Help with 4 mo old Lineolated

[Bonmac]

Hi,

I’ve somehow found myself with a 4 month old Lineolated parakeet who was not hand fed as a baby. Any advice on how to bond/socialize with it? I’m just keeping his cage next to me for now. He won’t come near me but seems to be getting comfortable moving about etc with the cage door open. All suggestions welcome! My prior parrots have all been hand fed and well socialized. Thanks!

 

[LaManuka]

Hi,

I’ve somehow found myself with a 4 month old Lineolated parakeet who was not hand fed as a baby. Any advice on how to bond/socialize with it? I’m just keeping his cage next to me for now. He won’t come near me but seems to be getting comfortable moving about etc with the cage door open. All suggestions welcome! My prior parrots have all been hand fed and well socialized. Thanks!

Welcome to the Forums, Bonmac and your little Linnie! We'd love to see some pics whenever you have the time

Like you, all of my other birds came to me already pretty much tamed, with the exception of my poor little lorikeet, Lilly. She spent the first about 3 weeks of her time in our home pretty much completely terrified of me and would try to hide at the back of her cage if I was in the same room as her She was also about 4 months old by the time I got her and had spent quite a bit of time in an aviary, so despite her having been hand fed as a baby it really was a case of starting all over again with her.

From what you've described so far though, I think you're already off to a pretty good start. Best thing to do is try to establish some sort of a routine so your bird will come to expect what will happen next. Unlike cats and dogs who will trust people much more quickly, birds take their time to assess their new surroundings and they watch EVERYTHING you do before they decide whether they are going to trust you or not. Say the same thing to your linnie when you approach the cage each morning. With your chair up close to the cage read aloud to him, it doesn't matter what you read but just read in a calm voice, so he becomes accustomed to you. Bit by bit he should calm down while you read. I did this in a VERY uncomfortable chair for 3 solid weeks and just about broke my backside (no joke!) in the process of getting Lilly to understand that I wasn't going to hurt her. I also played her YouTube videos on my phone of others of her species in the wild which she found intriguing and couldn't help but come over for a closer look

Work out what your linnie's favourite seeds or treats are and have a little dish of those, or even a millet spray, handy while you're doing all of this. But above all, take things at your bird's pace and don't rush things or that may break trust in these early stages. After about 3 or 4 weeks of doing this with Lilly, it was like a little light switch suddenly flicked on in her head one day and she suddenly realised I wasn't going to eat her and became my little Velcro bird virtually overnight, so I hope the same will happen for you

I'll attach a link here that hopefully you'll be able to get some great pointers from too...

Tips for Bonding and Building Trust

Parrots rarely bite each other, because they convey their feelings beforehand or fly off to avoid physical contact. If it feels cornered and frighten then need to bite will be from the natural instinct of self -preservation. The cage is the Parrot safe haven and any attempt to enter, add or...

www.parrotforums.com

I hope other members will also weigh in with some more handy tips and tricks for you. Looking forward to those pics, and don't forget to tell us your little one's name, will you?