Forced holding.

[Revali]

A few months back my poor little guy (Cockatiel) hit a picture frame and there were a few days in a row where I had to apply ointment to his head. I noticed from day one to three each time I restrained him he was a little less hard to deal with. The last day he didn't even make noise just moved his head around a bit. Currently he has only two nails that need to be trimmed and I going two clip and small amount off. I was thinking if restraining goes OK maybe I should keep up with it ans see how it goes. Has anyone even had positive results with this. Please no hateful comments I very much love my bird.

 

[Peachfaced]

Try turning it in to a positive experience with treats and praise when you have to do things like nail trims, little examinations, wound care etc. From time to time, I put Rupert on to his back to check his feet because he has been known to chew on them during hormonal periods. I do it even outside of hormonal periods so that he stays familiar with the routine -- as a desensitizing exercise. I've also been getting him used to towels, which was something he feared quite a bit in the beginning. That's now a game we play.

I've also been working on training him to be flipped over while he holds on to a perch (where I "boop" his back against my leg ever so gently). Just another way I can get him to temporarily be on his back so I can take a look at his feet.

I wouldn't use this as a cuddling thing, if that's what you're going for.

 

[Zara]

I agree with @Peachfaced , it is handy to have your bird ok with being towelled / handled for medical reasons. But it´s not the way to build a relationship.

I towel my youngest lovebird daily to work on her feet, the experience varies, somedays she´s fine, other days she´s not happy about it. In my mind I´m always thinking that it could hurt our relationship but it is a price I am willing to pay. To be quite honest, I think the only reason it hasn´t ruined the trust yet is because I raised her from so young.

Maybe just stick to doing it every now and then so you can check your bird over and keep your bird ok with the experience by dishing up treats, and other fun activities right afterwards

 

[Shezbug]

They learn fast and yours showed that by settling down significantly by day three.
Day one he struggled a lot but he didn’t win and get away till you had done what you had to do to help him (medical care), day two he went through the same thing and still didn’t win by escaping your grasp, day three he realised he was going to have this same experience and struggle and get no where so he learned to wait to be released as that is what had happened the other times once you were done treating him.
I think for medical reasons it makes sense to give him no choice but to deal with the handling but I also think you want to be careful doing it all the time to him to make him “tame”...... I think they call it learned helplessness or possibly flooding?
There may be a very fine line between it being a good thing to work on and doing it too much is what I am thinking.

I kinda do what you’re doing but turn it into a game and it’s not all the time I do this to Burt.... I cover Burt with a towel completely and play games with him under the towel like peek a boo, I wrap him up, turn him on his back, massage his feet, check his leg band, inspect him all over like the vet would do, tuck him under my arm like a football, hide him in my dressing gown etc but I always make it a short game (and only when he is willing to play) and he gets good treats for doing it well which is all the time because I never make the experience last too long. He gets better at it each time and we can extend the time a little if needed or add a new weird thing. I want to have him comfortable enough to be towelled at the vet and inspected all over, I want to be able to quickly cover him and fully physically restrain him if necessary to remove him from a bad situation (eg: fire, toxic fumes, the list goes on lol) so this is part of his training to make it easier for me to safely evacuate him if ever needed as fast as possible.
It’s a little harder to grab the bird cage and run out the door with it in an emergency when your birds cage doesn’t fit through the door so I see this stuff as very helpful for Burt and his long future.
I don’t do any of these things to my budgies as their cage will easily fit through the door so I patiently wait for them to feel comfortable enough with me to let me do more and more around them.
So, as Peachfaced said...I wouldn’t do it for like cuddle time or taming but if there’s reasons like Zara has with her birds feet then by all means do what you have to do to help the bird.
We all know you very much love your bird no one here would doubt that for a second!

 

[Hankmacaw]

Restraining, any animal, against their wishes for training purposes is called "flooding". This was a very old method of training and is not considered acceptable any longer. When used for training purposes it results in an animal who's "spirit" has been broken and it has given up not been trained. Of course, restraint is necessary when an animal must be medicated or treated, but positive reinforcement gives you an animal that is willing to interact with you and doesn't feel there is no other avenue.

 

[webchirp]

I have one bird, Moki, that I have to catch on occasion and it's pitiful. When she knows she's cornered, she just rolls to her side. It's pitiful and breaks my heart when she freezes and falls over.

 

[Peachfaced]

I have one bird, Moki, that I have to catch on occasion and it's pitiful. When she knows she's cornered, she just rolls to her side. It's pitiful and breaks my heart when she freezes and falls over.

Oh god... that breaks my heart just thinking of it. I hate having to do stuff like that.

 

[webchirp]

Oh god... that breaks my heart just thinking of it. I hate having to do stuff like that.

I know...I try not to handle her but sometimes nutriberries won't work. I've got Lola her buddy stick trained finally but she isn't having it.