So I have now had Lumen for a week. I have never kept IRN's before this so excuse the questions if they have obvious answers that I should know. I didn't get her from the breeder or pet store but the people who had taken her home as a pet.
She was kept in a barren cage with generic dowel perches (natural branches all the way) and a couple of cheap supermarket bird toys (mirrors with bells) and cat jingle balls. She was only fed seed. From what I can work out from her behaviour she wasn't handled very often. The wife and youngest child were afraid of birds. Not sure why they bought Lumen in the first place.
We have been able to get her to eat fruit and veg and use raw cashew as a bribe when needed.
Been letting her go at her own pace with being handled which has gone much faster than I expected. She is happy on the bird gym or on my shoulder, will happily step up to go from one to the other. Sounds good so far I hope.
Now my issues are only minor really. She seems to be erratically afraid of hands. Sometimes she will hiss and lunge and other times she will jump on with no hesitation. Is this just a time issue where she still needs to build trust with us or is this something else?
The other issue, which again is minor, is that I cannot tempt her with pellets. She is curious about everything and will go and check new things out after a short while of checking it out. She is definitely not shy about checking new things out as my wife found out. Lumen wanted to try her chewing gum and tried to retrieve it from her mouth. Pellets she disdains and will completely ignore. She won't even investigate them. Have yet to try softening them. They are fruit flavoured https://vetafarm.com.au/product/nutriblend-pellets/ and all my other birds will happily eat them.
I have some idea on how to progress with the pellets. Time more than anything. More concerned about the erratic hand fear. Sorry for babbling. Only had one coffee and sick with cold/flu so not functioning at full capacity.
She was kept in a barren cage with generic dowel perches (natural branches all the way) and a couple of cheap supermarket bird toys (mirrors with bells) and cat jingle balls. She was only fed seed. From what I can work out from her behaviour she wasn't handled very often. The wife and youngest child were afraid of birds. Not sure why they bought Lumen in the first place.
We have been able to get her to eat fruit and veg and use raw cashew as a bribe when needed.
Been letting her go at her own pace with being handled which has gone much faster than I expected. She is happy on the bird gym or on my shoulder, will happily step up to go from one to the other. Sounds good so far I hope.
Now my issues are only minor really. She seems to be erratically afraid of hands. Sometimes she will hiss and lunge and other times she will jump on with no hesitation. Is this just a time issue where she still needs to build trust with us or is this something else?
The other issue, which again is minor, is that I cannot tempt her with pellets. She is curious about everything and will go and check new things out after a short while of checking it out. She is definitely not shy about checking new things out as my wife found out. Lumen wanted to try her chewing gum and tried to retrieve it from her mouth. Pellets she disdains and will completely ignore. She won't even investigate them. Have yet to try softening them. They are fruit flavoured https://vetafarm.com.au/product/nutriblend-pellets/ and all my other birds will happily eat them.
I have some idea on how to progress with the pellets. Time more than anything. More concerned about the erratic hand fear. Sorry for babbling. Only had one coffee and sick with cold/flu so not functioning at full capacity.