The right book

[Hrund]

I´ve got a 6 year old TAG that was a breeding bird and have had him for a little over a month. If I understand right they can be quite difficult to tame.

 

He is afraid of hands, at the beginning we touched him on his beak and I would also touch his chest. He allowed this although he growled the whole time. I´ve backed off a little now and want to give him some space and time to get used to us. We can get much closer to him now without him growling but not too close. He won´t take treats so we have a big problem there.

 

I´ve bought some parrot books but if you want to train the bird like they say you have to be able to give the birds treats.

What I really need is a book that tells you how to get a half tamed bird to trust you and how it´s best to approach him. Does anyone know off a book like that?

 

What I read is so conflicting, in some places the talk about being dominant and in others that you should wait until the bird comes to you and wants to do things. For me as a person I want to work with the bird, not make it do things but my boyfriend worked with our difficult cocatiel and got him really friendly by doing things even if he didn´t like it, so is that the better way? I´m a bit confused.

 

I´m currently waitin to get For the love of greys and African grey handbook from Amazon, will they help me?

[Carolyn]

I have read both books and they are good, but you will find that all books will have different opinions on all subjects. The books are just the opinions and experiences of the people that wrote them, and like all advise you get what works for one bird or person may not work with the next.

I think you should try to seek out people that have adopted a bird from the same situation you have and speak to them.

I read all the bird books that have been published (as I own a book store;) ) and if you took all the information in these books and put it into practise I think you could drive both yourself and your bird crazy. Again books are just guides but are to be taken as just that, one person or persons experience.

Hope you can find help, but don't give up there are people out ther to offer you help and advise.

 

Carolyn & Mika

[Hrund]

Thank you for this , I will definently not give up but I do want to do things right and I want my bird to be happy.

I was just reading on the forum about a book called The new parrot training handbook by Jennifer Hubbard, I think I´ll also try that one out.

I would really like to hear from people that are or have been in the same situation as me.

[BaxtersMom]

<br><br>Post edited by: BaxtersMom, at: 2008/09/23 15:10

[BaxtersMom]

Hi Hrund, I know exactly what you mean about the books. It's like there is nothing out there for older birds and how to tame or train them or how to help get older birds from point A to point B:(

 

I don't know if this is right or wrong and have never tried it myself. This is my moms way of taming a bird many years ago...of course they were parakeets, canaries and other small birds, too butI am curious to know what others think about this practice or if it would or should be used on bigger birds. My mom would have a half wild bird and to tame it she would cup it in her hands around it's body untill it calmed down and talk to it and tell it how good it was and so on. She said they get tame that way. She said she would hold them untill they calmed down and it taught them that she is not going to hurt them and that it got them used to being handled. She would do this over and over and within a week or two they would be perched on her fingers and you would have never known they weren't tame a week or two ago.

 

When she first did this they would chirp and wiggle and you could tell they did not like it and wanted out!!:angry: The more she did this the less they wiggled. She never held them tight, just so they could not get away. I know this practice could be a bit more challenging especially with a grey or other large bird. And gloves might be in order with an older scared bird.

 

I am not recommending this or saying it's wrong but am curious what others think of her method of taming and calming down. She seemed to have a way with all animals though. In some ways it seems like the wrong thing to do but in other ways it really seemed to work for her.

[BaxtersMom]

Hey Hrund, I found a link to a website that has a very interesting section on how to tame birds. It is parrotscanada.com It is under the section/link "For The New Bird Owner" and it has some very clear instructions for how to handle/train a scared or wild bird. I think it's worth a read.

[Kaskoo]

whenever i would get a new bird, and he or she were still scared and biting, i would just leave them in the cage and sit everday with them and talk to them, for at least 30 mins. i did this for like 3 days, then i would open the top and let them stand there, they might not go up at first but after about an hour, they would always rise, when i would open it up, i would stay a few minutes close to them and talk to them and then slowly i would move away, and just sit there, i wouldnt talk so that if they were still scared they would feel alone, or safe, once there at the top, id go and have another little chat, i would leave them at the top for a few days then once their comfortable I'd try to get them to stand at their play stand.. and slowly i would get closer and they usually would be used to the new atmosphere and people by now so slowly Id try to show them just a bit, if they growl, whistle or talk calmly to them, if they dont calm down, try to just talk with them for a while till you sense he's calmed down either repeat it, or try again the next day!

 

*this was i would do, i dont know if this is right or wrong.. and my birds have always been clipped at their arrival, its easier for me to handle them and get them to calm down when clipped....again this is my opinion.. i hope it was good advice...if not sry! its just always worked for me*

[Hrund]

Thanks for the advice, Erika your mom sounds like a wonderful woman and if I would dare to pick Nokkvi upp maybe this would work but I´m so afraid that in the fuss of trying to pick him upp I would scare him out of his mind.

 

I´ve read on parrotscanada.com and I don´t know if I agree with him. He says "The best way to tame a bird is to "force yourself" on him. In other words, you need to actively tame him in training sessions." This is what I did with Nokkvi to begin with and at the beginning it went well then he got really scared and it didn´t work out anymore. I don´t understand if you always do what the bird doesn´t want you to how it will make it like you?

 

Kaskoo, I think your advice is really good, to do things slowly and talk to him and that´s what I´m trying to do, how long has it taken you to get so that you can actually touch them and get them to do things?

 

When I really think about it I´m just unsure what to do because the advice is so conflicting. To go slow and give the bird time or to force myself on him because the other way will never work.

 

I guess the right way is to do what is in my heart and that is to go slowly and give him time but I always have this nagging voice in my head telling me I should be doing more.

[BaxtersMom]

I know, they are all conflicting and different. It's confusing to me too when I am looking for something specific & I get all kinds of different tips. I guess it's because each grey is different.

[Jane08]

Another great place to go for advice from experts is to the world parrot trust website. You can ask the experts there these sort of quesiotns and they are really helpful and have a lot of knowledge. They helped us get our 2 greys into the same cage.

 

Be careful what you try out reading all the books. I know we read them all and tried things and then realised that it was not the way to train our bird and he hated us for it and we had to build the trust up with him. I got quite angry at the books for suggesting it, but then again I had a feeling it wasn't right from our greys reaction so really it was my fault for trying it.

[she]

I would always take the slow and gentle approach,yes it may take longer but in the end you have the birds trust. I too read all sorts of conflicting advice in books, in the end its a matter of choice what advice you take. I was lucky enough not to have any major problems with charlie but I can see he would not take kindly to being pushed. Go slow and let your grey grow in confidence. It will happen one day.

[Lyric]

Yes, I agree the slow and patient approach is a better one for a wild grey. They are very sensitive birds, scare easily and sometimes it can be hard to win back their trust. Take things slowly and move at the birds pace.

I really liked the book "For the love of greys". It's one of my favorites and I like her philosophy on dealing with greys.

Different approaches might work well for other people or other birds, but I think you have to do what makes you comfortable. Best of luck to you!

[she]

Yes I like "for the love of Greys" It makes a lot of sense to me.

[TinyTimneh]

If this was an actively aggressive bird, then maybe the dominant approach might work. but this is a terrified bird. so go slow. it's ok if the bird won't eat from your hands, in that case just drop it in his dish and back up, read a book, and occaisonally whistle or play peek-a-boo from behind a book. work in increments. slowly start staying closer to the bird while he eats the treat, then when he'll let you stand there while he eats try offering him one from your hasnd without eye contact, and then with eye contact etc. once he'll actively approach you to eat a seed, then try working on the step-ups. if he likes baths, offer him one, it'll help you both bond. or maybe share some bird safe food. good luck

[Hrund]

Thank you everyone , in my heart I feel the slow, patient approach is better. I´ve seen the times I rush him, like try to touch him it takes him a day or two to become the same again, he just can´t take it.

We whistle together every morning and I talk to him a lot and he plays in front of me. I really have to work on the treats and find something he likes. He´ll eat something for a little while and then he doesn´t want it anymore.

It feels good to have you confirm what I feel myself, thanks