New Ringneck Help!

[Fuzzy]

Keep on doing what you've been doing. If grapes... or a certain berry... are the best thing ever, try removing them from his food bowl and offering by hand only. It makes them more special. Keep a journal about his behaviour or write all small achievements on a calendar. What you think is no progress might indeed be lots of progress compared to when he first arrived and it's more obvious if written down.

It has taken years to gradually befriend Ollie my Orange-winged Amazon. I NEVER imagined I could ever touch Ollie, and to my surprise (with a lot of desensitizing) in 6 months I was able to tentatively skritch his head. 9.5 years later, he still won't step up on my hand (I think he was traumatized by 9 months of daily medicating by the girl who rescued him), but that is fine.

Keep treating him gently. Put yourself in his place - you are a huge monster and it takes time to trust. And trust only comes with continued kindness and respecting his body language - ie. moving away if he is showing body language that is not relaxed. Never spoil that trust by trying to rush the process. Every bird is different so nobody could possibly put a time on how long it would take for him to trust you. Just keep pairing yourself with awesome experiences (like treats) when you can get close enough.

Also what is happening when you make direct eye contact? Is that something that scares him? I couldn't make eye contact with Ollie for months and months. A constant stare is a stare of a predator (I'm going to eat you!), so I would only snatch quick glances at Ollie.... or look at him with one eye. Later when I could maintain a little eye contact I would blink at him from across the room. Blinking is body language to show you are relaxed. It felt like a major break through when one day Ollie started blinking back. You see how slow the process can be?

 

[Marcel]

I really have no clue about parrots but I don’t want to give up on him even though this is getting frustrating. he seems okay when i approach him slowly eye contact doesn’t seem to be a big problem however I still try not to look directly at him when I come over with treats. I elevated his cage up to my eye height so he doesn’t feel smaller and threatened as I looked down on him slightly. And the treats, just seems like hes bored of them now or not that interested in them anymore when i come over, if i leave them in the cage for him he will get it but after i walk away a little which seems like a step back from when he took them from me. I mean do they have mood swings like that? I don’t want him to be a cage bird Id like him to be free in the house and have a great life but I just have no idea how to approach all of this this is so difficult!

 

[Marcel]

I am also slightly concerned with the way he looks, he sits like this most of the time and looks puffed to me. A lot of his feathers are sticking out and some are broken, am I just thinking too much of it?

 

[Fuzzy]

It is difficult, try to relax about it. How can you make the treats more valuable to him? If they aren't also in his food bowl, they will be more valuable. You will also find that they are more valuable at certain times of the day, depending on what they are. Maybe try offering a treat first thing when he's hungriest. I never leave food in the cage overnight - birds don't usually eat in the dark. I do leave water overnight though.

Can you take him to an avian vet to get him a healthy bird exam to make sure he is not ill? Puffed up could mean contented, but it could also mean that he is ill. Is he active at all? Is there any discharge from his nose or eyes? Are his eyes bright? Does his tail noticeably bob up and down as he breathes? Is his breathing silent or audible? Broken feathers could be a result of him thrashing trying to avoid being caught before you got him.

 

[Fuzzy]

Ooops - just adding, does he eat well?

 

[Marcel]

I dont leave any fruit in the bowl that I offer to him by hand. plus a question I wanted to ask, can I give him a food bowl like twice a day? so that there are times when hes hungry and i can offer grapes or fruit in general, I never take the food out of his cage only when I add more.

And yes I will take him to the vet, he is an active bird or what seems like one, every morning i play him music and he walks backwards and forwards on his perch and puffs up a lot when he hears music, I bought him some toys but he doesnt seems interested at all

 

[Marcel]

well, the past dwo days I didnt really see him eat, which did concern me but last night and this morning he did eat but it doesnt seem like as he has as much as he used to, my thought was that it might have something to do with the fruit that i give him, he does eat 1 to 3 grapes a day and maybe a quarter of a strawberry

 

[Fuzzy]

That's great that he loves music!! You may have to teach him to play with toys. I had to do that with Ollie. I started Ollie on small easily destroyed toys made of soft balsa wood. His favourite toys are still the ones I make him. They are much larger now - sorry can't find a pic of one right now. But here is a pic of the last one I made for Kobe which is similar but smaller (ideal to get your IRN started on!):

What does he eat? Try offering a bowl of all different chopped fruit and veggies. The brighter coloured fruit and veggies contain the important beta carotene (precursor to Vit A). Most captive birds are deficient in Vit A. If you can get him eating carrots, sweet potato, pumpkin, broccoli, kale, peppers, papaya, mango, orange melon, etc. all these contain beta carotene. Berries are great too. Pomegranate is popular here too. Yes, I would feed a fresh bowl twice a day. You need to throw away what he doesn't eat after a few hours as it will start to harbour bacteria which could be dangerous for him. I feed one bowl of fresh food in the morning and a new one with maybe a little cooked food (like mashed sweet potato or scrambled egg or cooked grains and legumes) in the evening. Does he get a dry bowl too, with seed or pellets and maybe nuts? See if he likes walnut... they are full of good omega oils. Dr Jason Crean says a parrot should have one a day. Here is a typical breakfast bowl that I feed:

I would still take him to the vet asap for a check up. Even if he is not ill, the vet will then have his "normal" to compare with should he get ill in the future. It would also put your mind at rest.

 

[Marcel]

I am fully away of the fact my questions are pretty bad but is toy placement important? I got
him this, switched its places in the cage a few times now its in the middle above the perch is that bad?

 

[Fuzzy]

What I have found is that toys attached to the side of the cage don't move about so much, so that's how I started with Ollie. It is easier to chew without it swinging around - at least for a bird who is unused to toys. And if they are easy to demolish that will get him started.

Hope you don't mind me saying that he's in a very small cage. If he had a bigger cage you could put all sorts of toys and perches inside. The regular shape and size of dowel perches will eventually lead to foot problems... just like my Chico has. Hope you can upgrade his cage. The one he's in will make a useful travel cage should he need to go to the vet. A bigger cage will make him feel better as he will be able to more easily retreat from you. In a small cage a bird cannot easily hide/retreat. Also a bigger cage usually has feeder doors that swing out so that you can slot in the food bowls without having to put your hands inside. Again great for nervous or aggressive birds.

 

[fashionfobie]

@Fuzzy has given wonderful advice

I will just add a treat related post based on my experience with Asiatic parrots.

I would try offering different fruit often. IRN get bored easily. If you mix up different fruit/veg he might get excited about what you are offering, "OH! What could it be this time?" Some popular treating options: walnut crumb, sugar snap bean, snow pea, mango, fig, sultana/raisins, raspberry, blackberry, blueberry, fresh broccoli stalk or flower. Your little one might get really excited about the prospect of variety. --now this may depend on age. If your little one is a young boy you will still have a chance to imprint lots of fun foods on him. IRN can sometime get stubborn about their choice foods as they get older. If your little one is lacking the black ring and is over 3 you have a girl. IRN are highly intelligent birds and puzzles or foraging toys should be well received. My plumhead prefers eating his seed from a foraging toys over a dish.

 

[finchly]

You've gotten some good advice here. Keep reading other threads on the forum too, you will learn a lot.

Toys - there are shredding, chewing, carrying, snuggling toys - if he doesn't like one kind try another. For perches, natural branches are great and there are rope perches too.

Since he's clipped you could get a ladder to his cage, he can climb up and down himself - that would give him confidence.

If he won't take treats any more, start over and do it again.

Rope perch

Ladder

 

[Marcel]

I need some help again since I cant find anything online, when Rolex comes
to grab a fruit from my hand he goes for my fingers first, I haven’t been bitten by a parrot before but my natural reaction is to move away which I think puts him off the treat. what do I do?

 

[fashionfobie]

It may be the way you are holding the treat. Try using your index finger and thumb and place the fruit as far from your hand as possible. If Rolex is still going for your finger you can try offering the treat from a spoon or handled scoop. Slowly over many days start moving your hand closer to the end.

IRN will be more likely to bite if you are moving toward them in quick and sharp motions. Try to slow down and be as calm as possible. Talk to him when you work on these things.

I always ask my guy, "do you want a nom nom." It helps to create a routine.. oh nom nom time! Clearly you can talk about it in anyway you want. Birds are more comfortable if you are making some noises, calmly talking and not staring too much. You can also eat the same fruit near him and it will help spark his interest. He will wonder what is so darn tasty.

From what you have shared those are my ideas. I hope they help.

 

[Marcel]

Thats exactly what I do i use my index and thumb to hold the fruit and put it through the cage and wait untill he comes up but today he went for my finged so I moved away, if I give him a treat on a spoon will he get used to my hands?

 

[fashionfobie]

Thats exactly what I do i use my index and thumb to hold the fruit and put it through the cage and wait untill he comes up but today he went for my finged so I moved away, if I give him a treat on a spoon will he get used to my hands?

Patience and patience, in time he should. Some birds take a very long time. Some recuses even take years. If you work with him everyday and slowly, slowly progress.. there is a good chance he will get over some fears. --However there will never be a guarantee.

We can't go into it with an expectation, all we can do is be kind and understanding and wait for the bird to come to us. Stay positive.

 

[Marcel]

thanks haha! what I’m thinking is, is it a defence bite or just to check if I’m okay, I would let him bite me but I have no idea if I’ll loose a fingernail

 

[Fuzzy]

If you get him to take treats through the cage bars, the bars offers him security and you protection. It will help you both to gain confidence. I don't know what the treat is, but start off with a big treat then you can gradually make it smaller. If he snatches, drop the treat. Ooops snatching = no treat (but you need to assess the situation - you don't want to frighten him or go back a step). When he is taking the treat nicely you can try with no bars between you - ie. through the open door. Also if you make Rolex s-t-r-e-t-c-h for the treat, he will physically be unable to then lunge/bite.

 

[Marcel]

UPDATE NEED SOME MORE HELP! Hi everyone a small update on rolex, I did what Fuzzy and everyone else said and I’m so glad I didn’t give up because now we’re at a stage where rolex comes out of his cage for treets and we train on the floor. Right now rolex is comfortable enough to where he comes up to me sitting on the floor and eats treats out of my hand. But I need help with step up, how do I get him to step up onto my hand from the floor? I tries putting treats along my arm but that doesn’t work, I also tried boxes for him to step onto and that also didn’t work so I would be very appreciative if anyone could help. thanks so much this is a great forum!!

 

[Fuzzy]

So happy that you have made great strides in training so far!

Re the step up. It sounds like you are going to fast/expecting too much when Rolex doesn't quite understand. Break down the behaviour you want to see into teeny tiny steps that he can be successful at.

So for example, whilst on the floor with him, get him eating treats out of one hand and slowly bring your other hand into view. Get him used to the other hand (the one you want him to step up on) being in the equation too. Then gradually bring the step up hand between him and the treats and see if he will keep eating over the step up hand. Then gradually you can make him stretch and stretch further to reach the treats. He will have to put one foot on your step up hand eventually... then two! Allow him to get off your hand immediately. That way he is in control of what his happening and won't be fearful next time you try.

When he is successfully stepping up, then you can train duration (the very gradual increasing amount of time he is on your hand before you give him the treat). Eg. 1 second - treat! Then 2 seconds - treat! 4 seconds - treat! Always let him get off again so he remains in control.

After that you can shape his staying on your hand whilst you move it a centimeter. Treat! And let him get off. Then 2 centimeters and back again. Treat!

You see how the steps are really, really small?

If Rolex fails at any time, see if you can break the steps down even smaller. You need him to be successful as much as possible.

Editing to add: Keep training sessions very short. Just 30 seconds or so. First few sessions may just be working on desensitizing him to your step up hand and pairing it with the treats.