Help needed!

[Elmafudd2]

Hi All,
My wife and I are very new to the forum but we are in need of some experienced help with Indian Ringnecks!
My wife works in a vet clinic quite some distance from our home. Around 4-5 weeks ago, she was at work when a little feathery bundle flew into the vet clinic windows and knocked herself a little too hard.
Ringnecks are not native in Queensland Australia. Sky was taken into the local council after the ordeal and the council posted through various channels, an alert about her being found and they attempted to find her potential owner.
Unfortunately no one came forward, and seeing as they had no idea where she actually came from, we took her in.
She's a beautiful blue ball of feathers but she is super timid and doesn't like it when we get too close to the cage. We've had her out, but it is a massive ordeal to get her back into the cage.
When we put her bowls of food in the cage, she sometimes climbs on the cage sides or flies around being freaked.
We have tried to find helpful videos on YouTube but they always start with birds who don't mind hands going to the cage, or that they don't mind jumping up onto perches you hold etc.
How do we gain her trust without freaking her out, or forcing her to do something she doesn't want to do.
We are in the process of trying to get her a cage top gym and a satellite perch because we do want her out of her cage.
We have had her for around 3 to 4 weeks. We speak softly, blink when talking to her and move slowly around her. We have found that she loves peas!

Any hints or tips would be fantastic!

Cheers
Andy and Stef.

 

[Hermesbird]

The process may be long and hard but it will all be worth it. Try siting next to her cage and talking to her gently either reading, telling her about your day, and even singing to her.
Also having a dish inside the cage just for a treat is helpful to drop a tasty treat to create a positive connection between the both of you.
A day to us is still a very short time to the birds so just remember patience and go at the birds speed and don’t force anything. As far and trying to get her back in the cage try a long perch or a treat in the cage she may want.
Others will be here soon to help with more advice. Good luck!

 

[AussieBird]

@fashionfobie

 

[SumitaSinh]

@cassiesdad

 

[fashionfobie]

Hello @Elmafudd2

I can't say, but I do know of people who have ringnecks in aviaries here in QLD. It is possible that your bird was raised by parrots and always lived with parrots. If this is the case it will take a very long time to show the little one you are a safe human whom they can trust. It can even take years. It sounds like you are doing all of the correct things.

If you want to find their owner, I would check out :

Parrot Society of Australia - Lost & Found

www.parrotsociety.org.au

Someone may be missing their little one still. Or possibly :

Lost and Found Parrot / Bird Reporting and Alerting Register

Report a lost parrot / bird or found parrot / bird with the Parrot Alert reporting / alerting register.

www.parrotalert.com

If it is a parrot raised little bub you will need to be patient. In time the bird will come around as long as you are always a force of positive experience, through the eyes of your bird.

 

[Elmafudd2]

Hi fashionfobie and all who commented so far!
Indeed all checks were conducted to see if our little feathery girl was lost, but nothing came from the checks....we also used the websites quoted.

Anyways, we are very blessed to have her in our lives and will care for her hugely!

I do have another question, because we do see some very little improvement now and then, but seeing as said that sometimes it may take years to win her over, of course we don't want to keep her in her cage for years!

If we let her out whilst she is still coming round to us, what is the best way to ensure that she'll go back inside? We haven't tried the treats route as we are still looking for her favourites, but we did try the long perch method which caused her to fly away from us. Any tips once again will be very much appreciated.

Cheers

 

[fashionfobie]

Hi fashionfobie and all who commented so far!
Indeed all checks were conducted to see if our little feathery girl was lost, but nothing came from the checks....we also used the websites quoted.

Anyways, we are very blessed to have her in our lives and will care for her hugely!

I do have another question, because we do see some very little improvement now and then, but seeing as said that sometimes it may take years to win her over, of course we don't want to keep her in her cage for years!

If we let her out whilst she is still coming round to us, what is the best way to ensure that she'll go back inside? We haven't tried the treats route as we are still looking for her favourites, but we did try the long perch method which caused her to fly away from us. Any tips once again will be very much appreciated.

Cheers

I am pleased you looked around for the owner. I was just sending in case! It sounds like your girl found the jackpot with a wonderful caring family




You are 100% correct, you must let the birdo out to explore/ exercise/ fly / all the good bird things. The difficulty is time. If you leave food and water in the cage, eventually the bird will return. The issue is you can't really control the time. Maybe you could try by letting the bird out first thing in the morning when birds are the most hungry. She can have a fly and explore, but will be hungry and willing to return. If it goes well you could try other times also. However I would ensure you have nothing planned for these first days so that you can wait for her to return. If you force her in early you can break progress built toward trust. There is no easy way to speed up this process unfortunately.

You could also try to have high value rewards that you only give for cage returning, maybe pine nuts? or almonds? or whatever your bird really really enjoys. If the high value treat is rewarded for returning it could help.

If you are working on step-up I suggest always keeping your hands low and reaching from below the bird upward to the feet and avoid as much as possible moving your hand from the head down. Asiatic parrots are especially suspicious of movement coming from above them. I would also start keeping tabs on triggers your bird may have to reduce sparking fearful stimuli.. as example.. my very tame asiatic is oddly fearful of some shoes. I guess he always see me barefoot.. so he reacts to shoes as if they are a very dangerous thing... though only if I am wearing them.

I am sure you will find balance soon, but it really will take time. Bird time is what it is. As a prey animal they are very suspicious of change or things that could harm them (of course sometimes they are very bad at knowing what will harm them in our homes..) You will get there

 

[cassiesdad]

IRNs are very intelligent and independent. It's always better to let any bird set their own pace in getting used to their environment.
Let her do her own thing...and make sure the food is far enough inside her cage that she has to go all the way inside to eat.
She may never be that comfortable around hands
...so your goal is to show her that hands are OK...and they're not going to hurt her.
It's a tough assignment but entirely doable...

 

[Elmafudd2]

Hi all! Just to keep you informed, we were seeing a little improvement till a week ago, but unfortunately Sky appears to be regressing in her frightened attitude towards us. When we go near the cage, she backs off onto the rear side and sometimes gets in a flap.
One nice thing was that when we are able to get her out of her cage, we have used the advice fro Fashion and leave enticing food for her, and she flies back to her cage and back in when she is hungry! We have bought her perch gym, but again she isn't too impressed!
Hopefully she will want to open up again.

 

[fashionfobie]

@Elmafudd2

That sounds like progress In time I am sure she will come to like the gym

 

[fashionfobie]

@Elmafudd2

You may enjoy this youtube channel. She works to tame a finch, but the approach can help for fearful parrots. Her channel has more videos that may also spark ideas.

 

[cassiesdad]

Sounds good!
Sky is moving along...at her own pace! That's exactly what you want her to do...Congratulations Human...you're learning well!
Continue to let Sky set the pace...

Milton da Too