Am I doing it right?

[PJL]

Hi there. I bought a Blue Indian Ring neck of the age of about 6 months or so in October of 2012. She wasn't tame at all when i got her. She would run away from my hand, bite it and so on. It is April now, so 6 months have passed so she is about 1 years old.She is a lot more tame. She lets me touch her and we have a ritual of me stroking her and rubbing her head before we sleep. (her cage is in my room)

She steps up but not all the time and she is very nervous about it still. I cant move her around, if I do she kind of freaks out and steps backwards off my hand and if there is nothing behind her she freaks out more.
The way i got her to step up was with food i.e peanuts. I would hold it behind my hand and the only way for her to get it was to step up. When she does step up and I'm not moving she seems quite happy but as soon as i give her the treat she steps down, should I wait longer to give her the treat?

Her name Aurora btw

can anyone give me advise on how to get her to feel more comfortable when moving her around? and to get her to stay on my hand?

 

[Grinder]

Sounds like you are very patient with Aurora. Good for you.

You've gotten her to step up which is great. Now you're trying to get her to stay on board. I would recommend you keep doing what you're doing, but wait longer intervals to give her the treat. After a long time then take a single step (move) and if she stays praise her and give her a treat. Keep doing this each time taking more steps before giving her the treat (after she is comfortable with each step of course).

 

[Featheredsamurai]

She is so pretty

Do you know of clicker training and touch training? It creates a language between you and your bird and it helps them to understand what we are asking them to do.

As for holding him, just be slow and make every experiance a good one, over time your ring neck will be a master percher

 

[PJL]

Okay thank you Grinder, I'll give it a try . Copperarabian I've heard of the Clicker and touch training. I was actually planning on going to a pet shop this Friday looking for a clicker.

I have also training her outside of her cage a few times, I let her fly around my room if she wants too. She always ends up flying back to her cage when she gets hungry. Today I pretty much left her cage open the entire day when I let her out this morning she wasn't too keen on be near my hand but by the end of the day she was letting me touch her and stepping up for food.But she is even more nervous of stepping up outside the cage.

I giggled a bit when she flew on top of my fish tank and walked around on it then flew back to her cage (I got the fish tank this week) She just sat on her cage for the rest of the day


Am I doing a good job with her?

(sorry for the bad picture)

 

[legal_eagle]

It sounds like you're making good progress. I've never done clicker training, so I can't comment on it. I'm not sure what you mean when you say she freaks out, but if you mean she flies back to her cage, I would definitely clip her wings so she learns to become dependent upon you and sees that she can have fun being on you. And then I would take her in a room away from her cage so she doesn't have that distraction. Even if she flutters to the floor, the benefit is that they she will be more docile on the floor and when you lean over to pick her up she'll come to see that you're a source of security. I would stop using treats to get her to step up. It sounds like she knows what to do. While I have never owned an IRN, I understand from reading about them that they are not as into being in contact with humans, such as sitting on shoulders, etc., than some other species--although I'm sure there are folks who have personal experience on here.

 

[Featheredsamurai]

I think your doing a very good job. Leaving her flighted is great and the fact that she still steps up and let's you touch her is fantastic. I think touch training will work very well with her.

*edit*
clipping will probably make it faster, but it is essentially forcing her to accept you. You can clip her once then by the time her feathers come back in you can leave her flighted again. Try clicker training first, consider clipping your last option.

 

[PJL]

Clipping her wings will only be my last resort. In my opinion it will probably stress her out a lot. With Clicker training how would I do it? When she has been on my finger for a while I click then give her a treat?

 

[Featheredsamurai]

With clicker training you want to start off by clicking the clicker and giving her a small bite size treat. This teaches her that a click = a treat.
Then move on to the touch training, when they touch the end of the target stick click and reward. Remember to use small easily eaten treats. The harder/longer the treat takes to eat the more distracted they get. Use the target stick to have her move around the cage, and possibly even fly to her cage.

Once that is done reward your bird for just stepping up. Once she has that down and steps up eagerly you can then reward her when you try moving your hand a little, then when you take her out of the cage. Reward every small improvement and don't hesitate to take a few steps back to we're your bird is more comfertible.

Also, remember to keep training sessions very short. Never train so long that your bird looses interest from boredom or being full. I always stop when they are most excited and doing their best, that way they are excited to start again.

 

[PJL]

Okay how would I know she is ready for the target stick? would I spend a day or 2 just randomly clicking it then giving her a treat and what kind of stick would I use? Aannnd what would be a good treat? right now I'm using peanuts, raisins and apple. I give her a bite of the apple. I find that the peanuts are to filling.

Thank you so much Copperarabian you are being a huge help!

 

[Featheredsamurai]

Yeah you can do that, I've found it's better to train them randomly through out the day than one or two long sessions. Once you notice your bird looking for a treat when you click they understand you can move on. Touch training is very simple, most birds understand the concept very quickly. I use a wooden skewer or a wooden chop stick as a target stick.

Make sure to click the instant they touch the stick, you only want them to touch it, not hold on for extended periods if time.

*edit*
Whatever your bird likes is a good treat. Make sure it's healthy. I use almonds, walnuts, cashews, eggs, chicken, salmon, banana, and whole wheat noodle. I slice the nuts into small bite sized pieces and place them in a bowl for training so it's easy to grab them. Peanuts are now not considered a good parrot food, it is not a true nut and can have botulism.

I Like to use many different types of treats in one session so they are excited to see what they are getting.

And your welcome, I'm glad to help

 

[PJL]

Awesome Thank you! I'll give it a try when I get the clicker. I'm hoping my pet stores sell clickers! Copperarabian may I message you if I have any other questions in the future?

 

[Featheredsamurai]

If they don't you can order one online, they are very inexpensive. I bought mine for $3 and it's a nicer one, they all work the same though. I have a 99 cent clicker that works equally as good. I just liked how the $3 clicker looked lol.

Of course, feel free to message me anytime in the future.

 

[MonicaMc]

You don't *have* to use a clicker, but it does send a clear and precise signal. Some birds have been afraid by how loud a clicker is, so some owners have used a clicking pen, a tonuge "click" or another precise like noise.

If she's afraid of the target stick, you can try other non-threatening items. It could be your hand (if she doesn't bite), an empty pen, or whatever item that she's not afraid of and is willing to touch.


I definitely think you are headed in the right direction!