Have taken on another bird

i have taken on a relatively young female ringneck who was neglected, and not handled regularly, she is very skittish and generally scared of the world, i need assistance to how i can get her to calm down so i can get to handle her, i have put her cage next to Fagan's so she can see how him and i interact, will she pick up on the fact that Fagan is extremely social, and allows me to handle him. I take her in her cage all over the house so she can get used to the activity and try and hand feed her titbits, fruit, cheese and chicken bones, but she isn't used to this kind of food considering she throws it on the floor first and then tentively takes it. Fagan does not seem to be particulary interested in her, he plays around her cage and ignores her. Please help me help her, any advise on how i can clam her down and socialise her would be appreciated.

 

Its a game of taking it slow and having a lot of patience.
Give her time to settle in then everyday start placing your hand in the cage, Don't go near her with your hand just rest it there, If she stays calm move a little closer, But if she starts to panic and flap just rest your hand again.
Always talk gently to her and this will reinforce that you don't want to hurt her.

Finding out her favourite food and having some of that in your hand will help as well as she will learn you are not going to hurt her.

Do this a couple of times a day and she should start to calm down and trust you and allow you to touch and hold her.
Never pull your hand out if she starts to panic as she will learn that if she does this you will leave her alone.

Just go slow and see how she goes, Hopefully it won't take long for her to settle.

Mike

 

I have taken to putting her and her cage in the kitchen and have started to let her out and then try and handle her, she allows me to handle her only after she has flown around the kitchen a bit, (trying to get away), Fagan watches this with a great deal of delight i'm sure as all he does is watch the fun and games, i got home tonight and took her out of the cage and she climbed onto my shoulder and took a piece of apple out of my hand, and although she dropped it into my hood, i think it was a great step that she felt confident enough to take from me, am i doing things ok or am i making it harder for her?. Yesterday however Fagan did get onto her cage and when she did as well he made an attempt to bite her, and although i separated them quickly how would i know if the biting was just their way of greeting or if he is serious in his attempt. my next question is if i take an extremely social bird and this "semi" wild bird in the same cage eventually will he go wild as well even if i continually handle and treat him the same?

 

Your doing great as she is starting to trust you by sitting on your shoulder and taking the apple from your hand.
The trying to bite is because its a new bird in his household and he trying to be dominate.

You can allow this sort of bickering to go on as long as no blood is drawn, I think after a couple of weeks they will become friends, once your confident enough to have them out together you could try and see how they get along, You may find they will have a bit of a bite at each other but this is just normal like i said before as long as no blood is drawn.

Having a flighty bird could make fagan go the same way as its usually harder to keep a tame bird totally tame after getting another bird, I have never had a problem so you could be ok.

Just keep handling fagan all the time and you shouldn't have a problem.
But you are doing really well with the progress.

Mike

 

Thank you so much for the encouragement, i really appreciate it.

As far as Fagan becoming flighty, this of big concern as Fagan is out of his cage at least 30 % of the week day and around 60% of the weekend, and runs all over the garden (i obviously do keep an eye on him), but with the thought that he might become flighty what would i look for to ensure i don't loose him, how would i know if she is not going to be tame? she is at present sitting on my shoulder but it has taken a couple of minutes chasing her around the kitchen, she is stressing a bit and i'm frightened that this is going to hurt her?
If I removed her out of the cage she came in do you think this might just get her to open up a bit, i think she might be territorial about her cage which might be a reason she won't come out without persuasion.

 

If you think she is showing territorial aggression then either changing her cage to another one, or changing the are the cage is placed everyday should stop this.

As for things to watch out for with fagan if he starts acting funny like biting when he does not usually or will not allow you to handle him then he is watching how the other bird reacts and is copying this and will eventually start flapping around to get away from you..
you know Fagan best and how he behaves so its just a case of watching him and keep doing what you would normally do with him.

Clippig the wings usually calms them plus it makes it easier to control and teach them as they can not get to heights that you cannot reach.

Just keep doing what your doing and you should end up with another bird that will interact with you just like Fagan, it will take time as some birds learn quicker than others.

Mike

 

I have taken to getting her out of the cage and moving the cage out of the kitchen so she can't always fly back to it and that she is forced to walk on the floor, but i have noticed that she does not walk like Fagan nor does she perch like Fagan.
She seems to walk on her "forearms" in fact she seems to waddle like an african grey, where Fagan walks almost upright, she also does not mess on her dowl sticks like Fagan does she seems to almost hang over the edge of the sticks if that makes sense to you.
Is she deformed? or is this a defence waddle? Sorry i seem to be questioning you all the time, i just want to make sure that she gets all i can give her, i can take her to an avairian vet but here is SA they are quite expensive so if you think she might be deformed i will take her to the vet, but if its a defence thing then i will just leave her.
We are at week 3 and she is still as skittish as week 1

 

Hi the waddle and walking on her forearms i am not so sure about, she could have had broken legs that have not healed properly.

As for the way she poops, my cockatiels used to stick their bottoms right out so they did not poop on their perches, maybe they just don't like the idea of walking over it.

It does sound like getting her tame is going to take some time and patience, mind i do find some females are a lot harder to train than others, its just a caseof keeping at it and hoping for the best..

Sorry couldn't be of more help.
Mike

 

hi

i took the bird to the vet, the walking issue was disturbing me, it turns out that the guy who gave me Tequila got her from a dodgy breeder, and she was already then a yound bird, so i reckon she should be around 10! anyway the vet tells me she has "Rickets" and that she is not in pain but she is uncomfortable. But let me tell you this does not seem to keep her out of mischief, she escaped her cage and promptly ate the foam out of A cycling helmet, and spread it all over the house, she seems to be a bit of a trouble maker.heehee anyway i decided to move her into Fagans cage and she has been in there for around a month, i have noticed he has tried to mount her and seems to be kissing her, and i have not noticed any real aggression towards her but i have noticed her tail feathers are bitten off and tatty, is he doing this out of mating or is he being mean!!!!

 

Heehee sounds like she is having fun.
Sorry to hear about her having rickets but like you say this does not seem to be bothering her in the slighest.

As for the tail feathers it could be she is over preening herself or Fagan is attacking her tail which some males do when they are lets say frisky hahah.

Sounds like he has taken her as his mate and she has taken to him which is great news as this means she should settle right down..
Some females destroy things when they are broody and this could just be her hormones.

I am pleased they getting on.

Sorry i not been online i have been having a few issues at home.

Mike