Scared Conure

[Melly1320]

Hello!
About a week ago, I got a crimson-bellied conure. The place I got her from didn't socialize her, and had to force her out of the cage.
I need some tips on how to make her feel more comfortable. She isn't showing any signs of aggression and will eat/preen when people are nearby, but when I try to feed her a treat from my hand or when I try to get her to step up onto a perch, she runs away.
She isn't afraid when I cover up my hands with sleeves, and she is quite social. When I leave the door open, she will hop out on her own but she hates being touched by humans. I would be too if I was wrangled out of my cage.
When she is outside of her cage she isn't the most interested in treats (probably because she is a little frightened but also curious about everything around her) so I can't really do too much training out of the cage.
Where should I start when training her? My last bird came very tame (would step up, loved human contact since the day we got her)

 

[Ira]

It’s only been a week.

Best advice I can give you is to just BE there. Spend a lot of time in fairly close proximity, and don’t make any aggressive movements. Move real slow, while talking soothingly.

 

[Teckechick]

Just go slow it is still really early. You can use a perch for your conure to step up on instead of hands until she is more comfortable. Here are a few training links. Also try to find what she loves most to eat and make that her treat for training. My conure loves nutriberries, they are his favorite thing and he will do just about anything for one. Clicker or station training is a great way to start working on training.


Free Training Resources

Clicker Training Classroom

Clickin' with Vicki

forums.avianavenue.com

And Welcome to the forum!

 

[Ripshod]

Hands grab, and that's all she understands about them. Take it very gradually. Let her see your hands stroking your face, ruffling your hair, feeding fruit to your face - she'll see your hands are no threat.
As already said spend as much time as you can just being there, talk to her, sing to her, even read to her. Don't let her see you're having any negative feelings around her, they are sooooooo empathic.

 

[Melly1320]

Thanks for the advice!
The past few days I've just been dropping treats in her bowl whenever I am nearby, and today she finally took a sunflower seed from my hand. I was very excited to say the least.
She is now mostly okay with hands outside of her cage but she is very frightened of any hands inside so I'm definitely going to take it slow.
Does anyone have any advice for how to get a frightened bird back in their cage? I let her out sometimes to get some exercise but I have to wrap a towel around her to get her inside because she is very afraid of any perches when she is out of her cage no matter how long they are. I'm afraid that toweling her will encourage her dislike for hands.

 

[Bookwyrm]

Let her out in a bird-proofed room, leave out some water, close the cage, turn out the lights, and leave the room. Maybe for about half an hour. Then come back in, turn on the lights, and hopefully she'll be just hungry enough to go back into her cage.
You could also try luering her back into the cage with treats.
And have you tried a playstand? If she's not used to it right away, you could just leave it next to the cage until she gets comfortable around it.

 

[Melly1320]

Thank you Bookwyrm!
I tried what you suggested. The place I got her from had her wings clipped so I put a small ladder on the floor so she could get up. About 45 minutes later I find her back in her cage eating. Very glad there's a simple way to give her out of cage time without it being a stressful experience for her.

 

[Circling]

Talk to her/ with her alot. Tell her what your doing. Practice repeating her name (with a good pause in-between) or other words that you want her to learn.

Show confidence, smile, reveal excitement in your voice, sing songs, or sing a line from a song if you will. Have fun!

Do you have a loose perch that's not in a cage? You can alternate between that and a hand for practice stepping up.

 

[Ira]

Thank you Bookwyrm!
I tried what you suggested. The place I got her from had her wings clipped so I put a small ladder on the floor so she could get up. About 45 minutes later I find her back in her cage eating. Very glad there's a simple way to give her out of cage time without it being a stressful experience for her.

Cool!

Once she has things to play around with outside the cage and explore (play stands are a must), she’ll WANT to come out. So you’ll just open the door, and she’ll walk to your hand at the edge of the cage.

I never had a bird with a fear of hands like this, but regardless, I respect the bird’s cage space. I offer my hand at the door of the cage, and wait for him to lean forward and get on. I’ll then proceed the hand further into the cage. Sometimes, I’ll get to an inch away, and he doesn’t lift both feet to get...sometimes just one...and I wait for him to make the next move.

My guy isn’t scared; he’s just not in the MOOD, might take him a second or so. I don’t force my fingers against his stomach to MAKE him step up.

 

[webchirp]

I agree, just give her lots of time and room. Some do remain skittish. I had a video pop up in my feed for Maks. He did not like hands. Now, I can pretty much do anything with him but I didn't force it and let him come to me. Of course he is probably the nosiest bird I have...so it didn't take long.