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Ringneck training

72martin0

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Martin
Hi everyone, this is my first time here and I need a bit of help.

I've had an Indian ringneck parakeet for about two months now. She is absolutely beautiful, but I've never come across a more nervous bird in my life!

I've been trying to train her, but the only progress I've made is being able to approach her cage without her freaking out. Hands are an absolute no go. She'll climb, fly, jump, just do anything to get as far away as possible.

On the upside, she has started whistling back to me, and as long as I'm not in her cage, she'll even sit at the bars watching and whistling.

Does anybody have any advice in regards to hand training? I know it'll take time, but I at least thought I'd have made some progress by now.

Many thanks!
 

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sunnysmom

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Welcome to the forum!
 

72martin0

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Hi. I found this really helpful with my aviary raised girl.
Working with Fearful Parrots: A Study in Videos | Learning Parrots

I'll try to add some more helpful tips in the morning if I can think of any :)
This is fantastic. Thank you! My issue with Opal is that she won't stop panicking when my hand goes in the cage, although actually today I've been able to move slightly closer to her holding millet. She won't calm down though, she'll continue to pace back and forth along her perch quickly.
 

InTheAir

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I'm half awake now, I'll try to add something useful.

Firstly, I don't think one should put ones hand in the birds cage unless the bird is happy for you to. Ringnecks respond incredibly well to having their body language respected.

Will she take treats from you through the bars? My hen was happily taking treats from me through the cage bars before I started to offer her them via the door.
I have found that there are much more favoured reinforcers for my 2 then millet, they would rather eat tropical fruits, peas and corn or most nuts than millet. Try putting a bunch of little treats in her bowl and see which she takes first. Parrots have no self restraint and won't save the best for last!

Did you check out the link I posted? Responding to the birds body language and stopping what you are doing when the bird shows signs of feeling uncomfortable really help open the channels.

Here's a really bad video from when Sapph had just got confident enough with me to step up, she was following my movements around the cage with interest (until I scared her by moving the paper we had down on the carpet around her cage by stepping on it). Once she realised the paper noise wasn't a threat, she was much quicker to climb onto my hand the second time. Ringnecks are also pretty sensitive to what is going on in the environment around them, so keep aware of what is going on in the room and outside the windows while you are working with her.

Ringnecks are pretty "flighty" by nature, they aren't the easiest pets because of this. It means that we caregivers really need to pay attention to what they are displaying in their posture about how they feel and ensure they feel comfortable before we proceed with any interactions... even what is going on outside of the house can take their full attention at times.
I hope my rambling is useful...
 

72martin0

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I'm half awake now, I'll try to add something useful.

Firstly, I don't think one should put ones hand in the birds cage unless the bird is happy for you to. Ringnecks respond incredibly well to having their body language respected.

Will she take treats from you through the bars? My hen was happily taking treats from me through the cage bars before I started to offer her them via the door.
I have found that there are much more favoured reinforcers for my 2 then millet, they would rather eat tropical fruits, peas and corn or most nuts than millet. Try putting a bunch of little treats in her bowl and see which she takes first. Parrots have no self restraint and won't save the best for last!

Did you check out the link I posted? Responding to the birds body language and stopping what you are doing when the bird shows signs of feeling uncomfortable really help open the channels.

Here's a really bad video from when Sapph had just got confident enough with me to step up, she was following my movements around the cage with interest (until I scared her by moving the paper we had down on the carpet around her cage by stepping on it). Once she realised the paper noise wasn't a threat, she was much quicker to climb onto my hand the second time. Ringnecks are also pretty sensitive to what is going on in the environment around them, so keep aware of what is going on in the room and outside the windows while you are working with her.

Ringnecks are pretty "flighty" by nature, they aren't the easiest pets because of this. It means that we caregivers really need to pay attention to what they are displaying in their posture about how they feel and ensure they feel comfortable before we proceed with any interactions... even what is going on outside of the house can take their full attention at times.
I hope my rambling is useful...
It's incredibly useful, and I can't thank you enough! She's still very cautious with my hand near the cage. I'll start by offering treats through the cage. I'll take a look at the pet shop and see if I can get anything. Are there any fruits you'd recommend at all?
 

InTheAir

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I haven't met a ringneck that turns down passionfruit or guava. Depends on where you live, and what is available in your country. My 2 ringnecks love almost any fruit, nectarines and paw paw are about the only one they don't care too much for, but they eat it anyway. My guys are just big fat stomachs on wings though!
Apple tends to be very popular. Just keep fruit pieces small as they are very high in sugar.

If she is too shy to take the treat straight from your hand, just drop it into a dish and back off as far as it takes for her to go to the dish and eat it. She will soon learn that when you go to the dish you will leave her goodies and hang around closer.

Almond pieces and sunflower seeds tend to be readily accepted also.

Let me know how you go :)
 

72martin0

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I haven't met a ringneck that turns down passionfruit or guava. Depends on where you live, and what is available in your country. My 2 ringnecks love almost any fruit, nectarines and paw paw are about the only one they don't care too much for, but they eat it anyway. My guys are just big fat stomachs on wings though!
Apple tends to be very popular. Just keep fruit pieces small as they are very high in sugar.

If she is too shy to take the treat straight from your hand, just drop it into a dish and back off as far as it takes for her to go to the dish and eat it. She will soon learn that when you go to the dish you will leave her goodies and hang around closer.

Almond pieces and sunflower seeds tend to be readily accepted also.

Let me know how you go :)
Thank you!

I'm in Scotland and handy for me, work in a supermarket so i'll pick up whatever I can!

I'll let you know how it goes!
 

72martin0

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Got some passionfruit and youre absolutely right, she can't get enough of it. She's even stopped freaking out (as long as I move slowly) when I go to put some in her food dish. As I type this, she's managed to get it all over her face and feathers!

She's still very cautious, but I'll let her get used to it as a treat and then start trying to feed her through the bars with it.

I don't think I've seen a happier little bird!
 

InTheAir

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That's great! My girl tends to wear what she eats too, she is quite pale and frequently ends up the colour of whatever her meal is!

Just by giving her stuff she likes she will be associating your presence with good things, so you are working towards a trusting relationship just by simply spoiling her with goodies. :)
 

72martin0

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That's great! My girl tends to wear what she eats too, she is quite pale and frequently ends up the colour of whatever her meal is!

Just by giving her stuff she likes she will be associating your presence with good things, so you are working towards a trusting relationship just by simply spoiling her with goodies. :)
Yup! she loves it! How often do you think I should give her it? I mean, is it bad for her to have it every day? I've been giving her a piece every morning after I change her normal seeds.
 

Brandon's-Fids

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@InTheAir Thanks for your helpful post I have been reading through this thread and me and Mango are also making progress he is less scared of my prescence now and dosent fly away anymore when I come near.
 

InTheAir

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@72martin0 I'm not particularly knowledgeable on exactly how much of what to feed, sorry. I know breeders who give their pairs a lot of passion fruit every day and their birds appear healthy and breed well.
I'm trying to keep my 2 on a low energy diet so I tend to leave maybe 10 seeds in the skin and give it to them... (I grow them so no worries about sprays or other nasties).
As far as conditioning her to like you, dropping something she likes into her dish multiple times a day, like every time she sees you, is very effective.

I do recommend switching her from seeds to pellets for the base of her diet. Both my ringnecks took to pellets from the start, but not all birds will.
Does she eat her vegetables?
 

72martin0

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@72martin0 I'm not particularly knowledgeable on exactly how much of what to feed, sorry. I know breeders who give their pairs a lot of passion fruit every day and their birds appear healthy and breed well.
I'm trying to keep my 2 on a low energy diet so I tend to leave maybe 10 seeds in the skin and give it to them... (I grow them so no worries about sprays or other nasties).
As far as conditioning her to like you, dropping something she likes into her dish multiple times a day, like every time she sees you, is very effective.

I do recommend switching her from seeds to pellets for the base of her diet. Both my ringnecks took to pellets from the start, but not all birds will.
Does she eat her vegetables?
She doesn't seem AS skitty as she usually is. She still won't go anywhere near my hand though. I'll give it time.

In terms of food, it was the pet store I got her from that suggested half parrot mix and hald cockatiel mix for her food. Honestly she tends to throw away what she doesn't like. Any suggestions for vegetables?
 

InTheAir

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She looks very sweet :) The picture is helpful too, as I can see something that you can change immediately which may be useful. Making adjustments to where the perches are situated can really help, if she can walk along a stable perch and reach the dish comfortably she will start to be more comfortable about approaching you. Actually, it is more the reverse of that, if she can easily retreat without any awkward climbing on cage bars etc she will probably be more confident about coming closer.
Do you want to share a picture of the entire cage for suggestions?

As far as healthy vegetables, I offer them regardless of whether they get eaten or not. Eventually the birds give in and start nibbling on them! I really recommend getting a stainless steel skewer to offer vegetables on. You might have to order one online as pet stores don't always carry them (or only have really crappy nickel plated ones).

Broccoli, carrots, chillies, capsicum and snow peas are usually pretty well received. I tend to wrap their favourite stuff with whatever leafy greens are on the menu that day and skewer it. That way the little buggers have to at least shred the healthy stuff to get to the stuff they like. It also means they spend a lot longer on a meal than they would if it was in a dish and they have to chew the stuff they don't like off the skewer if they want to drop it on the floor ;)
Sprouts also tend to be readily accepted by ringnecks. If you can get okra it is worth a try, my hen goes crazy for it.

Another suggestion on how to keep your bird busy and create a high value treat is to get paper straws, cut them down to about an inch long and jam a couple passionfruit seeds into them and leave them in a dish. Make sure the seeds are really easy to get to at first. When she gets the idea that straws have yummies in them you can fold over the ends so it is harder to get the seeds out. One of my friends who has a particularly difficult hen has a lot of success with using straws as bribes.
 

72martin0

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She's whistling away right now... oh goodness she's adorable...

here's a picture of her cage. any advice on perch placement would be much appreciated!

 

SueA555

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Good that you are patient and want to learn -- some birds take more time than others. She is very pretty.
 
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