Getting six week old IRN

[Birdmad108]

Hi im gettin a six week old lutino ringneck any tips you could give for tricks or any usefull stuff I could teach him thanks.

[vankarhi]

At 6 weeks of age, just handling him and cuddling with him and getting him used to sitting on your finger is enough training. You will need to concentrate on weaning him.

Once weaned ........ you can try to train him some tricks/behaviours. It is easier to train them once you know what their favourite food is.......or what they regard as a reward. I had a galah who would toss food away in preference to being patted/scratched/loved ..... she would do anything for attention........food was not a good motivator for her. Whereas my female eclectus was food orientated and not attention seeking and I taught her a few tricks using a clicker/treats and praise. It might take a couple of months after he is weaned before you can do "formal trick training" because it might take that long to find something that he likes enough to motivate him.......does that make sense?? But in the meantime you can have lots of fun playing/cuddling and just generally getting to know him and socialising him (getting other people to handle him and get him used to other people) and teaching him some basic manners like to step up........this is all part of training too.

My pet alexandrine that I accidently and stupidly lost in Sept was food orientated...as long as it was something he wanted lol

So for now, just handling your bird and sitting with him cuddling him and giving him lots of attention and teaching him to step up onto your hand/finger/arm is all great training ;D

My baby alexandrine (Rikki) I am raising at the moment (from 2 days old) is 6 and half weeks old now and already is sitting on my finger when I take him from one place to another (I am very very careful not to drop him and hold him close to me in case he loses his balance or gets a fright) At night time I have him sit with me on a cloth so he doesn't poo on me ;D and I just pat him around his head and try to pat him under his wings so he is used to being handled.......but there is no other formal training sessions yet.

so I think what I am trying to say......but I keep waffling ......... ;D ....... is just enjoy your baby bird, bond with him/her, get him through the weaning stage and to being fully weaned. He will also start to learning to fly too.....if he hasn't already......so you can teach him to recall (fly to you) on command. But first this baby is going to be scared because he has been taken from everything that is familiar to him and now has to adjust to you and his knew surroundings........that is a lot of a baby to take in on top of going through the normal weaning/fledging/flying stages he is about to go through.

Good luck and I know you will enjoy your new companion ;D

[Birdmad108]

any more tips please on feeding the bird
how to hold etc

[vankarhi]

are you having trouble feeding it?? I usually hold their head/neck area gently just for support so they don't pump too much and knock the food away.

Do you have the bird yet?? Has the breeder shown you how they do it???

[vankarhi]

at 6 weeks of age it should not be difficult to feed the bird except at this age it might be starting to go through what I call the "terrible stage" where they can refuse to eat because they are becoming more interested in trying to fly. Rikki the alexandrine I am raising at the moment is starting this now. He is 7 and half weeks old and took his first flight the other day (a bit early but considering he was out of his cage and not in a nest box like he would have been if he was parent raised). Rikki is now being fed with a syringe now instead of the spoon because he has become difficult to feed with a spoon for the past few days and by using a syringe I can get food into his crop. This is not crop feeding either..... I can crop feed but choose not to.

So if you are having problems with the little one this could be the reason why. So you bird sort of has a double whammy........going through the weaning/fledging stage and being taken away from all that was familiar to it which can make a young bird difficult to feed also for a few days.

[Birdmad108]

thanks it seams to have worked and he has started flying today also he picked at some seed

[vankarhi]

he appears to be doing very well then ;D