind of psychological damage this particular bird may have sustained? My bird, Sinbad, seems to have spent one year in fear in a cage too small for his taste surrounded by frightening circumstances. He is bouncing back well, as far as I can tell, but he *did* have 15 years of prior experiences, and from the looks of things, I bet he was in a nice aviary, quite unlike Sparkles' bird's experiences.

So, there are a few extra points to consider here. I would probably advocate, if the bird was taken as an adult, that he move to an aviary and be evaluated for survival skills and to determine if he acts like a Ringneck still, or if he has developed issues that would make wild release unadvised.

On the other hand, we know it's pretty hard to capture an adult Ringneck, even if it's just flying around the house. If it doesn't hit a wall and go down, we are not catching it. To catch a wild adult Ringneck, I imagine a trap would be needed. I acknowledge it must be pretty hard to climb a tree and fend off the parents, but I believe the standard procedure for getting wild Ringnecks is to rob a nest. If Sparkles' bird was stolen from a nest, then it would not have learned what it needs to know to live wild. Possibly it could be evaluated in the same aviary setting I suggested above.

In sum, I am a fan of the wild release of wild-born birds concept, but I have a number of concerns that would have to be satisfied before I could advocate such release for this particular bird. I would not be me if I did not get into the nooks and craninies of the situation. Sparkles, do you know anything of your bird's life before you brought it home?
-MissK
Sparkles
Posts: 17
Joined: Sun Oct 28, 2012 2:29 am

Re: Growling

Post by Sparkles »

Thanks for all of your comments......

I dont know anything about my parrot before he was brought home.......I got an information that he was captured by setting a trap....with a number of other birds of his flock as they were destroying some plants that the people planted there......he was given to me after a week from when he was caught..............I love him so much....but his behaviour makes me sad...... :cry: :cry: :cry:
sanjays mummi
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Location: Bedfordshire UK

Re: Growling

Post by sanjays mummi »

I believe this is illegal here in the UK, but it Does go on, Parrots magazine reported it a few years ago, where people were watching nests, and taking the youngsters. It made me suspicious of my source,because I answered an ad in the local paper, but the breeder seemed genuine at the time, a few Weeks later she couldn't be contacted, and now Sanjays true gender is under question. Never the less, he is a lovely little pet, and seems to enjoy being one.
ellieelectrons
Posts: 2708
Joined: Mon Jul 19, 2010 1:17 am
Location: Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Australia

Re: Growling

Post by ellieelectrons »

Sparkles, lovely to see you back.

When I suggested he be re-released to the wild I had forgotten you'd had him for two years already. MissK is right, that may not be the best move to make here.

My first priority would be looking for a bigger and safe environment for him to live in. Then you can start looking at giving him things to do and building trust.

Ellie.
MissK
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Joined: Sun Jul 22, 2012 3:46 pm
Location: Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.A.

Re: Growling

Post by MissK »

If it helps, I read some parrot expert somewhere (please don't ask me to site) felt that a wild, parent raised bird has a stronger sense of self and is better prepared to handle human eccentricities and actions. She also pointed to the wild caught birds in America taming to be calmer and more flexible, biting less, than domestically raised.

I don't know if it's true, but it's a shred of hope. I suggest start working on some changes and see how....... Does this bird have a name? See how the bird does. Or send to aviary.
-MissK
Sparkles
Posts: 17
Joined: Sun Oct 28, 2012 2:29 am

Re: Growling

Post by Sparkles »

Now its about 6 years since i got him.Still in the same situation :(( . What can i do to build trust?! Nothing i tried seems to have worked. Its really heartbreaking. I have placed in the balcony of my apartment, so that he gets to interact with other birds.I feel he is more depressed when he is inside the house.
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