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Question:

July 14, 2020

Handling


I’m sorry to bother you cause I know you just answered one my my questions but I was unable to take verde to her appointment today because I don’t know how to transfer her to her travel box and it was so stressful for everyone involved I just broke down mentally and felt like a disappointment because I couldn’t get verde to step up without biting me. I don’t even think I’m worthy of being a bird owner I’m too scared of the fear of being bitten sorry to disappoint, I was wondering if you could give me some tips about handling and training a biter to step up


Answer:

Hi Morgan.

Oh no! I didn’t think about you needing to transfer her to the carrier. OK, so there are a couple of things to make it easier to catch her. The problem with stick training her is that as soon as you take her out of the cage on the stick, she is going to take off like a rocket, which could result in a bad injury if she flies into something.

The easiest thing to do is if her cage can fit in the car, just take her in her cage. Remove all toys that could swing and hit her.

If the cage is too large, then you will need to catch her and transfer her to a carrier. With the exception of nocturnal species, birds have very poor vision in the dark. If you can roll her cage into a room that you can darken, then do that. Ask someone in your family to help you. One person needs to be ready to turn off the lights, one person needs to be ready to catch her. Get a small towel and be ready to open the cage and pick her up. Wait until she settles – preferably on the side of the cage as that is easier than getting her from a perch. Ask someone to turn the lights off and pick her up with the towel as quickly as possible, because her eyes will adjust some after a minute or two. Then place her in the carrier. You can do this without it being dark, but it will be easier to catch her in low light. Don’t chase her around the cage. If she moves, hold still with the towel over your hand and wait until she settles again. If you are worried she can bite through the towel, put on a glove of some type, like a gardening or work glove, but still use the towel. She will associate the towel with being caught, not you or a hand.

You can also try holding the carrier up to the cage and matching the doors up. Then reach through one of the feeding doors if the cage has those, and gently try to herd her into the carrier.

Whatever you try, start early enough so that you can take your time and not have to feel stressed out.

You are definitely not the only bird owner who is afraid to be bitten. It’s going to take time, but hopefully you can get more comfortable around her and be able to work with her better once she is clipped.

Good luck!

Brenda

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