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Post by namzz on Sept 24, 2007 21:48:21 GMT 10
Just bought a young male alex tonight,
the lady i bought him from said he is 10 weeks old. First thing i noticed is that he tilts his head alot, even to the point where it almost spins all the way around.. is this normal ?
secondly, he chases his tail alot is this also normal ?
thirdly, i had to handle him to transport him and he bit me hard, even to the point where he drew blood, is it too late to train him ?
Thanks
Nam.
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Post by vankarhi on Sept 25, 2007 9:20:22 GMT 10
If he is only 10 weeks old then he definetly is not too late to be trained and tamed. Were you told that he was handraised? and at 10 weeks have you got a dna certificate to prove he is a male because until he matures and gets his ring around his neck at usually around 2 years (sometimes earlier sometimes later) then it can be difficult to sex them. The males usually have the bigger flatter heads and others say they can sex them by the lines running from their eyes to their noses (beaks)........but I am not convinced of this way of sexing. My female alex is quite a big girl and until she layed eggs this year, I was kind of still wonder she might be a male.........but she had not developed the ring around her neck (wonder why  and she has now layed 5 eggs). My boy was 4 weeks old when I brought him home and finished handraising him, but I also have a dna certificate to prove he is a male. As for taming/trainiing, it is not impossible to train/tame any bird but the older they are (and especially if not handraised) the more patience you will need to have. I tamed down 2 sulfer crested 'toos and a galah and I am almost 100% positive they were wild caught .......... but I bought them from a pet shop at a market in Brisbane. It took a lot of patience and time but they became wonderful pets especially the galah who I had for 15 years until she suddenly passed away. I spent short bouts of time with them but many times a day. I wore welding gloves to protect me from those nasty bites until I could trust them not to bite. I probably did everything the "wrong" way according to what you read now a days, but it worked for me. Now I much prefer to have handraised as it is much easier to train them and usually no taming is necessary. But then again even some handraised birds have not been raised the way I would expect them to be raised. Just quickly fed and put back into their box or cage (and yes I have seen this done). The birds were still scared of me but did not bite which made it easier to gain their trust. You bird has just been taken away from it's familiarity and is very scared. He wil need a few days to settle into his new surroundings before seriously handling him. But during this time you can talk to him and give him treats etc, let him know you are not going to eat him. LOL He has no idea who you are. Then I would take him out of the cage..........hopefully he will just step up onto your hand, or a stick, but if he doesn't then wear some sort of gloves (if you think he is going to bite) or just open his cage and let him come out on his own to investigate his surroundings. I am also a believer of cllipping wings............this is an age old arguement...........but even if you just clip them this once just so you can handle him better, you can always let them grow back. I did allow my eclectus free flight for about 6 months but she developed "ATTITUDE" with a captial A and had to clip her again and she settle down again. I have read of so many other people who have had problems/issues with their birds and once they clip them they have their loving little friend back again. Let us know how you go and I am sure we can help you to bond with your bird. There are others on here with different ideas to mine............something i have learned over the years.........there is no set way of doing anything. What works for one child, dog, bird etc etc may not work for another, so try to have a few different ideas available to you so you can change ideas. |
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Post by silvercloud on Oct 3, 2007 13:33:50 GMT 10
Well Tracey has covered pretty much anything I was going to say. Good luck with him and let us know how you get on.
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Post by grego on Oct 7, 2007 20:18:31 GMT 10
Well said Tracey.  Nammz, don't worry to much with the head turning either..I have a princess Parrot that does this not to mention my Nanday also and they both do this for attention... Can't explain why they do this for l haven't trained them to do this but it happen's I have a vid of my male Princess that does this to get the attention of his female? Here is a video of my Princes Parrot trying to get the females attention a few months ago just an example img532.imageshack.us/my.php?image=aussiebirdskz7.flv |
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Post by vankarhi on Oct 7, 2007 21:15:37 GMT 10
LOL love that head swing happening. ;D Takoda, Shrekie and Bo (galah) all did this head swinging thing but it looked more like they were dancing side to side. To me they just looked like they were having a good time and feeling in a good mood. (maybe they were actually trying to get my attention. ) |
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Post by namzz on Oct 7, 2007 22:02:39 GMT 10
its not a swing motion, its more of a head turning motion, where his head turns around (completely around almost) to the point where his tip of his beak is point up towards the ceiling.
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Post by grego on Oct 8, 2007 7:36:45 GMT 10
Ahhh..Pipi my Nanday Conure does that!
Because her cage is away from where we walk in and out of the house she does that everytime l walk out away..will try and get a video..
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Post by vankarhi on Oct 8, 2007 16:26:10 GMT 10
hmmm............can't say as I have seen that one. Is your bird healthy? Have you maybe taken it to the vet just to have it checked? Without seeing the bird and not having seen anything like that myself, it is really hard to say what it is.
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Post by grego on Oct 8, 2007 19:19:28 GMT 10
Agree Just to be sure it might be worth a vet check also..but l did get a quick chance to video Pipi(Nanday Conure) doing his head turn just once this evening.It's quick for she is a little camera... shy... Sorry about the Lorikeets noise in the background, for all my birds go off when l get home from work to get there special treats...  img532.imageshack.us/my.php?image=mov02234gg3.flv |
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Post by vankarhi on Oct 8, 2007 19:54:01 GMT 10
That is what Bo used to do also............as well as the side to side swing thing too.
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Post by grego on Oct 8, 2007 19:56:32 GMT 10
Yeah Pipi also like he is getting ready for it..lol..he normally swings his head 2-3 time's like to say "come over here"  |
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Post by petiel on Oct 9, 2007 14:13:58 GMT 10
namzz its hard to picture the head turning without seeing a picture but is he standing still and lifting his head right back if that is it its a baby thing all baby alex's do it when they want to be fed.
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Post by vankarhi on Oct 9, 2007 21:45:10 GMT 10
Glad to see you Pauline ;D
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and she has now layed 5 eggs). My boy was 4 weeks old when I brought him home and finished handraising him, but I also have a dna certificate to prove he is a male.
