It finally arrived

[Arrhidaeus]

So my Rainbow 'keet arrived yesterday.

I have named him XimXim. It is 6 months old and unsexed.
Seeing as it is still young I have been persuaded to do the hard yards and train it to be a hand parrot.

The advice I have received so far is to:
Be the boss and don't step down/back.
Clip its wings.
Take away its cage to show it that the cage is mine and I am lending it to him.

Now keep in mind that it just came from an aviary and a group of 20 other Rainbows.

I read every thread and article I could on clipping the flight feathers.
And also every thread on first time owners etc.

In Your Opinion what is the fastest method of gaining the birds trust?
I was told withholding food (leaving water in) and only offering it from my hand gets it used to you fast......

[WhiteRaven]

Congrats on your new bird! I love the name XimXim. Any photos? :D
Rainbow lorikeets are generally one of the easier parrots to train, even if they aren't handreared.

I have never heard of the method of taking the cage away. I don't reccomend withholding food because birds have very high motabolisms and need food all day long. However, once you figure out what its favourite food is, you can withold that particular food (eg if it is plums or something) and your bird only receives it from your hand.

It is true that you should not back down. An example of this is when training him to 'step up' onto your hand. End the training with a successful 'step up', never on one where he has refused and you have given up.
However, birds don't have a 'dominant' one in their group like dogs do, so being the boss is actually a now disproven method.

When training a bird, reward good behaviour and ignore bad behaviour. Punishment doesn't work on birds, infact it might work temporarily but will make things worse in the long term. Gain his trust by being careful not to scare him (don't chase him around in his cage), offer his favourite food in your hand. He may take a little while to settle down into his new home.

You may want to get someone else to clip his wings because there is a chance that he may distrust you more if you do it yourself. He will be terrified being restrained and you don't want him to think you're the bad guy. Infact, making a parrot think you have saved its life is a great way to gain its trust. After it's wings are clipped, praise it and offer it yummy food.

Good luck and let us know how he goes. :)

[expressmailtome]

Congratulations! I totally agree with WhiteRaven. You never withhold food. Also, I fail to see the benefit of taking the cage. Treats that are not part of your bird's normal and/or needed diet are alright to withhold for handfeeding. Best of luck!

Matt

[Monica]

Be the boss and don't step down/back.
Being the "boss" may inply using force - i.e. negative reinforcement. Done wrong, you may end up with a bird who hates you and wants nothing to do with you. Instead, read into possitive reinforcement. A good example of using positive reinforcement for stepping up ---

Find a treat that your bird loves but does not get regularly in the diet. Offer the bird the treats from your hand but do not shove the treat in the birds face. Instead, offer the treat where the bird can reach it, but have it far enough away that the bird has to come to you for the treat. Once the bird is comfortable taking treats from your hand, make it so that the bird has to reach over your other hand to receive the treat. Once the bird is comfortable with this, then have the bird step onto your hand to receive the treat. Try to keep your hand still at all times. Teach the bird to "step up" and to "step down."

Clip its wings.
Personally, I feel that clipping should be a personal choice, and not a decision based on training the bird. Sure, it makes it easier, however it's all the more rewarding if you have a bird that goes to you when it wants to, vs when you want the bird to come to you. Flighted birds can be tamed and trained. Positive reinforcement is a great tool in training any bird.

Take away its cage to show it that the cage is mine and I am lending it to him.
The cage is usually a birds "comfort zone," where they have their own space. However, a cage can also be a "trap" for a parrot who is not human friendly. Parrots are, after all, prey creatures, and if they don't feel as if they can escape from a situation (i.e. a human is cleaning out the cage, replacing food, water, etc - and it freaks the bird out), it can give the bird a heightened sense of fright. Chasing the bird around the cage and trying to get them out ends up being counterproductive, therefore, it's better to earn the birds trust via positive interactions, and not negative ones.

[Arrhidaeus]

Awesome. Thank you so much for those explanations.
They make sense.

I have had two incidents so far.
Yesterday he pulled a long thread off the cover on the cage. Got both feet completely tangled together and then got hooked on a splinter. So I tried to cover him gently and he flew out the small opening and hid under my bed for 10 mins. Then he flew into the window and landed behind the curtains. I caught him and gently held him in a cloth while I spent 25 minutes trying to untangle and cut him free. He bit me and I lost half of the skin on the tip of my finger.

Then today he had half pulled the metal ring around his left leg off and it got hooked on the wire. So I caught him and took it off for him. And he was scared and bit me, but he pierced my finger nail, all the way through.

A steep learning curve to be sure.

Just as well that he is so gorgeous!

[jenniferag]

Um, if he got caught on thread and then wire soon after that I would suggest cleaning the area where he stays as soon as possible....

any toys that have hanging parts with loose threads need to be cut....as well as ropes and things..... I'm also not sure why there is loose wire but that should be taken away as well....also splinters... not good... I would make sure there is none of that around... your bird could get injured quickly on those things.

[Arrhidaeus]

I did already.

He pulled the thread from outside the cage to inside the cage.
The splinter was on a join.

There is no loose wire. His leg band was metal and he half pulled it off. The folded end of that got stuck on the wire square. The cage is welded wire mesh. Not vertical bars.

[Arrhidaeus]

[Ashling]

He has beautiful colors! Does he have toys to play with? Lorikeets love toys especially balls and bells... they play like kittens.

[WhiteRaven]

Aww what a gorgeous looking guy. :) Thank goodness you were able to save him from the thread and his leg band, they really know how to get themselves into trouble. I hope your finger is healing, they know how to use their beaks. x__x