Help with taming

[thegatti]

Hi. I have a three month old Indian ring neck and one wild galah with a broken wing. The Indian Ring Neck was supposed to be hand reared but he was taken out of the nest too late. I found the galah today running across the road with a broken wing.

What are the easiest and quickest ways to tame these birds? It's been two weeks since I got the Indian Ring Neck from a friend and he is still skittish and really scared of hands. Do I take him out of the cage or tame him inside?

Please help as I don't want him to stay scared for months on end.

[PowerBBS]

The best advice I can offer is just more time and patience. I'd start out by spending a lot of time next to the cages of your fids. Get them used to you and to your movements. Make this a routine to do daily and as often as possible. You cannot get them tamed towards you without them constantly being around you. In time you'll notice they don't jump away from you, just because you entered the room or stepped next to the cage.

Don't approach the cage and just pop your hand into the cage. Move it slowly up to the cage and get them used to seeing your hands next to the cage. Try feeding them thru the bars of the cage. Do this often and give them soothing sounds of praise for staying calm. For me, this step seemed to give us results quickly and relieved the fears our fids had of us pretty quickly.

After I had them just walking/jumping to the side of the cage closest to me (waiting for their treat) every time I approached the cage - I moved onto the next step. I've had a lot of luck of just opening the door of the cage and letting the little fella just come out on his own. I'd open up the door and then back away from the cage and wait for them to get curious and try to come out on their own. For days I practice this with them under close super vision, this way they would get used to being "outside their comfort zone" yet still be within my presence. In essance at this time you're "expanding their comfort zone" outside of their cage(s).

Next, try approaching them when the cage door is open (of course this is a few days after you've got them even just comming out on their own). See if you can get them to poke their heads out the door to accept a treat or piece of food. Most importantly don't rush it. If they won't come out, try placing the treat just outside the door. Repeat your attempts. Repeat your failure... repeat. Repeat... repeat.... patience and time.

It can take months or just a few days to get your fid hand tame and trusting you enough for him to trust you enough to hop onto your finger - it's different for everyone/every fid. In any case, offer praise and reward (P&R) for any effort your fid offers towards becoming more sociable towards you. Again patience. The more you try to rush anything with your fid the longer you'll make it.

So to answer your question. It's a mix of both in cage training working it's way to outcage training. First offering them a trusting offering from your hands thru the bars and then starting to offer the same with them (comming out on their own - in their own time) outside of the cage. Then offering them a point to "step up" to get their treat and again step down.

Patience and time. I'll say it a 1000 times - "patience and time". But I think it's the best advice anyone will give you. Everyone has their own methods. The above mentioned has worked for me many times. Both with my fids and my friends fids to trust me.

Good luck and keep up the effort!

[thegatti]

My IRN just loves apples but won't take them from my hands through the bars. The closest i have gotten is to lay the treat on his perch as close to the cage bars as possible while I'm sitting next to him on a chair. He slowly moves towards his treat and takes it with no trouble. He drops it sometimes but I just give him another piece of apple. Larry is ok with me sitting next to him, but he hates it when my mum or I put our hands in the cage to change his food and clean the cage.

I thought my galah would be in shock but he is now walking around the inside of the cage :) He is alot calmer than I thought he would be. He is more aggressive and would like to bite but my IRN is scared.

[birdlady49]

Originally Posted by thegatti

Hi. I have a three month old Indian ring neck and one wild galah with a broken wing. The Indian Ring Neck was supposed to be hand reared but he was taken out of the nest too late. I found the galah today running across the road with a broken wing.

What are the easiest and quickest ways to tame these birds? It's been two weeks since I got the Indian Ring Neck from a friend and he is still skittish and really scared of hands. Do I take him out of the cage or tame him inside?

Please help as I don't want him to stay scared for months on end.

You're in Australia, no doubt? Please learn about the laws of your state as you may not legally be able to keep the galah.

I'll defer to everyone else on taming your ringneck.

[Monica]

I agree, it's best to check with your state laws to ensure you can keep the bird... and if you can't, a wildlife place or???

As for ringnecks, well many say that they are stubborn birds that if not handled daily will become wild. Good advice has already been mentioned... it takes patience and time!

[Whiskers]

I found this site for you - seems mostly applicable to NSW, but they might be able to offer you more information if you talk to them. Galah - Frequently Asked Questions

I hope it helps. And to everyone else, get a load of this sentence off that site! "Having a pet Galah often lures more Galahs to your yard. Surprisingly having a single female Galah lures plenty of single male Galahs trying to find a way in (to the aviary that is ;)."

Goodness!

[fluffy_stitch]

i have my ringneck for about five months and she is still skittish of hands but is getting better all the time so im sure if you give him enough time he will come around nicely,i also think it is true that they need daily attention because i have noticed that if i have a busy day or two and dont handle her she will go back to being a bit wild again,i dont know anything about galah's but hopefully the wing will mend and you can release him back to the wild again :)

[birdsnreps]

im winning over my new parent-reared hornbill with food. she would sell her soul for some grapes!! she has been very easy to bribe so far. i let her out of her cage and she flies around the room, and she started hopping down to the floor and bed to check out toys and stuff. she even hopped over to me and pecked at my toenails, which are painted the same color as her grapes, lol. she takes food from my hands when shes in her cage, and she will even come over to us if we offer her something she might like, like grapes, blueberries or papaya. little by little, shes letting us get closer and closer to her, and shes slowly getting used to our hands being near her. it just takes time, patience, and a little bribery :)

[thegatti]

The pet shops sell galahs so I know it is ok to keep them. Also I had one in Melbourne called Colour. LOL. He was the funniest thing. He was wild when my mum bought him but he became quite tame. He would talk up a storm, jump on command and get in his cage when Mum told him to.
My new boy, Wally, is calming down quite nicely. We let him wander around the house today. He can't fly because his wing is broken. I got to pat his tail and tummy through the cage bars today! YAY!!!
The IRN on the other hand hates me touching him. he got out today aswell but he bit me really hard when i tried to catch him . OUCH. I know you shouldn't pull away when you get bitten but it hurt. Mabe my galah can teach him how to behave.

[Minna]

Buying a galah from a pet store and keeping a wild animal who has been injured are two very different things, and the latter is usually illegal! I would strongly urge you to PLEASE call your local RSPCA and talk to them, because it is likely to be illegal unless you are specifically licenced. They should just be able to give you a yes or no answer -it would be horrible to be fined for trying to do the right thing!!