until I got my own bird I was rescuing native wild birds. I would rescue revive and release these birds back into the wild had been doing this for a number of years started when I was around 9 years old I'm now 51 years old. learnt a bit about bird body language in the process. (not expert)
I had decided to get my own bird and obtained a hand reared male eclectus parrot. he was a pleasant and happy bird until I had his wings clipped. he became the devil, aggressive and neurotic, if I had known what would have happen I would never had it done. remember once it done you can't go back. wing clipping is bad, very bad. Unfortunely my eclectus died.
yes all birds can bite but this is usually because they are scared, frustrated or poorly and badly trained.
I now have an IRN and in four to six weeks I will have a Alexandrine Parakeet.
IRN will go wild and untamed if they are not trained and handle daily. they are more prone to this then other parrots. IRN go through a stage called "bluffing" this is due to hormonal changes. this can last for a couple of days, weeks or months. once it's over you will have your bird back. but it's vitally important that you continue the training during the "bluffing" stage otherwise the bird will go wild in a surprisingly short time .
My IRN was aviary bred and born with limited human contact. I don't know if it's a female or male But I can wait. so I named it Alex. Alex is a 9 and1/2 months old split lace wing Indian ringneck. I got Alex when he was seven months old and have spent over two months training him and only manage to get him to step up and this was not consistent. I needed a training system that would enable me to communicate with Alex. I looked at a lot of parrot training websites and found a lot of conflicting advice. But one system caught my eye . so I took a gamble and purchased it.
after three days, I had Alex stepping up, taking food from my hand, touch training, staying in his cage until I let him out, going to the T-perch and now I'm training Alex to free fly from the cage to the perch then to my hand and return back.
I'm home during the day at the moment and have plenty of time to spend with the Alex. Alex has never bitten me or anyone in my family.
first you need to implement a training diet, this is the foundation of the training system. get this wrong and you will find training time consuming and slow.
next you will need the following item a clicker and also understanding of parrot body language.
plus you will need treats for the bird, I find that millet cobs works well for this stage of training.
step 1
I gather that the cage is in a room. with the clicker in your hand stand on the opposite side of the room from the cage. approach the cage until the bird stands up tall and thin with his feathers tight against his body (this can be fear or aggression)
and the eye are pinning. then stop and wait until the bird relaxes (the bird will sit lower and ruffle their feathers maybe stretch) and the eyes with not be pinned. when the bird has relaxed, click the clicker once then step back two or three steps wait 20 to 30 second then approach again but get a bit closer and repeat the process until you next to the cage and the bird is relaxed.
this can take about 10 to 15 minutes. do this two or three times a day for two days.
you could get faster results, depends on the bird.
yes you can sit next to the cage, talk and sing to the bird but this could take weeks. using the clicker system this can be done in days.
the clicker is the bridge between you and your bird. by clicking when the bird is relaxed or taking treats it is signaling to the bird positive feelings and the training sessions reinforces those positive feelings and when bird has positive feelings with you, his trust will build which results in a closer bond.
step 2
standing next to the cage with the clicker in one hand and the millet cob in the other, show the bird the millet and hold it next to the cage so the bird can reach it. if the bird doesn't take the millet within 15 seconds then withdrawn the millet wait 20 to 30 seconds. show the bird the millet then offer the millet again repeat until the bird takes the millet. when the bird takes the millet at the same time click the clicker once. keep the training session to 3 to 5 minutes long and finish on a positive. do this two or three times a day for two days.
NOTE train the bird before it morning and evening meals.
don't speak to the bird during these training sessions. if you talk to the bird while clicking, the bird will become confused. remember the bird is just starting to communicate with you via the clicker.
always finish on a positive, by this I mean that finish the session while the bird wants to train. this makes the bird want train at the next session.(positive feelings)
a tip: allocate places where your parrot can land and perch (T-perch) and train them to land and stay there. otherwise you could be cleaning bird dropping everywhere and it is safer for the bird.
remember that Parrots are a lot smarter then we give then credit for.
so train the bird don't let the bird train you.
The next day I let him out of his cage and he flew onto his favourite place (the curtain rail) I went up to him and he came and sat down with me, he flew away for no reason and when I went to get him again he lunged for me, I was thinking what I had done to make him try to bite me and I hadn't done anything, another family member told me that he had done it to them and he doesn't bite he just licks you I soon found this out for myself. Now when I try to get him he just licks me and he wont step up. We are also finding it hard to get him into his cage on a night. He does have a bed time, he has to be back in his cage for 8 and he goes to sleep at 9 on a weekday and 10 on a weekend. This would work if we could get him back in his cage. He also doesn't like people putting their hands in his cage and goes around the bars and flies between perches. Any ideas?
