Advice

Yesturday I adopted adopted a unsocial female eckie. She was filthy and eating nothing but junk dyed seed blend. Today she got a shower. But her previous owner only used gloves to handle her. After several painful bites I used a glove to remove her from her cage to bathe. I understand it is going to take months to build her trust in me, but I don't want to use a glove. Any ideas?

Thanks
DeAna

You could try to see if she's stick trained. If you are lucky she may have been trained to step up onto a wooden dowel when she was young and may still remember how. You could also try using a rope perch which you bend into a "U" shape and hold the two open ends in your hand and let her step up on the far end. Another idea would be to wrap a thick towel around your hand/forearm and see if she will step on on there. Sounds like it's going to take some time though.

Personally, I wouldn't force her yet. You may just want to try giving her a shower right in the cage by using a spray bottle and just spritzing a mist above her head and letting it fall on her like rain. That way she can have her much needed bath and you can still work on bonding from farther away until she starts to trust you.

Thanks for the ideas. I orignally tried the stick. She was more fearful of the stick than a hand. She is 7 years old and I believe she has never been held. Atleast not in a long time anyways. She will allow us to slowly stroke her back. Once she is on the towel or glove she is ok but very watchful. I will try the rope. I didn't even think of that. She enjoyed the shower after the first minute of so; no problem getting her out. I really hope she will learn to trust us. I figure I have months worth of work to fix years of neglect.

Poor girl! I'm glad you have her now. It'll take time, but it'll be sooo worth it!

All it takes is time, patience and persistence! JoJo was fearful of everything and now he LOVES to come out. Took me less then a week to get him used to stepping up. And few months to get him to come out of the closet, he was a closet talker. He would never talk infront of us but he just jabbers none stop now....We LOVE our ekkies very much!!!! One of the best birds I've ever owned!!!!

When you approach her with a perch just expose a small part of the perch, enough for her to stand on and that is all. Gradually show more of the perch in your hand as she steps on it.

I would also try wrapping a towel around my hand/wrist. If you are wearing long sleeves you could try pulling your hand into your shirt sleeve. I had the opposite at the vet's. They asked if Pete would step up if the towel was on her arm and I had to say, "I don't know, I've never tried." He did, actually. I though maybe he wouldn't because he was used to seeing a hand, not a towel.

d2page2 said:

Yesturday I adopted adopted a unsocial female eckie. She was filthy and eating nothing but junk dyed seed blend. Today she got a shower. But her previous owner only used gloves to handle her. After several painful bites I used a glove to remove her from her cage to bathe. I understand it is going to take months to build her trust in me, but I don't want to use a glove. Any ideas?

Thanks
DeAna

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Hi DeAna, eclectus hens are so misunderstood most of the time & that is usually the reason a lot end up being rehomed. This bird is biting because she knows if she bites she will usually be left alone, plus she is terrified. My advice would be to gain her trust first & shoving gloved hands & towels in front of her are only going to make her worse especially since you have only had her a day or so. She isn't a young bird so she would be set in her ways.

Personally i would let her settle in first before i even tried to handle her. She is scared of her new enviornment & anything you do now to upset her is only going to put any trust further behind. Whenever i bring a new adult bird home, it is placed in it's cage & fed. I don't try to do anything else with the bird until it's body language tells me different. Once the bird is comfortable with my presence i then start to work with it. Never force an eclectus to do something it doesn't want to do. Once they learn to trust you they usually will come to you.

I have 3 adult eclectus hens, I hand reared 2 of them & i don't handle them anymore, I have had some very nasty chunks taken out of me so i can tell you from experience that i respect my girls. I love them & talk to them & they talk back but we have an understanding that if i don't try to touch them they won't bite me. I must also say they are breeders.

That said you can over time build up that trust i was talking about but that will take a long time, it could take a year or two. A friend of mine had a wonderful relationship with his breeding hen but before she fully trusted him she would do some damage to him even sending him to the ER for stitches.

Just don't rush her, take things slow & don't be to much in a hurry. Let her come to you when she is ready. And above all respect her.

I am very thankful for all of you offering advice. We have her in her own room, away from the other birds. Only time we are trying to handle her is when it is unavoidable. Tomorrow she goes to the vet. That is going to be an experience. She is coming out of her cage. Likes the top with toys and fresh food. She allows my 17 year old (who she is sharing a room with) to touch her. It's going to take lots of time. Thank again.

Maybe the 17 year old will be able to get her into the carrier for the vet trip. Best wishes there as it's not necessarily a good way to get bonded! Although she may see you as her savior there and it might actually help! My birds seem to.

After the vet,if all is well, should she be introduced to the other birds? They all have their own stands I figure she may enjoy looking around and seeing all the sounds that she only gets to hear right now. Also she is ok with being picked up with a towel. I am only handling her to put her to bed so far.