hi there! i'm new to the site and to bird handling, but i have a bit of an issue with my first bird.
we've (my dad and i) been looking for a bird for a while now, and i saw a cute, supposedly hand reared bird on gumtree. the man said it was three weeks old, but it has all of its feathers (unsure about its wings, they are clipped fairly short, not by me but the seller) and it is eating pellets and fruits. the photos showed the bird sitting on the mans hands and arms, even by another person. description said it was friendly. presumably, the bird is 9-10 weeks old.
when we arrived, we were greeted by a hispanic man with very poor english. he invited us in and we went to the backyard, where he had at least 50 doves or pigeons, i'm not sure. in two cages he had two lorikeets and what looked like two ringnecks.
the man reached into the cage very quickly and suddenly, and probably scared the hell outta that poor thing. the first mistake with the way this man treated his birds. the bird was violently squealing, flapping and flying about the cage as he tried to grab it. once he did, he sat it on his arm and said, "see? he good." the bird flapped and flailed all the way to the ground, where he grabbed it once again.
he was very violent towards the bird, i'm not sure if that's how they're supposed to be handled. probably not. (i know ducks and geese are often handled by their necks/tails, but small birds are far more delicate.)
(on a side note, before we left, i noticed something very strange inside the cage he was removed from. to the side, a clump of feathers and wing. it is vague, and i don't really remember - i only got a small glance. looked like a dead bird, crushed under something. again, i don't really remember much. but it was a little worrying.)
we payed $170 for it cash in hand.
on the way home the bird was anxious, of course it was. new environment and people, plus a car. it tried to move as far away as possible from me in its carry cage. we covered it up and it seemed calmer, but it still moved away from me and tried to force its head through the bars.
when we got home, we had to move it into its cage, which was difficult considering its fear of us.
we got it in, gave it seed, water, fruit and lots of toys to play with, different sized perches, and two different cages.
it's been a few days. the bird has quickly adjusted to his cage, and his food.
but not us. when we walk past him or go near him, he desperately moves away to the opposite side. when we refresh his food or water, he starts flapping and moving about the cage restlessly. he's not aggressive towards us in any way, he does not bite or lunge, he only moves away. he is obviously scared of us. especially of hands.
when you step near the cage, he might freeze in place and stare at you, but that's it. i managed to feed him a tiny piece of banana from a fork. i tried putting my hand up towards the cage to feed him something, but he freaked out and moved away quickly. any signs of hands seems to scare him, even when we move them towards him very very slowly. as soon as he sees them, he moves away.
it's very very hard to train him with food when he is this scared. he has the behavior of a wild bird, one that was parent raised. i think the man that sold it to us lied about it. not only does it look completely different from the one in the photo (white feet and talons compared to the photo bird's black feet and talons) but it is not friendly at all, and has a great fear of hands, arms and humans. like i said before, the bird in the photo was on a man's arm, on his hand, and on a woman's hand as well.
i'm very upset. i don't know if this is the same bird, or if it is actually friendly and just scared. this bird has absolutely no personality, and just sits there, interacting with nothing. i feel like he might be curious, as he watches us and what we do from his cage. i'm too scared to take him out and try and interact with him, because i know he won't.
it's been a week now, i decided to update this memo. the bird has gotten sort of better. he has stopped moving away when we pass by his cage, but he still freaks out and flaps around when we rearrange his toys or change his food.
he is responding to birds outside with very loud and short chirps. sometimes he'll make little chattering sounds, but he goes silent when we look at him.
i feel as though this bird has lived a poor life, however short it was before we found him. the man gave us a completely unknown bird (we did a little bit of investigation, gathered evidence, asked for opinions from different people etc) with a completely unknown temperament.
also, another side note, the bird is not aggressive and does not bite us. he is only terrified. he did try to bite me when i transported him from one cage to another inside a towel, but that's the only time - probably out of uncertainty or fear.
i really need help, i don't know if i should talk to my housemate about reselling the bird, or whether he can be trained. we payed $170 for this bird.
is he still trainable? could he have been abused? why is he so terrified of our hands, and especially us? what should we do? shall we resell him or work up the patience to train him and give him lots of love and time?
i'm determined to show this bird that i do not wish to hurt him.
also, a photo of ricky:
ricky the ringneck - Album on Imgur
we've (my dad and i) been looking for a bird for a while now, and i saw a cute, supposedly hand reared bird on gumtree. the man said it was three weeks old, but it has all of its feathers (unsure about its wings, they are clipped fairly short, not by me but the seller) and it is eating pellets and fruits. the photos showed the bird sitting on the mans hands and arms, even by another person. description said it was friendly. presumably, the bird is 9-10 weeks old.
when we arrived, we were greeted by a hispanic man with very poor english. he invited us in and we went to the backyard, where he had at least 50 doves or pigeons, i'm not sure. in two cages he had two lorikeets and what looked like two ringnecks.
the man reached into the cage very quickly and suddenly, and probably scared the hell outta that poor thing. the first mistake with the way this man treated his birds. the bird was violently squealing, flapping and flying about the cage as he tried to grab it. once he did, he sat it on his arm and said, "see? he good." the bird flapped and flailed all the way to the ground, where he grabbed it once again.
he was very violent towards the bird, i'm not sure if that's how they're supposed to be handled. probably not. (i know ducks and geese are often handled by their necks/tails, but small birds are far more delicate.)
(on a side note, before we left, i noticed something very strange inside the cage he was removed from. to the side, a clump of feathers and wing. it is vague, and i don't really remember - i only got a small glance. looked like a dead bird, crushed under something. again, i don't really remember much. but it was a little worrying.)
we payed $170 for it cash in hand.
on the way home the bird was anxious, of course it was. new environment and people, plus a car. it tried to move as far away as possible from me in its carry cage. we covered it up and it seemed calmer, but it still moved away from me and tried to force its head through the bars.
when we got home, we had to move it into its cage, which was difficult considering its fear of us.
we got it in, gave it seed, water, fruit and lots of toys to play with, different sized perches, and two different cages.
it's been a few days. the bird has quickly adjusted to his cage, and his food.
but not us. when we walk past him or go near him, he desperately moves away to the opposite side. when we refresh his food or water, he starts flapping and moving about the cage restlessly. he's not aggressive towards us in any way, he does not bite or lunge, he only moves away. he is obviously scared of us. especially of hands.
when you step near the cage, he might freeze in place and stare at you, but that's it. i managed to feed him a tiny piece of banana from a fork. i tried putting my hand up towards the cage to feed him something, but he freaked out and moved away quickly. any signs of hands seems to scare him, even when we move them towards him very very slowly. as soon as he sees them, he moves away.
it's very very hard to train him with food when he is this scared. he has the behavior of a wild bird, one that was parent raised. i think the man that sold it to us lied about it. not only does it look completely different from the one in the photo (white feet and talons compared to the photo bird's black feet and talons) but it is not friendly at all, and has a great fear of hands, arms and humans. like i said before, the bird in the photo was on a man's arm, on his hand, and on a woman's hand as well.
i'm very upset. i don't know if this is the same bird, or if it is actually friendly and just scared. this bird has absolutely no personality, and just sits there, interacting with nothing. i feel like he might be curious, as he watches us and what we do from his cage. i'm too scared to take him out and try and interact with him, because i know he won't.
it's been a week now, i decided to update this memo. the bird has gotten sort of better. he has stopped moving away when we pass by his cage, but he still freaks out and flaps around when we rearrange his toys or change his food.
he is responding to birds outside with very loud and short chirps. sometimes he'll make little chattering sounds, but he goes silent when we look at him.
i feel as though this bird has lived a poor life, however short it was before we found him. the man gave us a completely unknown bird (we did a little bit of investigation, gathered evidence, asked for opinions from different people etc) with a completely unknown temperament.
also, another side note, the bird is not aggressive and does not bite us. he is only terrified. he did try to bite me when i transported him from one cage to another inside a towel, but that's the only time - probably out of uncertainty or fear.
i really need help, i don't know if i should talk to my housemate about reselling the bird, or whether he can be trained. we payed $170 for this bird.
is he still trainable? could he have been abused? why is he so terrified of our hands, and especially us? what should we do? shall we resell him or work up the patience to train him and give him lots of love and time?
i'm determined to show this bird that i do not wish to hurt him.
also, a photo of ricky:
ricky the ringneck - Album on Imgur
