• Welcome to Avian Avenue! To view our forum with less advertisments please register with us.
    Memberships are free and it will just take a moment. Click here

To Tame an Alexandrine (or Two)

Elrav

Meeting neighbors
Joined
8/10/17
Messages
44
Hey guys!

I came home with a pair of fids last night; two alexandrine to be exact! They are a breeding pair, the female being approximately 10 years old and the male is suspected to be around 5. All I really know about them is that the previous owner got them from someone across the country and had them shipped to his city. The female can say a few words, imitates an alarm and can step up, however she “randomly” bites and was thus labelled aggressive. The male however is “wild” (the previous owner called him wild but apparently he just says so because the male is very afraid of people. It is unclear whether or not this is true). He also does this weird figure eight thing with his head which I read in one of the old threads means he may have a neurological problem? He has a silver band around his leg which I have not been able to analyze while the female is unbanded. We suspect the female was once a pet before she became a breeder as she knows how to step up and can say a few words.

To be completely honest, I was sort of inwardly shocked at how the man treated the two and can see why they are not tame. Firstly, pair was kept in the basement with the company of his finches so I don’t know how much human interaction they really got. Secondly, he got the girl to step up but she bit him, he promptly shook his hand, throwing her to the bottom of the cage. Thankfully, she is flighted and managed to avoid injury. When it was male’s turn however, he used on gloves to grab him, making me realize why he is so scared of people. Hopefully, the duo will be able to get over their past experiences and learn to trust me, at least a little bit.

I am slightly unprepared (lack of perches) however it was a now or never situation and my heart just couldn’t see them go to someone else who may not have known how to take care of them. Long story short, I made the three and a half hour drive to pick them up, came home around 10 last night, set up their cage and called it day. They came with no perches (this is the unprepared part) so I improvised with the one dowel I had and some sisal rope to secure it. I put in one toy I had on hand for them and have a large order of new perches on the way.

They were on the Zupreem fruity blend thing (which I wish to gradually replace with Tropican because I don’t like the amount of dyes in their food), a seed mix (mostly sunflower and pumpkin seeds, which I did not offer once we got home), and CHOP!! I was surprised they were offered chop (though it was mostly fruits and no veggies) but it is chop nonetheless! This morning, I managed to hand feed (well, with chopsticks) carrots to the female!! She chewed some bell peppers and romaine lettuce but decided she didn’t like them and refused any further offers. The male was too scared to come anywhere near me so I dropped one of each in his food bowl and discovered that he loves lettuce! He did however leave the other two veggies but oh well, he ate something!

I don’t know if it’s just me but so think even just the one toy has been good for his figure eight habit as he seems to be doing it a lot slower than yesterday, when he was at his previous home. Hopefully, he’ll come around eventually.

I’m probably going to post some of my questions and stuff in more specific sub forums but I want to keep this thread as a journal to track their progress and get feedback from you guys, regarding their care and how I can further enrich their lives. My goal is to tame the duo (not necessarily “cuddly velcro” tame but more so “not deathly afraid of me and can reliably step up if need be” tame.

Thanks in advance guys and wish me luck!
 

Elrav

Meeting neighbors
Joined
8/10/17
Messages
44
Now that you guys are more familiar with the situation, time for the first two questions!!

1) I do NOT wish to breed these birds. What would you guys suggest to discourage breeding? Thankfully it is winter here in Canada and the sun is only up for a couple of minutes (an exaggeration, of course but you get the idea. They get plenty of dark time). Any other suggestions? Will I have to separate the two into different cages or can they live together without breeding? The dude has been trying to breed them for over a year and failed so hopefully it won’t be too difficult discouraging it. That said, I wish to take all precautions and avoid any unwanted pregnancies/eggnancies?

2) The duo is currently nameless. Any suggestions for names?


And also, before I forget, PICTURES!!!!

If I can figure this whole uploading thing out... Ahhhh technology, why must you be so difficult to understand?
 

Elrav

Meeting neighbors
Joined
8/10/17
Messages
44
IMG_2357.jpg IMG_2358.jpg IMG_2356.jpg

Im going to be making some more toys later today and hopefully picking up a better perch from the petstore this evening. Can't wait until I get my order to really get things going!!
 

finchly

Cruising the avenue
Avenue Veteran
Mayor of the Avenue
Avenue Spotlight Award
Joined
5/16/14
Messages
12,708
Location
SW Florida
Real Name
Finchly
You can grab an untreated tree branch and stick it through the bars as a perch. Tree branches are actually better for their feet.

It sounds like they were mistreated so you have a good chance of taming them and giving them better nutrition.

You’ll want to get them vet checked, especially with a possible neurological issue. That can come from many things, even malnutrition! The vet can get a baseline now, while they’re healthy, and let you known if they are underweight etc.

What else... to discourage breeding behavior you control light hours. I have to keep mine down to about 11 hours to prevent the canaries from breeding. I don’t have alexandrines but someone here will come along who does.

Thank you for rescuing them!
 

JLcribber

@cockatoojohn
Avenue Veteran
Celebirdy of the Month
Mayor of the Avenue
Avenue Spotlight Award
Shutterbugs' Best
Avenue Concierge
Joined
10/16/09
Messages
22,620
Location
Alberta, Canada
Real Name
John
If these were truly breeder birds they were purposely kept untame (very sad I know) for breeding purposes. After that length of time they have a LOT of baggage that is not going to be easily unloaded and if they do manage to unload some/all it's going to take a long time (years). Show them love, kindness but above all patience. Give them "choice" and space. Give them an "environment".

These birds will in all likelihood continue to go through the breeding motions. You can't stop that and you don't really want to. Just practice birdy birth control and replace any eggs with fakes. No chicks will hatch and no harm done.

Get your dummies here. www.dummyeggs.com


Thank you for taking these birds in. We won't lie. You have a very big challenge ahead. Welcome.
 
Last edited:

Fergus Mom

Biking along the boulevard
Avenue Veteran
Mayor of the Avenue
Avenue Spotlight Award
Joined
11/23/17
Messages
5,099
Location
Texas
Real Name
Elly
So great that you were able to save them - I can't believe the owner was so mean when she bit him! :( Congratulations!
 

Elrav

Meeting neighbors
Joined
8/10/17
Messages
44
Just a quick update before bed!

I’m genuinely surprised at the progress the “wild” male has made in such little time. He went from panicking and trying to stay as far away as possible last night, to walking to the other side of the cage in the morning, to just staring at me at this evening when I was double checking all the locks on the cage.

I went and bought a java perch with some small toys on it while my order ships, however I was worried about how I would install it without them freaking out but things actually went really smoothly! The couple was perched on one end while I slowly put the perch in the cage and my sister screwed it on from behind. They were both staring at me but there was no eye pinning and the male didn’t try to run away from my hand (though you could tell he was still nervous). Slow and steady really does win the race!

The female also pleasantly surprised me as I was adjusting the perch from the outside and she asked “Watcha doin’?” It made my day, to be honest. She also occasionally calls out however the male has been relatively mute for now.

Although the progress has been wonderful so far, I dare not expect it to continue to be butterflies and rainbows in the future so I’m going to prepare for the worst and hope for the best.

Oh, and one question before I go to bed:

How do you guys suggest I should take the couple to the vet? I don’t expect them to just waltz into the carrier and don’t want to force them in either. What would you guys suggest to transport them from their cage to their carrier with minimal stress? Thank you!
 

Elrav

Meeting neighbors
Joined
8/10/17
Messages
44
Week 1 Update:

Things have been going very well so far! The male (still unnamed) is stilll fearful if you go right up to his cage but as long as you keep your distance, he'll keep eating and is comfortable enough to rest with one foot up. He does still fly/inch away when I change their food and will freeze when I'm right beside him (but not touching the cage) but this is progress!

You can tell the female (now named Basanti) is much more comfortable with people as she demands chop in the mornings by standing where I put the chop bowl and staring at me. She's brave enough to start walking towards me as I put the chop in and actually took a piece of banana from my hand yesterday! The day before, she took a nutriberry and it was the best bonding moment we've had so far.

Unfortunately, her husband can sometimes get scared during our interactions so I am trying to focus on getting him more comfortable before I go on to the next step with her.

Just a quick note: None of my actions are anywhere near full speed as of yet and I tell them I am about to do something multiple times before I do it so this is probably why he is not as flighty as I would expect a "wild" bird to be.
 
Top