babycrimson conure

[crimson]

HHello to all of you-
I am new to this forum and I am looking so forward to getting some wonderful advice. I live in Canada, just north of Toronto. I am a bird breeder, I guess I'm new in the business, just a few short years under my belt, and love doing what I do.
I have recently purchased a 2.5 month old crimson conure who I named Chili. I fell in love with him/her? and brought 'him' home the next day. He'd been hand fed but not hand tamed. When I purchased the bird,this is what I noticed. Any time the owner went to put his hand towards the bird to come on his finger, the bird walked in the other direction. He does that here with me as well.clearly he has some issues already, which I don't want to escalate any further.(god help me)
Coming out of the cage in the morning, is not an issue, he comes right on my finger, today stayed on my shoulder for 20 seconds or so then flew off.He doesn't bite and is quite a calm bird. When I do put him in his cage after catching the little monkey, he's restless and wants out again...with very little squawking.
I require more training techniques with my Chili. He's quite happy out of his cage, for 3/4's of the day, gets along very well with my other 7 cockatiels, and my young lovebird, (supervised, I literally run into our bedroom every 5 minutes or so) but will not come on my finger and runs away.
How do I gain trust in him and visa versa?

I'm "considering" purchasing some parrot training dvd's , so I can work with him, and not pretend to know what I am doing, cause clearly it's not working,lol
I know this is quite a bit of info for a first posting, but I thought I would get it out there. thanks for reading

 

[tab_xo]

hello and welcome! we would love to see pics!

i think the trust will just take time.. read/sing to 'him' and give him treats, and after days/weeks he will start to trust you..
when he is in his cage being restless just leave him to settle... and when he has settled down and sitting nicely then let him out again... positive reinforcement

my baby was hand fed but not hand raised either, and did not want to be touched or want to step up when i first met him... the first few days he would just sit by himself, so i let him have his space, but after a week or 2 he would fly to me and now he always wants to be with me!

good luck!

 

[lene1949]

I don't understand how a baby bird can be hand fed and not tame - unless it's a large breeding facility, who crop feed their birds, in order to sell them as hand fed... ???

 

[tab_xo]

lene- my guy was from a large breeders. they hand fed the babies, and they each got time alone to be hand raised, but some need more time and just aren't as friendly... my guy didn't like other people because he just needed alot more time than the others needed to be tame..

 

[MonicaMc]

Welcome to the forum!

I would recommend books and media by Barbara Heidenreich, Susan Friedman, Melinda Johnson and Karen Pryor first. You can get a lot of great information from them without spending a lot of money for it!


Oh, and in regards to young hand raised parrots not being tame? Well, most dogs are like "oh look! new person! I love you! pet me! I'm gonna lick you and love you and hope you give me treats!". The majority of parrots are not like that, hand raised or not! Dogs are predators, parrots are prey, so birds often view new places, new people and new objects with fear because it's unfamiliar. I've seen birds who are afraid of a lot of people, then one random person who the bird doesn't even know comes up to the bird, and the bird goes all googoo/gaga on the person!

All I'm saying is, just because a parrot doesn't instantly take towards someone doesn't mean that they haven't been raised correctly. Even second hand birds who are loving and sweet to their owners may be hell raisers with their next owner and bite the living snot out of them! There's just no guarantee with birds!

 

[crimson]

sometimes I don't get it either. You would think if a bird is hand fed it is going to be tame, and somewhat friendly. I love hand raising all my chicks, I'm use to being the 'mom' watching them grow, learn, and to interact with them. I smother them in kisses, and they get lots of love, and attention. Chili, my conure has just nicely arrived last Thursday, and maybe I was expecting him to at least want to come on my finger and go from there.
guess it's back to basics, patience and understanding. I'll look into the books you recommended, and just take a deeep breath

 

[crimson]

well, I was very surprised today, after writing how to get my conure to step up on my finger yesterday, today was much better!! Chili was indicating to me he wanted to come on my finger, well he sat there for almost 2 minutes, (normally he flies off after a few seconds) I brought him close to my chest, and he looked up at me and started talking...chirping and sqwauking(sp?), so I did it back to him. we had quite a conversation today,lol...thanks so much for your great advice!!!

 

[tab_xo]

monicamc- i agree, but dont you think some birds need more time spent taming then others? handraising them you would expect them to step up for the breeders.. i know he wouldnt like me and didnt expect him to.. but he didnt even want to be near the breeders.. all the others birds were fine, and would step up nicely for them... but fargo wanted nothing to do with anyone..


that is great news crimson! chili is improving very quickly and must be starting to trust you already

 

[MonicaMc]

tav_xo, it goes directly back to birds are individuals. Fargo sounds like a unique one, but one breeder says she has a closer bond to the birds she *DIDN'T* hand raise, vs those that she did. In her experience, it's like the birds she hand raises sees her as a parent figure, not as a potential mate.

Some birds are ready to step up to anyone that walks up to them and others need time to figure things out and get settled. Even if these birds came from the same clutch and raised in the exact same way.



Crimson, glad to hear Chili is starting to warm up to you! I think things may progress a little better now that he has decided you aren't so bad!

 

[crimson]

Once he figures out I'm not so bad as you say, he'll end up being treated just like my other birds. I just bought him a new cage today, so I can't wait to put him in later and see what he thinks. Every bird has there own individual personality, just like us, some need more time to train, some love to be with people, some do not. I have a baby English budgie 7 weeks of age, hand raised, by me,my daughter named him Squishy, but bites like crazy!!!!!!, does not want to wean. It was the youngest out of the three,picked on by the other two, sold two of them, but I decided to keep this little one. I fell in love with it. it's sweet, but where does this biting come from?? he only picks at seed but relies on me to feed him.I've put him on the floor with my other cockatiels and lovebird so he can eat with them(normally they eat on top of their cages) and he pecks at seed, and doesn't consume enough to fill him. A bit frustrating, but I can live with that, the biting on the other hand has to stop. I'm not too familiar with budgies, is this normal or will this faze out??