New owner to a nanday conure

[dranger1108]

http://i170.photobucket.com/albums/u280/dranger1108/CIMG0401.jpg
I just adopted a nanday conure. I don't have much info on her. Was told it was a girl but not sure. I named it Kewi. It is not handable and seems to be very afraid of people and doesn't like people near her cage.
How should I start trainging her? She is a year old. I'm probably her third home at this point and I am the last.
Her cage is small and hoping to get a bigger one for her soon. I make toys for my sugar gliders, so making bird toys won't be that big of a leap for me. I want to give her as much enrichment as I can. I'm afraid to take her out of the cage right now because she is so unfriendly and hope to make the room bird proof for her with a lot of tree stands for her to play on. When she is tamed down I would like to get her a companion.

 

[Auggie's Dad]

wow, third home in a year. No surprise that she's not to friendly just yet. Note that ANY new home or change of scenery for a bird can cause them to be rather moody. Patience is the key it will take Kewi some time to realize that this home will last, once she knows that she will most likely warm up to you well.

You do want to encourage her, but you don't want to pressure her, let her adjust on her own time. One of the biggest things may be a good routine: feed her, give her treats, refresh her water, clean the cage, etc on a fairly routine schedule allowing her to come to see you as the source of good things while also letting her habituate to you doing such things in her cage. In a new home fear can be the biggest factor in behavior for a bird, as you are around her more and nothing bad happens she will learn you are not someone to fear but rather look forward to.

Treats/bribery can work wonders at such a stage, but do your best to only provide them when she is calm; you don't want to accidentally reinforce fearful or aggressive behavior.

Couple of questions:

Are her wings clipped or can she fly? How long have you had her so far?

As far as training a great starting point is "stick training" or having her step up onto a stick/dowel/handheld perch. Eventually you can transition to stepping up onto fingers, but a stick has two major advantages. First, the stick wont care if it gets attacked, second, a stick is generally a more welcoming safe-looking perch than a human hand. Basically all it is is to give a word such as "step-up" while you hold the stick in front of her belly. Odds are she has done this before but just the same its a great way to start building a relationship, you can give a command, she can obey and earn praise and or treats for doing so.

Prior to any stick training I'd make sure she was comfortable just being around you without being to fearful or aggressive. So don't rush if she isn't ready.

 

[Auggie's Dad]

Heres that pic. Pictures and links are disallowed for new members for a short "probation" type period. I think its 15 days but the mods/admin could say for sure.

 

[dranger1108]

thanks for posting my pic. I've had her only a couple of days. I'll start the stick training tomorrow. she is still very much afraid. I would like to have out of cage time. I feel bad for her being stuck in the cage. I don't know if her wings are clipped, but I don't think they are. I didn't want to stress her out clipping her wings since she just got here.

 

[TexDot33]

instead of stick training tomorrow, why not just open her cage and let her just climb in and out and explore her new surroundings on her own terms. Go slowly and at Kewi's pace and stick training might not be necessary. If you can skip the stick training step you have one less step to take to get to the bonding/trusting stage ... just another though ...

 

[Auggie's Dad]

Id second that. Stick/step up training is an important tool to have in your arsenal. But first just get her comfortable with you.

As far as wing clipping everyone has different opinions, and we all know what is said of opinions and armpits... Many responsible bird owners can be found choosing either way, to clip or not to clip. I was just curious as it may impact the best way to approach working with her. A clipped bird can be put on the perch and you don't have to worry about her flying somewhere else and causing trouble. Alternately a flighted bird can be allowed to take a spin around the house on their own terms to get comfy.

 

[TexDot33]

As far as wing clipping everyone has different opinions, and we all know what is said of opinions and armpits ...

Funny, I've heard that saying too ... only with another part of the body that starts with "A" and smells too! :18:

Here is my two cents on the clipping issue, and I want you to only use this as information to make a decision that you are comfortable with dranger.

One area of though, and I tend to agree with this one, is that a sure fire way to effectively train a bird is to clip their wings for one moulting period. This way they can't fly away from you during your training sessions and they learn to become dependent on your for a lot of things, including transportation. This helps build the bond quicker and helps to build trust as well. I have done both. With our sun conure she came home clipped and we worked with her clipped. Then, when she moulted out her wing feathers she was able to fly again, and was even to a point where she was "recall trained" (getting a bird to come to you on command) ... She seemed more confident and more willing to push her training further. Then, by an act of miscommunication, she got clipped again. I have noticed that she hasn't been as outgoing as she was with her wing feathers.

Our green-cheek on the other hand has a BIG BIRDY ATTITUDE in a little green package. He is trained pretty well (but can't seem to handle "recall training"). When we go to our favorite parrot store he always explores (sometimes I have to pull him out of the bulk-food bins the owner jokes that I starve him) he will fly to other people but he ALWAYS comes back to me when he's ready, and will step-up in a strange environment without any hesitation. Mac WAS NOT CLIPPED when we got him and we did all his training without clipping him (he's never been un-flighted in 18 months)

There are as many differences in birds as there are in humans ... is it necessary to clip all birds for training purposes, not at all. Could it help in situations where there are some extreme situations involved ... maybe
is it something worth looking into, yes!

hope that helps

:50:

 

[Auggie's Dad]

Yup yup. Auggie was clipped when I got him, and he learned the basics that way. He's now fully flighted largely due to my laziness; Why go through the hassle and expense of clipping when I didn't see any need.

Note that if my home were not bird safe or if Auggie was out unsupervised then his safety would trump my laziness and he'd be clipped for sure. But as it is I like that he can fly off to his cage when he's had enough of me instead of getting an attitude and biting.... Auggie and I are a perfect match, very social for a while, but when enough is enough we each need our space.

 

[nimuemerlin]

That is a mighty beautiful bird!

 

[dranger1108]

I clipped her wings... but after a couple of days she learned to fly anyways
she is adjusting to the house and her new cage. She climb out on her own but doesn't want us to try to handle her. Every time I feed her or get too close to the cage she screams at us. Even if she doesn't get "handable" she still has a forever home with us.

 

[dranger1108]

That is a mighty beautiful bird!

thank you! :07:

 

[Auggie's Dad]

I clipped her wings... but after a couple of days she learned to fly anyways

Did you do it, or did you have someone else clip them? If clipped properly she should not be able to FLY per se. However she should be able to flutter down gracefully if she falls/jumps. If a properly clipped bird does take of from a high perch they can usually get a decent distance, but they should not be able to fly back UP.

As far as becoming handleable, I suspect with a little time and patience she absolutely could be if you'd like. Bribery can work wonders. Find a treat she really likes but isn't comfortable taking from you yet. Set it down close to her, but between you and her. Repeat over and over again each time getting closer to you - you can do several treats in one sitting, but by repeat I mean do it again each day working closer. If/when she is coming all the way up to you to get the treat then keep your hand BY it but not touching it. Then touching it, then holding, etc.

You can speak softly and calmly to her while doing this, but don't "praise" her enthusiastically. Basically you want her to stretch her boundaries of trust; you will be encouraging her to test the waters, and if you jump up yelling "good bird!" she'll run away thinking your crazy and scary. Essentially you want her to learn that when she approaches you NOTHING happens, except that she gets the food.

Most (if not all) aggression in animals towards people is due to fear. If you can replace the fear of not knowing what might happen if she goes near you with positive anticipation of getting treats when she goes near you being close to you will be a happy thing for her. And from there you can build a relationship - petting, grooming, snuggling, etc. So it won't ALWAYS be about the treat, but its a good place to start building the trust.

I included that last part as people want their pets to "love them, not just the treats".... its a bit of a pet peeve of mine, and can be remedied by noting objectively that humans aren't so different: Ask yourself, how does a romantic relationship between humans often begin? DINNER. I may be confident that once a woman gets to know me she will love me for who I am, but taking her out to a nice restaurant and getting her nice (but in the big picture trivial) things on the first/early dates makes it much more likely that she will stick around long enough to get to know who I really am.

 

[TexDot33]

Auggie and I are a perfect match, very social for a while, but when enough is enough we each need our space.

Now, if you could only teach him to pay rent he'd be the PERFECT roommate! :18:

 

[Auggie's Dad]

Nooo, he doesn't pay rent, but he HAS ensured that I wont get my security deposit back

That is unless they LIKE polkadotted carpet.

 

[rockinseattle]

That is unless they LIKE polkadotted carpet.

Thats what a bissell is for.

Training a very unsociable bird can take some time and patience.

I would offer really yummy treats to the little one a few times a day so he/she knows you mean no harm and gets used to seeing your hands, also if you can get a friend or family member to join in, offer them a treat in front of your bird and have them get really excited. Birds learn from others and experience so if your bird sees someone else getting a treat and did not die from it then maybe it's not so bad to except a treat.

IMO, training every day a few times a day and keeping each session short might work best.

Also be consistent with routines, like bedtime, breakfast etc. Pick a routine that you can live with. NOW this doesn't mean that if you are late with breakfast once in a while that your bird will be devastated BUT birds do better with consistancy.

http://www.concentric.net/~Conure/conures.shtml

 

[TexDot33]

Nooo, he doesn't pay rent, but he HAS ensured that I wont get my security deposit back ... That is unless they LIKE polkadotted carpet.

I was worried about the same thing, so what Christy and I have done is that we went out and bought a $1 vinal clear shower curtain liner and cut it to fit under "the twins" cages ... nice and easy clean-up and the carpet is protected.

 

[Auggie's Dad]

yup, thats the plan for the NEXT place. Nothing teaches like life experience...

Anyways, we've steered this thread far enough off track...

Is dranger here? hows the bird?

 

[dranger1108]

yup, thats the plan for the NEXT place. Nothing teaches like life experience...

Anyways, we've steered this thread far enough off track...

Is dranger here? hows the bird?

I'm still here ... Kiwi is doing good... she screams her head off if I stick my hand in the cage for any reason. She has learned to bark like my dogs...

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[TexDot33]

Anyways, we've steered this thread far enough off track ...

Oh jeez ... :18: ... seriously, find me one thread in this entire forum that stayed on track for the duration of the thread ... we are not known around here for staying on track ... the only thing that is predictable, is the unpredictability.

Dranger, welcome to the wonderful world of being owned by a conure ... Morning screaming, mid-morning screaming, late-morning screaming shortly followed by early-afternoon screaming, then (their favorite) lunch time screaming ... Oh, wait, what's that noise, that sounds interesting, I bet I can make that sound too .... Hamlet (my sun conure) likes to *beep* like the microwave ... luckily they are just too darn cute and we allow them to get away with it.

 

[dranger1108]

here are some more pictures of her. Here is her new cage. It's a homemade one, but is much larger then her old one. I plan on adding some more branches and toys.
I sold a white face glider to a friend so she is going to buy me a large bird tee stand in trade for the glider when the bird fair is in town.