Taming a former breeder bird

[Brittany0208]

Hello all,
I have recently adopted an untamed 13-year-old, one-legged male Greater Vasa Parrot that has spent his entire life as an aviary breeder bird. I've had him for 3 months now, and I wonder if he has settled in yet. I was told he was never handled and spent his days hanging on the side of the aviary cage. Well, he's made quite a bit of progress since I've had him but I still can't convince him to come out of his cage. He has plenty of toys and perches, and I keep his cage door open all the time. His cage is 30 x 30 x 64 and it has two walls on either side. He's a lot more vocal now but he still refuses to leave his cage. I don't want him to become cage bound but I also don't want to force him from the cage and ruin our building trust. Thus far, I am the only one in my home who can handle him, yet he still nips (gently) when he doesn't want to be bothered. This is my first parrot, and there isn't a lot of information on Greater Vasa Parrots, so I'm sort of winging it solo. I'm in regular contact with the breeder, but she only had him for a year or two before I got him, and couldn't get near him. I will gladly take any advice I can find, but thus far, I'm not sure what to do as far as socializing him and getting him out of his comfort zone.

 

[JLcribber]

3 months is a good start. But only a start. It takes time and patience. There is no shortcut.

We do not tame birds. We earn their trust and respect over time with our actions and the way we handle them.

You're doing fine. Baby steps. Reward. Bribery. You can start by putting something rewarding just outside the cage door so h has to venture out to get it. And don't watch.

 

[Brittany0208]

3 months is a good start. But only a start. It takes time and patience. There is no shortcut.

We do not tame birds. We earn their trust and respect over time with our actions and the way we handle them.

You're doing fine. Baby steps. Reward. Bribery. You can start by putting something rewarding just outside the cage door so h has to venture out to get it. And don't watch.

Thank you very much, and I completely agree about earning trust and respect. I would never want to domesticate him, but come to a place where he feels safe and comfortable around me to not stay holed up in his cage all day. I've tried to teach him to Step Up but because of his one leg, which has nerve damage in the back toe that has no movement, he is very reluctant. However, the only time he steps up is when something spooks him and he flies out of his cage and lands on the floor (tail feathers broke off due to severe malnutrition that we're working on), then he scrambles over to me and tries to climb my leg. So I scoop him up and he's fine, until he sees his cage, then he wants nothing to do with me. Right now he's chatting up a storm, which makes me happy. I just want to provide him the best life possible where he doesn't have to be afraid of anything, and knows that I'm always on his side.

 

[MagpieDragon]

Sounds like your doing a good job so far!
Great to hear how your bond is progressing, and good luck

 

[finchly]

You’re doing fine. Can he climb around in the cage?

My Ernie (pionus) was very cage bound and did not even move from one spot on his perch when I adopted him. I kept the cage door open all the time and put a perch on the outside. If your bird can climb in the cage, you might do this. It took a long time but he eventually would come out and sit on that perch - but he’d run back in if he saw me looking at him!

I kept it up, talking to him and I put his cage by my desk in the office so he could just come out and watch me without interaction. Fast forward to now, he is always on the outside perch, hardly ever in except for eating. He’s on my shoulder most of the time. He goes out places with me (if he agrees to wear the harness) and loves to watch TV in the evenings.

 

[Lady Jane]

We do not tame birds. We earn their trust and respect over time with our actions and the way we handle them.

Well said. Wishing you happy times with your new feathered friend. Remember, time is your friend.

 

[Brittany0208]

You’re doing fine. Can he climb around in the cage?

My Ernie (pionus) was very cage bound and did not even move from one spot on his perch when I adopted him. I kept the cage door open all the time and put a perch on the outside. If your bird can climb in the cage, you might do this. It took a long time but he eventually would come out and sit on that perch - but he’d run back in if he saw me looking at him!

I kept it up, talking to him and I put his cage by my desk in the office so he could just come out and watch me without interaction. Fast forward to now, he is always on the outside perch, hardly ever in except for eating. He’s on my shoulder most of the time. He goes out places with me (if he agrees to wear the harness) and loves to watch TV in the evenings.

He can climb around his cage but he loses his footing a lot of the times, and despite the many shelves and perches, he only seems to favor one, which I have padded with a washcloth and some vet wrap. The top of his cage has a half-circle door that folds down, which he spends most of his time on. I've fastened a food and water just beside it along with a few toys, so the only time he leaves that spot is when something spooks him and he flies sporadically across the room, or clambers back in his cage.