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Phobic Birds Part 1 J. Doss

PHOBIC BIRDS Part 1 By J. Doss

Phobic birds are a real heartbreak. It is bad enough when you get one from another source but completely devastating when it is a baby that you handraised. Most young phobic birds....... ...Kodiak showed signs shortly after he was pulled from the nest......start fearing the main caregiver first and most.

In working with phobic birds and their owners the hardest part is freeing the owner of the guilt that they caused the bird to be phobic. I believe true phobic birds will be phobic no matter what the person does. There are things to cut back on the severity of the attacks but they are more or less programmed. There is always something that triggers the bird into showing the signs of phobia.

One must remember that true phobia is not the result of being slugged, or abused There is a good reason why this bird is afraid of hands, humans, water, etc. Phobia is unrational fear.

The first phobic bird I saw was a Grey. The owner had gone on vacation and when she came back, the bird was frightened of all people, especially hands. My friends and I guessed the bird had to be abused or why would a wonderful, friendly bird suddenly turn to be a fearful mess? The bird sitter had a great reputation as a compassionate and caring person. I felt that somehow she had scared the bird, not on purpose, but did something that scared the bird.

Only later when I would have two phobic birds would I begin to understand phobia in birds. Phobia ranges from mild to so severe that the bird cannot cope with living at all. Blue Front Amazon Kodiak would fall into the later group.

At his worse he had pulled all tail and flight feathers (almost like a death wish) and was so afraid that if a person would walk into the room, he would push his face so hard against the bars of his cage that his face would bleed. If on a T-stand he would glide down to the floor and run until he hit a wall and continued running in place. He would scream and flop by the wall breaking blood feathers. There would be blood on the walls, blood on the floor and blood all over me. He was constantly breaking blood feathers so he was constantly getting new ones that would be broken in these episodes. It was nothing for him to break 5 to 6 blood feathers at a time.

Kodiak was so severe that he could not take the ringing of a telephone in a room at the other end of the house and a floor above him. He could not tolerate the light coming in from the window. Seeing a left arm or hand would terrorize him. He would tolerate the right hand with trembling. He would come out of a phobia attack only to enter back into one again a few minutes later. I was seriously thinking of having him put down. It would take four years to get Kodiak back to being a normal bird again. Of course, now he is back into performing for the last three years and in that time had one attack that lasted less than two seconds.

Kodiak's father was also phobic. At the time I got him, I thought he had to have been severely abused. Now I don't believe he was. When I first got him I entered the room with a book to read. I would sit down about 10 feet away from him and read. He would watch me. If I glanced from my book to look at him, he would begin to shake violently. If I walked up to the cage, he would shake so violently that he would sometimes fall from his perch. Trying to clean his cage and feed him were nightmares for him. After sitting in the same room with him for hours, I finally got him to the point where feeding and cleaning his cage were no longer trauma time.

There is a fine line between abused and phobic birds. Both need a lot of understanding and being reconditioned to their environment and people. It takes time. Lots and lots of time. These birds should never be rushed into accepting things they are not ready to accept. Birds with these problems can be turned around.

If I had to use only a couple of words for training and handling phobic birds it would be SLOW DOWN and BE PATIENT.

Phobic Birds Part 2 J. Doss

Phobic Birds Part 2 by J. Doss

Parrots by nature are fearful animals. They must be in order to survive since many others look at them as a tasty meal. This survival instinct is still very strong in many of our birds. Since flight is their main means of survival, many problems can arise when they can no longer use this to escape.

One of the biggest mistakes in handling birds is that people just assume the bird is not afraid of anything. Especially people or things that it comes in contact with daily. When a bird has lived with humans for awhile they assume that they understand people, furniture, pictures on the wall, etc., will not harm them. Many birds do, but many do not.

First of all, forget he is a tame bird and treat him as if he were brought in from the jungle and had to become acquainted with everything around him. If he is afraid of only one person, then that person must keep this state of mind. Never assume that he is not afraid of everything and everybody just because he grew up around them. Introduce him to everything. If he allows you to hold him on your arm, start with objects and people in the room where he stays.

FOR OBJECTS: Bring him close to objects to see what bothers him. You must be very intune with the bird. At the slightest sign of uneasiness, stop. Do not force the bird to the object. Over several days gradually work to getting closer to the object. Let the bird decide how fast you will move. Keep a close eye on him and at the first sign of uneasiness always stop.

I am an old horse trainer. When I was training horses, many people would just rope and tie a horse, bridle him, throw a saddle on his back and jump on him. The horse was terrified and of course bucked. Eventually the horse was conditioned to accepting man and his equipment, but it took a long time to regain its trust again. Along the way, many horses picked up bad habits from this type of training such as biting, kicking and rearing. However, there were people that took training a horse seriously and would begin by slowly introducing it to everything.

They built on what the horse knew and expanded that. These horses would eventually accept and learn far more than those that were roughly caught and broken. I took my time and introduced the horses to everything even when I had raised him as a colt. I do the same with parrots. I never assume the bird will not be afraid.

People "bronco bust" their birds. They may be cuddled and played with as infants, but then are left to their own ways until they are sold. (No so with the lucky ones who continue to have human contact.) Suddenly they are expected to step up on everyone's arm and not be afraid or nip.

The differences in sizes, shapes, smells, and clothing are never considered to be foreign to the bird and he is expected to like and accept everything.
My birds are introduced to everything in the room where they stay. Once they have accepted everything in that room, I move onto the next, etc. They are shown paintings, furniture, dishes, toys, windows until they show no fear for anything that we encounter. Just because they accept all this, they can still become afraid to anything new added to their environment and here again it is slowly brought into their room.

FOR PEOPLE: If a bird is afraid of only one person, it helps if someone else will service the cage until the bird learns to accept that person. Otherwise that person will have to do the cage but slow way down and explain everything you are doing to the bird. Talking or singing is important as predators never vocalize when they are stalking. This will help the bird realize that you are not going to eat him!

A truly phobic bird does better in a small cage as it makes them feel more secure. I also drape the cage with a sheet with only the front open so that they only have to deal with what is in front of the cage. As he gains in mental health and confidence, the draping can slowly be removed over a period of days or months....depending on the individual bird. As he improves, the cage can be larger. If it is going to be quite a bit larger, you can put the small cage inside the larger cage until the bird is confident in his surroundings. If the cage is draped, you slowly remove the draping until the bird is able to cope with every thing around his cage.

Most phobic birds do better unclipped. This means you must be very careful, when you begin to work with him so he does not fly into windows, glassed over pictures, mirrors or out a door.

OVERCOMING FEAR OF A PERSON OR PERSONS: While the bird is in his cage, walk towards him.( Do NOT make eye contact, or any sudden movements) Watch him very carefully for any signs of uneasiness. The moment you notice any, stop and take one step backward or back up until the bird is at ease again. Now put a piece of masking tape on this spot.
Now several times a day walk to that spot and stop. At first say or do nothing. Do not move your arms. Do not look at the bird. Do not stay there for longer than a few minutes.

After several days, walk to the spot and just look at the bird. Do this several times a day. Next will be walking to the spot, looking at the bird and talking or singing. Finally it will be walking to the spot, looking, vocalizing, and moving slowly such as slowly raising a hand to your face. Do not make any movement toward the bird or move quickly.

Now that your bird accepts this take one step forward and put a piece of masking tape here. Repeat what you did before. Watch the bird carefully. If any signs of uneasiness show, go back to the old mark and continue to work from there. If he is uneasy, it means that you are pushing him to fast. The amount of time varies with the bird and how scared he is.

The tape and eye contact, talking and moving are done until you are finally up to the cage. This can be a matter of days, weeks or even years depending on the individual bird. If the bird is fearful of everyone, then only you should be servicing the cage and feeding him. If the bird is only afraid of one person, then that person should not service the cage until the bird accepts him.

Once you are able to walk up to the cage with the bird showing absolutely no fear, you can start with more advanced training. Once you get to the cage, you will now hold a treat in your hand. The bird should be on the hungry side such as doing this just before his normal feeding time. At first hold the treat near the cage and gradually work up to the point where you can put it close to the bars. When the bird takes the treat and eats it in front of you, you are ready to work on getting the bird onto your arm. Eating a treat offered by you is a very big step that the bird has taken in overcoming his fear of you. If he is still afraid, he will take the treat and drop it. Only when he starts to trust you will he eat it in front of you.

After letting the bird take the treat from your hand for several days and he is eating it, you can open the cage door and slowly put your hand near the opening for the bird to take the treat. He may quickly take the treat and retreat with it but when he takes it with the door open and then eats it calmly in front of you, you are ready for the next step.
With the cage door open put your arm or hand so that the bird must step up onto it in order to get the treat. By now, he has learned that arms and hands do not try to grab or poke at him. If all is going well in his mind and you have not rushed any of the steps, he will step onto your arm, take the treat and eat it on your arm. If he takes it an runs, it means you must stay at this level until he will take it and eat it from your hand or arm.

(Note: its quite possible the bird will bite the crap out of you at this point; IF this happens, you MUST NOT flinch!!!- everything depends on your lack of a reaction!!!

I handle this by clenching my teeth tight and take the treat and offer it to the bird again, just like nothing happened. Even if you're bleeding, do not let the bird even suspect it's hurt you- doubtless it will do it again if you flinch at the bite. I say this because I have no doubt that the bird has gotten to this point with other people and they got hurt and pulled away, the bird knew it had won... So its learned how to defeat people from getting near to it. (If you need to change the outcome, you need to change the input. )

Its going to try to do you the same way that has worked on everyone else; once it nabs you and you are still there, its going to be lost - it won't know what to do because everyone else stopped when they got bit. Usually the bird will go to a neutral corner and start shaking again....

Once that happens, you back off and leave the treat where it can see it and retrieve it. Let the lesson end for the day with you winning the battle, & go take care of your wound)

Usually they only bite you one good lick the first time; the next few attacks will be less and less painful, believe me, I've been through this a whole lot of times; this works. If you cant keep cool at this point, you are never going to get beyond this. Because by flinching and or yelling, or quitting, you have taught the bird to bite you hard and that will make you stop and go away.)

(These are my observations added to the writer of this article, Ginger)

Once he accepts your treat peacefully and without a lot of fear, it is time to move to the next level. When he steps onto your arm, move it slightly away from the door and then give him his treat. Now your aim will be each time moving him further away from the cage. If he gets upset, then move back a level and work with him at the level he is comfortable and slowly advance him again over several days or several weeks.

Once he allows you to walk away from the cage with him, then you will start to work him on accepting all the objects in his room. When that is accomplished, you can start on people.

Before you work with people, you need to work him on stepping up from a T-stand or a back of a chair. From there you put him on various objects such as a table or a arm chair. Slowly introduce him to these objects first. When he allows himself to be put on these objects and taken off again, he is ready to accept other people.

You need another person that is willing to work with you. At first just have the person in the same room with you, then slowly over several days, have the person move closer to you. Finally coax him onto the person's arm. Let him on that arm for only a few seconds. Each time you put him on that person's arm increase the time.

Winning Your Birds Trust

Winning Your Bird's Trust:

Since parakeets lead nomadic lives in their natural environment, they are adept and powerful flyers. No living room is large enough to accommodate their flying needs and skills. To make up for this lack, your bird should at least have the opportunity to practice climbing, at which a parakeet in also a born artist, and be given suitable objects to work over with its untiring bill. But let us return to your Parakeet's first few days in your home.

Once it has lost its initial fear of you--by "you" I mean the person who looks after the bird from the first day on, spends the most time with it, and observes it with loving attention--you can begin to get it used to your hand. The first role in which your pet gets to know you is as a provider of food.

Try even during the first few days to introduce parsley, spinach leaves, pieces of apple or carrot, strawberries, grapes, slices of banana, or tangerine sections. Once the bird is used to this supplemental food you will soon notice what it is especially fond of, and you can start spoiling it with healthful treats. Setting up a consistent routine is also part of making it feel comfortable.

A parakeet quickly knows what time it is given fresh food in the morning, what time you bring its favourite special treat, and when you come to spend some time with it quietly, talking to it softly or whistling something for it to imitate, or bring its little bell to serve as surrogate company. Allow the bird to initiate greater closeness.

Remain a passive presence, provide your company patiently, offer a tasty morsel from your hand, tentatively suggest a game. Watch to see what habits the bird adopts and help when you can. If your parakeet tries, for instance, to take a bath in its water bowl, hang the bath house, filled with 3/4 Of an inch of lukewarm water, in the cage door opening.
Of course the bird will first shy away from this strange object and be too cautious to think of bathing. Put the bath house up every other day, perhaps with a small bunch of parsley in the water.

Birds like parakeets that live in desertlike areas often take their morning bath in the dew-wet grass and don't necessarily need a real bath. If you observe your bird busily hacking to shreds a piece of carrot stuck between the bars without eating any of it, attach a section of washed and dried elderberry branch to the cage in such a way that the bird can gnaw on it. But always keep patient. Parakeets are cautious and mistrustful of all innovations. You may have to offer a number of delicious strawberries that will go untouched before your bird dares eat a seed off the fruit. And many a toy that later becomes the focus of passionate interest is initially regarded with suspicion and ignored until one day it is pecked at and used. Careful observers often notice how a parakeet will, after a quick shudder, shake out all its feathers and then calmly proceed to look over something new or put up with an overture at closeness.

This shaking of the feathers indicates relaxation after agitation. A parakeet gets excited or agitated often for all kinds of reasons and to different degrees, but after shaking its feathers it becomes calm again, and it may often be ready for new ventures and discoveries. The reason for a bird's agitation often remains a mystery to the observer, and it is even harder to understand why a bird will sometimes fly up in a panic as though trying to escape from some invisible danger. This quick, frightened flight often ends in an emergency landing on a perch that is never otherwise used or on some ordinarily shunned object. All you can do at this point is to talk softly and soothingly to your bird. Unfortunately we have no idea what makes a parakeet go through these apparent pointless motions of flight reactions.

~unsure who wrote this, credit for my having it goes to GINGER who received it from NORMA :)